While I was in Patuca with Matt and David doing a training, check-up and tree nursery with some farmers, we had a chance to be part of a wonderfully musical church. This is a very short video but it gives a little bit of an idea.

La Avispa

La Avispa is a small village where a river recently destroyed 17 homes/buildings. What a tragedy. They have had some support by The Carpenteros and Friends but those families still are at a huge loss. One of the buildings that was destroyed was their Centro de Salud, which is their Health Center. This village is one of the villages that is a part of the Community Transformation Program. Unfortunately I was not able to be part of the entire process but I was able to go to the final meeting where the community is gathered and presented a booklet of all their information which is gathered by Diaconia. This booklet contains the information that the community needs to start the acctually transformation. Now the community can organize themselves to start working on their list of necessities, and present information to the municipality with requests for support so they have a much better chance of getting support from the government. A water project was one of their needs, but like many communities they do not have the resources to accomplish such a large task. Diaconia is therefore helping to get a team to help this community, such as King's College or Biola University who send teams each year to work on and support water projects.

It was an absolute pleasure for me to be a part of this meeting and see all the information that is in that booklet. For a community like that, this little booklet can help so much. I hope that I will have the opportunity to go back and see things starting to change and improve as I am sure they will.

Please pray for this community, especially all those people who lost their homes.

Experiments

Well this is powder I made from dry Moringa leaves. We are experimenting and trying to come up with applicable ways to use this powder to add to foods. We (including my neighbours Matt and Katie) are our own test subjects and are hoping to find applicable ways to incorperate this into a Honduran diet. The nutrients in this could greatly improve health. When we find something that is successful and applicable I will write another post with the results.

Community Transformation

Things are done differently here and I am sure you have all figured out by now but one thing that I find incredibly fascinating is the way that Diaconia's Community Transformation program works. So here it is. Fortunately, unlike some organizations, no North American goes in to say "hey we think you need this, so that's what you get." Local Hondurans, who work with Diaconia, work in every community that has a Christian Reformed Church. When they start in these communities they meet with the entire community. In these meetings they discuss what the communities' biggest needs are. It could be some people have no latrine, or it could be that no one has running water. The community comes up with a list of priorities. They work, with help from Diaconia, to see if these things can be accomplished without outside help. Often they can but many times for such things as a water project they will need help to get started. This is when they find a team, most often from North America, that is willing to come and help with such a project. This is how communities are able to progress and further develop with the help of Diaconia, and I am honoured to be a part of and learn about this program.

If you haven't figured it out by now, this is one of the most important programs there is. We as North Americans cannot possibly properly assess what the biggest needs of each community are because we think differently. We do not know what it is like to live in their house or in their community. We don't think like them but with the help of organizations like Diaconia Nacional who have programs such as this one we can help. The destruction that can be built by imposing our help on a community without the community's leadership is terrible. So I do not want to discourage you from going on short term mission trips but if you do, please do your homework and go with a team that has a program like this. It is important to make sure your help will last and not cause problems after you leave.

Meetings

We left for Tegucigalpa on Wednesday August fifth. This is where all the volunteers working with Diaconia Nacional and CRWRC meet every month. While we are there, we make a monthly plan of what we will be doing that month. Of course I would throw a wrench in things and work with two people in two different programs. This being said I have to meet with both of them after they have finished their monthly plans so I can make mine to coordinate with theirs. After doing all this I realized that there was some organization that is done. The first month, I was tagging alone with whoever, never really knowing what i would be doing until the day of. Despite the planning that goes on, the reality is that plans often do change and you just keep up with it.

I will be working with two programs, the Medio Ambiente program, which is everything from environmental to agriculture, and I will also be working and learning about the Community Transformation program.

On another note I was invited along with the rest of the volunteers (yes their is only about 5 of us) to Gaspar's house. He is a missionary who is currently living in Tegucigalpa with his wife. We went for dinner, chatted and played Catch Phrase. It was a really good time to relax and enjoy with a group of english speaking people. We all had a lot of fun and laughs.

This same weekend we we part of a national youth retreat for youth of the Christian Reformed Churches. There was about 120 youth and if you have ever been to a youth camp or youth retreat then you know what it was like, only this one was in spanish. It was good to get to know and make friends with some of the youth from all around the country. There were 3 speakers each on different topics that are much needed for the youth of this country. To Love is To Wait, Drug Addiction and Gangs. Three prevenlant things that are a problem with many of the youth in this country. Overall it went very well and everyone seemed to be receptive and had a great time.

The second half of July...

Watermelons

the pig project

Our "pila" for collecting water

Moringa trees

My Honduran parents

Moringa

Honduran farmer

poverty

harvesting moringa seeds

moringa tree cuttings

incredible beauty

July 21.

More Projects.

Today, I went to about five different communities where there are people who are part of different projects with Diaconia. Some people are growing crops such as corn and beans. Some are involved in a project with making erosion barriers because the only land they have for growing crops is a large relatively steep slope. They are mostly growing a couple different types of beans. There are also nine people who are part of a pig project. There are nine pigs in total, one for each family involved. One was giving birth while we were there in one of the communities. The other two in that community are also pregnant and due in a few days. Along with all of these projects, some people also have new moringa trees. People involved with the pig project use moringa as part of their pig feed. Other people who are involved with farming and crops also have moringa trees. As we went to visit these projects, we brought branches of other moringa trees that Diaconia had purchased. Right, what good are branches? With Moringa trees you can cut the larger branches off, plant them and they will grow. So each person we visited received seven branches which can be cut in two or three to be planted. Most of the projects I have seen are proving to be successful. Some crops look a bit dry due to lack of rain but that is a small minority. It is very exciting to see the great results and benefits of these projects and I am so excited to be getting involved and learning more about how I can help these people.

July 22.

Water

Running water is a luxury that most people take for granted. Today I had the chance to see genuine appreciation for running water when I met one of the beneficiaries of a recent water project. He was excited to have us visit. The reason we were there is so Jocylene, who is a journalist from Biola College, could do an interview. This man was proud to show us everything that now operates with running water. Some of these were his sink, his Pila (cement basin for water storage), his shower and his toilet. We were able to see his excitement and the joy of having running water. He was very genuinely grateful for such a blessing. Now that you have heard the story imagine what you would do if you didn't have running water. Can you? I know that if someone would have asked me what I would do without running water before I came here I would not be able to give an honest answer. I could try but I would not have been able to a description of life without running water. Try. I want to challenge you to describe to yourself your life without running water.

July 23.

Water continued.

Now that you have either described or tried to describe a life without running water, I will give you an idea of what it is like here. I do not have running water where I live. Every morning for my shower I go to the backyard where the pila is, with a five gallon bucket to get water. I use a smaller bucket which is kept clean to take water from the pila. I fill that bucket and, if need be, do the same thing with another bucket for water to flush the toilet with. I use a small bucket to pour water over myself and continue with my shower. Are you asking yourself where the water in the pila came from yet? Well there is a water truck that comes around every few weeks but you have to buy that water per barrel. Water goes very quickly so some people like my family set up a gutter on the side of the house to catch the rain water running off the roof. This water goes straight into the pila. So that water is used for everything from showering to mopping to laundry. Drinking and water for preparing food is purified water that is bought in 5 gallon jugs like you can buy at home. I have adapted to this lifestyle and it is completely normal to me. Oh and for everyone who likes hot showers. I have not had a single even relatively warm shower since I have got here. If you're adventurous try taking a few showers like descibed above. I would say to try doing everything else without water but it is not possible to do things like doing laundry on a concrete washboard there. Remember to appreciate the luxuries of living in a rich country.

July 24.

Peace of Politics

Okay I know the title is deceiving but I am not going to discuss local politics. All I have to say is that the ousted President, Manuel Zelaya, got across the boarder onto Honduran soil today. It stirred this up a little so please keep praying for the peace of Honduras and that this situation will be resolved.

July 28-30.

Adventure

Here is the story of my adventure these past 3 days. Leti (who works with the credit program in the local Diaconia Nacional office), her mother, Matt and I went to visit two communities in Colon. Colon is one of the provinces on the north coast. It was a beautiful six hour drive though mountains and valleys. Some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life. Yes it was a rough dirt road most of the way but that wasn't important. When we got there we were warmly welcomed. We went to a town called Feo Oriental where Leti did her work with people who had received loans from Diaconia to build houses. While she was doing that Matt gave information about the Moringa tree and its benefits. He also gave a little bit of information about types of beans. We brought seeds of all these plants and made up little bags for each person that wanted them there. We talked with people for a little while and when we were finished we went to where we were staying to eat and sleep.The next day we drove about 45 minutes to a town called Trujillo on the north shore. We ate a restaurant overlooking this huge beautiful bay in what I believe was the Atlantic Ocean. This is land that Columbus discovered. We got to see Fortaleza de Santa Barbara which is extremely old as far as I know. Matt and I went for a little swim after lunch. The view looking at the coast from the water was so incredible. There are mountains very close to the shore and they were covered completely in palm trees. We heard that demonstators were going to be taking the street and we needed to get back. We left in a hurry hoping to beat them but we were too late. Now what? Who knows how long they'll keep it for. So after a few phone calls we found out there was another road we could take. We took this other road for a good hour and a half. The best way I can describe it is it was a dirt road you would see going through the jungle after a heavy rain. None of it was even and there were always inevitable pot holes. Did I mention we had adults squished into a pick-up truck? Anyways it really did seem like the jungle and it was extremely interesting scenery. Although it was a rough and painful ride, the beauty of God's creation outweighs the bad. When we finally got back we went to another community called Bonito Oriental. It was the same process as the previous day. The next morning we headed back through God's natural beauty once more.

August 1.

Black and White

I heard someone say 'To the poor, things are black and white, but to the rich there are shades of gray'. Generally this is true. It is something to ponder. Is this good or bad? Maybe there is good and bad? What are the benefits and deficites of each? What do you think?