A Catch-Up

March 27, 2010

So I begin to write my long overdue blog entry. I am writing from a bus as I pass through the southern mountains of Honduras. Even now I find myself distracted from completely focusing on writing because of movie that is playing having to do with a coach reforming a basketball team – their record and character.

Much has happened in the last week and a half. We have had many people passing through La casa de Mi Padre in the last few weeks helping in so many different ways. Last week I was a part of translating for the medical team. For me the neatest experience was when we offered a clinic for the community around the farm where La Casa de Mi Padre will eventually be built. The last woman of the day who we helped had many different ailments but what caught our attention most was her sadness. The storm that I had so enjoyed hearing just two nights before ended up soaking she and her son and all of their belongings because they are living in a temporary home covered by plastic laminates. That on top of a robbery and having to move from her previous home had taken its toll on her. We talked and prayed with her afterwards and shared the message of Christ and the cross. In past medical brigades we had worked with a local church so that there could be follow-up but in this case we were not connected to a church and so it follow up is more difficult. I have her number to call and check in but I hope to be able to connect her with someone in her community. A random event from one of the clinics was that a man sat down for treatment in front of me and he was wearing a black t-shirt with gold lettering that said, “SCS.” Those are the colors and initials of my elementary school in Florida. I had to wonder if it was a Sarasota Christian t-shirt that had found its way into his hands – probably through a donation at some point. If so, the world continues to be a small place.

This week a family from Texas brought probably a dozen instruments to share with the children. Many of the teens were especially excited about the guitars and for the rest of the week they could be heard practicing at various moments throughout the afternoon and evening. There was also couple of young ladies from Pittsburgh who shared on the topic of alcohol and drug addiction with the children and did some training with the staff.

I spent two nights at La Casa with the pre-teen girls and because of the early morning wake-up to get ready for school, I find myself very short on sleep. It has been fun getting to know them more. I cannot say that the discipline is fun, but it is important. One of the girls, Gaby, and I made Play-dough for the babies and they had fun touching it. Well, the one did. The other has some sensory issues and so he did not exactly like the texture.

Friday, the day before leaving for Honduras, I found myself both packing for my trip and unpacking from my move to a new apartment. Four medical students will arrive while I am gone to share the apartment with me for a month. It is in an area of the city that is a little safer for walking around and I am looking forward to running at the park just up the road. And because the apartment is on the fifth floor, it has a pretty awesome view of the city. I recognize that it might not be the best place to be during an earthquake, but I will not worry about that till it happens.
(I will have to add photos later because I still have not downloaded them to the computer)