Christmas in Canada

Isaí and I had the privilege of traveling to Edmonton over Christmas.  It took a lot of paperwork and prayer to get his Canadian tourist visa and then the US transit visa but we both agree it was well worth it.  The Friday before we left was Diaconía Nacional´s annual Christmas lunch and Secret Santa gift exchange.  We had a lot of fun and great food.

Diaconía even brought in a local musician to play for us.  His name is Nahun Escoto and he told us about when he was a kid wanting to play music but was too poor to buy an instrument.  In order to quench his thirst for music he began to make flutes out of PVC piping and other materials around the neighbourhood that most would consider scraps or trash.  He has now been playing for over 15 years with an array of recycled musical instruments and has performed in countries around Central America and Spain.  It was really amazing to hear him play and learn his incredible story.  Isaí and I even bought one of his CDs to take home with us.   

So December 11^th we left the sunny hills of Honduras for the harsh Canadian winter except that we were sorely disappointed – that is, as far as cold weather goes.  I had spent months trying to prepare my husband for the rude awakening he would receive once we reached the -30° mark.  However, Edmonton seemed to take pity on us two travelers from Honduras and the weather was unusually mild.  Of course Isaí still felt the shock of the cold (or rather chilly) -5° climate.  People kept asking him if he found it cold and he responded emphatically “YES!” to which they countered with “This is nothing yet”. 

We really enjoyed our month in Canada although it seemed too short.  We were always busy with fun winter activities, showing off the city, a little Christmas shopping and lots of dinner invitations from family and friends.  We also spent a lot of time planning our church wedding so we could celebrate our marriage Canadian-style this time.  Thanks to my parents, my sister and a whole bunch of extended family almost all of the details were worked out before we even landed in Edmonton.  Still, we had a couple of weeks to finish the decorations, organize the music, pick a location for the photos, get some suits for the guys and buy myself a wedding gown.   All in all everything turned out perfect!

We felt so blessed to have such a beautiful wedding celebration, our honeymoon in the mountains, a great time with our family and the opportunity to visit my home church of Inglewood Christian Reformed Church.    We´re already back in Honduras to continue with our important work with CRWRC and Diaconía Nacional.  My contract has been extended until the end of December 2012 and I guess after that we´ll see what God has in store for us. 

Work Teams from November

November was a busy month for all of us with CRWRC and Diaconía Nacional.  We received three work teams back to back and even overlapping by a few days from Canada – from Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.   With the help of these teams and the support sent by their churches we were able to construct dozens of pilas (water storage containers), floors and latrines for 4 communities in the south and 1 in Olancho.  The beneficiaries of these projects totaled more than a hundred households which translates to hundreds of individuals when you consider most homes have at least 6 people under the same roof.  It required a lot of planning and logistics to handle such a heavy schedule but when all is said and done it was definitely worth it. 

For me it was a pleasure to spend time with each of the teams.  First I met up with the West End CRC team from my hometown of Edmonton, Alberta.  They were such a dynamic and easygoing team and it was great to get all the latest news from Edmonton.  We worked on pilas and floors in the southern communities of El Burrillo and El Naranjo.  It was hard work but the people were so welcoming and appreciative that nobody minded the sweat and grime at the end of the day.   

View of the corn fields on the way to El Burrillo

Ken from West End handing out photos from last year

Myself and Burt mixing cement for a large floor on Rememberance Day

Next was the New Westminster CRC team from Burnaby, BC. This church had sent their youth team earlier that year in March but now it was time for the adults to do their share of digging and mixing cement with their partner community of El Coyolar, Olancho. We had some great moments while working there together. One of the team members was a nurse so we held seminars on nutrition and dental hygiene. The lead pastor from New West also held a three-day pastoral training conference for all the church leaders and pastors from neighbouring communities. The people of el Coyolar and I look forward to receiving the youth of New West again this spring.

The whole New West team had to chip in to pour this floor

Sylvia and two of her daughters, Ingris and Zeleny

Nineveh and Wilmer

New West cooked a Canadian dish
for the whole community - Bami and Nasi Goreng

And to round out my three weeks of living out of a backpack, I joined the Carpenteros and Friends from Ontario. They were already hard at work pouring floors and constructing latrines when I arrived in Azacualpa. The south experienced severe flooding in October and the destruction was obvious throughout the region. We saw roads collapsed, sugar cane fields rotting and cemeteries unearthed. We gained hope from hearing the testimonies of how strangers worked together to rescue families from their flooded homes and that the emergencies funds sent by the Carpenteros was able to distribute food quickly to the affected areas. We were also thankful for the opportunity to meet with Harvest, another of CRWRC´s partner agencies, and with one of their most successful credit unions. 

The Carpenteros brought a little flag for Ana´s truck

We spent a day working with Harvest pouring three floors in this community

Just an example of the aftermath from 3 weeks of constant rain in the south