Honduras Day 3 - Making Concrete in the Shade

It is never a day that we are super excited about, but it is a day that has to come as part of every Honduras trip...the Concrete Day!   And while it is not easy, this day was one of the easier ones that I can ever remember.   Perhaps Donny was easy on us because there were only 11 of us, but we also had some help with the weather and location.   The weather was overcast all day, with maybe a sprinkle of rain every so often.   And we had plenty of room to get two "volcanos" of concrete mixing going at the same time, and this place was under a roof with shade.   So it was about a perfect as you can get for concrete day.   

I never can remember the recipe, but I think it is 9 buckets of sand, then half a bag of cement.   Add 9 more buckets of sand, then the other half of cement.   Then we flip the pile left to help mix the cement and sand, then we flip it back.   Finally we dig into the pile and turn it into a volcano, where we add 2 and 1/2 buckets of water.   Then begins the slow circular team work of scraping the sand and cement into the middle with the water to slowly form the concrete.   The Hondurans gave us Eduardo on the Gringo volcano team to keep us moving and to help not mess up anything.   Eduardo seemed to know exactly when to break the dam and let the water flow out causing a rush of shovels flipping the mixture so it did not run down the hill.   

While we did one volcano, the Honduran superpower olympic team of Dana and Obed would work on the other volcano.   And slowly but surely, we finished 12 bags of cement to help pour the flooring for a family in the ChaChaQuata area.   I was fully involved with 4 volcanos, but that was about my limit, as my back and hands were aching severely.   Glad for Davis and Eduardo and Brandon!   Anabelle was one that kept the sand buckets and concrete buckets moving each time they were needed.   

Eduardo brought three kids from the church to help us that afternoon, and they did great.   But we forgot cups for the water jug, and they had nothing.  I found some gatorades in one of the trucks and told Donny they could just have them as they were probably one of our guys that already had their water bottle also.   I later realized those gatorades were for Obed and Eduardo, but they are a different level of human that do not need water like us gringos.   So they were fine.   

Of course, we had fun with the kids at the home and visited and prayed with the family that lived here.   More little dolls were distributed (look at the cutie in the tutu below), and fidget spinners, and punch balloons.   The mom made me laugh when I showed one of my magic tricks, and she whispered the secret to the oldest daughter.   I quickly told her to not tell my secrets which got a big smile out of her.   

After returning to the daycare, Davis and Belle went out into town to get some Granitas and explore the city a bit more.   The previous year, I tried to go out more with Anabelle, but this year was just trying to let her go out more with the other young people.   Davis and Maddyn seemed to be getting along really well as interns, or so it seemed to me watching from afar.   I will also say that the ham and cheese sandwiches after concrete day are probably some of the best you will ever eat in your life.   Jeffrey met up with our guys in the city and came back to the daycare for dinner with us that night.   

That evening, we had a Bible signing party for some gifts to some of the local church leaders...we will present them at a meeting on Tuesday.    And finally, we had a chance to practice our skit before the school presentations on Monday.   Tomorrow we will worship with the La Cano group in the morning and the El Pino group in the afternoon!   As the Hondurans say often "Gracias a Dios", as he blessed us with shade, a breeze, and a slight rain to keep things cool on our long painful Concrete Day.   

Honduras Day 2 - A Visit to the Collegio and Food Delivery

Our first night in Campamento quickly helped us remember all the noises of the nights.   The motorcycles apparently don't worry about the speed bumps anymore, and enjoy ramping up the street next to us.   The dogs like barking into all hours of the night, and the random birds flying around near the roof periodically.   And the most memorable sound from last year was a staple of the weeks of the fair downtown...the loud booming fireworks that begin each morning at 5AM, quickly followed by the city waking up with traffic and voices.   

Since we did not have a school to attend, instead we went to the high school, where they had an event to celebrate the fair.   This event included all the students breaking into various parts of Honduras, and sharing information about each "departmentario".   Campamento is in the department of Olancho, but each of these parts were selling foods from the different areas of the country.   Which made it perfect for our group as a cultural and culinary experience, with the only problem our hesitation to eat anything not properly cooked.   So a few things were tried, but we were hesitant to get a full plate.   I did purchase a plate from one girl, because she came out of the booth and was trying her English to help me to get a plate from them.   I appreciated her effort, and she really did speak English well, altho she did not know a lot of words.   I took my plate back to the day care to share with the doorman, Robillo.   I heard that Anabelle and the other girls actually got into the dance circle at the school.  

Our walk back to the daycare took us past Yeni's sister and mothers home, so it was nice to talk with them for a little bit.   They live right across the street from Donny and Dana.  We also walked over to the central park and fountain to see the fair activities.   And back at the daycare, we got to play with the pre-school kids for awhile.   We also got to play with the kids when we woke up that morning.   I had brought a spanish version of "There's a Bird on my Head" with Piggie and Elephant.   They really liked the story, and I hope to bring more books like this for them next year.   I got a little bit of celebrity when they saw me later that afternoon, many of them calling out "Escott, Escott".    But when Maddyn arrived with Davis and Bobby, I saw true celebrity status for those kids...."MADDYN!!!" they all screamed as they ran and jumped onto her.    

So we were finally reunited with Davis, as he made it into the daycare that afternoon.   He told us a few quick stories, but during the midst of crazy fun with the day care kids, the details came out later of his time in Guatemala, and were saved for their own blog post.   And shortly after Davis showed up, we had a visit from Carmen and her family.   I loved seeing all the smiles on Briggeth, Anderson, Jeyson and Zohe's faces when we shared a few presents, but the best was Jeyson.   He is getting older and the man of the family, and I gave him one of the solar powered flashlights.   His eyes just lit up when he got this adult gift.   Can't forget those cute little faces.   

That afternoon, we visited three families in the area to deliver food.   We were able to pray with these families.   The girls brought little baby dolls for the little girl Cecilia, and one of Oscar's sisters...those girls thought of this idea of the little baby dolls and they were perfect.   It is a struggle to see families in the states dealing with death and being a caregiver for a child, but in these homes, there is little, sometimes in rooms just separated by a curtain.   But their love for their children, their love for their husband is the same no matter where you are at.   We were happy that we could help even if just providing for meals for another week.   

1. Mamita...A grandmother that lost her husband earlier in the year and spoke of loneliness when her grandchildren were all at school

2. Oscar and his family...Oscar was in a motorcycle accident and had a severe brain injury that has left him paralyzed from neck down.   His mother was in good spirits, but struggles taking care of him and the rest of family

3.  Cecilia and family...Cecilia was born and had severe epilepsy that leaves her bed ridden.   Dana told me that her mother and father were always doing their best to take care of her.

Our evening back at the Day Care was around the table playing cards.   Hard to stop seeing the families that we visited, but happy to have our church family to laugh and enjoy time with one another.   The card game of the week began as 9s, but then Bobby introduced us to 7s.   And 7s, while limited in strategy, provided a good way for 8-10 people to play at one time.   And due to the nature of the game, it keeps everyone playing until almost the very end.   But in every card game, you have the people trying to find any strategy they can to win, and the ones that are just happy to be there.   Well Sarah Beth and Linley were just happy to be there, and laughing deliriously not paying attention, except to laugh even more every time Brandon (trying to win) would hollar that it was their turn to play.   Concrete day was on the schedule for the following day!