A greasy day

Today was our first day working in Honduras.  We traveled to Ponciado, Las Vegas, a location that was fairly high up a mountain near a mining community.  It was very foggy when we got up this morning, but our drive was rain-free.  However, upon arriving it began to rain.  The clinic was set up in a school and about 75 people were seen.  The numbers were down a little from what was expected because it is in the coffee region and people were working in the mountains picking coffee.  The teacher was very helpful to the MAMA team as they set up the various stations.  As I talked with him at the end of the day I discovered that his wife is living in Quakertown, PA with their little girl who attends 1st grade there.

The construction groups divided into 2 teams  to work more efficiently.  We were hoping to do 8-10 floors.  The rain made walking difficult and the team I was on had a long downhill walk to the first house.  The ground is red clay and when it rains it becomes a greasy mess - very difficult to walk on. After doing the first house, we walked halfway back up the hill to the second house, where we had tremendous assistance from the home owner and his uncle.  We climbed back up to the main road and were picked up to go to the next house in a pickup.  Heading down a hill, we slid into the ditch/bank because of the greasy road and had to exit the pickup and push it out.  We carried our tools halfway up the next hill to the house and the pickup turned around and headed back up the hill we had just come down.  He was unable to make it up the hill and we had to walk to the truck, push him up the hill, and then return to our house.  Between the two teams we did 8 houses and 78 bags of cement by hand.  It was satisfying to have home owners join in with us.

We finished at 4 pm, packed and ready to return to the mission house.  However, the 2 vans were parked in a grassy area and they were unable to back out because of the greasy conditions.  The first van slid into the ditch and we were able to get it out using the pickup and plenty of 'manpower.'   The second pickup also needed to be pulled out to the main road before we could leave.  It was an uneventful ride home and we arrived at dusk.  Showers felt great and Isabella the cook had prepared a wonderful meal of spaghetti, meatballs, plantains, and salad.  We talked about loving God and loving others in devotional time and finished with the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.  We give thanks to God for safety, the opportunity to share our gifts, and the incredible hospitality of the community we were in.  It will be an early night for most tonight and we look forward to tomorrow with anticipation - and hopefully no rain.      

Posted by Tim Weaver for the team