Carol in Honduras

The above picture is of our classroom in Los Arcos. We travelled up there yesterday with the World Vision folks on what Colleen calls treacherous, rutted roads…….three hours worth. The community had the yard decorated with palms and all the men who had worked on the classroom came and I tried to thank them all individually. The area leader formally thanked me and asked me to pass along the communities gratitude and blessings to A Better World.

We’ve done hand washing classes and bought chickens and arranged for eye surgeries ….and gave out t-shirts at the kids home.

This is not one of our chickens but I wish it was! Ours arrive on Sunday and I will miss their arrival by one day.

We loaded up the kids, gave them their new t-shirts, and away we went BUT who would have guessed that there were no chickens for sale in all of Northern Honduras.

Third day here today. The first days involved planning the next week and discussing the El Chilar projects.I’ve arranged for “us” to do the chicken pick up on Tuesday. “Us” involves 10 kids from the school, the teacher, the driver and myself picking up 25 chickens, chicken feed, feeders and waterers in one truck.

We were a United Nations of a truckload that went to El Chilar on Friday. Robert and Sam from New Zealand, Celeste (a nurse practitioner from Florida, Debbie ( a paramedic from Ontatio), Ellen and me. The first stop was to deliver tables and benches to one school on the way to El Chilar. At Chilar, we met a number of the people that worked on the chicken granja, and a number of our students who are attending the new Seventh grade class. But, there was sad news……the one girl who is registered in Seventh Grade (Paula) had had her father die the day before. This is a picture of the entire school trekking up the hill to pay our respects to the family……in their very humble house, with the dead body that they reverently unwrapped for our viewing.

URGENTLY NEEDED! The one semi built outhouse and the pila are disgusting and inadequate. There has to be a new pila and latrine built. I plan to make arrangements for them before I leave.

This is the albaniel (the foreman/ craftsman) that directed the construction of the chicken granja.

Progress! The chicken house almost completed and arrangements made to pick up the chickens when I arrive on the 16th. The local men have been working on the granja on weekends and today is supposed to be the day that it is finished.

There are a number of children that are expressing interest in attending the Grade 7 class that we plan on piloting in this community. This is the only opportunity that they will have to access any education beyond Grade 6. In Honduras, school to Grade 6 is government funded… but collegio which follows has fees attached and is not accessible to these kids in distant rural areas.