Our Inspiration

When planning the construction on our mission property, we had a few immediate ideas. We wanted to use local materials and styles, as much as would be practical. We wanted the buildings to blend into the local landscape somewhat.

The Hotel Finca El Capitan, here in Gracias, has served as an example and inspiration for our buildings. It is a nice hotel, but very rustic.


Allen is making some alterations in the materials and manner of construction, so that hopefully we will be able to convey a similar rustic country feeling, in buildings which will be stronger, and will be a bit easier to keep clean and maintained.

Putting Up Walls

This is getting exciting! The walls of the team house are going up rapidly, and it is starting to look like a building!

These photos were taken by our hardworking men-folk at the close of their work today.

A chip off the ol' block

In January, I posted some of my drawings and paintings from my college days. Today, Kirstin, my college age daughter (she's taking classes online while living here at home with the family) surprised me with the drawing she made for one of her college classes. She had to write a paper or poem, or create a drawing, showing the effects of the black death on individuals.




Kirstin hasn't had any art instruction, she just happens to enjoy painting and drawing. I try to keep art and craft supplies on hand, so that my kids can be creative when the mood strikes.

I am quite impressed with her work!

Venezuela?

This morning Allen traveled to Puerto Cortes, to work on getting a shipping container through customs. As he left, he knew that the Bill of Lading, an important document without which you cannot receive your shipment, had been sent to the wrong city, and that we would have to make arrangements to get it sent, by bus, over to where he could pick it up.

A friend in La Ceiba went to the FedEx office to pick up the documents and deliver them to the bus station. She reported back to us, that the FedEx office couldn't find the paperwork. So, we got the tracking number for her, and she went back to the office. Eventually, we found that the documents are not in La Ceiba, because they were sent to . . . Venezuela!

Apparently, when the documents were sent from Baltimore, the wrong country code was entered. Sigh.

Rules of the Road

A recent team took pictures during their drive back to San Pedro Sula from Gracias. They were especially intrigued by the way vehicles passed one another on the road. Intrigued might not be the right word here, as truly, this can be a terrifying experience. Double yellow lines, blind curves, and even oncoming traffic don't deter the drivers who intend to pass . . . including my husband, I have to admit. Of course, Allen and the kids would say it is just fun and exciting, and that I'm a wimp. You can look at the pictures, and decide for yourself.

2006 Dental Team

A few days ago, I mentioned the symbols and designs which are often painted on country houses in the mountains of Lempira. Today, I went searching through our (thousands!) of pictures, looking for a few photos of those houses, to show you. I've only found one so far, so I'll keep looking for more before I write a post about those. While looking, though, I found these photos.

This is a dental team which visited Lempira in September of 2006. The same group also ran a children's program that week, but the pictures I found interesting today were of the dentists, and the conditions in which they worked.

Medical professionals take a lot of flack for being demanding . . . but we have seen some incredible work done in extremely difficult conditions, in the name of Christ, and with an attitude of joy for the opportunity to serve others.

As you look through these photos, keep a picture in your mind, of these same people, in their bright, clean offices, with all of their supplies and equipment organized and ready, and with assistants on hand to do whatever they ask.

Dental chairs were not available, so the dentists used folding lawn chairs, which could be reclined somewhat.

Allen oversees the sterilization of the dental instruments

The sterilization process was something that had to continue throughout the day, in order to keep up with the huge number of patients.

Set up in a school, work space was at a premium, and needed supplies often had to be dug out of suitcases.



Patients waiting for care. The services of dentists are highly valued, and much needed!

The Stations of the Cross

Along the pathway, created by the sand and sawdust carpets, the Stations were set up. Since we had already left town by the time the procession took place, I didn't get to see what sort of remembrance took place at each station, but I know that each station represents a particular moment which led up to Christ's crucifixion.

These photos show a few of these stations.

Good Friday in Gracias

One part of the Easter celebration, in our part of Honduras, is the creation of sand and sawdust carpets early on the morning of Good Friday. After the carpets are created, a procession, remembering the "Stations of the Cross," walks along them, which of course, destroys the carpets.

In the city of Comayagua especially, this tradition has become a very artistic endeavor, and a huge tourist event. Here are some links, to Good Friday photos from other cities in Honduras:

Tegucigalpa

Tegucigalpa

Comayagua

Comayagua

Comayagua

Comayagua

Here in Gracias, this event is not commercialized, and the level of artistry is not as high. The carpets (generally more of a carpet runner, or pathway in our city, rather than separate rugs) have more the feel of folk art. The designs remind me of the symbols people in the mountains often paint on their houses.















We left town on Friday morning, before the carpets were completed, so I don't have pictures of the procession. Tomorrow, I hope to post pictures of the "stations" which were set up along the path of the procession.

Driving in Lempira

If you like 4-wheel driving, the department of Lempira is the place for you! There are very few paved roads in this department. During the rainy season many roads become impassable, due to higher water in rivers (closing fords to traffic), landslides which can drop mud and rocks onto the roads, and can also wash the roadbed away entirely, and of course, simple muddy conditions.

But even on the best days, driving can be a challenge here. Of course, these are mountain roads, so there are curves, switchbacks, and steep inclines everywhere. Frequently, one side of the road or the other has, instead of a shoulder, a plummet.

"So, what did you do today, dear?"

As you have likely noticed from the stories in this blog, Allen is involved in many different types of ministries, and so his tasks can vary widely from day to day. But one thing that remains consistent is that he is always driving around on roads which are rough on vehicles! Although we try our best to keep our vehicles maintained and in good running order, we are limited by the low quality parts available, the limited knowledge and abilites of the mechanics, and of course, by the remarkably poor road conditions. So, very frequently, when I ask Allen or Russell what they did that day, it will include something from the following examples:

Isn't Honduras Beautiful?

Construction Pictures

Here they are! Yesterday, at the end of the work day, Christopher (age 14) took these pictures of the construction site. This first picture shows the side of the team house. This building will have two large dormitory rooms, and two multi-person bathrooms. You can sort of see, in this picture, the front and back porches (as these have floor sticking out, but no walls going up), and the placement of the window on that side of the house. Allen and Russell are standing on a scaffold in that picture - the wall is close to 6 feet high now.

The crew expected to do a lot more masonry work yesterday, but the delivery of bricks was delayed (hopefully the bricks are being unloaded at the site right now), so instead they poured some concrete beams for supporting the floor, on the other end of the same building.

Part of the work crew, mixing concrete

How the concrete gets from the mixing area to the pouring area

Grade beams, plus the view!

Some exciting news: yesterday, Allen made arrangments to start installing our water lines! We will be connected to a municipal water system in a not-too-far-away village. With the backhoe, and the miles of PVC pipe which both arrived in the container in December, we are ready to tear through this project! Still, this will mean that the work on the actual buildings will stop for a bit, as the workers switch to this different aspect of the project.

As you can see, David was a lot of help at the construction site yesterday:

Here it is . . . now what is it?

Can you guess? If you already know, because of some connection to Honduras, give a few others a chance to guess, before you "spill the beans," okay?

Buying Bricks

With Allen back home with us, construction at the property has resumed, and the pace has picked up significantly. Of course, we are feeling an even greater sense of urgency to complete our new home than we might, since the owner of the house we are renting says that he wants to sell the house. (So far, by the way, no potential buyers have come to see the house.)

Yesterday, Allen and Bethany went to purchase bricks. The following pictures were taken by Bethany, age 11.

Formed bricks, drying in the sun

Roof tiles are also made here. These have not yet been baked.

The oven (on the left), for baking the bricks and tiles. The red bricks in the photo are finished bricks.

Floor tiles, ready to install

Finished bricks, soon to be delivered to our construction site!

Tomorrow, hopefully, I will be posting photos to show you how high the brick walls are on our new team house!

Orphans in Santa Rosa de Copan

Sadly, orphanages packed with children are not uncommon in Honduras. The conditions in these orphanages vary, but the need is so great that understaffed orphanages are more the rule than the exception. Many of the children are abandoned by parents who cannot care for them, and some have been taken from their parents by the government.

Our friends in Santa Rosa de Copan (about 45 minutes from Gracias) have gotten involved in helping to care for babies at an orphanage in their city. Here is a link to Trish Ward's blog post, with pictures, about a recent visit. At this particular orphanage, there are currently 51 children, and about 30 of those are infants. Because there are not enough workers, these children are fed and cleaned, but are not held often, and they spend a lot of time in their cribs, without much in the way of toys to stimulate them.


In addition to visiting the orphanage regularly to hold and play with the babies, the Wards are purchasing items for the orphanage locally, with money sent by their supporters in the US. We have been able to donate some baby items, which were left over from our Christmas gift project. Additionally, we'll be asking for our friends in the Maryland area to collect some larger baby items, walkers, baby seats, etc, to put into the next container shipment. (We do not yet have a shipment date, we are just assuming that we will be doing another one sometime in the next six months or so.) When our next container shipment of food arrives, I expect some of that will go to help this orphanage, as well.

Allen is also hoping to pay a few women (wives of the pastors we work with, most likely) to help out with the staffing of the orphanage, so that these children will receive more human interaction and cuddling.

Contest: Create a Caption for This Picture

I see lots of other blogs having contests like this, where they display a picture, and ask their readers to come up with an appropriate caption. Usually, those other blogs offer prizes.

Not wanting to be an exact copy of other blogs, my contest has no prize. ;-D

So, just for fun, can you come up with a caption for this picture:



(Oh, and please keep your suggested captions family-friendly, so I don't have to delete you! Thanks.)

Good, but not perfect, Bagel Recipe

I don't consider this recipe a total success. I need to make it a few more times, and work out some problems in the rising, but since people have been asking for it, I am delivering it as is. I received this recipe from someone on the Sonlight Homeschool Curriculum forums.

Making bagels is a lot of work, and one of the reasons I'm still making them is that I got a Bosch mixer for Christmas, which kneads the dough for me. For my family, I made a quadruple batch of this recipe, and then I made another quadruple batch the next day. The first day, I divided the dough as the recipe states, and I thought the bagels were a bit too small. The second day, I divided each batch into eight bagels, instead of twelve.

Combine:
1 Tbsp dry yeast
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water

Add until kneadable: 3 cups flour

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until elastic (8-10 min). Place in greased bowl and turn over so top of dough is also greased. Cover with clean towel and let rise in warm place 30-45 min.

Punch dough down. Separate into 12 pieces. Shape into balls and work in sesame, poppy or caraway seeds, or minced onion if desired. Stick your thumb through to make 1/2 to 1 inch hole to form bagel shape. Place bagels on well floured surface, and let rise 20 minutes or until doubled. Put 2-3 bagels at a time into a large pot of boiling water with 1 tbsp oil added. Let bagels rise to top, turning over. Remove and sprinkle with salt, onion, or more seeds if desired. Bake on cookie sheet dusted with corn flour or corn meal at 450 F for 15 - 20 min until brown on bottom.

The place I am having problems is after the second rising. I need to be more careful to flour the surface upon which I put the bagels, as they have to be lifted after rising. If they stick to the table while being lifted, they often sink, and need to rise again!

Another problem is removing the bagels from the boiling water. The recipe says to turn them over when they rise to the top, but mine never sink! I also don't know how long they should be in the water. Additionally, removing the bagels from the water is a bit tricky. I've used a large spoon, but often the spoon sinks into the bagel, causing it to flatten. I've had a bit better success with a large pancake spatula, but it still isn't working as well as I'd like. My bagels were tasty, but their shape was a bit flatter then I was hoping for.

Good luck! Let me know if you try these, and how yours come out. Maybe you can help me sort out the difficulties I'm still having.

Drama in the Henhouse

There's just so much going on in that tiny space in our backyard! Of course, the rivalry between Handsome and Mr Pincher continues unabated. For the most part, Handsome has Mr Pincher confined to the spaces under and behind the coop. Only when he feels really macho does Handsome insist on forcing Mr Pincher out, and chasing him around the house while squalking and wildly waving his wings. Mr Pincher just runs.

But the really fascinating storyline of our chicken novela (that's Spanish for "soap opera") is the situation involving Gorgeous and Baldy. Gorgeous has been laying eggs since November, except for a pause of a few weeks right around the time of the winter solstice. We are not entirely certain whether or not Baldy has laid any eggs, but Baldy insists on sitting on the eggs which are laid, regardless of their origin.

Today, Kirstin heard Gorgeous squalking her "egg production" squalk, and she watched while Gorgeous tried to get on the nest to lay an egg. Baldy couldn't wait until the egg was actually laid . . . she kept trying to get underneath Gorgeous, while Gorgeous was trying to lay!

I'm afraid Baldy has issues.

News of our week

This week we are holding the first session of the Bible Training School for this year. Attendance is a bit low, because the harvesting of the coffee beans is behind schedule this year, and for many of the pastors, this is the only time of year when they have a paying job. I believe the delay is related to the weather, but I don't know enough about coffee bean harvesting to know exactly how it is affected by weather. So, we have about 40 students in the class, when we normally have between 70 and 80.

It is not necessary for people from our family to be at the school at all times, so in addition to the classes, we also have some construction going on at the property this week. Today, Allen backfilled the foundation of the second building, which will be housing for interns. Bethany came home excited, because she got to drive the front end loader for the first time today. She is 11. She and David also came home filthy! They had a fun day.

Here at home, I did school with Rachel and Chris, and we also spent a lot of time packing up the leftover items from the Christmas gift distribution. These items were given to the pastors who attended classes this week. We also baked four cakes for the pastors' dessert tonight.

Oh, this week we also had the food distribution for the Special Needs families. That was on Tuesday.

So, nothing special to tell you about today, just life moving along.

Fresh bagels at my house (and more!)

Today was a big baking day at my house. We haven't made bagels for ages, and we just scored a big container of cream cheese at the grocery store, so bagels were certainly called for! We made 32 large bagels: eight were blueberry, the rest plain. I'm just now experimenting with flavored bagels. Next time, I plan to try to make some cinnamon raisin ones, and then maybe some onion.

I also made up a large batch of whole wheat dough, and made 2 loaves of bread, a pan of plain rolls, a pan of herb rolls, and Rachel made some cute twirled herb rolls.


I get quite a nice sense of accomplishment looking at all of these baked goods . . . as long as I don't turn around from the lovely display on the buffet, and look at the mess I made of the kitchen! If I was a better woman than I am, I would take a picture of the kitchen and post it here.

Notice, there is no picture of the kitchen here.

Chicken Bones

These are our two mostly-beloved dogs, Kody and Joey. Kody is the handsome one, being hugged by David. (Kody doesn't like to hold still for pictures.)












As responsible pet owners, we try to care for Kody and Joey as well as we can, although the level of health care available for animals in Honduras is pretty low.

One thing we can do, to help protect the health of our dogs, is to keep them from eating chicken bones. Chicken bones can splinter inside the digestive tract, causing significant damage.

So, when we eat chicken, we throw out the bones rather than giving them to our dogs. Unfortunately, we've found that putting the bones into the bags with the rest of the garbage pretty much guarantees that when we put out the trash, the neighborhood dogs will rip open the bags, scatter the garbage, and eat the bones.

We know that Honduran dogs generally eat chicken bones a lot (they aren't usually fed much by their owners), so we don't feel too bad about our solution to this problem: we dump the chicken bones at the edge of the street in front of our house, knowing that the neighborhood dogs will clean them up for us.

So, basically, we are denying our own dogs this much-desired treat, and instead feeding it to the strays.

One important reason we have these two large dogs is for security. So far, we have not had any intruders onto our property, and we know that having large dogs makes it less likely that we will have this problem in the future.

I wonder, however, what might happen, if the situation should arise when we do experience a need for the dogs to protect us. Will they turn to us at that moment, cock their heads to the side, and say, "Now, can we talk about those chicken bones . . .?"

I Want One!

This is a common sight up here in the mountains of Lempira. Many country homes have an outdoor oven like this one. Some are more picturesque than others, but I just think they look so fun!

I've done plenty of outdoor cooking in my years, so I know this would be a lot of work. I don't really want to depend on an oven like this in the production of my meals . . . I just want to have one in my yard, looking picturesque, I guess.

Remote, yet connected

One of the hardest things about living internationally as an expat is the distance between us and our extended family members. This is especially hard during times of illness. I've felt fortunate that, so far, none of my adult children have left Honduras to return to the states. My daughter is taking college courses online from here, and my son hasn't yet made his decision about college.

My parents and inlaws, however, are in the states, and this week my mother was unexpectedly admitted to the hospital to have a pacemaker inserted. Happily, it seems so far that she is recuperating well from the operation. This situation was made more difficult by the fact that my father wasn't at home with my mother, but was on a business trip to Azerbaijan. Of course, he canceled the rest of his plans there, and began his trip home as soon as it could be arranged. His itinerary, as I received it in an email from my sister, read as follows:

Dad is flying home, taking the "torture route" -- flew out of Baku, Azerbaijan about 2 1/2 hours ago; will fly to Istanbul, with a 10 hour layover (ouch); then will fly to Milan, Italy with a 3 hour layover; then to Atlanta, GA with a 2+ hour layover; and should arrive home around 7:30 pm tomorrow night........ makes me tired just to think about it.

My one brother flew from Minnesota to Florida, to be with Mom until Dad could get there. Meanwhile, my sister-in-law in Minnesota, my sister and other brother in Maryland, and Dad (in transit) all tried to stay in contact with one another and with me, in Honduras.

In spite of my remote location in the mountains of Honduras, I was able to have a three-way chat (using Instant Messaging) with my sister in Maryland and my Dad (in Istanbul at the time). This was all possible, of course, because my sister's teenage daughter was able to set it up for us oldsters!

We're very grateful for the incredible technology that enables us to stay in touch with the rest of the world, while we live in the middle of nowhere!

Really Big Fib

I tell my children you can lie by omission, and that is what I have done here. I have omitted to mention that my husband, Allen, has been in the states since mid-October, with the exception of a couple of very short visits to Honduras. I just didn't feel that announcing this news on the internet was such a very good idea. I kept wondering if anyone was going to call me on it, and ask a question like, "Why are only you and your children doing all the ministry work? Is Allen just swinging on a hammock, or something?" But, thankfully, no one ever did!

The reason Allen spent this time away from the family has to do with the fact that David (our BucketBoy) can't go to the US. Because he isn't actually adopted, he doesn't have papers to travel. Since he can't travel, our family can't take a "furlough," which is the traditional time (usually a year, after about 4 or 5 years living overseas) to live in the states and raise additional support for the work.

Because we cannot take a furlough, Allen goes back occasionally, and works for a few months. This is the second time he has done this, the first being in 2005. We are very blessed to have friends in VA who let him live with them, while he works. In that way, most of the money he earns is able to be used to support our family.

With Allen earning the money for our family needs, we are able to use the money which is donated to our ministry solely for direct ministry purposes, such as purchasing the food for the Special Needs families, funding the monthly Bible Training School, building churches, etc.

Today, we are delighted to announce that Daddy is back home with us again!

I feel much better, now that I've confessed my really big fib!

I'm done putting together Christmas presents, and it's only March!

Well, okay, so I'm done with Christmas presents for last Christmas! But we're rejoicing here, because this project is finished! In most years past, we have had people from the states come and stay with us, and help with this project. This year, not only did we not have helpers, but Allen was away, working in the states, during the time we put together this project. With the combination of the container of donations arriving waaaay late, and our having little outside help, we are thrilled to be done this soon! We are very grateful for our local friends who made time in their busy schedules to come and help . . . Brad and Trish Ward and family, who came quite a few times to unload containers and to package gifts, Ellen (a friend who lives in a nearby village, and works with the Peace Corps), and members of the Bob Lokers family.

We made the determination to close off the receipt of lists at the end of last week, so of course we received a large list practically on the last day, with about 25 pastor families on it. Those gifts went out the door yesterday, and so we are calling this a wrap!

Over the next week we will be packaging up the leftover donated items, and distributing them to the pastors at the upcoming session of the Bible Training School, and to local schools, feeding centers, and orphanages. The past couple of years, we have stored some leftover items for use the following Christmas. Because we anticipate moving sometime before the next Christmas project, and because in the past few years we have received enough donations to fill all the gifts, we are not storing anything this year. I will be so excited to have the carport cleared off . . . well, until the next load of food or donations arrives!

Veggie Prices

It's a lot of fun to write about all of the things that make life in Honduras difficult and challenging. For a change of pace today, I think I should mention one of the perks of living here, and that is the very low price of fruits and vegetables.

When we lived on Guanaja, produce was brought to our village once a week, and it was already kind of beat up when we bought it, because it had suffered a sea voyage to get to us. Because of the extra transportation cost, it was also quite expensive.

It was exciting for us to find, when we moved to Gracias, that produce was available fresh, in greater variety, all week long! It is also much less expensive than on the island.

Rachel bought these few items from the market yesterday:

This is two pounds of carrots, two green peppers, and a nice sized bunch of radishes. For this, Rachel paid 24 lempiras - about $1.25.

I thought this sounded remarkably inexpensive, so I asked some of the ladies from the homeschooling forum I frequent, to estimate how much these same vegetables would cost where they live. The results left me feeling like the bargain shopper of the week, and also make me realize that we should be eating a lot more vegetables!

J, in rural Pennsylvania, had the lowest US estimate: $3.50.

C, in rural northern New Mexico, estimated $5.

S, in Australia (where it is currently summer), gave an estimate of $7.

A, in Minnesota (where it is currently NOT summer), estimated $7-8.

K, in snowy New Hampshire, estimated that she would pay $8-9 for these same veggies.

Several people didn't know the price of radishes, or didn't have them available locally. Amongst those:

L in Washington state estimated that the carrots and peppers would cost $5

S, who lives on the island of Bermuda, estimated a whopping $14 for just the carrots and green peppers.

L in Vietnam thought her prices for carrots and peppers would be similar to mine.

S in Ethiopia said the carrots and peppers would cost less than $1

I had fun getting these estimates together from my friends from near and far. Feel free to chime in, on the comments section, with your local estimate. Just make sure to tell us your location, for reference.

I'll have to try this again in the future, with another consumer product. Maybe gasoline . . . ?