It is so hard to believe that it is Friday and we are about to return home and back to our "normal" lives. We are cherishing these last few minutes with still more to see and experience and many more hugs to give. It has been a memorable and emotional time for us all and will be cherished always. What an amazing spot here, El Hogar, and it will always hold a special place in our hearts.
With three new roommates, Christine, Wendy and Brooke the next volunteer group is beginning to arrive. They are the dental team here to get to work on the children´s teeth. For us it was hard to believe that many of the children were seeing a dentist for the very first time. The boys from the farm school were the first patients to be seen and came bearing great news. The cow had delivered a healthy baby calf at 8am this morning and both mother and baby were reported to be doing well.
Most of our day was spent off campus as we completed the last of our site visits. We started our day once again with our 7am devotional and this morning the discussion was about making good choices. The math teacher, Professor Denis, lead the discussion and in summary was talking to the children about how everyone in life has to make choices, but those who make good choices will meet with greater success. His encouraging words were that he hoped that they would make good choices in their lives.
It was back to the classrooms to offer our support and encouragement and spend time with the children. Claire continues to be a huge help to the Spanish teacher doing a lot of one on one reading, writing and helping with the early year assessments. Karen, Maureen and Louise spent time with the 1st and 2nd graders helping to form letters of the alphabet and then on to an art project where the children made rabbit masks representing the letter "R". The children were so pleased with their colorful masks and proudly paraded them around the square.
We had a wonderful day with Matt as our host. Our excursion began with a home visit to Ivis and Marivel´s home, the house that Liz had visited on Wednesday and wrote about in her blog. It was quite a shock to us all and very hard to imagine that anyone should have to live like this. The good news is that the children are here safe and happy and seem to be adjusting well. In fact, at the evening festivities Marivel was very much enjoying the dancing and had a huge smile on her face. She has a wonderful future before her as witnessed by our next stop to the girl´s high school home in Santa Lucia.
We had a lovely drive North, this time through the mountains to Santa Lucia about an hour from Tegucigalpa. It was a very different drive from our previous days and we could have been, at times, in Arizona or Colorado. The views were spectacular and we ended up in a lovely and very quaint , almost European village. The streets were very narrow, steep and many were made from cobblestone. The landmark in town is a beautiful church that dates back to the early 1500´s and is the oldest church in Honduras. Santa Lucia was founded by the Spaniards where they mined gold and has grown into a charming town. The main house overlooks a beautiful valley with views out to Tegucigalpa and the air is fresh and clean. The plan is to have the property cleaned up and restored and ready for the first class of girls to enter in Feb. 2013. It will surely provide a cozy and comfortable place for them to call home.
Then we were off to lunch. We stopped at a local resort type restaurant, La Florida, that serves some typical Honduran fare. We enjoyed wonderful meals of tilapia, chicken and a special hors d´oeuvre of melted cheese and beans, served with tortilla chips in a wonderful clay fondue type pot. We had a thoughtful talk with Matt discussing ideas for the school program. He was helpful in reminding us that we should keep an open mind and be respectful of the local culture before we assume that our customs might also work well for them here.
Back on the road again, we set off for our shopping spree to the local artisans village in Valle de Angeles and to help support the Honduran economy. Betsy and Liz were on a tear.... to find some wonderful auction items for the upcoming Fiesta, with us all in tow. They quickly gave us the lay of the land and we dispersed looking for interesting gifts for our friends and family. We found a couple of great leather shops and many stores full of local pottery, wood crafts,and textiles. After doing a little damage and emptying our pocket books we set off to return home.
There were some very special moments in this day..... when Janet and Louise introduced themselves as madrinas "god mothers" to Carlos and Mychael and made two little boys very happy. It was hard to say who felt happier but it was a very moving moment when you could see the sparkle in the boy´s eyes.
The day culminated with a very special send off party. Claire had requested that we all hear the boys play the marimbas and the progam featured so many talented little musicians and singers. It started with three of the younger boys playing guitar, and then moved to a lively combo of Marimbas, drums, bongos and other local percussion instruments which brought everyone to their feet dancing. It was another special moment as the little boys all came running to us asking us to dance. Karen was especially charmed by the young boy who asked her to dance and proceeded to escort her back to her seat with his hand on her back. The highlight for the children was seeing Dona Claudia and Senor Raoul dancing together. The next surprise was to hear Professor Moises and Cesar play guitar and singing Eric Clapton´s, Tears in Heaven. The program concluded with the children and Claudia thanking us for spending this week here and becoming part of their family. Whilst our hard work was appreciated she truly gave thanks for sharing our love and affection with the children. We have touched many hearts and felt that the love this week was a gift given to us.
Looking forward to sharing more of our trip with you all when we return home.
Buenos Noches,
Louise and Karen
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