Honduras - Day 5

After a crazy long day yesterday we were all a bit weary about waking at the early hour of 7am. As usual we went downstairs for breakfast and chatted with the guards for a bit. The construction crew left to build a house earlier (they had a lot to do before the day was over). The rest of us went to the clinic to get some of the food bags to pass out to a small village in Tegucigalpa. When we got to the village my heart was completely broken. I am pretty sure I cried while I passed out the food. The roads were all dirt, there were cows walking in the street, kids running around barefooted, children crying and people screaming. The smell of urine mixed with rotten fruit and dirty water reeked throughout the whole village. We would knock on each door (except each door was a sheet or a piece of cardboard) and hand them a bag of food and say "Dios le Bendiga", and "Iglesia de Cristo". The people would come up to us in the street get their food bag and then run back to their house to change their clothes, in hopes that we would give them another bag. When we were out of food bags the people came up and basically swarmed our vans. Mr. Greg says they will always get upset when we have to leave. Going to this village made me think. It inspired me to write a book (but that is for another time and another blog). I was upset all through lunch but it was good to get a break from the heartbreaking situations going on all around us.

Boy at the village where we handed out food bags

After lunch we went to INFA. It is an orphanage run by the Honduran government. It is in really bad shape but at least it is their attempt to help the children. We handed out Beanie Babies to all the kids and we handed out the dresses that Emily's service group made. The girls felt like princesses after we left. The infant house had me crying, once again. You could see how all these babies needed was some love and affection. They would stop crying when we picked them up and they would just sit with us and they were happy for the few minutes we were there. We then moved on to the older girls and they all ran up to us and gave us hugs and kisses. They were so grateful for us being there. Even though they didn't speak English, you could see it on their faces that they were happy and thankful. Being able to brighten these children's day put a smile on my face and a warmth in my heart. We left INFA and we headed back down the long road to Jovenes.

Some of the group at INFA

On arriving at Jovenes, we didn't have anything else planned for the day. We were basically waiting on the construction crew to finish up and meet us at Jovenes. So...Ana Maria, Laura, Edward, Erylin and I decided to go to the ranch and pick mangos for us and all the construction people. Ana Maria taught us how to climb the trees and pick the mangos. This was another one of those moments that God gave us to build relationships with the guards and with Ana Maria. God knew what he was doing when he brought Ana Maria on this trip. She has been such an amazing example to Laura and I. There were several times on the trip when I told her that I want to be just like her when I am older. She is so selfless and she is such a joy to be around. She always has an adventure up her sleeve...just the way I like it! The mangos were so fresh and we learned that the best way to eat them is to cut them into slices and let them sit in the refrigerator for a while. I am definitely going to miss the mangos when I get back to the United States.

Walking to the ranch

Climbing the Mango trees