The Maryland container arrived on December 31st. Whew! As you probably know, getting both the Florida and the Maryland containers through customs was a bit more challenging this year. The Honduran government has gotten more strict. In order to fulfill their new requirements, customs officials need to go through each container with an extreme level of thoroughness. That meant that most every box was opened and gone through. Not surprising, customs officials weren’t quite as meticulous with the repacking process as the volunteers who originally packed the boxes.
Click HERE to see a video of the container from Maryland being unloaded in Honduras!
After the containers arrived, the good folks on the ground with Sowers4Pastors and Manna 4 Lempira got to sort through the contents of 1600 medium-size Home Depot boxes, and organize 8,000 backpacks. The Manna 4 Lempira sponsors sent in backpacks from all over the country. One sponsor might send many backpacks in one box, but the backpacks are not all going to the same sponsorship center. All of the backpacks had to be put in order according to the location of the children who will receive them. This was Priority 1 because the first two teams that will arrive in a stream of back-to-back teams will be handing out backpacks. On top of that, there’s the urgency that it will soon be time for the children to begin the new school year.
Click HERE to see a video of Russell and the crew sorting backpacks!
Click HERE to see another video of Russell and Crew sorting boxes!
Since each child to receive a backpack will also get a new pair of school shoes, there were 3000 pairs of shoes in the container, and these needed to be sorted by size. Sowers4Pastors purchases shoes wholesale, but the company doesn’t stock the sizes on the very small or large end of the spectrum. The additional shoes needed were ordered from a local distributor. The shoes will be made in the correct sizes, especially for this purpose. Most days, eight crew members are working with Russell to get the shoes and backpacks sorted.
Click HERE to see a video of Russell and the crew sorting shoes!
While this fun has been happening, Trish and Kelsea have been going through piles and piles of paperwork. They are organizing thousands of receipts. They are hoping to have it all organized to send to the accountant in Florida by the end of this week. Kirstin, who is visiting for a week, will return home toting an extra suitcase filled with the receipts and sorted paperwork!
There is NO VIDEO of Kelsea and Trish doing paperwork. How boring would that be?
It is also time for some “housekeeping” for the Manna 4 Lempira sponsorship programs and the feeding centers. The Sowerses and Kim Hall work diligently to stay on top of everything, by removing children from the program as soon as they learn that the child has moved or left school. 2019 was a particularly transient year for people in the area. Even though Sowers4Pastors and Manna 4 Lempira work on this throughout the year, it is expected that they will discover some children who need to be removed from the rolls. So, while the backpack distribution takes place, and some new children will be registered into the program, this will also be a time when the lists will be updated regarding any children who have departed from the program.
If you think that was a lot of information, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! Stay tuned for Part 2 of A Very Informative Phone Call.
- posted by Christi
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