No Mas Busito Por Favor!

Today I rode for 12 hours in what people call the "busito" aka baby bus. Our destination was Copan and it seemed like we would never get there... Let me tell ya now, there was no wiggle room and we only stopped for gas and food. With limited space, it was a long ride so we had to find ways to intertain ourselves. We talked about engagements, future plans, places to go in the states, past family vacations, and much more. We also played catch-a-phrase until people started to snooze. It was a great time to catch up on homework and blogging (hence the extra blog posts) and I will probably have a hard time sleeping because I feel liked I napped all day long!
We finally made it to Copan, settled into our awesome hotel, and went out on the town for dinner. It's funny being in a touristy town because almost 1/2 the people speak English. IT's almost culture shock all over again because now we have to be careful what we say in English and Spanish. Not much has happened tonight but I better get some ZZZZ so that I can enjoy exploring the ruins tomorrow.

Night Y'all!!!

My Ghost Buster Day

So today Claire and I worked on the ranch and we had no idea what was in store for us. We find Martín and he gives us the option to scoop poop or do some type of spraying thing (I got lost in the translating part lol). We of course choose the non-poop scooping option, but little did we know that he would give us our very own Ghost Buster machines!! These handy-dandy sprayers work by pumping with one hand and holding down the trigger with the other. What you can't really tell is that they are half way full and pretty heavy. Claire and I sprayed all around a pond next to the main barn and down the mountain side next to a road.  I did pretty good until I tried to get back up the mountain... let's just say I was clinging to a tree for a few seconds until I decided I would take the long way around lol. After lunch we decided that Marina (in the bodega) needed more help making food bags. We ended up making almost 200 food bags ranging from 40-60 lbs! It was fun, tiring but also rewarding because you could see the fruits of your labor.

1,2,3….600

Today Michael and I took inventory in at the CITD in Monjaras. Let’s just say that inventory is not my favorite job at the CITD; therefore, it seemed like I was counting butcher paper for hours on end. By lunchtime, Michael and I were ready for a break. Justo stated that there was a place in Monjaras that had “baleadas muy ricas” so we decided we couldn’t miss out on the awesome baleadas! Now, baleadas are a typical Honduran dish that has become a favorite of mine. This baleada had refried beans, shredded chicken, and butter sauce all in a flour tortilla and hit the spot. After lunch we went back to the school just as one of the groups arrived to hand out shoes and matching t-shirts. They had so many bags of crock-like shoes in different sizes so each child was able to leave the room with shoes perfectly fitting them. It was a great way to end the day because I loved seeing all of the smiling faces.

Update on the Medical Brigade: They were able to see over 30 people in the dentistry and overall saw 162 people. One of the 3 year-old children has shown up with a 105 fever for the 3^rd day in a row so Erin went with one of the group members to take the child to the hospital. Please pray for this child and the other one, who was taken to the hospital yesterday. The one with the infected foot is stable and the surgery went well, but we still do not know the long-term damage from the infection. 

Construct[ion]fully Using All My Energy

Today was my first time working on the construction site with a group and they blew me away. There were so many projects going on at once; it was structured chaos! We had people cutting wire, bending metal rods and twisting them all together to create handmade rebar. We had people working on the electrical wiring by balancing on 2 story ladders and support beams (thankfully no one went kersplat!). Others were mixing cement by hand and putting up the rebar or stacking bricks for the outside walls. Once people finished one job, they would join another group or take over someone else’s job so they could have water breaks. I could not believe how well everyone was working together and not complaining about the hard work or heat. They have truly been a blessing to work with. Towards the end of the workday, mostly everyone had finished the smaller jobs and went to work on leveling the floor. This involves shovelers, wheelbarrow pushers, and rakers (leveling all of the dirt being wheeled in).  Needless to say everyone was working hard and ended the day tired and sweaty.

Update on the Medical Brigade: The young boy with the infected foot was taken to the hospital today and will have surgery on it tonight. Please pray for his surgery, road for recovery, and the money the family will need to pay for the procedure.

Popping Pills

Today I worked in the office with Claire and Kelsey. We spent the entire morning counting pills and then packing them up in lockers and plastic tubs so they will be ready for the Medical Brigade tomorrow. It was fun to see Claire take charge and organize the never-ending bags of pills. I can tell that she will be a great pharmacist some day! The big group came in right before dinner and we were all excited and a little bit nervous. It was our first time to show people where their cabins are and make sure they have everything they need. Most of us had never been to the group cabins so we explored a little bit, found the cabins that we needed to know and then sat on the porch and waited for the group to arrive. The first group had been here before and did not need much help at all but the second bus needed much more help since most of that group had never been to Honduras. I still don’t know how all of those trucks were able to park up in the parking lot and still have room for the charter busses to turn around! Those charter busses are sooooo big that they almost hit the roof of the Tienda with their side mirrors!

The Face of the Facts

What I have learned so far is that numbers don’t do the math justice. I can hear fact after fact of malnourished or starving children, but I didn’t fully grasp what the numbers meant. This week it hit me hard. It is hard to ignore the facts when doing the surveys and hearing how the parent you are interviewing has had children actually die from malnutrition. The nutrition program here at ML was started because one child died from hunger. Mind blowing how so many children are being impacted today from one child dying. Today I actually got to help with the nutrition program today. Lexi (the nurse in charge) weighed, measured, diagnosed, and prescribed medicine to 55 children in 4 different towns. Now Lexi is a hard worker, that’s for sure. All of those 55 faces were precious, happy children. I can’t really express how hard it is when the facts began to have faces. 

Feliz Cumple

Today was Mary Kyle’s birthday and we were able to surprise her with many different things. First, Mary Kyle and I were suppose to work on the ranch, but Martin did not have any work for us, so we went to the office (packing pills and taking it easy). That night we surprised her by blindfolding her and  taking her out to eat at one of our favorite local restaurants, Garomar. Everyone got some baleadas or flautas, laughed a lot, and just enjoyed each other's company. Then we blindfolded her and went over to Meredith and Mallory's house to eat some cake and ice cream. She even got to hit a piñata with candy spraying everywhere.