|
|
Mission Honduras: Days 1 to 8 Below
 We Arrived! On the 11th of August 13 youth members and 6 adults from Our Lady of Fatima travelled to Mission Honduras in Honduras, Central America. They arrived in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and travelled about 2 hours to Guadalupe, the Volunteer Center where they will live for about 2 weeks. The Volunteer Center is next to the Girl’s Orphanage and the Battered Woman’s Shelter. They will be doing construction and repair work at the many Mission sites and spending time with the children.  Day 1 We arrived! Let the journey begin... Day 1; got up early and ready to work - let the sweat drip, drip, drop to the ground. New skills we developed -how to use a pick ax -how to make cement and carry in a wheel barrel and spread upon rocks. Starting English class with the children of Honduras…… learned how to say hot in Spanish- hace calor, we use that phrase a lot. We have learned new prayers to say at noon and in the chapel.  Day 2 Another early rise...we prayed in the chapel...and I learned that I love the song called The Summons. Then, we went into breakfast, and to our surprise, there were pancakes! Yummy they were good! Today I learned how to make cement and mixed it. We also went into the schools and taught the kids some English classes and they were surprisingly amazing! They caught on really fast and were eager to learn! WE MISS YOU!  Day 2 With the Children  Day 2  The Adventure Continues! Thursday Day number four and we are ready to go. After a hearty breakfast of doughnuts, eggs, oatmeal and pineapple we split up into two groups. Four of us went to make paper puppets with the kids. They made bears, snakes, hippos, pigs and monkeys. The snakes by far were the kids favorites. They went around the class biting and ssss-ing each other. The kids had a fantastic time. The rest of us went back to the construction site and helped dig and mix cement. Phew…that was very hard work. After a quick prayer and lunch we headed up to Flores to visit the high school kids. With them we made bracelets and played soccer. Peace out. Adios! Friday We wake up and to day number five in Honduras. All of us sore and tired were happily surprised when it was announced that we wouldn’t be working this morning. After breakfast half of our group went to wash their clothes on the pila. It was something new and interesting and very wet. At around ten thirty in the morning we left for San Francisco, which is the high school, to visit their science fair and see all the experiments. It was really amazing because they only had four days to prepare their projects and they had to find all their own materials. There was an experiment demonstrating the water cycle and it was one of the best ones there. They had gathered all types of plants and arranged them in a forest-looking fashion. Afterwards, we went to the art room to look at all the paintings and we bought maybe half of them. Then we came back to eat lunch and headed off to La Villa to visit the middle school for boys. We made toys out of toilet paper rolls, strings, and ping pong balls. When we pulled up to the school they all ran out to greet us and look at our craft-filled bags. They were extremely polite as we explained how to make the toys and they were very excited. After making the crafts we played a big game of soccer- Hondurans versus Sudbury. We got killed five nothing! After a fun day we came home and are ready for a big day tomorrow.  Let the children come to me... Saturday We all worked very hard mixing cement and digging trenches. We found many Scorpions in the process. Later, we went to Guadalupe and played with the children. After we cleaned up, put on our best cloths and went to San Francisco, the Boys High School for church. It was very lively and involved a lot of singing. That evening we had a very interesting reflection, it started with singing and lots of discussion, great day. Additional photos from Mission Honduras are located here!  Sunday 8/17/08 Sunday 8/17/08 Today we went to the children’s Mass at Guadalupe. The children were very cute. Mass was said in Spanish. After we visited Comyagua and saw the Cathedral, which was built in the 1600s. We ate lunch at Ricardo’s. It had the best food in town. The owner, Ricardo, is an awesome guy. He has golfed with Michael Jordan, seven times. After lunch, we shopped at the market and bought souvenirs. Additional photos from Mission Honduras are located here!  Monday 8/18/08 Monday, Day 8 Aug 18 Everyone awoke at 6.55 am and went to the last Chapel service at 7.00 am we had with the Californians. We had a breakfast of pancakes, eggs and oatmeal. Then we went out to the work site, while others taught English at the school in Guadeloupe. Latter we had lunch and took our pictures and said our goodbyes to the California group. We then visited the girls residence at Santa Anna, followed by a walk around Flores. We camp back to the Mission and ate another fine meal in Honduras. Another great day.  Drawing to a close .... The trip is drawing to a close. We have finished many cement foundations for the cinderblock fence that will protect the girls at Guadalupe. English classes were done and it was difficult to say goodbye to the children, many tears and sad moments. We were on our way to Copan and a whole new adventure. There we saw the Mayan ruins and learned about their civilization. The following day we rode by horseback to a Mayan village in the mountains. There was a great deal to see, the view was spectacular, a little girl sing the Honduran national anthem in Mayan. We saw how they grow corn and weave beautiful wool items and were able to buy the handmade items. The hotel was spectacular and allowed us to relax and finally have showers with hot water. A major contrast in the food and living conditions, we are truly lucky to live in Sudbury. We wished James a Happy Birthday and enjoyed the cake. The flight home was full of “hurry up” and then delays and dinner on the floor at the airport in Miami. Great trip, glad to be home! Final photos from Mission Honduras are located here! Mission Honduras Prayers
|
