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

Prayer Requests and Prayers Answered!

These past few weeks have been difficult but there is always something to be thankful for.  On October 16^th my husband, Isaí, started feeling really ill.  Thinking it was due to some homemade juice he was offered earlier that day, he dismissed the stomach pain and we went to work Monday morning.  Tuesday morning was unbearable for him so we visited the clinic and received some antibiotics and they ordered some blood tests. 
By Wednesday our doctor was sure it was appendicitis and rushed us to the hospital in Juticalpa (45 mins away) with papers for the emergency intake stating he needed surgery within a couple of hours at the latest.  Unfortunately the surgeon in Juticalpa wasn´t convinced it was appendicitis and ordered more antibiotics and blood tests.   Isaí spent almost 27 hours in the emergency ward waiting for his operation during which time his appendix burst.  Thankfully another surgeon took pity on Isaí and rushed him to his operating room when he saw that obviously no one was attending to him.  I can´t imagine what could have happened if we had waited any longer. 

The good news is after a week of really strong IV antibiotics and lots of rest Isaí was released from the hospital early so he could finally feel comfortable at home and take his medication orally.  After being in such a negligent and unsanitary hospital for so long it really made me miss the privileges we enjoy in Canada.   The hospitals here rarely have all the medications the doctors prescribe and it´s up to the family to purchase them at the pharmacy.  The nurses don´t assist in patient care- other than administering medicines bought by the patient.  And armed guards wake everyone up at 4 am to advise that the family member needs to bathe their patient before 5 am at which point all family is expelled until 10am.  I don´t think I´ve ever been so frustrated in my life, not to mention angry for what could have happened if Isaí hadn´t received his operation when he did. 

Thank the Lord for giving me patience during this trying time.  Thanks for the healing Isaí has experienced since leaving the hospital and for all the friends and family that have visited us.  We are still asking for your prayers as Isaí still hasn´t fully recovered.  The last couple of days have been difficult as the fever has returned and the doctors think he may have contracted an intestinal infection or malaria- both of which are totally unrelated to the surgery.  As you can imagine, Isaí is feeling a little frustrated that he´s still stuck at home in bed when he´d rather be working and doing the things he likes.  We are praying for patience, wisdom, healing and a positive outcome from today´s blood tests. 

In other news from Honduras, October was extremely challenging for Honduras living in the southern regions, Choluteca and Valle.  They experienced a state of emergency due to torrential rain, flooding and landslides.  Although the worst weather has subsided at least a dozen people have lost their lives and thousands of people are struggling to recover as their homes have been destroyed, roads are washed out and food shortages persist in the area.  Local NGO´s are working hard to stabilize the situation, including CRWRC´s partner agency Harvest with the help of a generous donation from the Carpenteros and Friends (Ontario, Canada).  Thank God that progress is being made to rebuild homes and roadways.  Please remember the many families living in the south and pray for restoration and a sense of peace for all those affected. 

I am also extremely thankful that my contract extension with CRWRC as their volunteer to Diaconía Nacional has been approved.  Right now we are working on the budget and plans for next year and I am so grateful to know that God is providing this wonderful opportunity once again.  It´s true that when one commits to a year-long volunteer position you never really know how you´ll feel by the end and what your plans will look like.  I appreciate that God has opened this door and touched the hearts of all those involved so that we can continue serving God in this capacity for another year.  I also ask for your prayers as we make these preparations and look for strategies to raise funds once again.  Isaí and I feel extremely blessed to know that we have such a supportive community behind us!

Parade Season in Honduras

I have learned that Hondurans are very patriotic and eager to seize every opportunity to parade in the streets.  In the last month or so I have been to three parades and we´ve had a number of national holidays.

The 15^th of September is a pretty big deal here as it is Honduran Independence Day.  School children spend months preparing speeches, poems and facts about important figures in Honduran history.  Also, High school marching bands prepare new songs and dances for the parade.   The festivities begin with a parade that goes on for hours and passes through almost the whole city.  The restaurant stalls sell a tonne of food – mostly fried stuff – and there is an army of ice cream vendors roaming around at all times. 

September 25^th was Bible Day and all the churches from all denominations in Santa María del Real got together and paraded through the streets all morning.  Each church had a banner, signs and even pickup trucks outfitted like parade floats.  At various points representatives from each church had the opportunity to give a 2-3 minute message.  The rest of the time was spent marching, singing and praying for peace and prosperity in the community. 

October 3^rd marked the beginning of Catacamas´ annual fair and of course was inaugurated with a parade.  My husband is currently working on his business degree with weekend classes and his work group was chosen by the university to make a float for the event.  I helped Isaí and his classmates out as they put together an enormous float promoting the university and highlighting the urgent environmental issues in the region.  The float featured a kind of before and after scenario.  At one end were beautiful green mountains, a flowing river, animals and real plants and shrubs, while the other end held denuded forests, a saw mill, hunters, a dried up river, dying shrubs and a few endangered species. 

The float turned out really nice and lasted for about an hour in the parade – that is until it starting pouring rain and a ruined pretty much all the parade floats.  It was a bit of shame but that´s how things go this time of year.  Right now it rains for at least a couple hours every afternoon and in the evening we get lightning storms. 

The power outages continue so once or twice a week we are without electricity for a couple of hours in the evening.  Sometimes there are schedule outages on Saturdays from 10am until 5pm which can be tough on small grocery stores and meat shops that can´t afford a diesel generator to maintain their products fresh.  I usually don´t keep a lot things in the fridge for this reason.  I was joking with my neighbour the other day that at least it gives me the opportunity to defrost the freezer when we´re without power the whole day!    

Some big changes happening here in Honduras...

So some pretty big changes since my last post – I´ve been offered an extension on my volunteer contract with CRWRC, I finally got my Honduran missionary visa approved, and last but not least… I´m married now!   Isaí and I celebrated a small civil ceremony Saturday August 27th in Villa Paraíso, Santa Maria del Real with our co-workers, friends and the Honduran part of our family.  Rev. Roldan gave a heartfelt message and blessing, the mayor of Santa Maria del Real officiated the signing of the marriage licence, and our micro-credit director, Lety, was a terrific MC.  Many others helped us out with decorations, picking up table cloths and flowers, managing the sound system and music, taking photos, and whatever else we needed.  So we send out a giant thank you to all of our many helpers.  We couldn´t have done it without you!

Villa Paraíso is a touristic site with a hotel, swimming pools with waterslides, ponds with fish, turtles and even a crocodile, and of course a terrific restaurant.  After the ceremony we all enjoyed anafres, tortilla chips with a bean and cheese dip served over hot coals, and a delicious plate of fried Tilapia fish with toasted slices of plantain.  The Tilapia are raised right there on the property in their fish farm and is their speciality.  All in all, it was a very busy but joyous day that we will never forget. 

In our case one wedding just isn´t enough, so we are hoping to celebrate again in December – God willing.  We would love the opportunity to rejoice in our marriage vows in Canada in front of more family and friends.  I know my extended family is anxious share in the celebrations and also to meet Isaí in person.   The plan is to spend the last three weeks of December visiting Edmonton and the Rockies and then returning to Honduras January 7^th or so in order to start the second year of my contract with CRWRC.  We´ve encountered some challenges in getting Isaí´s Canadian visitor visa so we´re praying for good news in the next couple of weeks.  We have certainly been blessed with a very supportive community and we remain optimistic that everything will work out in time. 

Isaí has been perfecting his English skills in anticipation of our trip.  We both spent the first week of September in 30 hours of intensive language classes with CEHDE in Santa Lucia, just outside of Tegucigalpa.  I worked on honing my Spanish grammar and expanding my vocabulary to include more technical credit jargon and such.  In the classroom next to me, Isaí was reviewing and fortifying all the English he has already learned over the years and surprised both himself and me at how much he can speak and understand. 

Each morning was scheduled for grammar lessons and review, and each afternoon was dedicated entirely to practice!   On my first day, my teacher and I went to the local mayor´s office and I interviewed their representative regarding their social development programs and initiatives.  Another day I went to the home of one of the founders of Santa Lucia´s micro-financing cooperatives.  The practical aspect of CEHDE´s language program is essential so they try very hard to tailor the visits to your specific interests.  Isaí is really interested in improving his conversational skills so did a lot of one on one with his tutor and they even went to a local store to purchase a few items without speaking a word of Spanish.  After his first day, Isaí felt totally motivated and surprised at his own abilities.  He kept saying, “I can´t believe I had a conversation for an hour and a half totally in English!”  I was so proud of him.  Now we´re speaking more English at home and he takes advantage of every chance to speak at least bit of English with my parents – December is just around the corner.