Day 5

This morning got off to an interesting start - we had our Covid tests. The clinician actually came to the hotel, which made it lots easier for us. Some of us were a little worried, but we did not need to be. All tests came back negative, so we'll all be returning on time.

Upon our arrival at Santa Teresa de Jesus school, we went right to work to finish what Bruce called our bunk bed kits. We made the tops and bottoms of the bunks, stacking them together along the wall. In the bottom bunk section we laid the 4 legs and then the ladder sides and rungs. The bolts must be left locked inside the principal's office so the students don't take them as toys. Bruce trained Ruben, one of our house receivers, as to the process of assembling the beds. Hopefully, Ruben will be there to help every family that receives a bunk bed this year.

We met members of all four of our families this afternoon. We presented them with gift bags full of donated materials. In the photos below you can see each family member receiving their donated gift bag. They will receive more items after their homes are completed. Each family will then receive a chair, broom, dustpan, plates, cups, silverware, wall clock, a tortilla maker, and other household items that we either carried with us or purchased here. These items will be presented to the family members on the day they receive their house keys.

We did travel back to the house sites to see if anyone was repairing the concrete floors, but no one was there, again. That has been very frustrating because we know that the four houses would have been totally built by our team had we all been able to be here.

The military returned late in the afternoon to retrieve the tools we were using. They took them to our secure storage area so they'll be ready for next year, when we'll again be able to bring a full team.

There was no school today; thus, we saw only a couple children in the morning. John had brought a few shirts with him, and we carried some of the bracelets many of you make for us, as well as some that said I love my school. Once we started handing those items out, children magically appeared until our items ran out.

Tomorrow we'll take a little tourist day to explore a different side of Honduras. The five of us have enjoyed our time together in Honduras, but we've realized that this is nothing like a real mission trip. We've missed the craziness of hundreds of students all around us as we built the beds. We didn't here children chattering throughout the school buildings, which were pretty much empty this week. We definitely felt the lack of hugs, especially those mob hugs from children swarming through the school gates twice a day. We truly pray for an end to the pandemic so we can once again truly share in the lives of the Hondurans.

Day 4

 We made some good progress today. All the bunk bed boxes were finished by the time we returned to our hotel. It was a bit strange to be able to work on bunk beds without swarms of children gathered around to watch the process, climbing on the incomplete beds, and trying to play with the power tools. We did have a couple students who stopped by to witness the process, and a couple lent a hand for a bit, but otherwise, it was a pretty calm procedure.

I stopped into the principal's office to renew scholarships for several students and to start a few new ones. The school is so grateful for those of you who continue to fund educations for their students who might not be able to get one otherwise.

With the donation from the class of 2020 I have paid for the education of one student at Santa Teresa's, covered the cost of the tin for the roofs of 4 houses, and covered the extra cost of wood needed for the homes and the bunk beds. Just like in the States, building materials have increased in cost. Thus, that money was very much welcome this year.

Friday will be our final day in Nueva Capital. We are hoping that someone will be repairing the damaged concrete floors so we can watch that process. We are also supposed to be meeting all the families so we can give them gift bags of clothes, shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, flip flops, etc. 

We hope to have one complete bunk bed ready for assembly before our final departure from Nueva Capital on Friday. It's important that we train people in the reassembly of the beds before we leave.

Day 3

 Everyone was feeling fine today so we all were able to work. We headed to our storage unit to fetch all the tools we would need to make the bunk beds. While we were there, the military transport truck arrive to go to Nueva Capital with us. They carried our tools, but our real purpose for asking them along was to transport the house wood from the school to the work site. Unfortunately, there was no house wood in sight when we arrived at the school. Again, the construction people had not arrived. It was quite disappointing for us.

Since they were not there, we went to work cutting wood for the bunk beds. That took almost all day. We still have to cut the slats that hold the mattresses tomorrow.

At 2 PM Enrique, the head of the construction crew who is to build our houses, showed up at the compound. He speaks English so it was easy to speak with him. He did apologize for not showing up earlier but said that there were lots of problems with getting lumber at this time. We can understand this because Bruce said that it is also difficult back home. We spent a lot of time talking about how his crew would build the homes for us; then we talked about the problem with our concrete floors. Due to the way they were made, and being exposed to the elements for a year, the floors have had sections of concrete break away, like erosion. We could leave them that way, but our team agreed that we do not want the Hondurans to feel that we would turn over a home to them that was not made correctly. Bruce and Enrique discussed the best way to repair the damage, and it will cause a delay in building the homes. So, tomorrow and Friday they will be repairing the concrete damage, and on Monday the homes will be framed up - after we've left.

Team members - this would not have been a typical mission trip for you. We would not have been able to build any homes until the last couple days. We have seen very few children at the school or even anywhere around the school. It's really pretty sad and very different from what we have seen in the past. We have barely had enough work to keep the five of us busy, but we are setting some plans for future trips and how we want them to work. At least, that seems to be developing in a positive way. We truly pray that our future mission trips will again be productive and meaningful.

Our group meets Enrique, whose crew will build the homes.

John handles the table saw

John cuts boards while Carolyn holds

Anne helps with board cutting

Bruce prepares to cut a board

Linda with Victor & Daisy

Giving Juan's gift to Cindi and family

Linda & Jonathan

Anne & friends

Day 2

 We got off to a slow start today because a couple people were feeling under the weather. Thus, we had a smaller crew going to Nueva Capital than we originally thought we would. 

Two of our families were working on leveling their plots when we arrived. Our house wood did not arrive due to another complication. Bruce tried his hand at chipping apart a huge rock so it could be carried in manageable pieces. I believe he was able to get a couple pieces off before giving up. We transferred smaller rocks from the area of the yard that will have the pila, kitchen, and outhouses. 

We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a room set aside for us in the school. While eating lunch, we were told our house wood would not be arriving today. So, another change of plans - we sorted the bunk bed wood and hope to work on those tomorrow. We also delivered to the school's principal several bags of clothes that Marta had set aside for us, as well as a small bag of school supplies. Needless to say, it was a day of frustrations; we had to keep changing our schedule to adapt to items beyond our control.

Marta's mom made us a delicious supper of pork roast, sweet potatoes, vegetable salad, tomatoes, and cucumbers. She made the meal in a typical Honduran fashion. Marta's mom is definitely a great cook. Marta said this is the meal her mother makes for special holidays, which made us feel very special indeed!

The late afternoon and early evening were mostly spent socializing. By 8 p.m. everyone was preparing for bed. We're hoping for a more productive day tomorrow.

Lourdes with her two children.

Leveling the yard

Ruben and Vanessa with their children.

John & Bruce helping remove a large rock.

Carolyn carried rocks.

Bruce chipped away at this monster rock.

Gate Guard Luis sanitizes children's shoes.