DRE MAMA Project Journal

Weekend and Home

2012-01-26T12:01:00.004-05:00

Our team left early on Saturday for the 4hr. drive to Copan....dodging tumulas(speed bumps),potholes, people and dogs and cows, being passed on curvy roads by tractor trailers. But the drive is so worth it to arrive in the quaint little cobblestone street town of Copan. Such a pleasure to relax, shop and eat in a beautiful,warm and safe place for two days. We packed up early Monday morning for the drive to the airport and home. No complications and back at DRE after midnight on Monday night.

We thank each of you for your interest in our trip and hope we have inspired you to consider serving others more...in places like Honduras or right next door.

We are each called in Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Barb for the Jan 2012 team

Friday finale

2012-01-20T21:48:00.003-05:00

The last day of the service work week arrived. For the first time the medical team and the construction team were in separate communities. The medical team went to brisas de campo, about 30 minutes drive from the mission house. They had their busiest day of the week - seeing 103 persons. A very kind man who was the leader of the community hosted the medical team, even letting the dental team use a room in his house. Afterwards he gave the team a tour of his finca.

The construction team stayed in San Francisco, for the first time ever. They did 6 houses - all very different from each other. There was a lot of help from home owners - at the first house, 3 teenagers supplied wonderful help carrying water and sand. One house was in the middle of the hill, and the sand had to be carried down the hill to the house. For this house and the last house, the 2 crews worked together and we could not have done it otherwise. The last home owner was a woman with 4 children. She was an incredible worker - carrying buckets, digging trenches, and doing everything possible to accommodate us. When I told a Honduran that she was an incredible worker, he replied - she a great football player too! We ended the long day having done 53 bags for the day.

Tonight we had a great celebration with the whole Honduran staff. We had dinner, exchanged words of appreciation, and were favored with a mime performance by dani - one of our translators. It has been a great week. The medical team saw 464 people; the dentists saw 188 people; 472 packets of micronutrients were dispersed; and 83 people received reading glasses. On the construction side - 30 houses received new floors; 235 bags of concrete were mixed; 53 1/2 yards of concrete were mixed by hand - the equivalent of 5 1/2 mixer trucks. We are tired, but contented. It has been a tremendously talented team that accomplished much. Perhaps the best comment made tonight by a honduran was this - 'thanks for your gifts, time, and willingness to come help our country. But more than that, thanks for demonstrating love and care as you served.'

Tomorrow we go to Copan to relax for 2 days. We are looking forward to seeing some Mayan sites and enjoying being tourists. Please don't stop praying - we have a 4 hour drive - and driving is an adventure in Honduras. We will see you back in the states on Monday evening.

Tim weaver for the team

up the mountain

2012-01-19T20:51:00.005-05:00

Today quickly became a challenge when the guys had to get out of the van and push it uphill. Getting to the village site was difficult.. Together we all persevered, as we climed the mountain in the 4 vehicles. We were all glad to be there and set up quickly. The buildings were large offering us space to spread out for all of our different stations. The view form the consult room and pharmacy was amazing. It would've been considered prime realistate back home.

We had a great day, the men and Karen, used 44 bags of concrete, totaling 185 for the week so far. Six homes have new floors from today. They work so hard and never complain. Today they had help from a little guy who carried buckets of sand uphill! We are always thankful for the villagers help. In the clinic we saw 87 patients. Large happy families today. All well nourished with shoes! In the dental clinic they saw 43 patients, and pulled 23 teeth! Those odds have changed from pervious days.

I am so thankful to be part of this amazing team. Together we have accomplished to much to help the Honduran people. I am privileged to be here, I am returning home with a new perspective on life and all that I have and have access to. I am blessed. Looking forward to our last day and all that the Lord has in store for us!

Corrie for the team

Neuva Esperanza Day 3

2012-01-18T20:57:00.004-05:00

As a first timer here in Honduras I have so many thoughts in my head that it is almost overwhelming. My journal is full of random thoughts that will be processed for months to come. So here are just a few of my thoughts tonight..

Neuva Esperanza is about a 2 hour drive from the mission house. The ride is on well traveled dirt roads, a highway and dirt roads much less traveled. While the first dirt road is laden with potholes and speed bumps and kicks up a cloud of dust, it is by far the easiest part of the journey, The mountain roads are narrow, curvy and steep with big drop offs, streams without bridges, boulders, ruts and beautiful vistas. The most frightful road of all is the highway. The vehicles (many big trucks) travel fast and close. They pass each other on curves and on hills, on the left and the right. Sometimes one car passes a car that is passing another car. The shoulders of the road become lanes despite the people walking or the livestock grazing. It is a hair raising experience to be sure. Our drivers manage to get us to our destination safely. A twice a day miracle in my book.

To our surprise, our facilities today had real toilets that actually flushed. But, as Dr. Kathy pointed out, not all good looking toilets are good toilets. Personally, I am taking a picture of all of our toilets this week. there are stories to be told that are not fit to print.

Today the medical brigade saw over 90 patients. The dentists pulled over 40 teeth. The construction crew went through 48 bags of cement in 6 houses.

After the medical team finishes with patients and we have a little time to visit with the villagers I've found two sure things to bring smiles to their faces. One is to take a picture and then show them the digital picture. Young or old, without exception, you get to see the biggest grin they have. The second is to paint their fingernails. As Jane said, "All women like to be pretty".

Isabella is a great cook and the pineapples and bananas are plentiful and oh so yummy.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We are all safe and well and looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

Debbie for the team

Las Manzanas Day 2

2012-01-17T20:48:00.005-05:00

I've never really done anything like this before so this whole expirience is a journey for me. Today we went to a village high up in the mountains-it was the scariest ride of my life-and helped a village that seemed very fortunate and thankful to have us there. I have been giving out parasite pills to the villages we have been going to and today was much easier than yesterday. The people and most of the children were so cooperative and aside from the slight confusion of thinking that I am Spanish like them and talking to me in Spanish- which I don't understand-I was happy to help them. By the time lunch came around we were finished and only a few more patients had to speak to the doctors. Most of the women and children were just sitting around so a couple girls, also on the team, and I went around to paint nails. Within minutes we had a swarm of girls surrounding us anxious to get their nails painted too. It was so much fun to see their faces of delight when they looked at their pretty nails. During this time the children were also getting presents of toys, crayons, pencils, games, clothes, and books. Hearing them laugh and watching them smile at all these things made me so happy. This experience is the chance of a lifetime and each day I am learning new things. It teaches me where my priorities should be and how I should really be grateful for all the wonderful things in my life. I'm proud to say that as a teenager, who complains about many things, I am learning to understand what is a necessity apposed to a wish or a want. By the time this week is over I will be going home with new life lessons that I will keep forever.

Alicia Roeder

Day 1

2012-01-16T20:44:00.005-05:00

The MAMA team had a first successful day out in the community! Today we visited Germania II, Siguatepeque, Comayaqua. The medical brigade had 72 people from the community come to receive medical attention. The community leaders explained to us that this was only a fraction of those who live there because many of the families were harvesting coffee beans, one of their primary sources of income, so many were unable to come to the clinic. Most of the community seemed to be adequately nourished and in relatively good health. The villagers were very polite, each waiting patiently in line for their turn at each of the stations. At the hemoglobin monitoring station, one of the workers had a bus to catch to go to work; those who had already been standing in line allowed him to move to the front of the line so he could catch his bus.

The cement crew went through 42 bags of sand, cementing 6 floors. We were blessed with a cool, overcast day so the crew was able to work pretty comfortably. We found that water is transported from the lake at the top of the mountain to each of the homes and therefore each of the families were reluctant to share their water with their neighbors to mix the cement. The dental students worked incredibly hard today, extracting 50 teeth. They were the first to get started and the last to finish because of the volume of patients they saw.

On a very exciting and happy note, Marge's suitcase was successful retrieved from the airport and arrived safely to the MAMA house this evening. A great ending to a great day. Thank you to all for your prayers and support and we look forward to serving another community tomorrow.
Emily for the team

Arrival!

2012-01-15T20:53:00.002-05:00

We are here! It is warm and lovely. Flights all smooth. An initial problem of one extra bag of medicine to check (3rd bag cost of $150) gave us an opportunity to experience a God moment...the check-in desk attendent said she took care of it! Such a cool feeling of seeing God at work. But now another bag concern--Marge´s personal bag did not make it to Honduras. We are hoping it shows up tomorrow...Marge is taking it in stride. Please pray for the suitcase to come.

The medicine and donations are all unpacked and sorted. Please pray for a good first day for all tomorrow..everyone to get into the routine of the clinic, good interaction with the persons who come, and strength for the concrete crew.

All very weary..so headed to bed.

Barb for the team

Team # 21- January 2012

2012-01-05T21:42:00.003-05:00

Off to San Francisco de Yojoa in 10 days!
Team members-
Cement floor crew: Joe Hohenstein, Don Rice, Jake Rice, Keith Williams, Timmy Magee, Tim Nyce, Dave Rice, Ed Wyse, and Karen Hohenstein
Medical brigade: Jane Barker Hunt, Debbie Barker, Dr. Kathy Roeder, Alicia Roeder, Emily McGrath, Corrie Miller, Marge Wyse, and Barb Rice
Translator- Tim Weaver
Stories to come!!
Thanks for your support and prayers.

Weekend in Copan and goodbyes to our Honduran family

2011-03-13T21:45:00.010-05:00

After trying to post to the blog 3 times last night with no success, I am trying again and will recap the past 2 days.

We arrived in Copan about noon on Saturday (after a quick hardware store stop for Wendell and Brandon to load up on farm machettes). Various activities were enjoyed -ruins, bird ranch, and lots of shopping boosting the economy in Copan! We enjoyed the traditional Carnitas dinner more shopping, and coffee/ice cream (thanks Barry!) Saturday evening.
This morning Colleen and I had problems...relying on technology rather than our old fashioned wrist watch getting up at 4:30am since our phones adjusted for daylight savings not used in Honduras. After breakfast some of the group headed off to the zipline while others shopped yet again. We headed back to San Pedro Sula and Pastor Juan's community to arrive by mid afternoon to say goodbye. Pastor Juan read a letter he wrote to the team,gave gifts including his favorite soccer team jerseys to us. It was a meaningful time of giving praise to God for the partnership in the work of helping those in need. We also ventured up the mountain to see the room addition for Donacio and Lily. We were amazed at the location on the side of the mountain and the good job done. We saw many friends and it was sad to say goodbye .
Back at the hotel, after pizza we had a time of sharing appreciation with Dinora, Gustavo, Aurora, and Patty. We all expressed our feelings of being family and a good week of work.
Heading to the airport tomorrow around noon. Look forward to seeing you all soon. Thanks for partnering with us this week with your prayers.
Barb for the team

If We Are The Body...There is a Way

2011-03-11T22:53:00.008-05:00

The construction team had a terribly hard day! :-) In the morning we (Vern, Wendell, and Pastor Juan) installed three windows. We also helped them get started on the roof. After a delicious lunch with the medical team, we went out to visit several homes. Emilio's home was built this summer. After that we visited Jose, Maria, Miguel, Martha, Nelsie, and Elias' home. After a few pictures, we went to the home of Olimpia, the wife of Mauricio, that we built last year. Mauricio passed away this past January. This was not the first home on Pastor Juan's mind to build last March, however with God's will it was chosen and now his family has a home. We spent some time mourning with them. On the way back to the clinic, we took some pictures of the children sponsored for school from Deep Run and Swamp members. It was a very fulfilling day- both seeing the work that was completed and getting to know the children of Pastor Juan's community.

The medical team was also in Gracios A Dios. Brandon and Bob joined the fun, which was very helpful as almost 100 people were registered by the time we arrived. We were blessed to have received six boxes of MCC meat, a 50-lb bag of soy, and two boxes of lentel bean protein mix to provide to those in need. Some of our members had to regretably leave throughout the day; Sandy and Alison had to retun home, while Rolando was traveling to Tegucigalpa to visit family. So for the last few hours of clinic we joined together as a team to help those in need with only Colleen left to serve as a nurse. Overall, most families were much healthier than those seen earlier in the week. However, with regret several families had to be turned away with our supplies and team members limited. It was very hard for many of us to deal with, we wished we could have done more. During devotions later in the night, however Barb lifted our spirits by reminding us of the story of the starfish, where a woman going along the shoreline throwing starfish back into the ocean replied to a skepitical man that while thousands of other starfish may be out of the water somewhere else, she was making a difference to those she touched.

Devotional time was also a time of great reflection. Wendell and Brandon reminded us of a song entitled "If We Are The Body". With the end of the week at a near, we are beginning to struggle on how we can continue serving others when we return home. Serving is easier when time has been set specifically aside to do it. But how do we continue to serve when we return to our daily routines in life? Bob reminded us that even the little things, like remembering the birthdays of our friends here in Honduras, allow us to remember to "do our homework" and serve others. If we are the body, with Jesus anything is possible.

With the end of the week nearing, I would like to personally thank the team for all the gifts they have offered this week. Liz has been my right hand girl all week interpreting and without her I wouldn't have been able to learn about and touch the lives of so many this week. Barb and Kathy faithfully handed out medication after medication- providing relief to those in need. Brandon and Wendell offered both their construction skills as well as much laughter to the team. Sandy offered her medical skills to those in need as well as lots of laughs- even if they were sometimes at her own expense. Vern provided his knowledge and experience with building. Joyce was a source of encouragement for all the children we saw, always smiling at them as they had to take their deworming medicine. Rolando offered his spiritual dedication as he led our team and the people of Honduras we often met in devotion. Bob, as team leader lended his experience to support the team through our journey this week.

Please continue to pray for us at home for safety and some needed R&R in Copan. Also, on a quick personal note, for all of my nursing teachers at home right now following along on my trip via the blog I would like to thank you for all the gifts of knowledge you have shared with me. This week has allowed me to see just how much I have truly learned- this week I was able to provide not only medicine but also education to every patient I encountered so when the medicine runs out they still have the power of knowledge on what they can do for the health of both themselves and their family.

-Wendell and Colleen on behalf of team

Mucho trabajo

2011-03-10T22:29:00.005-05:00

Another full day of service for our team in SPS and Gracias a Dios!

The medical team served the Eskipulas community again today as it is a very large colony and it is the first time our team has been there. Gustavo drove our team through the community before setting up our clinic, so we saw some of the conditions that the people live with each day.

The construction crew worked on putting up the roof support today as well as getting the windows ready for placement tomorrow.

The temperature today was very hot again - probably in the 90's. So, we're drinking lots of water and sweating most of it out.
Tonight the director of Proyecto MAMA, Erlinda de Robelo, talked to our group about the various programs they are administering at the present time. Educational programs are their main focus, with preschools, tutoring centers, computer training, English classes, and other programs.

Our group continues to be thankful for good health, for the many ways we have all been blessed, and for all your prayer support.

Hoping for another great day tomorrow - in Gracias a Dios - with both teams.

Dre Mama Team, Roberto

El que no vive para servir no sirve para vivir

2011-03-09T21:57:00.005-05:00

This was the theme of the devotion tonight that Rolando shared, and it fit very well with our experience today. The phrase means that anyone who does not live to serve isnt really living. At the clinic two older women came to see Sandy and Colleen with seriously damaged feet, and they washed their feet and cleaned them up as much as possible. Personally, I did not even want to see Colleen wash the one womans feet (I figured out awhile ago that nursing was not my thing), but it was a great physical reminder that we came to humbly serve others, which means being willing to kneel down and get our hands dirty. Overall the clinic saw over two hundred people, many of whom are from a very poor community along the river and have little access to health and dental care and clean water. There was a dentist with us today, and we were also able to give out some food supplies.
The construction crew was working in pastor Juans community today, helping put on an addition to a small house that currently has four people living in it but will have eight once the addition is done. After making the harrowing trip up the mountain and climbing down slanted stairs, the crew was able to pour concrete for the floor. They also had the chance during lunch to talk with pastor Juan about the microfinance program that has been set up there and the situation with Mauricios wife trying to keep her house.
The medical team will be going back to the same community tomorrow and the construction crew will also be in the same place as today. It will be good to continue the work we started and be able to continue to serve those we come in contact with and also learn a lot from them about humility, thankfulness, and joy. We are all learning a lot about service and compassion, which Rolando taught us means "suffering with."
Thanks to everyone who is praying, and we would ask for continued prayers for the communities we are working with.
Liz

Back to the Mealer Community with God Moments

2011-03-08T21:54:00.003-05:00

Keeping up with the construction crew, and the unconventional windows and doors because we were looking for the windows and doors yesterday. Today we found the windows and door being made when we arrived at the job site. The windows and doors were made from tongue and groove boards. It is our task to install the door and window openings (4) of the house. There is no latch on the outside BUT inside to keep anything entering into the house for example a pig or chicken or whatever is roaming outside. When you want a breeze in the house you open the windows across from each other to let the air flow through. This is what we call air conditioning!!

The family who will live in this home has six children. The youngest boy is unable to use his legs and uses a wheelchair. He also has a specially golf cart- style with petals and steering to go to school and get the around the community.

Bob,Wendell, Brandon and Verne are happy to have the fathers help because of his building skills and hard work he puts into his future home for his family, He is trying to make his house beautiful with arches instead of a plain cinder block house

We set up our clinic in a school and church building. Wendell and I were dispensing worm pills and vitamin A. We had a two year old who was such a good patient. She took her worm pill biting it piece by piece without any fuss or expression. All the children around were so tickled how she took her pill.

The medical clinic experienced life's joys and sorrows today. They started the day with a woman who filled the room with happiness that came from within. She told Rolando that she is a Christian and despite being deserted by her 6 children she knows she is not alone, that God is with her. Colleen experienced a God moment as she was able to use the instructions written in Spanish for treating diaper rash that her prayer partner Phyllis just gave her that morning! The end of the day was hard. Rolando, Sandy and Colleen did a house call to a woman with advanced brest cancer. They realized they needed more supplies to treat the tumored area and came back to the school and invited all of us to come to pray. Rosita prayed over the woman. If in the US, this woman would have had surgery and by now would be on hospice with morphine. Their treatment today was just to provide dignity and deal with the pain...we gave her what we could...tylenol and ibuprofen. And also could provide love and comfort to the family. It was a lesson in true compassion.

Saw 165 patients.....computer lab closing...more tomorrow.
Joyce, Verne and Barb

El Cayo

2011-03-07T22:08:00.004-05:00

Today was our first day at work. The teams were close to one another allowing us to enjoy the day together. The construction team is working on finishing a home that was started by the owners and they were unable to complete. They mixed concrete to pour the floor of the home for three different rooms of which one was fairly large. Throughout the day they were entertained by a young man that decided to stop and help out. The shirt that Bob changed out of in the morning was washed, dried, and pressed by the owner by the day's end. They finished their day a little early and pitched in at the clinic. This may be more of the result however of the hard work of Wendell, Vern, and Brandon, because as even Pastor Juan said, Bob was just a supervisor today. Stay tuned for tomorrow's results on the construction team's ongoing card game, as Bob reports they are in a 2-2 tie. Don't know when they fit time into playing so many card games while being so hard at work- maybe this is why they weren't able to beat the January's usual 40 bag days!
As for the medical crew, we were blessed to have Dinora's niece, Allison, a doctor. Sandy and Colleen worked alongside of her as well, allowing the team to have three doctor stations. Rolando and Liz served as wonderful translators. Joyce worked alongside the MAMA staff to register patients, obtain height, weight, and vitals, as well as giving Vitamin A and deworming medicine. The pharmacy was staffed by Barb, Kathy, and Dinora. The community was very organized and with all the extra help we were able to spend quality time with families at the doctors station rather than feeling rushed. By day's end we saw 172 plus patients (some patients were missed on cards and added to a sibling!). The team felt truly blessed to be able to have three people serve as doctors which allowed the day to run very smoothly. With a Honduran doctor with us, she was able to provide prescriptions to those in need. Colleen was able to catch up with an old friend- a woman she treated for the first time with Karen Detweiler 2 years ago that had a severe fungal infection of her legs. It was a blessing from God to see her last year, and such a joy to see her again this year still doing well. Great organization was also provided by Gustavo who directed families to the next available doctor. We were blessed to be able to have enough medications in the pharmacy to provide to those in need and only ran out of very little. After our lunch we were surprised however to find a hen in the pharmacy who was trying to lay her eggs. After many efforts and a close call for Kathy who was almost pecked, Farmer Wendell saved the day and the hen finally decided to lay her eggs outside!
Thank you all for continuing to pray for us. Both the construction and medical teams are headed to the Mealer community tomorrow. Please continue to pray for our eyes and hearts to be opened by those we are here to help. Continue to pray for good health- everyone is doing well. Also pray for us to not forget to continue taking time out to truly get to know the communities we serve.

Joint posting by Wendell and Colleen, with additional commentary provided by Bob, Brandon, Liz, Kathy, and Sandy.

A Day of Contrast

2011-03-06T22:20:00.005-05:00

Our day started with a wonderful breakfast at Villa Nuria. The fresh fruit was wonderful, personally I "hate" plantains. Other people on the team really like them. Yuk . Then we travelled to the Teen INFA house with Pastor Juan and Rolando serenading us. The teen girls were awesome. Some of them we even recognized from previous years. Rolando and Pastor Juan shared with the girls thier stories while Liz translated. She did really well. Colleen brought bead bracelets to make, and the girls just kept coming through the line getting more beads. They were making the bracelets for Kathy and Liz. It was so sweet. Verne and Joyce brought journals and pens for the girls. They really loved them. The girls entertained us with singing and hand motions. The Honduran people are very spiritually gifted people. They really get into God. It's so cool. Then we went to Power Chicken not to be confused with pollo loco, loosely translated crazy chicken. Lots of chicken references, really not sure what that is about. Anyway the food was excellent, again yum. Can't speak for everyone but the food is worth the trip. Just saying. Getting serious now, we went to the Childrens INFA house. We were armed with tissues and gifts. It was so sad, we went into the nursery and Colleen honed in on a premi baby that made us all so sad. His neck was contracted to the right, and he could not be fed while being held, Barb and Colleen tried, but were unsuccessful. He needed to have his bottle propped. Joyce figured that out. The director said the ratio of staff to infant was about 14 to 1. Remind me never to complain about patient ratios again. They also are in desperate need of diapers and formula. Then we handed out crayons and coloring pages to the older kids. Barb was ambushed for the silly bands. Next back to the hotel for a quick mandatory dip-even Joyce went in in her clothing!
Forgot to tell you about the young boy who climbed up on Kathy's lap and was hugging and kissing her. The kids are so affectionate and lovable. After our quick dip, Guastavo kept us on schedule, to Gracios A Dios for an awesome church service. Barb and Verne were ambassadors from Deep Run and Swamp churches, and were called to the altar during the service. This was a surprise to them both, but they rose to the occasion and both shared from the heart. Pastor Juan referred to Bob as his brother, and how much he valued his relation with him. Pastor Juan's sermon on character was very moving. We were then presented with t-shirts from the children we sponsor for school. Wendell and Brandon posed for pics with the boys, the kids really gravitate to the young people in the group. It's neat. We finished the evening with, you guessed it FOOD. Again it was great. Then back to hotel and devotions and getting ready for tomorrow. Please pray for us as we start our week.
Miss you all xoxo Sandy Gemmell Aka mamaloo

We are here

2011-03-05T20:56:00.003-05:00

After an early start at 2am, we are here. Yeah! We were scattered throughout the plane and had no buddies to help with the paper work for customs- hope we can get out of the country. Finally arrived in Honduras...its quite a temperature change as it is 89 and HOT AND HUMID! All of our bags arrived safely, and we headed off to the MAMA office to begin sorting meds for the week. Mucho gracias to Gustavo, who rented us a fabulous van with AC. We then headed to Villa Nuria, where we are staying for the week. After unpacking two vehicles full of suitcases, we were finally able to relax and enjoy some of Auroras yummy cooking. Its only 8 here, as Bob constantly reminded us during our meeting, however I think he has forgotten we have also been awake for 17 hours straight! However, our generous leader is letting us be a little lazy tomorrow and we arent meeting for breakfast til 8am.

Keep us in your prayers and thoughts tomorrow as we have a packed day. We will be heading off in the morning to spend time with some teen girls and then to an orphanage for young children and babies. The experiences will be both emotionally hard and fulfilling. Then we will be off to Pastor Juans for service and dinner.

Respectfully submitted by Sandy, Wendell, Brandon, and Colleen (secretary...haha)

San Pedro Sula here we come!

2011-02-27T19:38:00.002-05:00

Our 20th team is headed to work with Proyecto MAMA in San Pedro Sula next weekend- March 5-14. Follow our adventures here!
Team members: Bob Moyer, Barb Rice, Colleen Bish, Sandy Gemmell, Kathy Myers, Liz Myers, Rolando Zelaya, Wendell Gehman, Brandon Longacre, Vern and Joyce Geissinger.

R & R in Copan!

2011-01-29T13:17:00.005-05:00

Saturday and Sunday were a time of relaxation & fun in Copan. A few visited the Mayan ruins and bird sanctury. Sunday morning all 16 of us enjoyed the zipline- so much fun! Then it was time to see Tim's Packers win the football game!

Monday morning 5am wake up call for the crazy 3 hour ride back to San Pedro Sula to fly home to cold and snowy Pennsylvania with good feelings about lives impacted in our brief visit to beautiful Honduras.

Stay tuned for news of the March 2011 Deep Run East team to San Pedro Sula.
Thank you!
Barb for the team

Surgery for Nolvin

2011-01-29T13:13:00.004-05:00

This is the sad little boy, Nolvin who we met in Sante Fe on Thursday. With the help of the MAMA staff we hope to find a surgeon in Honduras who will give him a chance to run and play with his friends.

Celebration Dinner

2011-01-29T12:55:00.004-05:00

Friday evening is a time of celebration of a week of accomplishments! Isabella, the best cook in Honduras fed 33 persons, our team and all of the MAMA team staff and volunteers. After dinner, Mary presented a report of the statistics of the week with totals for each community. The grand total results are as follows:
Homes with new cement floors- 30
Bags of cement mixed- 208
Medical clinic patients- 624
Deworming- 593
Vitamin A- 115
Dental extraction- 179
Low hemoglobin- 233
Malnourished children found- 21
Micronutrient powder distributed- 619
Reading glasses- 158
Praise God for giving us the opportunity to serve in this way.
Special thanks to the MAMA staff and volunteers who made this possible:
Hector- Director
Mary- Team Coordinator
Felix- Construction Leader
Wilson- Construction
Eddy- Construction
Rosa- Nurse
Dr. Blanca Ruby
Shelly- Dental clinic
Astrid- Dental clinic
Elle- Translator
Josselyn- Translator
Gabriela- Translator
Dania- Translator
Isabella- cook
Karen- asst cook

MAMA Honduras presented Deep Run East Teams with a plaque to commerate our many years of service in Honduras (this was our 11th team to San Franciso de Yojoa).

Thanks to our family, friends and church who donated medicine and especially for your prayers. This was the best team ever (but we say that every year!)

Barb for the team

Day 5- Camalotales

2011-01-29T12:25:00.002-05:00

(internet not available on Friday Jan 21, so finishing our updates after the fact)
Only one hour drive today, past Lake Yojoa thru the village of Taulabe. We set up in a school for the 3 communities of Camalotales, Taulabe, and Comayaqua. The guys had an exhausting start to their day with a 1000ft elevation (using Joe's i-phone app to check altitude) to their first house. With the help of the amazing MAMA staff, Felix, Eddy and Wilson they were able to split into 2 crews this year, doing 2 floors at a time with Don or Ed finishing. The process is to use the mixing pan (introduced in Honduras last year by our team!) to mix in the middle of the room. The batch is dumped and another one mixed while 2 guys spread and Don or Ed start to finish in the back of the room. The process is continued until they get to the front door:-)
This community was a little smaller, the medical clinic only seeing 128 persons. A family with malnourished children was found who were invited to come to the nutrition center.
Barb for the team

Sante Fe Thursday Jan 20

2011-01-20T22:46:00.005-05:00

January 20,2011
Santa Fe, San Francisco, Santa Barbara

Leaving the mission house at 7:30 and arriving at 9:30 we went passed beautiful countryside.Up, up, up high in the mountains on very bumpy roads we unloaded the trucks. We set up our stations while the men took their equipment and went to their first of six concrete floor projects. I am working with Joanna Detweiler this week and she is doing a great job of organizing the viamin A and the deworming station. She is a great asset to the team. People came slowly and steadily all morning. Today there were not as many men like we had the two previous days, mostly women and children. Before we knew it we had treated 100 people at our station. The men returned for a quick peanut butter sandwich and then back to work. It is never easy to eat our simple sandwiches while the town watches through the windows of the classroom. Karen Detweiler was taking blood from each community member. Yesterday she was very concerned that she might have made a mistake with the testing because the entire village had a low hemiglobin. Today everyone had a good number so in fact the numbers from yesterday were most likely correct and pointed to a community problem. MAMA will need to notify the proper community health officials. We noticed that there were large sugar bags that are reused for chicken manure and then washed for corn. The manure might be polluting the community water. We raised many questions at our nightly meeting about this acute community blood problem.
The afternoon was very warm but I didn't mind thinking of the cold weather back in PA. The blue sky was such a plus and the gentle breeze felt good in the open window of the classroom we were in. The people in this community were so friendly and thankful. Community members brought many gifts for the children staying at the mission center. Gifts of eggs, dried corn, oranges and small change were given with thankful hearts. Of course the men didn't enjoy the heat as much as I did because of the heavy water, the heavy cement and the heavy sand. There is a theme there! They certainly worked hard but were also appreciated by a people that truly needed the floor. Of course walking up and down the steep hills might have had something to do with the tired band of the concrete crew. Finally at the end of the day there was a little boy who was sitting nearby as we gathered our materials together. He didn't participate in getting the small gifts we handed out. It turned out that he never attended the clinic because his mom wasn't there. DR. Kathy noticed the boy had a club foot. Karen Detweiler found out some information. Sadly this 10 year old has had to deal with a club foot all his life which could be corrected. A new challenge for the team.
As we came together our team shared, reflected and looked forward to our final clinic. May God continue to bless our efforts.
Ruth Hohenstein for the team.

Canculuncos and Faithfulness

2011-01-19T22:08:00.005-05:00

Day 3 of our work is done. We traveled 2 hours around Lake Yojoa and as usual up a rutted mountain road with beautiful overlooks as we traveled a little too close to the edge of the road. (BTW--in my years of coming here we are traveling more remotely all the time...as people closer to the main roads are more healthy and we travel to the poor in the remote squatter communities up the mountain roads.)

We found the agricultural village of Canculuncos to be well fed with lots of chickens and pigs. An interesting "business" there is washing "feed bags" for their third use- first sugar, then chicken manure (fertilizer), then corn...so the washed and drying bags lay all along the edge of the road. But although well fed, we discovered a consistent pattern of low iron (anemic) in everyone....our doctors wonder why and we will ask the MAMA staff to followup.

Our concrete crew continues to amaze...another 40 bags of concrete for a total so far of 126, tracking to hit over the goal of 200 bags! Six houses a day have new concrete floors and we hear that each one is "perfect"! The concrete crew appreciates the great organization of Felix and the MAMA staff in preparing all the materials ahead so they can make a difference for so many families.

The medical clinic saw about 145 patients and the dental student volunteers (Shelly and Astrid) pulled 46 teeth!

We thought about faithfulness tonight in our devotional time. Although we are only here one week, our team is being faithful to God`s call to help the poor in our work. As we read the appropriate Oscar Romero prayer, "A Future Not Our Own", we reflected that we are "planting seeds" and "doing our work well".

Thanks for your prayers...we are all healthy. Please pray esp. for the concrete crew tomorrow. They do not know...but the houses will all be up a mountainside and they will need to carry water, etc. up a very steep incline. Pray for a cool breeze to refresh them and energy to make it thru the day.

Barb for the team

Did you see us on TV?

2011-01-18T20:04:00.002-05:00

Today we worked in Buena Vista, a village that was only settled about twenty years ago or so up in the hills more than an hour from San Francisco de Yojoa. The medical clinic saw 115 people while the dental clinic saw 40 patients. Since Leah is in public relations, she worked her magic and had a TV crew show up to film the work that we were doing (just kidding about Leah making the arrangements for the filming). The construction crew really poured it on today, using 46 bags of cement to make floors in 6 houses. Everyone continues to be in good health, gracias a Dios. Thank you for all your prayers. Blessings to all from Linda Rush for the team.

Greetings from Brisas de Bascadia

2011-01-17T19:58:00.005-05:00

Richie Ludwig and I (Leah) will be your guest bloggers for today. Today we traveled to Brisas de Bascadia. We got an early start leaving at 8am. Both vans were packed to the brim with eager workers! We traveled for about an hour and 20 minutes and found our way to a remote village. The men completed six houses equaling 40 bags of cement. Rich says the guys are on track to reach their 200 bag goal. The medical team saw approximately 70 people. This village seemed to be a healthy one. It was a fruitful day and the children and people were beautiful and very gracious. Here is a video clip from the end of our day today.

Okay, well we tried to upload the video, but it was not a success. We will share this when we get home:)

Day 1

2011-01-16T21:10:00.004-05:00

Hello friends! We arrived safe and sound today in San Pedro Sula and on to San Francisco de Yojoa. Some excitement getting Don through the security areas since his passport had been previously run through the wash and had water damage that perplexed the examiners. But, we all arrived and after a delicious dinner we have sorted and counted medicines, packed toys, crayons and soccer balls and clothes to take with us tomorrow. We also visited Marlins house that was built last year. Everyone is a little washed out tired after a very long day. JoAnna is doing great and handled 2 large suitcases that weighed as much as she does. Amazing that all those suitcases ended up in the right place. It has been a pleasure to be in the high 70`s rather than the low 20`s. The one set back is the high humidity which is such a change from the dry cold air at home. Looking forward to getting started tomorrow. Thanks to one and all for all the prayers. The snacks from our prayer partners are great! Love to all, Karen and JoAnna

2011-01-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

Team #19- January 2011

2011-01-14T18:28:00.002-05:00

We are excited! Have our 18 bags of donations packed! Please check in over the next 10 days to read our stories. Thanks in advance for holding us up in prayer!
Team Members: Joe and Ruth Hohenstein, Barb and Jake Rice, Don Rice, Tim Weaver, Ed Wyse, Karen and Joanna Detweiler, Leah and Rich Ludwig, Dr. Kathy Roeder, Dr. Judy Riley, Keith Williams, Timmy Magee, Linda Rush

Friday!

2010-03-19T23:10:00.002-05:00

Last day of work, I think I can speak for the team that while we are all exhausted physically and mentally, we are kind of sad to see it end. We accomplished much good again today. Steve and Bob tried their hands at medical while Eric, Zach, and Matt joined the construction crew. The medical team was greeted in Santiago with open arms by a community that was for the most part very healthy. Things today were much less chaotic as the community had prepared much for our arrival, including "private" exam rooms for the doctors and translators to use. A few cases that hit hard, but for the most part everyone was very healthy. With a more relaxed feeling to the day, the doctors took some time to really get to know the people they saw. A highlight of mine today was speaking with some of the young boys that I saw. An 11 yr old boy said when he grew up he wanted to learn English, come to the United States, and marry a beautiful woman. Another young 12 year old boy told me he wanted to be a lawyer. When I told him all things are possible with hard work and that he should try his best with his studies, he told me had to go because he wanted to get back to studying! The building team accomplished much today as well. Still at 6 de Mayo, they worked on adding another layer to a wall that surrounds the nutrition and education center in the community. They were also able to help fix a door and poor a concrete floor surrounding an area utilized by the woman for washing. This area is frequently hard hit with floods. As a result, the woman would often have to wash and do other tasks standing in inches of muddy water. With this concrete floor, it is their hope even if the flood waters do come they will still have some place dry and clean to work. As always, they also had time to bond with the community members too!

Tomorow morning we head off to Copan for a little rest and relaxation. While the hard work of our trip may be over, continue to keep us in your thoughts as we take a little time to rest our bodies and minds! See you all soon!

Colleen for the team

Bringing in the peaceable kingdom

2010-03-19T22:30:00.004-05:00

San Jose del Cayo and Seis de Mayo

Today was a very good day, but a very hard day. Both teams, the medical team and the construction team had our longest days, not returning until almost 6:00 pm.
The medical team had already run out of some of our key meds the day before, as we're seeing far more people than we had planned on seeing each day. But, Thursday was no exception either, and the team with the Proyecto MAMA staff were able to see all of the people, but a few MAMA staff will have to return back to the colony next week to give the deworming tablets. The med team told many stories in our evening sharing time about patients they met and problems they are facing - bringing to our team the hard realities of the poverty of this country.
The construction team went out to Seis de Mayo where we worked at the Proyecto MAMA site where they have a tutoring school - helping children after school with their homework, teaching them how to use computers,etc. We have several projects to complete here - pour a walk way with wheel chair access from the road into the entrance of the school; raise an entrance door about one concrete block; pour concrete caps on walls in front of the school, tyingin the wall with the fencing on top; pouring 5 more columns out front of the school - part of the front wall; and pouring another walkway and pad from the school to the washing area and bathrooms at the side of the building. This is a 2 day project, and we'll have to really hustle to get it finished. We had Matt with us today, as well as Pastor Juan and one of his community members - "Rico" (Ricoberto). So, by the end of the first day, we had all of the sidewalk poured and Dave was still doing the final finish at 5:30 or so.
But, at the end of the day, looking back on it - we had a really super day with everyone chipping in wherever they were needed. And yes, we're still making volcanoes here.

The team for the most part has been very healthy, with only an occasional need for a Cipro - for "just in case....."

Thanks to all for your prayers and concerns - we have all been greatly blessed by our friends here and our experiences. We hope and pray that the work being done here will help people to know each other better and to be able to live peacefully with each other.

Thanks to God,

DRE Proyecto MAMA team -Bob

2010-03-17T23:18:00.002-05:00

The medical clinic was at Nueva Inversion today. The highlight of the day was seeing Milton and his mom. He looks great and is a happy boy. His mom showed me pictures of their stay in the States. I wanted to ask her about her stay and her experiences, but the language barrier continues to be a frustration for me.
Since the internet room closes soon here are some words to describe our day:
many, many children. pouring rain on a tin roof. a hundred people inside the building. crying, talking. noise. chaos. running out of meds. turning people away.gave out 500 doses of deworming.
Lamentations 3: 19-26, 31-33
Terri for the team

Martes (Tuesday)

2010-03-16T22:40:00.004-05:00

Hola!
Today the medical team was at the Mealer (sorry, last night's spelling was incorrect) community while the Muy Debil Construction Team was at Gracias a Dios once again. The medical team saw 180 people and gave out over 200 deworming pills as well as around 40 eyeglasses. It was very stuffy in the school in the morning, but luckily an afternoon rain helped cool things off. This community is in the midst of building a fairly good sized church, but have run out of funds and still need a considerable amount. A few team members visited Jorge, who has Muscular Dystrophy and is now in a wheelchair. His mother is a single mom of four kids who started building a house, but is not finished and is living with her brother next door. This family could really use prayers and our group is going to discuss possible options tomorrow night, I believe. Also please pray for the pastor's son, who is most likely sick, but we do not know with what. Zach, who was manning the eyeglasses station had a very interesting character. He was around 75 years old and wore a cowboy hat. After lunch he engaged me in conversation and left me a little bewildered as I tried (and thought I succeeded) in telling him I didn't know very much Spanish and had more trouble listening than speaking. Luckily Jen was walking by and managed to tell him what was up. Later at the eyeglass station, he spent about 10 minutes with Zach trying to find the right strength until Jen came over and asked him if he could read. He said no. We eventually found a very old (70's, perhaps) pair of women's prescription glasses which made him very excited that he could see. Tomorrow we will be somewhere, but I forgot to ask where, sorry.

The Muy Debil Construction Team was unsure of whether they actually accomplished anything today when I asked them. The locals had almost finished the rest of the walls before breakfast so The MDCT helped finish the walls, put up the roof support, made a window, and made preparations for a door. Barry even taught a kid to play Candy Land. Tomorrow they will be at Gracias a Dios one final time to finish the door and other various things.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" were the words Steve could have used to describe the snoring of Bob last night. Steve hasn{t read the blog, but I'm sure he appreciated Jeanette's prayers and might need them the rest of the week. Is it the calm before the storm? Stay tuned to find out!

Also, the cooking from Aurora is excellent.

Contributed by Matt

Lunes (Monday)

2010-03-15T23:08:00.003-05:00

Monday was a very excellent day for both teams. We were at Pastor Juan's village, Gracias a Dios, and the neighboring village, Santa Ana. The medical team saw 309 patients, handed out an estimated more than 309 deworming pills (350+ ?, we're not really sure, thanks Terri...), and 74 eyeglasses. The Muy Debil(Very Weak) Construction Team built approximately 3 walls or half a house, but the word was all of our crew plus the local helpers finished as many walls(1) in the entire morning as the locals finished (1) during lunch. (Great job, guys..). There was some soccer playing from the teens, and Eric received his first kiss!!!!!! (from a 10 year old..). Tomorrow the medical team is going to the Millar Community and The Muy Debil Construction team will hopefully be finishing the house. There were some difficult situations that the doctors saw. Please pray for healing in this community.

Updated by Matt

P.S.: UPDATE ON ROBERTO'S SNORING: Steve said last night had sounded like a 'perculator.' Should this be considered an upgrade from the animal noises of Saturday Night? We'll let Steve be the judge of that.

Sunday March 14th (late posting!)

2010-03-15T23:07:00.002-05:00

We have been very busy, so just getting a chance to write for Sunday now!!

Sunday was a very busy day- a roller coaster of emotions from highs to lows. We started the morning out with learning of Bob´s snoring habits. According to Steve he "has no rhythm". More to update later as he becomes more tired with each day. Will he be an animal, or get some rhythm with time? Will Steve get any sleep? Stay posted!

After breakfast we met with Dinora before departing for the orphanage. She spoke to the group about what to expect for the day. Children had arrived at the orphanage for various reasons- living on the streets or even being abused by their family. Entering the orphanage, we were quickly greeted by many children. The director shared with us many things. They are unable to properly care for the children that have special needs there because the staff simply is not trained to do so. They have 40 people on staff, all of whom work 12 hour shifts 7 days a week and care for 125 children! The strong hearts they have! With Pastor Juan and Dinora leading, we sang many songs with the children as Pastor Juan played his guitar. A man of many gifts- he sings so beautifully. After some thoughtful words shared by others, we colored with the children. Beanies and candy were handed out, and then we went to spend time with the infants in the nursery.

Next on the itinerary for the day was a joyful celebration with Pastor Juan´s community for a delicious lunch. It was great to see many familiar faces with those we have grown so close to over the years. Barry continued his "games" Terri as he posted a picture of her on the large "Welcome" board at the front of the church. It would be hours later when we returned for church service that she would notice it, and had to wait to do anything about it until service was over!

From lunch, we went to the teen INFHA house where we visited with 99 girls. We made the time we spent with them very joyful. After Pastor Juan once more led them in beautiful song, both he and Rolando shared their stories with the girls, spreading hope to them that despite their difficult pasts there is still reason to hope for the future. Many of the girls performed dance routines for us to song, and even teached us some moves! As a side, Barry can not dance- it may seem more like flailing! Upon his suggestion, Rolando and Colleen then led the group in the "chicken dance" and then taught the girls the dance. It was lots of fun, and much laughing was shared. We then created meaningful bracelets with the girls and gave them journals, toys, and candy. Before leaving we shared some personal time with the girls, praying for them and hearing of their stories. The young boys of the group had much fun as the girls were very fond of them!

After a short break for dinner, we ended the night with attending Pastor Juan´s service. He speaks with such conviction and spirit. He spoke of a woman whom prayed for bread because she had nothing to eat. Later, a few boys approached her and gave her bread. She said it was thanks to God she had received such, but the boys laughed at her and said they had given her the bread, not God. She did not believe so, however, saying God had answered her prayers, and in such it was proof to her that He existed. Each day we face an empty cup, and Pastor Juan urges us we must fill this cup with faith.

A very busy day, but a great start to the week here. Keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we begin the work week!

Colleen for the group

Lo Siento

2010-03-15T23:05:00.002-05:00

Sorry to all of our loyal followers for no "blogus" (a blog status update) last night. We had a late team meeting after a rousing church service at Pastor Juan's community (Ken would be jealous).

The Beginning

2010-03-13T21:45:00.002-05:00

Our day began in the wee hours of the morning, driving through the rain to Newark Airport. Once we arrived, we had little difficulty going through customs and boarding our flight. As we took off there was a lot of turbulence due to the stormy weather. After a four and a half hour flight, we arrived in San Pedro Sula. Once we obtained our luggage, we loaded it onto a small truck and headed to the MAMA headquarters. There we unpacked the suitcases and repacked all the medications, toys, Bible, and other donations we would be handing out during the week. We then headed over to our hotel and settled in before heading to Power Chicken, where we enjoyed a smorgasbord of meats, rice, fried bananas, and yuca. Many of us are tired from the long day; however, we our looking forward to our day at the orphanage and time spent with Pastor Juan´s community tomorrow! Keep our group in your thoughts and prayers this week as we minister to many in Honduras!

Que Díos le bendiga!

Jen Gehman reporting on behalf of the DRE Honduras Group

2010-01-30T15:51:00.000-05:00

2010-01-30T15:48:00.001-05:00

2010-01-22T22:33:00.005-05:00

January 22, 2010

Off to our last village, El Vallecito. High in the hills of Honduras. There were 58 families in the community. The community leaders said they were so thankful we had come because other people had promised to come and help but never showed up. We were glad we came.

The construction crew completed their last six houses, setting new records this trip - 188 bags of cement - that's 37 yards of concrete or 4 truck loads of ready mix concrete. Any way you look at it, that's a lot of concrete and a lot of hard work!!

We came home to a special meal with the Honduran MAMA staff. Without their prep work and support we couldn't have accomplished what they did. They were great.

Some stats for the week:
1) The medical team saw 920 villagers.
2) The dentist pulled 322 teeth. OUCH!
3) We gave out 156 reading glasses.
4) We found 147 villagers were anemic and treated them.
5) We had a life changing experience, reaching out to others and serving them in the Name of Jesus.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. Our team is dispersing. Mark Rush left today. Nancy Rice and Kelly Mead will head home tomorrow while the rest of the group heads to Copan for some much needed R&R.

Until we stand on American soil,
Beverly Unruh

The Least of These

2010-01-21T21:38:00.004-05:00

January 21, 2010

Off to El Pinabete(named after a pine tree which surprisingly we see a lot of) today - hot, sunny, and breezeless. We arrived at the village after another steep, rocky, bumpy ride. The guys had to get out once on the way - this time to lighten the load so the van could get over a rock laden stream without taking the bottom out of the van.

The same set up as the other days - we getting into a routine now. Most of the medical team set up outside againg with the school rooms only big enough for the doctor and dentist. We saw about 140 villagers today - they just kept coming, right up until the end. It was a poorer village today, the poorest we have seen. We gave them what they could, sometimes it just doesn't seem enough. If we find out they have a serious medical problem, like high blood pressure, medicine is started and we recommend follow up in the local clinic, which may be hours away.

The construction crew did their six floors again, 34 bags of concrete. The houses were made of sticks and clay with only one window and one door. The heat inside the house was oppressive. Made more so when their oven was inside with a fire burning. Some houses have their ovens outside. Their few possessions are outside the house while the floor is poured - a few chairs, maybe a very small table, beds with a frame and then strung back and forth with rope to make a mattress. Most houses have a corn storage system and a corn grinder in the house.

We finished our work and left around 4pm to a long ride home. Everyone was hot and tired. Even after showers and supper, our energy was sapped. Tim Weaver led our team time again(thanks, Tim) and shared with us from Matthew 25 - "Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, a prisoner,or sick and help you? And the Lord replied,"Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of them, you did it to Me."

Blessings to all,
Beverly Unruh

A Holy Moment

2010-01-20T20:47:00.004-05:00

January 20, 2010
Another warm sunny day with the forecast promising the temperatures to reach the 90s. We were off to La Playa, which means the beach. Like Joe commented, "The last time this village saw the beach was when Noah was in the ark." La Playa is high in the mountains - the sky was blue and we felt like we could touch the clouds. The hills were planted with corn, coffee, or had a few cows grazing on them. But no beach.
Once again the villagers were waiting for us at the school, which was small. There were only 27 families in this community. Most of the health team set up outside by the school(thankfully in the shade). The dentist was busy pulling a lot of teeth and we saw one little boy who was malnourished but overall the village seemed fairly healthy.
And then there was Wendy. She was a 18 year old girl who met us with shrieks and loud noises. She moved around freely in the village, interacting with everyone but never really connecting. The team found out that she has had epilepsy from birth and some degree of mental retardation. What intrigued the team was that all the villagers accepted her, never made fun of her, never tried to minimize her or push her away. They loved her as she was, just like Jesus loves us. As we reflected this situation at our team meeting, we felt God in our presence, a holy moment to remember and treasure.
Barb had quite a following today. She took a break from the pharmacy after lunch and started to take pictures of the children and then print them out on a portable printer. They loved seeing themselves in the photos.
The guys, as always, were working hard. Six floors again using 37 bags of concrete. Keep the gatorade coming! They said this was the cleanest water they had seen in any of the villages so far.
As we were packing up to go home a huge pick up truck packed with Hondurans was coming back from the coffee fields. There were baskets hanging on the sides of the truck. The workers get so much per basket they pick. Coffee is a cash crop that is becoming more popular.
One man in the village brought his guitar and himself and some other men started singing songs. We couldn't understand what they were singing but it sounded nice.
Back to the mission house. Nancy is actually enjoying riding on the cooler in the small empty space in the van so we can squeeze 16 people in. Getting to and from the village is as much of an adventure as the work itself.
Two more days of clinics and 12 more floors to pour. We feel your prayers. Thank you.
Respectfully yours,
Beverly Unruh

Los Angeles (not California)

2010-01-19T21:56:00.003-05:00

We woke up to a warm, sunny day that would get hotter and hotter(90 degrees F.) Off to Los Angeles today - fortunately not California due to the weather they have been having.
Once again the roads were less than desirable. The main roads had crater like pot holes. There were children filling them in with stones and then asking for money from the passerbys. Then came a detour due to a major bridge had collapsed within the last year. The road up to the village was dry but very rocky and bumpy with top speeds maybe 20 mph.
The villagers were waiting for us at their new school(built last August.) They had set up a large tarp and put chairs underneath it so the villagers could sit and listen to the presentation on nutrition and hygeine given by Rosa, a MAMA staff member.
The health care team set up and started seeing patients - approximately 140. They were in better health than yesterday´s village - we saw more cattle, pigs and chickens indicating the people had access to more protein.
The construction team did six floors again utilizing 33 bags of concrete. They are one lean, mean, working machine. They come back covered in sweat, grime and mud but they wouldn´t want it any other way. Thanks guys!!
When I finished checking 134 hemoglobins(to monitor for anemia) Dania(a translator - 19 years old and studying to be an English teacher at the university in Tegucigalpa - she reads the English/Spanish dictionary for fun)and I went to find the guys pouring concrete to get a few pictures. A few of the children tagged along. Many of the houses had thatched roofs. We greeted the villagers sitting on their porch with "holas" and they responded with an English phrase and laughed. The guys were hard at work and I got the pictures.
Dania and I decided to take a different way back - a rocky path with houses along the way. Surprisingly, also lined with streetlights! We met up with other children we had met at the clinic and they showed us a foot path down to the river. Large and flowing with a cool breeze - the children said they go swimming often.
Back to the school to say our good byes and have an uneventful trip home. Another delicious meal by our cook, Isabella. Some of us packaged more vitamins for tomorrow while others did dishes. At our team time, we reflected we have been here a week already! A lot of hard work but a lot of fun and learning to get to know one another. Six more days to go and looking forward to more adventures everyday as we serve our Lord and Saviour, Jesus.
Respectfully yours,
Beverly Unruh

Mark´s 50th Big Day

2010-01-18T22:02:00.003-05:00

January 18, 2010
We started out a cloudy, cool day by wishing Mark Rush a Happy 50th Birthday. We ended the day by singing him Happy Birthday and enjoying a delicious birthday cake made by our cook, Isabella.
The in between times were when our adventures began. By 8:30 am we were off to El Sitio. The rain the night before turned the dirt, or should I say, mud roads into a mess. The rocky, steep terrain didn't help either with pot holes/craters dotting the way. The van got stuck four times with the guys getting out and pushing it up the hill FOUR times. Mucho gracias!!
After a two hour,slippery, bumpy ride we arrived at the village with the villagers anxiously awaiting our arrival. We quickly set up the health clinic and the guys were off to pour floors.
The health team saw about 120 people of all ages. Overall, the village was not in good health. We were able to help them by giving them medicine and vitamins. We brought a mother and baby back with us to the Nutrition Center as the baby was malnourished. Another mother and baby may come next week.
The construction team poured six floors using 40 bags of concrete. That is a lot!! The villagers were appreciative by helping having their houses ready and helping with the concrete work.
Our work was done by 4:30 PM. Fortuneately the sun had come out and dried up the road, somewhat. The guys had to get out and push only one time. We were all tired but had a feeling of satisfaction of a job well done as well as making a difference in someone's life.
Respectfully yours, Beverly Unruh (This is my first time in Honduras.)

Big d

2010-01-18T21:28:00.000-05:00

Sunday "Down Day"

2010-01-17T20:33:00.002-05:00

Today was rainy and cooler. The construction crew was bemoaning the fact that it would have been the best day to work without the heat.

We headed to San Pedro Sula in the morning to go to the craft market. Then lunch at Pizza Hut and headed to the airport to pick up Nancy. Nancy´s flight came in a little late but she had no problems. We headed back to the mission house in yet another rental van, #3!! Mary, the team coordinator is handling the van situation well, but we can see it is wearing her down. To review, the first red van lost brakes (and was overheating) on Friday and the second "fancy van" was not prepared to travel the mountain roads to get to the communities. The latest van (which I have a feeling it will not be the last!) is older, with tight seats but seems to have decent power. Stay tuned for the continuation of "the van saga".

We all are tired tonight....maybe the weather or not doing much....early to bed to get ready for the busy week ahead. Please pray for strength for the construction crew and for a good day for the medical clinic. Also pray for Mary as she handles all the team and clinic planning...it will be a stressful, tiring week for her.

We all continue to be in good health.
Thanks to all,
Barb for the team

Saturday in San Franciso-Marlon House Walls Complete!

2010-01-16T23:02:00.003-05:00

A beautiful sunny hot day here. The construction crew are happy with the work on Marlon´s house. The blook walls are complete. The guys said it was what they had hoped to accomplish! They even finished up at 2pm!

The girls spent the morning doing laundry and cleaning in the misson house, taking lunch to the guys, going for a walk thru town and playing with the kids at the nutrition center. We took them a soccer ball (an immediate hit for the boys), bubbles and a Candy Land game which we taught them to play. I think we brightened their day with some new activities.

The highlight of the day was a fish dinner at an authentic Honduran restaurant on Lake Yojoa. It was a beautiful evening and the whole fish was delicious (and no one seemed bothered by the fish eyes and fins). We all continue to be healthy...a true test will be tonight as a few of us indulged in the jalepenos in the jar at the restaurant (something we have always been told not to do:-)

A prayer request would be for the van situation. We had a new rented van tonight, but the driver (who also owns the van) was told he would be driving on mostly flat roads...very far from what will happen next week as we head to remote communities for clinics and cement floors. Mary, the MAMA team coordinator, will work on trying to find yet another van. We hope to get the van at the airport when we pick up Nancy Rice joining the team tomorrow.

Thanks for your continued prayers.
Barb for the team

Gongora and Marlon´s House Day#2

2010-01-15T23:39:00.004-05:00

A beautiful, sunny, breezy day in Honduras (although the construction crew would say HOT!) Marlon´s house walls are going up and today they poured the corners wired w/ rebar to tie the walls together (Honduran wall building style). They were very tired and very hot but accomplished a lot. The walls should be done tomorrow. Marlon and his dad work beside the DRE work crew.

The medical team had a beautiful drive about 1.5hrs away on the other side of Lake Yojoa from where we were yesterday. We drove thru the town of Las Vegas and up the mountain overlooking the town. Up, up and up, as the engine continued to overheat. Mary the MAMA team coordinator, decided to pull over to let the engine cool and we continued on and arrived at the community of Gongora. (Village named 80 years ago for the sound the monkeys made from the mountain--the name remains but no more monkeys.)
At the school we were greeted with a surprise! The school children performed 3traditional Honduran dances for us...they were dressed in beautiful dresses and the boys in neat white shirts....what a wonderful welcome and indication of a special generous and appreciative community! This was MAMA´s first time here and they thanked us over and over again for coming! Bev was even given a horseback ride as a thank you! The clinic routine went well seeing about 100 people for doctor consult.

We continue to feel your prayers...and even comment when there are snags along the way that it will be OK because we know we are covered in prayer. That was evident on the way home tonight as the van that had engine problems in the AM now had no brakes! Mary was concerned and pulled over in Las Vegas and eventually Felix came to pick us up. (Luckily the van is rented and was returned to the rental agent!) But as the situation developed and we waited for it to be resolved, we felt calm and at peace knowing we are being lifted up by so many! We did arrive late for dinner, but it was extra good because we were so hungry!

A special thank you to Mary for always looking out for our safety! It is clear caring for us is her priority and she takes situations in stride making good decisions, communicating well and making sure we are OK. MAMA is blessed to have her work with the our teams.

Thanks again for your interest and prayers! (PS we will try to post video of the students dancing tomorrow.)
Barb for the team

Marlon´s House Walls and El Barro

2010-01-14T22:18:00.004-05:00

A good start today! Before breakfast, we walked one block down the street across from the mission house to see Marlon´s house. The construction crew was happy to see a foundation ready for block walls. It is a very small lot, surrounded by banana trees and Felix´s dad lives next door. The work went well, but the blocklaying was totally different than at home (per chief mason, Jake). The sand is very coarse and no lime is used to make the mortar workable. Tim Weaver worked with the construction crew to help translate details like where door and window openings were. We came home to sunburned tired guys (who had already started their laundry!).

The medical clinic was in El Barro, about 1.5hrs away, past Lake Yojoa, up muddy slippery roads. We set up in the school (no school for kids in January). MAMA has added new procedures with more stations to the clinics. It was the first time for the staff and obviously us to do additional things like test hemoglobin and hand out eye glasses. There was also new recordkeeping procedures. Once we got set up everything ran very smoothly. Beverly doubled up on the blood pressure, eyeglass stations, Ed discussed motor skill developments for babies up to 3 yrs with the moms, Mark and Marge did deworming and Vit A and Kelly did the hemoglobin finger stick. Dr. Sandra (MAMA staff) saw patients (106 today)and Barb and a translator did pharmacy. There was also a dentist.

Reflections on the day:
--did you know Ed Wyse has been studying Spanish for one year and is fairly fluent?
--neat to see the dentist´s excitement to use the new portable dentist chair and dental headlamp donated by a Souderton Mennonite SS class.
--appreciated the 3 translators that helped us today, Peter, David and Dani.
--San Franciso de Yojoa must be a happy town...fireworks for someone´s celebration at 4am this morning...we were ready to get up anyway. We are on Joe´s schedule...to bed at 9, up at 5am..
---thinking lots about Haiti and why people in poverty suffer.

Everyone healthy so far. Thanks for all your prayers!!
Barb for the team

"Welcome Home" to San Francisco de Yojoa

2010-01-13T21:46:00.005-05:00

We arrived! A long day with a 4 hour layover in COLD Miami airport. Arrived to cloudy drizzle (low 60´s) in San Pedro Sula about 2:30pm (3:30pm east coast time). Smooth flight and baggage all arrived fine. Mary and Felix met us at airport. Loaded luggage on new flatbed pickup and passengers in nice rented van (old white van may not be repaired). Sorted medicine and prepared for the day tomorrow. Isabella's dinner of taco meat, tortillas and excellent hot sauce enjoyed. Wonderful pina (pineapple) for dessert. Early bedtime to prepare for work tomorrow!
Thanks for covering our travels in prayer.
Barb for the team

10 Year Anniversary Team

2009-12-29T22:14:00.002-05:00

We are preparing for our 10th year of sending teams to work with MAMA Project in Honduras. To celebrate we plan to do a special project....building a house for our friend in San Francisco de Yojoa, Marlon Isaias Sabillon. Marlon has helped our teams do cement floors for many years, but he does not have a cement floor and actually does not own a home, but lives in a very makeshift dwelling his parents left behind. More to come on this special project.

2009-03-31T21:58:00.001-05:00

Saturday - Copan

2009-03-22T09:22:00.004-05:00

After having an awesome week of medical clinics and construction of 2 houses, we are now in Copan, and trying to make use of every minute of the day. As I am writing this morning - Sunday - 5 of our group are headed out for the canopy tour. On Saturday though, we arrived in Copan around 11:30, had some lunch, and went to the Ruinas de Copan. After touring the Mayan site, the next adventure was horseback riding. We found a new guide who seemed to be very honest and will try to keep his card to look him up next year. He happens to be the brother of the guide we had at the ruins. After riding and lots of sore body parts, shopping was the next thing on the agenda, and we stayed mostly on the street that leads down to Carnita´s, where we had our usual traditional meal on the upper level. All were amazed at how the staff were carrying bottles and glasses on top of their heads. Also, it was fun to watch the cook at the grill with the bellows to heat up the fire.

The day was full, but we all had soooo much fun and time to relax and enjoy our free time together. The hotel is very beautiful, and the rooms are great. Gustavo has the best room ' the ´honeymoon suite´! He even has a grande screen TV. The town was very busy today, and tonight was very noisy. Besides lots of loud music and drums, they were shooting off fireworks every 5 minutes or so...... probably till 2:00 AM or later. Most of us were able to sleep through it anyhow.

Well, this is just a quick update. Hopefully in the next few weeks we will update this and write up some more stories for you.

Thanks for all your prayers and support! This week has been incredible, and you´ll have to talk to our team to hear their stories.

We hope to be back in San Pedro Sula by 5:00 today, so that we can go out to Gracias a Dios one last time. We want to pick up the letters from our penpals from Pastor Juan, and we also want to see if Mauricio and Josue´finished the house. After that, we will probably see Dinora and her family in the evening, along with Aurora, give them our gifts, and say our good-byes, as we will be leaving for the airport around 4:30 in the morning on Monday.

For the team, Bob

Gracias a Dios

2009-03-20T23:17:00.005-05:00

This picture is of Pastor Juan and Miguel helping a 100 year old man hike up the mountain to his house! He actually did most of it on his own. We just helped the last few steps when we saw him!

The medical team and construction team were both in Gracias a Dios today, and both had an awesome day.

We were able to finish all of the house except the roof, which Mauricio and Josue will finish on Saturday.

The medical team had a good, more relaxing day too, as the people of this village are very good at helping out the team.

The stories that were shared tonight at our team meeting were very moving - some very sad, and others just too funny to be true. Ask Jake about the attack chicken sometime!
We were laughing and crying for about an hour, and all agree that we had a week that has changed our lives forever.

I´m writing this with only a couple minutes left before the internet office closes, so we´ll have to write more later!

I believe we´re all healthy again, and are looking forward to the weekend in Copan.

Bob,
for the team at Projecto MAMA, SPS

Thursday March 19th

2009-03-19T22:53:00.004-05:00

Today was another fun day for both teams. The medical team departed to the village of Santiago, Pimienta. It was our first time to the community, and we could sense the need for our presence immediately. In all, we cared for 170 patients. Once again, we were saddened to see the trouble the community was having with high blood pressure, but the team has faith in their ability to overcome since there is a nurse living in their community and the teachers were all very supportive. We treated many cases of scabies in the community, as well as serious wounds. Colleen and Sandy helped a 50 year old woman with 8 children that had walked an hour to reach the clinic to seek help for a severely infected burn to her lower leg and later Tanya and Colleen helped an older lady that had an infected wound on her arm. Then, before departing home, Karen, Rolando, and Colleen made a "house call" to a young man in his 20´s that lived three "blocks" from the clinic. He had sustained a serious injury to his leg 10 years ago after being struck by a vehicle and thrown off the road. He never was able to seek proper medical care since then, and as a result had lost circulation to the front of his leg. Of course, we would not have made it through the day with out the determined work of our ¨Pharmacia¨ of Brittany and Kathy. On a brighter side, Carmen annointed the community´s church and school; the people were incredibly gracious. Her incredible strength brought light and hope the community. Jake and Tanya had lots of fun taking pictures of all of the children and their families, and provided them with a lifelong keepsake of the day by printing out pictures for them to take home. Jake was also asked for his number and email (oo-la-la!)
The building team continued their work today on Don Alejandro´s home in Colonia Gracias a Dios for our pen pal Paola and her mother and father. They were able to put up a second front wall facing the valley giving the family an absolutely beautiful view! They had an easy morning framing the walls of the home, and then had some heavier work carrying additional building materials up 95 uneven, GIANT steps up the mountain (Bob counted!) 7 times in the evening. Pastor Juan beat them all with the amount of materials he carried, and made it look easy. Steve is now speaking fluent Spanish with Pastor Juan, Mauricio, and Josue´ as well as the children they play with as they take breaks (while they left the planning to the experts). They no longer have a translator really with them, but are all able to understand one another quite well. The team is working hard, while still taking some time out for fun. They plan on finishing the last two walls tomorrow, but will not be able to see the roof go up before we depart for Copan.

Submitted by: Colleen, Tanya, and Sandy

Back on track...Wednesday March 18th

2009-03-18T23:23:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone!
Today was a great day for both teams. The medical team started the day out going to a banana plantation that provides bananas for Dole! We were given a tour of the plantation and learned the process of harvesting bananas. We learned it takes 9 months to grow one bunch (100 bananas)- UNBELIEVABLE! We learned the extreme amount of hard work that goes into placing yummy bananas in our stores each day. It was neat to see that the bananas are actually broken off the stem with a string rather than a knife.
After the plantation, the medical team departed for Santa Rita and the Good Shepherd village. The community was AMAZING! They have so much love to spread around. From the moment we arrived, there was a trail of little kids running after us because they were so excited to have us there. The MAMA team has been involved with the community for many years, and it was uplifting to learn how much the community has grown in four years; as Carmen mentioned she was able to return four years later and feel God´s presence. We were able to help 117 individuals, from ages 26 days old to 74 years old. The kids were so much fun, and Tanya, Jake, Colleen, and Brittany felt very connected to them all. Kathy had even had a dream the night before that Jake was feeding pieces of his sandwich to all the children. Rolando and Sandy later commented on how much promise they saw in the community. We encountered a very strong woman who touched all of our hearts, she has 12 children and her husband just passed away. She has no job, and three of the children she took in from her niece to raise. She was unsure how she was going to provide for her family, but she was still a strong light in the community. Karen was amazed that the children took their worm medicine with such conviction- even though they did show some distaste afterwards! The community is so strong, and you could sense they had an understanding how important it was to care for their health in order to be strong for the others they live with. It still amazes the team that despite what little material possessions the individuals of the communities we visit have, they are rich with their faith for God and give freely and unselfishly. The pure spirit of the community uplifted us all after two long days working thus far.
The construction team had a very difficult day. They spent most of the morning hauling lumber up a very steep, long (and sometimes trecherous) hill. They were able to erect one wall and hope to get much more accomplished tomorrow. The children of the village are very interested in their work, and very helpful as they try to play where their building (hahaha). Steve and Bob returned home with very sore muscles, but otherwise had an injury free day (unlike the day before when they were shocked by a frayed wire-ouch!) They are getting a great tan though! :-) And lots of exercise too!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we reach the end of our week!

Submitted by: Colleen Bish and Sandy Gemmell

For yesterday haha

2009-03-18T22:51:00.002-05:00

Hello to all.
It seems that we are all behind a day here because the computers didn´t work and the members that wrote the night before didn´t have time for another blog so here is yesterdays. Bob and steve left early in the morning on time with Gustavo after our breakfast. The problem is Auroa was on Hondurian time haha. She didn´t come until 830 and colleen could not go to the clinic with us. She has an upper resperatory infection and a fever i am happy to report that today she is ok and went. So anyway we went to a small community only about 10 minutes away from our hotel and the living conditions here were absolutely horrendous. The water was their sewer and the roads were not able to be accessed by cars so we walked. They closed school for us because it was the only place that they had big enough for us. No sooner than we got settled Brit sliced her hand on a fan. She sucked it up and continued. It was hot and humid all day and even though the conditions were poor the peoples hearts were as large as they could possibly get. Smiles all around. Even at lunch (Ham sandwiches and cheeetos) they were throwing our trash away for us. After triage was over tanya and i (jake) taught the kids how to play duck duck goose. However we did not know the word for goose so we played duck duck parrot. We saw over 170 patients and they all were content to wait in line. We played with the kids and when we went to leave we had no space in the pickup truck so all of us piled into a 5 passenger truck. all 14 of us. Dinner was chicken and rice and everybody packed for tomorrow and hit the hay.

The mama team
(Written by Jake Clements)

March 16 2009

2009-03-17T21:49:00.006-05:00

late entry, computer were down for Monday. We went to Miller community (?), it was the first day for clinic. We saw 136 patient plus many for just deworming and vitamins. A rough start but we have quickly caught on and have been sucessful since. A couple cases were, one was a servere case of fungis on an elderly women´s lower calves and feet. Karen and Colleen washed them in iodine and bandaged them well in dressings. We supplied her with enough medications to hopefully provide her with some relief. Another case would be an eight day old baby, newborn that was helathy and well to a very proud mom. We adminstered prenatal vitamins to mom who was nursing. We treated the very old and the very young. Alot of anemia and ¨gripe and tos¨ which means coughs and running noses. The people of the community were so thankful, they gave us corn and melons even though they struggle to feed themselves. It would be an insult not to take them, but it was hard. The people waited hours to get medical attention. It was brought up in devotion that back at home we tend to get impatient after 15 minutes. The men made incredible progress on the elderly women´s home. She sent home limes with Jake, we used them in our aqua. They built up walls with blocks, and steve went from being a balconeer to a traveler in one day. (ask him when you see him haha) We learned about what Honduran time is, very calm and patient and sometime even slow except for their driving. Bob is our fearless leader and Kathy our strong and silent leader. Brittany our brillant idea person, who improvises very quickly on her toes. At the end of the day we were dividing the Robitussin into plastic baggies. Rolando and Carmen are priceless I couldnt see us without them. Also, all the Honduran MAMA staff are our rescuers. All together we make an awesome team.

miss you all
Tanya and Sandy

INFA and the Dedication

2009-03-15T23:09:00.003-05:00

Hello Friends,

Today was day two of our trip and boy was it a wake up call. We first woke up for breakfast at 630 (well everyone but cathy, Karen, Brittany, and Carmen Karen woke them up at 430). Then we were off to the Infa house with the children from 3 months to 12 years old. As soon as we entered the driveway of the orphanage one little boy hopped into the truck and hugged steve before we even got out. And all the other kids were like that. They were pushing each other out of the way just for us to hold them, just for someone to love them. After the initial waves of greeting we went into the office of the director and were debriefed on what the children´s situation was. This is where some people began to get teary eyed. We then exited and were escorted to the schools and then to the babies room. Every one of us got close to one of the babies in there, and they would cry when we tried to put them down. This was the biggest reality check of the day. After we left the babies room we went down to a classroom and handed out bubbles and coloring books. Soon after that we said goodbye to our new friends and regretfully left the place that made us all get choked up. Our next stop was the next level of treatment for children 13-18 all girls. We arrived at another bolted gate and walked through a beautiful garden. Next we met the girls and they shared songs with us, so Karen lead a singing of 606 with us to give back. Candy was given out and we left shortly thereafter. The construction workers met the woman receiving our work over the next couple of days. In the evening we attended a child dedication service at pastor juan´s church. Bob lead the dedication and made Ken proud. Pastor Juan was very passionate in his sermon about job and reminded all of us of Bill Martin. Haha. They sang very loudly with a full band and most of us couldn´t hear when we left. Gustavo drove us home and we are shortly going to bed now. Hope to write again tomorrow
The Mama Group members
(written by Jake Clements)

Saturday - Arrived safely

2009-03-14T22:02:00.002-05:00

Hi to all our friends!

Arrived safely, including all our suitcases!
Our check-in and security all went smoothly - had excellent customer service who take care of us almost immediately, and were up at the gate in less than an hour.
Gustavo, Aurora, and Dinora were at the SPS airport to meet us, and we loaded up in the small pickup truck and the van. We went to our hotel at Villa Nuria where we spent the next 3 hours or more sorting the suitcases - meds, toys, candy, kits for boys and girls, and then repacking some of the medications. It is warm here - sweaty warm!
At 7:00, Gustavo picked us up and we all went over to Linda Robela´s house for an excellent barbecued chicken dinner with potatoe salad and a lettuce salad. We watched the Projecto MAMA video before we ate, and Linda also told us the story about one of the areas they work in where there are gangs killing innocent people, and they don´t know what to do. As a Christian group, they think they need to be doing something, but they are struggling with what they can or should do.
After the meal, we all were very tired, and came back to the hotel, where most of us were ready to hit our beds.
Tomorrow is another full and long day, and we´re looking forward to spending a good part of the day in the children´s orphanage and the home for young girls - teens. In the evening we´ll be taking part in the worship service with Pastor Juan and the dedication of his baby daughter, Yvonne Nehomi Ramirez Gonzales.

Good night.

Bob, for the team

March Team Preparing Week Before Trip

2009-03-09T09:54:00.003-05:00

03/12/09 - Only two days till we leave

Jan 24- Copan

2009-01-24T22:11:00.007-05:00

After a long drive, 5 hrs we arrived safely in Copan about noon today. We had a wonderful day touring the ruins and good meals at Carnitas. The weather was a perfect 80 degrees. Some plan to do the zipline in the morning, others will visit the coffee and bird sanctuary. We hope to be back in San Pedro Sula by 5pm Sunday night to prepare for our 745 flight home on Monday. Will see you all soon. Thanks for holding this trip and team up in prayer. We felt Gods hand moving in our team and in our work.
Barb for the team

2009-01-23T22:56:00.002-05:00

Day #5-Last Work Day El Tigre, Santa Cruz de Yojoa
Our last day was very productive (even though we were tired.) We set up our clinic today in a beautiful church, with tile floors and finished wood benches. Ruthie did deworming on a lovely breezy porch, along with Rosa doing registration and Tim W. helping with weighing and measuring. Dr. Sandra saw patients, while Rhoda and Trish took blood pressures. The dentist was in a room off the back of the church. As we drove into the community we saw nice homes, surrounding a grassy green with the church on the corner. But the cement floor crew saw a different picture as they did 4 floors on the outskirts of the village, very poor homes where the new floor is more substrantial than the walls. We were sad to have Vince and Rhoda leave about 1:30 for San Pedro Sula to stay overnight to catch early flights home on Saturday.
Tonight we enjoyed a special dinner celebration with the staff---oh...Isabel is a wonderful cook. She worked so hard all week. We appreciate all the staff for their hard work to make our week a success.
Final numbers for the week: Deworming pills- 792, Vitamins to children- 498, Medical Consults- 341, Cement floors- 20 plus work at mission house (110 1/2 bags of cement).
Thanks for your prayers on our behalf, as we experienced good health, safety and nice weather (70´s daytime, 60 nighttime). Please pray for better health for the people we saw, that the medicine we gave will heal and give hope.
We head for our R & R weekend at the Copan Ruins tomorrow at 7am.
Will write from the internet cafe.
Barb for the team

2009-01-22T22:10:00.002-05:00

Day 4- El Portillo, Santa Rita Yoro
Another good day in a small community in the general area we went yesterday. Some nice homes and school along a badly rutted mud path. We were happy the mud from earlier in the week had dried up, or we would not have made it back to the school. The team is working together like clock work! Four concrete floors were done by 2:30! We saw 67 patients for doctor consults and Ruthie gave deworming medicine to 72 people. This community had a lot of absent men and fathers. We were concerned for the 26 year old mom with 4 kids, including a 15 day old and no husband. The infant has not opened her eyes since birth, determined to have an eye infection. Rhoda took time to lovingly show the mom how to wash and apply eye drops. We tried to help moms organize medicine for each child, as each were given amoxycillian and numerous other meds for infections. Our hearts break for some we see.
The guys have enjoyed seeing floors poured on previous trips-checking out how their work has held up for a few years of use. It was determined that the floors were still in good condition!
Tomorrow, Vince and Rhoda will leave for San Pedro Sula overnight to catch early flights home on Saturday morning. It will be sad to have them leave.
We are amazingly healthy---thank you Ruthie for boiling the water for doing dishes and then making sure we dipped in magic blanco (bleach). We are wondering if our risk takers will be OK tonight---Loren always trying the food brought in by the community women and Tim drinking the pineapple juice made with clean?? water.
Thanks for praying for our safety and health. God has been with us.
Barb for the team

Wednesday, January 21, 2009- El Sentadero

2009-01-21T22:11:00.002-05:00

A slower paced day today for everyone´- nice steady flow at the clinic and the concrete crew had the surprise of community people setting up the last two floors, and we were all done by 2pm! Since we got back early the concrete crew used their expertise to work on the new driveway in front of the mission house. They poured footers on the lower side of a new turnaround.
The rural community today was along one of the main rivers in Honduras. It was a pleasant place with obvious cleaning done to prepare for our visit. Persons were fairly healthy, just signs of a hard life - foot problems from lots of walking, skin problems from bathing in the river, headaches from dehydration and hard work. We worried about the boy who cut his hand with a machete yesterday trying to open a coconut and about the mother of two down-syndrome children. The day is really a celebration for everyone- medicine for now (and the next time they are sick), vitamins (everyone wants vitamins, esp. the kids!), and gifts for the kids (stuffed animals, notebooks, Bibles and candy).
The weather has been perfect, even a touch cool (mid seventies during the day, 60 degrees at night). Everyone is healthy and enjoying our time here.
Thanks so much for your prayers!!
Barb for the team

Day 2 La Virtud, San Francisco de Yojoa

2009-01-20T22:34:00.002-05:00

Another very success day, 232 taking deworming medicine, 76 medical consults and another 4 new cement floors. The community was up the mountain toward Lake Yojoa. We passed a number of egg production farms, as a result the community was well nourished, lots of cracked eggs to eat? But hygiene information was needed with lots of scabies and other dirty living condition results. Ruthie processes all the deworming, rewarding the children with a Gummy vitamin and a sticker. Dr. Sandra, Rhoda, Trish and Tim (translating) see patients, Barb manning the pharmacy. The guys had a hard day, carrying sand at the first house, 2 houses in the afternoon were up the mountain, but the truck was able to bring the sand up. It seems there was a lot of rain prior to our arrival, so everything is so muddy, but we enjoy the beautiful lush vegetation and not so hot days and cool nights. The people in the communities come up and stay the whole day, an important event for everyone to get medicine and see doctors. The children love to get their vitamins and little things the MAMA staff hands out, including a new Testament today.
Everyone is enjoying each other, the work and is healthy so far.
Your prayers are protecting us and helping us thru each day! Thank you!

Barb for the team

Day One Report Guangolola 2 El Negrito Yoro

2009-01-19T19:26:00.002-05:00

We had a good first day 292 dewormed, 75 saw "doctors", and 4 floors poured! The guys did not even start to work until 11am! Trish and Rhoda took blood pressures to start and then saw patients. We also had a doctor, Sandra who saw patients too. It was a blessing to have MAMA staff who are bilingual this year, Erica and Mary. The community was typical, lots of high blood pressure in older people, a very awful leg ulcer, children w/ ear infections. One mom and small baby were brought back to the nutrition center for low weight. We were thinking as she got in the MAMA vehicle with just her baby, nothing else, what we would want to bring along if we were moving somewhere for 6 weeks? The guys were impressed with all the setup and help done by the community to make the 4 floors a possibility today, even with the late start. Well, time for dinner....will write more soon.
Barb for the team

2009-01-16T20:24:00.004-05:00

January 18-26, 2009- 15th Deep Run East Team to Honduras

Team Members- Joe and Ruth Hohenstein, Jake and Barb Rice, Don Rice, Loren Rice, Tim Nyce, Vince Fleck, Tim Weaver, John Weaver, Rhoda Detweiler, Trish Samanns

MAMA Team to San Francisco de Yojoa--Planning medical clinics and concrete floors.
Watch for updates.

2008-04-09T15:28:00.006-05:00

January 2008 DRE MAMA Honduras Team ( January 20 - 28, 2008 )

Dear friends and family,

We arrived without problems on Sunday.

Monday we were in a small community about 20 minutes from the center - Los Hules. We saw 88 people in the clinic and the guys did 4 floors with a total of 20 bags of cement. They were exhausted though there was a light rain on and off.

Tuesday we traveled toward Lake Yojoa to a really poor community with no electric - Santa Cruz De Yojoa. We were high up a mountain and the view was beautiful. We saw 101 people. The first families had 8-10 children. In the afternoon several teens came through with 1-2 children already. In the morning, a woman asked Don Rice a question and in his only spanish replied "No hablo ingles" (I don't speak English). I asked a woman in the afternoon if she had a refrigerator to put medicine in, only to have her reply "we don't have electric." The guys did 4 houses and 23 bags of cement. They were exhausted.

Wednesday we went to Santa Rita Yoro. The community was a rural town in the farming district. The guys did 4 floors quickly as they were small. Don, Jake, Dave chose Tom to be their union negotiator as Joe wanted to do 2 more floors. Joe won, and they did 2 more floors and 20 bags for the day. In the clinic we saw 75 people.

Thursday we went to San Antonio Cortes, a village high up in the mountains. Mama had never been there before. We saw 101 people and the guys did 4 floors and 27 bags of cement. The community was extremely welcoming, helpful, and friendly. It was probably the most remote community I have been in during my 8 trips to Honduras.

Friday we went to Pata De Gallina, a small squatter community. We saw 93 patients, more than expected. The guys did 6 houses and 21 bags of cement. We ended the day with dinner with the Mama staff at the mission house.

We are in Copan now. See you all late Monday.

Tim for all.

2008-03-14T22:51:00.004-05:00

March 14 San Jose del Cayo

Today was the last day for the medical team. They ended on a good note, seeing 193 people. All of the patients got vitamins, and most got cough medicine. There were also lots of stomach problems due to the water in San Jose del Cayo. The medical team also ran out of scabies medicine. Some of us were able to make a home visit to a nice young man who had a bullet wound to the head, and was paralyzed on his left side and having occasional epileptic seizures. Also, there was a woman who had severely high blood pressure, and although we did not have any medicine for this, we were able to go out to a nearby store that sold it and get a two-month supply for her. There was also a girl who had lost vision in her right eye and was losing it in her left. This village was one filled with many happy people. There was a 15 year old pregnant girl who was happy as could be, and there was a little old lady who smiled the whole time.
The amazingly efficient construction groupo was doing just that today. We constructed the things needed in order for the cement to be poured. This meant taking out original wall plus into the ground, and making the supports for the sides of the columns, along with the rebar reinforcements on the inside of the will-be columns for much needed support. Taking out the existing wall took awhile, along with trying to use a saw which was having a hard time sawing. We decided that it was too sharp to be able to cut the wooden boards which needed to be cut. Aside from this it was another overall nice, hot day of hard work for the much-needing commmunity. Tomorrow some people are going to pour in the cement into the columns, and then on monday we are going to help put on the roofing.

Señor Benjamin de la Perkasie

2008-03-13T21:49:00.005-05:00

March 13 El Cipres

Finally our suitcases have arrived tonight! Much needed vitamins were attained through this discovery. Today, our medical team saw 130 people at El Cipres with many more people being dewormed. A lot of scabies cases were reported, along with a bunch of wounds that needed treatment. Yet again, there were stories that stuck out to us. One was a boy with a swelled foot due to infection. An older lady with diabetes had a discolored ulcer on her foot, and it's probable that she will lose it in the future. There was a 9 year old with Herpes on his armpit area. Also, a 70 year old had a bullet stuck in his head. This was due to his defending his daughter from a man who was loco.

Through the excruciating job of mixing the intense cement by hand, the amazingly effiecient construction groupo was painstakingly able to complete tres floors, all in the Santa Ana region. While Neptali finalized the floor, we were able to go throughout the community along the river to view the dwellings of our neighbors. One particular shelter stood out when looked upon. Once we cometh closer to the building where people lived, we realized that the shelter which we had looked upon was actually constructed from only cardboard. We immediately felt for the family that dwelled here.
Gustavo has been concentrating very hard at holding down the bench at the little pulperia near to our site of work. Today he worked especially hard when he picked up a pala full of cemento. Through all the great things that were accomplished through the extremely hard work, Mincho was to blame for all of it. Tomorrow we will be consructing columns for Pastor Juan in front of the church so he can have a roof over the place where the kids can play.

Señor Benjamin de la Perkasie

2008-03-12T21:05:00.008-05:00

March 12 Community of Aldea Mealer

Everyone is healthy so far, except for that everyone is suffering from CLD (Chronic Laughing Disorder). The other three suitcases have not arrived yet. Our medical team went to Meulir village today, which was a nice and bumpy ride. We saw approx. 160 people. A few stories stuck out to us. The first was an old man with Parkinson's disease who was alert and thankful for the prayers because we did not have medicine for his disease. We also saw a boy in a unique wheelchair with muscular dystrophy who was able to walk last year. Another story that touched us was a 16 year old with a baby with a big head. This was touching because we knew that this was a situation that needed surgical attention, and this is something that we cannot supply. There were also some fun things like a bearded 90 year old man whom we called Abraham and he was still working, and another was an 82 year old man that was kind of the town comedian and also a great singer.
Today was another great day for the amazingly efficient construction groupo. We completed tres floors while mixing triple batches by hand. One of the houses that we graciously helped to provide an exciting new floor to was also a house that was worked on at last year by one of our church's team's consrtuction groupos. When we had finished working early, Pastor Juan took some of us to visit some of the families along the river that we had worked at last year (Santa Ana). At the end of the day, we had to haul the mixer to Gustavo's house in the city.
For lunch we were able to have ham and cheese sandwiches, which were delicious. Aurora made three sandwiches for each of us. Most of us only had two, except for Bob. The meals have been muy delicioso.

Señor Benjamin de la Perkasie

2008-03-11T21:34:00.008-05:00

March 11 Gracias a Dios / Santa Ana - Pastor Juan
We are still waiting for the other suitcases to arrive. We did not obtain extra medicine from San Francisco. We saw Carla briefly as we passed her by in the van. Our medical team saw about 240 people today. Some of the stories caught our group's eye tonight as we discussed our day. These included a 24 year old woman who had 4 kids and the first one she had at age 11, at least two epileptic patients (one also had a head injury during a seizure), and a woman who had MS in her brain and was losing sight and a little hearing. The construction team (aka Barry) had problems with the truck. They got the assistance of a 15 year old. The amazingly efficient construction groupo had the Hulk-like strength to complete four excruciatingly grande floors. We carried multple large buckets full of heavy sand uphill from the river which was downhill from the house where we were working.
Prayer for the process of Pastor Juan and the community obtaining the lot next to the existing church is much appreciated. They would like to get this lot to buld a main church hall and use the existing room as a Sunday school/ kindergarten place. This lot is expensive for this community and they would like our prayers as to how they can obtain it.

Señor Benjamin de la Perkasie

2008-03-10T21:22:00.005-05:00

March 10 Gracias a Dios and Pastor Juan

We finally got to work today in Pastor Juan's community. The medical team got to see 195 people, all with different complications. All were dewormed. Several stories stuck out to all of us. Some of them were Miguel and Adalid, a teenager with cerebral palsy, a lady with a lump on her clavicle, and a 75 year old lady with most likely lung cancer. Miguel is a very special young man who has basically adopted Adalid, a 10 or 11 year old boy who was abandoned by his mother in his sleep, and is taking him under his wing. Adalid cannot read or write, and is walking pretty well after having knee surgery. Each of these have their own stories behind them, and touched our hearts. All of the pen pals letters were delivered today to Pastor Juan, and we saw four of them at the clinic today, and took their pictures, and we hope to bring back letters from each of them at the end of our trip, and...., and....
We only completed two floors today, yet the scientific methodic engineering of the construction sites within the boundaries of the living quarters of the families was successfully supreme in fufilling the destiny of the future of the floors, and was much appreciated by the grateful recipients.
The improvement of the community was much recognized by Carmen, as she has seen throughout the past three years. The people have become more connected through each other and most importantly through the church. Much of the improvement is due to the leadership of Pastor Juan and the involvement of MAMA in the community. This has been great to witness.

Señor Benjamin de la Perkasie

2008-03-10T21:13:00.003-05:00

Paola's Story:
I was blessed this morning when Paola walked into the room where we were seeing people. She didn't seem to be afraid of approaching us, and she said a few words in English that she had learned in school. From that moment on, I was really impressed with this 8 year old. I kept thinking about her all day long, how she told she was abandoned by her father, and the mother wasn't there for her. Plus she only lived with one woman, who took care of her. Even though they were not related, they seem very attached and close, like a grandmother-granddaughter relationship. Yet in spite of all this, she acted so happy and excited. This is actually worth it sharing her story, how poverty, abandonment and all other sources of limitations have not been able to quench in Paola's heart that excitement in life. What a tremendous example for the rest of us. Please pray for Paola as the Lord leads, that she would be able to continue to walk in that joy given by God, which is her strength.

Rolando

2008-03-09T22:35:00.004-05:00

March 9 - San Pedro Sula and Lake Yojoa area - San Francisco de Yojoa

We received 8 of the 11 suitcases that didn't arrive yesterday with the other luggage. It was a beautiful day for us to visit the MAMA Project at San Francisco de Yojoa. We conversed with the Project administrator, Elena. She showed us the rooms and kitchen and we met the mothers and children that were staying at the center. It was great to see a father come and visit his wife and four sons. Then we were off to see Lake Yojoa. We ate a delicious meal lakeside consisting of tilapia (a type of fish caught from the lake), fried plantains and a soft drink. On the way back to the apartments we stopped for some fresh pineapple and bananas. When we got back to the apartments we sorted the meds into five suitcases. We went swimming for a little while then had to get ready for church with Pastor Juan. The service was very lively and the singing was enthusiastic by all. Even though we could not understand the word we recognized the tunes and were able to praise God. We met some of the children that we will be seeing later this week.

Brent

2008-03-08T21:29:00.006-05:00

March 8, 2008: We arrived safely, just 2 hours late. This meaning we, the people, arrived safely not the luggage. Half the suitcases arrived, and half didn't. We were short 3 personal suitcases and 8 medicinal suitcases. Everything went as planned at the hotel. Then we went to Pollo Fuerte (a.k.a. Power Chicken), and chowed down the delicious assortment of authentic Honduran cuisine. Gustavo showed us how the real Hondurans drive. Gustavo, Aurora, and Dinora picked us up at the airport, while Larry was waiting for us for 4 hours after arriving on time, unlike us. Looking forward to seeing Pastor Juan and the MAMA project in San Francisco de Yojoa (hoya, joyo, jojo, joya, joia, yojo....take your pick), and eating fishheads at the lake, and attending Pastor Juan's iglesia.

-Señor Benjamin de la Perkasie

DRE MAMA Teams - 2008

2008-01-26T18:53:00.000-05:00

First team trip - January 20 - 28, 2008
Second team trip - March 8 - 18, 2008

Updates to follow soon!

Day 7 El Cispres

2007-03-10T21:23:00.000-05:00

Today we traveled to the beautiful farm at El Cispres. This property was donated to the MAMA project a few years ago by a missionary couple from the Midwest. There are beautiful fruit trees, tilipia fish ponds, a technical school, and a bakery that makes MAMA bars. This was a fairly healthy community, and we saw about 130 people. The highlight was seeing the family that Rolando had talked to last year about adoption. This year the kids looked healthier, and the mother was more responsive to the kids, but we found out that they are homeless. Rolando talked to the mom again about adoption, but this time she said no. Now he is sure that these are not the kids God wants him to adopt. We prayed for for a few people who requested prayer, and two people accepted Jesus as their Savior.

Yesterday the cement team completed their fifth house. They finished earlier, and so got the chance to walk around the community with Pastor Juan, and to visit some of the families of the pen pals, and where they live. We will be bringing pen pal letters home, and looking for new pen pals.

We will be bringing home lots of pictures that will tell the story of our week better than we can express here.

For the team, Hannah

Day 6 San Jose del Cayo

2007-03-10T21:12:00.000-05:00

Today we were in a community close to the one yesterday. We were in a school and a church that were close to each other. There were alot of scabies in this community. About 170 school children came in lines for deworming. Ashley and Jess played soccer with the kids outside in a big open area nearby. We always leave a soccer ball behind in each community. It seemed like a community of just women and children. It caused us to talk about how the men leave for jobs in the U.S. and now there is a trend where the mothers are starting to go to the U.S. for jobs as well, leaving the children with their grandmothers.

The cement team (Bob, Tim, Renee) poured their fourth floor today. The homeowners were Secondina and Deanna. He was the father of the homeowner, Rafael, from Wednesday. Secondina is 77, and Deanna is 19. Secondina has 70 grandkids that all live in the San Pedro Sula area. They are developing good relationships with lots of families and children of the Santa Anna area.

For the team, Hannah

Day Five

2007-03-08T19:53:00.000-05:00

Today we went about an hour away to a community in the mountains. We set up in a school and a mennonite church. The de-worming and waiting room were in the church and the nurses and pharmacy in the school. Today we saw many school children. There was one young man who came in a wheelchair. We held prayer for him and got him up and helped him to walk. Soon he was taking a few steps by himself. There were tears all around. This was a very large community and they cleaned us out of all we brought for today. We are all tired, but feel that today was a very productive day. The cement team went out to do more houses in Pastor Juan´s community. Please continue to pray for us that we will be able to accomplish all that we came to do, and that we will all stay healthy.

For the team, Hannah

Day Four (Day 2 in Pastor Juan's Community)

2007-03-08T19:49:00.000-05:00

Today we went back to Pastor Juan´s community. We saw many people who came down from the mountain. We used the same setup as yesterday. The cement team went out and did another house. Today we saw a young girl, Karla, who had one leg that was shorter than the other. There wasn´t much we could do, but we prayed for her, and hope that she can get some help. She knew a little english and went around asking poeple´s names. We returned again around 4:00 and all felt that it had been a productive day. We all joined together for another delicious meal cooked by Aurora, and then afterwards Rolando held devotions.

For the team, Hannah

Day Three (Day 1 in Pastor Juan's Community)

2007-03-08T18:12:00.000-05:00

We left at 8:00 this morning and drove about half an hour away to Pastor Juan's community Gracias A Dios. Janet and Hannah set up in the church with de-worming in the bottom half, which was Pastor Juan's house. Up top there were four stations: Jess took care of blood pressure, Pat and Barb Hackman manned the pharmacy, Carmen, Rhoda, Rolando, and Nancy teamed up to diagnose and prescribe medications. Barb Rice floated around making sure everyone had what they needed. Renee, Greg, Bob, and Tim went with Pastor Juan to do cement floors in some houses. They finished one house today. The nurses saw about 130 people. Around 4:00 pm we packed up and went back to the hotel. We then sorted some medicine, showered, and then we enjoyed a delicious meal that Aurora cooked for us. Afterwards, we had devotions and shared about our day.

For the team, Hannah

Day Two

2007-03-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

We started off the day with breakfast at the hotel, this is what we´ll be doing each morning for breakfast. After breakfast we got picked up at 9 and headed to the MAMA nutrition center in San Francisco de Yojoa. We met many of the mothers and children staying there, and heard about the Nutritional Program from Olivia, the director. Then we set off to the lake for the fish fry. A few of us had chicken that Dinora had to walk to a different retaurant to get for us. There were many fish skeletons left on the table at the end of the meal. We then came back to the hotel and worked on sorting the medicine for the five days. After we had a suitcase for each day, we then sorted the meds for day one into plastic baggies. After this was finished an impromptu game of soccer was started in front of our hotel rooms, after Ashley inflated one of the 8 soccer balls she brought along. Then it was time for another meal. We were honored to be invited to Linda de Robelo´s home for a beef barbecue. We enjoyed fresh salsa, cheese, avocados, beans, grilled beef and tortilla´s. Linda also told us about the work of MAMA here in the city of San Pedro Sula. We were happy to see their children Belinda, Nelson, and Josué again. We are now back at the hotel and are preparing for our first big day on Monday. We will be doing a medical clinic, and concrete work in Pastor Juan´s community, Gracias a Dios. We plan to deliver the pen pal letters from Deep Run East, and also pick up lots of letters from his community´s children. We would appreciate your prayers for our first day of work, especially for the nurses, and that everyone else will find a place where they can be used.

For the team, Hannah

Day One

2007-03-04T21:51:00.000-05:00

We arrived in San Pedro Sula with barely a glitch. We were a little late in setting off due to bad air traffic. We were surprised to find when we arrived that the temperature was 93 degrees. Still dressed in our clothed fit for Pennsylvania weather, we drove to our hotel, Villa Nuria, to get settled. After sorting out rooming and luggage, we hopped back in the van and headed off for dinner. We ate a a restaurant called Power Chicken, and enjoyed getting to know the MAMA staff, Dinora, Aurora, and our driver Gustavo. Afterwards, we went to the San Pedro Sula MAMA office, and sorted through some meds. Outside, Hannah and Renee started a game of catch with Jésus, who is a neighbor of Gustavo. Soon, we packed up the meds and carried them back to the hotel on our laps. When we arrived back at the hotel, many of us enjoyed a nighttime swim in the pool. It was a nice way to relax after a day of traveling.

For the team, Hannah

DRE MAMA Team March 3 - 12, 2007

2007-02-21T12:07:00.000-05:00

Watch for posts to this page when next team arrives in San Pedro Sula, March 3, 2007

Reflections from Kathy Roeder

2006-03-06T15:21:00.000-05:00

Kathy Roeder was the doctor on the January 2006 Deep Run East MAMA Team to Honduras. Below she reflects on Day Two at the village of El Buen Pastor - the Good Shepherd.

Day 2 – El Buen Senor

Honduras is a place of many beauties and many sorrows. Today was one of the days when both were so evident and so confounding.

Our trip today was to an area that I have not previously seen. Although the trip was long, it had a beauty that I had not expected. The Ulua River Valley is wide and bountiful. The rice fields and the cane fields go on for miles, much like the cotton and tobacco fields in North Carolina. And, far off in the distance, in all directions, are the mountains. They tower over the fertile valley, looking majestic against the blue cloudless sky. By all indications, this should be a great day

We traveled to the village of El Buen Pastor – the Good Shepherd. It has presence on arrival, unexpected and, in retrospect, unwarranted.

All the buildings are of block, not adobe, all with tin roofs, not thatch. They are surrounded by luscious pink and magenta flowers, some planted and some growing wild, defying all odds. The street is well-maintained, rough scrabble but with no potholes. And there are trashcans. I have never seen these in any other village of Honduras.

It is a complete rebuild since the devastation of Hurricane Mitch in the 1990’s that all but destroyed the entire country. And the leaders of the village are proud of what they have accomplished, with good reason. In addition to the reconstruction of the village buildings, in the same place as it previously occupied, there is a gathering of villagers from the former village place as well as those from other villages, displaced by the catastrophe.

We set up our clinic in a not-yet-finished school building. One room is completely out-fitted for the children and the other two still need windows, doors and furniture. We cleaned out the two unfinished ones, borrowed some furniture from the completed room and set up our clinic. Good community leadership from one woman kept the crowd in check and made our job easy at the outset.

A short while into the day, I was asked to see a patient, a middle-aged woman, out in the courtyard. (There was a very high step into the classroom-clinic and she was too weak to enter). I went out to this area, in a very public place, with the crowd tightly around us, to talk to her, to try to determine the problem. She was a known diabetic, had had no medication for a few weeks and now was very weak and tired. A brief exam and it was quickly determined that she was nearing a diabetic crisis. She desperately needed more than we could provide; she needed care in a hospital. We scanned the crowd for help. Does she have any family that can help? Will anyone help her get to the hospital? With each question, the crowd around us widened. No one came forward to help her.

Patient after patient came to see me. And I started to notice a trend. The children were clean and cared for and more times than not, brought by their grandmothers. I started asking,

“Where is Mama?”
“She’s working in the US”, I was told.
“And Papa?”
“Tambien.” (Also).

And the mother who, in front of her children, told me she would be leaving for the US in February, to meet her sister in LA, leaving all the children with their grandmother. She had no money, no transportation, nothing. She was ready to run, with strangers, to an unknown place that she expects to be better then here. If she makes it.

And another mother who offered me a two-week-old baby for adoption since she could not afford to feed the baby as well as the older children.

Sitting before me at one point is another young woman, beautiful but troubled. Twenty-five years old, mother of four children, all of whom are with her, the youngest just a few months old. The children have no complaints except for the never forgiving “granitos” and I ask her about the baby, as I do many of the women,

“Is this your last child,” I say, “or only your youngest?”

With this, I try to open a discussion on birth control. But this time, I had a young woman who broke into tears in front of me.

“If I get pregnant again, I may kill myself”, she tells me.
“And then I won’t be here for my other children”.

She explained to me that she cannot take ‘the pill’ because of phlebitis and although her husband has agreed that there should be no more children, they could not afford the price of a tubal ligation. ($17).

As the morning wore on, I began to wilt. This was a depressed and depressing place. The village was new, the buildings will survive another hurricane but the people will not. They have lost hope. The spark that I have seen in other villages is absent from this place.

Is it too new? Is it the lack of strong family ties? Is it the absence of men and women of strong integrity to find some hope? What are the grandmothers to do, when all the middle generation is gone? Who will take care of them? And what hope is there for the future, in this town with the look of prosperity?

It is truly a place in need of the El Buen Pastor.

As I reflected on all that I had recalled about that particular day, now feeling unburdened, perhaps because I had shared it with others I began to recall some other events. Events much less depressing.

The previous day, at the village of Gracias de Dios (Thanks be to God) we had met Pastor Juan Ramirez. It was in his home and his church that we had worked all day. He is an intense but gentle man, on first impression without humor but on knowing him, a subtle and dry awareness of the world. He had asked to accompany us on Tuesday and we had readily agreed. His knowledge of the country and the village mind is invaluable to the ‘Gringo”. And it was he who encouraged us to visit a certain house for our Home Visit.

The patient was a young man of 25, a mason by trade, who had developed a hernia acutely while working. He had been taken to the hospital and operated on immediately, telling me that it was an incarcerated hernia, a severe situation. Correct care was provided, he was discharged 3 days later and sent home. One week after surgery, he was carried to the clinic for suture removal and then carried back home. He has been in bed constantly for the past two weeks, in the home of his sister and is terrified of getting up. He fears something will ‘break’ again.

After examining him to determine that he was in no danger, he was encouraged to sit on the side of the bed. I asked some of the other strong young men in the family to help, and all of them, after washing their hands, came to assist their friend. Again, with encouragement and some gentle prodding he stood, and walked to a nearby chair. He obviously was in some pain, but just the event of walking again gave him the courage to now continue his recovery. As we departed we prayed with the family and we all cried a little. No, it wasn’t a miracle but it certainly was an answer to a prayer.

On our long trip home, with the afternoon chatter in the back of the van, Juan sat in the front quietly singing in Spanish. Sancto, sancto, sancto – Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy Name,
in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity.

We all rest in the hands of God.

MAMA Project Volleyball Tournament Fundraiser

2006-02-27T12:20:00.000-05:00

Recently MAMA Project held a Volleyball Tournament at Quakertown Christian School as a fundraiser. Below are four pictures from our Deep Run East volleyball team. To see a larger picture, click on them. Pictures were provided by Joanne Rice.

February 2006 MAMA Team Letter from Barb Rice

2006-02-18T07:58:00.000-05:00

February 15, 2006

Hi all-
We are back from a good week in Honduras with a great team. Everyone had an important gift to give to the success of our trip. Attached are some pictures that tell the story better than words can.

The guys above are pouring concrete in one home--this was the main room of the house. Usually the family worked with our team in addition to the MAMA staff crew. Some of the homes were barely a shed (Jake said our pool shed would be a mansion in most cases). The home that effected them most, was owed by a campesino (farmer) who was 65 yrs old. The house was made of sticks and all of their belongings fit on a sheet. Their was no food around. He has had to move a number of times as land owners expand their fields and he has only squatter's rights. His wife and two small children live in the "house" too.

Eric is blowing bubbles with the kids. The guys poured two floors a day (11 total) and were always done early, so they had time to play and talk to the kids.

The kids are so cute with their big brown eyes. We met this little guy on the last clinic day.

On Friday we visited the Leonardo Martinez Maternity Hospital in San Pedro Sula, recently opened, funded by a group from Japan. This was a very young mom that had the wonderful opportunity to have her baby in a clean hospital. The staff was proud of the facility and how they are helping moms and babies from poor rural communities. We gave out about 35 baby kits, consisting of blankets, cloth diapers and some clothes.

Our Friday night celebration dinner with the Honduran staff at a restaurant on Lake Yojoa. Most were brave and got the traditional fish fry--it was excellent.

Our clinics went well, treating about 575 people in 4 days. "Dr" Mary Ellen Moran did great seeing patients with Tim Weaver as translator. Oscar saw patients too and Ashley Moyer did blood pressures. I had fun being the pharmacist, something new for me---my most repeated phrase: "uno al dia" (one a day), especially to the children who were excited to see chewable vitamins being given to their moms. Collen Moran and Karen Hohenstein did the vitamin A and deworming. Ruth Hohenstein greeted families, helped with deworming medicine and took Polaroid family portraits they could take with them. The concrete crew was Joe Hohenstein, Jake Rice, Eric Rice, Don Rice and Kevin Graber. Everyone did a great job and appreciated meeting the warm, friendly, smiling Honduran people whether it was the first time or the sixth time (Joe's 6th time, my 4th).

We enjoyed good team fellowship each evening as we packed pills for the next day and Tim Weaver and Ruth Hohenstein led us in meaningful devotional/reflection time. We also had a nice time of rest and relaxing in Roaton (a Bay Island we flew to via the local airline) on the weekend while most of you were snowed in:-)

I look forward to sharing more with each of you when we see you. Thanks so much for your prayers on our behalf. We were safe, healthy (a few Cipro pills, but no one really sick), and God blessed us richly.

love,
Barb

The February 2006 Deep Run East MAMA team consisted of the following people: Joe & Ruth Hohenstein, Barb and Jake Rice, Eric Rice, Don Rice, Tim Weaver, Kevin Graber, Karen Hohenstein, Ashley Moyer, Mary Ellen Moran, and Colleen Moran. They were in Honduras from February 5-13, 2006.

Letter from Pastor Juan Ramirez to the January DRE MAMA Team Members

2006-01-27T05:58:00.000-05:00

The following letter was given to each DRE MAMA Team Member by Pastor Juan Ramirez during our good bye session this past Monday morning. Pastor Juan spent four days working along with our team in our medical clinics this past week. Pastor Juan was a man of many smiles except for picture-taking; then he would always put on a serious expression.

Evangelical Church Prince of Peace
Col. Gracias a Dios _ Thanks to God
San Pedro Sula, January 22, 2006

To: All the members of the team:

We thank God for your presence in our country and in our church. Your coming here motivates us to continue praying to God to continue with your mission helping the needy.

We really appreciate everything you did for my people here in the colony Gracias a Dios. Your work here has motivated me to continue working not only for their soul but to help their body as well. This colony has a big grade of infant malnutrition which is 60 % in all terms and 20 % which is very severe. Our church has been trying to help, but we are limited with money and we don't have any help from anyone else. I just get the daily offering from my members in the church, but I'm willing to continue helping.

We want to create a foundation to focus on helping the children with problems. Please continue praying for us. I hope you will return back soon, since you were here and saw all the needs. Please remember you have a good friend here who loves the Lord and the children. I just want to share with you, your heart will stay with us here since you came to help us. You have earned our love and respect.

Your servant,
Juan Ramirez
Pastor

Friday Report

2006-01-20T18:28:00.000-05:00

Today we went back to Colonia Gracias a Dios of San Pedro Sula but served the people of the nearby community (within walking distance) of Rancho El Coco. We drove by their community at the end of the day's work. It was heartbreaking seeing the rundown shacks lived in by the children and adults that one has just ministered with face to face. And just across the road from them were homes that wealthy Americans would be proud to live in. This community is often called "The Pit."

Dr. Kathy (who is pictured above) identified two malnourished babies today. Help would be available for the mothers and babies at a MAMA Center. But each mother and child would have to move their for a month to bring the child back to nutritional health and to teach the mother how to properly care for their children. But the mothers expressed more concern about who would feed their husbands. It may be that the mothers fear that the husband would find another woman if they left for a month. Pray for these mothers and the babies.

In the first of the following two pictures, Kathy and Phyllis are working our pharmacy dispensing the medicines. In the second picture, Terri is giving deworming medicine to the boy and Rachel has a Gummi vitamin to give afterwards.

Today, after initially helping with the deworming pills and vitamins, I (Tim) blew bubbles with the children, showed them story books (that in most cases I let one of the Honduran children read out loud to the other children), and played soccer with them. The children really appreciate it when we spend time with them. When I played soccer, all of them would want me on their team even though I'm not all that athletically skilled. I will miss them.

For devotions, Rolando read from Hebrews 11 noting that faith empowers the accomplishment of impossible things. Bob noted that the work of mission is about building relationships. And Carmen read from Ezekial 37 from the "dry bones" passage and what God can do with dry bones.

Thursday´s Events

2006-01-19T21:26:00.000-05:00

Today, we went to Colonia Linda Vista of Santa Rita Yoro. We set up in a family´s house; we don't think the village had a church. At other villages, we had set up at either a church or a school. We gave deworming medicine and/or vitamins to at least 150 children today. Today, I (Tim) spent a lot of time with the kids with those in the picture below being only a portion of them.

Initially, I started out by taking some pictures. They begged me to take more because they love seeing their pictures on the camera screen. They don't experience this real often. We exchanged questions about what things were in English and Spanish. Shortly after that, they came to me and asked me to play soccer with them on a rutty, dirt road. The first time I got my shirt a little dirty, they got real worried and tried to rub it off. But I told them, "No problema" which after a bit seemed to reassure them. Later they invited me to play a form of baseball with six bases on the same road. I felt blessed. We also blew bubbles for them which they really enjoyed. At the end of the day, several of our MAMA team played soccer with them and one could see that the children really appreciated that. When it was time to leave, many followed us out to our van which was parked a good distance away because the road was unsuitable to drive on.

This was a village with many desparate people. Most of the men have already left the community. And many of the mothers are departing too with America as their destination leaving the children with the grandparents. The people are so poor and little food much of the time. Those leaving may have no idea of the distance or how they're going to get there; but they feel it can't get any worse than it already is.

Pray for this village and the people in it that they may have reason to hope again. Some of us also have participated in home visits. Today one of the home visits was with an 86 year old woman who has a tumor. Given her age and poverty, there is no treatment available for her. Pray that she would have peace and experience little or no pain. Pray for her family who just found out about her condition today. Also in the village we visited yesterday, there was a man with nose cancer; most of his nose had already been eaten away by the cancer. There is no treatment available for him; we prayed for him and ask you to pray also.

We don't do many home visits; there isn't enough time. But some of the value of the home visit is just as much for us. It's a way we learn how the people live and how their circumstances directly impact their lives. It gives us a view of how difficult their lives really are.

Below are two more pictures from today. The first is of Terri mixing up the cream to treat some skin disorders. The second is of Bob blowing bubbles with the children.

Wednesday Report from Rolando Zelaya

2006-01-18T22:21:00.000-05:00

First, the day started as usual getting ready for the next village (El Ciprés of Santa Cruz de Yohoa) which was located about 2 hours away from the hotel. As always, I was looking forward to serve the people and yet at the same time struggling with not feeling overwhelmed by the crowd that I knew was going to be there.

Today, we saw 60-70 patients - all kinds of people and ages but pretty much similar circumstances. Always a lot of kids, many rashes (common thing in rural areas), and some others malnutrition, and still others extremely neglected to the point of hopelessness.

Now, I going to be a little personal. Marta Lydia, less than four years old, and Josue, one year old, belong to those whose hopelessness is their ever present companion since her mom Iris, age 27, shows a lack of desire to keep on living.

When it was Marta's turn to see the doctor and me, she was just another needy, "dirty," little girl in need of medication and little affection. But she sat next to us in front of us with her mom and brother with a big smile on her face showing us she had found a little hope in that place. In the process of our conversation about the medical condition of the family, Marta had already made herself comfortable leaning her body back against my left arm joyfully moving her two hands as when little children play.

Impressed by her action, I said to Doctura Katarina, "Look, she feels so comfortable here!" Really I was impressed by Marta's boldness. It was an awesome experience that brought to memory a burden that God had laid on my and my wife's hearts about adopting one or two kids from Honduras. Marta's little act of boldness confirmed in my heart that this is what we, the Zelayas, are suppose to do.

Please pray as we start the process of adoption. Could it be Marta and Josue? Only God knows. But if its them, we will gladly and humbly take them in so that they can have a "comfortable", meaning godly family that will take care of them. Thank you again very much for your prayers.

[The following pictures and commentary are from Tim Rice.]
In the picture below from left to right are Rachel, Rolando, Dr. Kathy, and Terri. I think the picture was taken during our lunch break.

On the right side of this wonderful and friendly girl below are two lemons that were the size of grapefruits and on the left side are mandarins the size of oranges. They grow some giant fruit here.

These are some of the many children who came for the deworming medicine and vitamins.

Tuesday´s Actitivities

2006-01-17T22:51:00.000-05:00

Today, we went to Colonia El Buen Pastor in Santa Rita Yoro about an hour´s drive from our hotel. Today we gave deworming medicine and/or vitamins to about 140 children; yesterday, we gave the same to about 225 children. Our doctor Kathy and our nurses also diagnosed and/or treated a number of adults and childrens with skin and other medical problems. Many of those problems result simply from lack of good hygene, a lack of knowledge, or lack of even small amounts of money due to poverty and lack of opportunities.

Today, I (Tim) had a wonderful time with the children. I played marbles with them. In one marble game, the goal was to snap your marble against another child´s marble and another was played alot like soccer trying to make goals while preventing the other player from making goals. With some of the younger children, I played "Growl." I went for long walks with the children. They loved to hold my hands on these walks or else climb up on me so that I would carry them. They enjoyed getting their pictures taken and seeing it on my digital camera. The children also took me a couple times to their swimming hole.

Coming back through San Pedro Sula on the way home, we saw a number of homeless people and young people obviously using drugs. There is a significant problem with air and other types of pollution there, too. There is much need here.

For devotions, this evening, Rolando read from 2 Tim. 2:20,21 and 2 Tim 3:16,17. Through these verses, he noted that when we purify ourselves we become a consecrated vessel for noble use ready for any good work. And that the best tool to purify ourselves is Scripture inspired by God in our hearts. After devotions, we had a valuable team sharing time. God is blessing us as well as those we serve.

Continue to pray for the needs of the poor in Honduras. Pray also for our team's continued health and safety. Pray for those serving as interpreters that they don´t suffer from mental fatigue in their service.

Monday's Journal

2006-01-16T20:51:00.000-05:00

Today after eating our continental breakfast together at the hotel restaurant, we left for the San Pedro Sula MAMA Center. From there, several of our team went to the pharmacy to buy needed medicines. After they came back, we left for Colonia Gracias a Dios also in San Pedro Sula where we set up the medical clinic for the day.

Among other things, we worked at dispensing vitamins to the children, treating certain skin problems, and treating those with other medical conditions. Some of us had the opportunity in the afternoon to play with the children blowing bubbles, giving the children coloring book pages to color, and just talking with one another.

When I (Tim) was with some children who were coloring, I noticed that one of them had a numbered connect the dots pictures. So I pointed at the dots and started counting, "uno, dos, tres,...." The children then started counting with me or I with them all the way to 100 in Spanish. From there, we started asking each other, "What is this in Spanish or in English?" And time just fled by; it was time to go back to the hotel all too soon. As we were leaving there, many of the children freely gave us hugs.

The pastor at this church was named Juan. He is man with a great heart for the well-being of his people and all the people he meets. While we were holding the clinic at his church, we served a great lunch of "pastelitos." These pastelitos contained rice and small pieces of some king of meat. On top of them, they heaped large amounts of salsa.

This evening back at the hotel, Aurora, our cook, served us delicious beef, rice, cauliflower, and carrots. After the meal, Rolando conducted devotions from 2 Thess. 1:3 which talks about the Thessalonians love for one another increasing. Rolando then pointed out that our love for God and one another increases by our serving one another. If we want to improve our relationship with God, we serve one another and grow close to one another.

We continue to feel and appreciate your prayers for us before God. Keep praying that we make the most of our time with the Honduran people as we serve one another. The hospitality of the Honduran people we meet has been more than wonderful. They make us like part of their family. Pray, too, for the health of the Honduran people many of whom who have few material resources.

Below is a group picture of some of the children from the Gracias a Dios community. The children of this community were among the happiest of the communities we visited. Look at their smiles!

Below Kathy is conducting a bubble blowing time with the children. We often would go back and forth between us and the children blowing the bubbles. Many times the children would chase after the bubbles trying to catch or burst them.

Below is a view from Gracias a Dios. It is often striking how geographically close together the rich and poor live in Honduras. Most of the common people would not be able to afford the homes seen in the distance in this picture.

Sunday´s Events

2006-01-15T22:29:00.000-05:00

This morning we ate continental breakfast on the hotel restaurant as a group together. After breakfast, we went to Iglesia Mennonita for church in San Pedro Sula. The church was overflowing with people. It was also a special service serving as the conclusion for a children´s Bible Study week. We felt right at home with them even though not all of us could understand what was being said or sung. We really are members of one body together!

After church we stopped briefly at the San Pedro Sula market. It had many shops with many beautiful craft items. From there, we went to Power Chicken for our noon meal. They served an abundance of foods on three platters including pork, ribs, beef, chicken, fried rice, fried plantain, fried yucca, and tortillas.

In the afternoon, we sorted medicines and divided them up into smaller quantities for use at the medical clinics this week. Later afternoon and early evening, we went to the MAMA Center at San Francisco de Yojoa to prepare and learn more about our work for the week. While there, some of us also learned how to make tortillas. San Francisco was around an hour's drive out of the city into the country side.

After we got back from San Francisco, we had some free time before our supper. After supper, Rolando conducted devotions from 1 Thess. 1:2-4 which talks about the work of faith, the labor of love, and our hope. It also pointed out that God has chosen us.

Tomorrow, we will need to stop at a pharmacy to buy more medicines before going on to Colonia Gracias a Dios in San Pedro Sula for our first medical clinic. The MAMA Project people also want to conduct some training first thing in the morning.

We appreciate your prayers. We believe your prayers enables us to better do God´s work. In your prayers for Monday, our team members said that I should request that you should pray for all that we will encounter and do. Gracias.

Below is a picture taken during adult Sunday School in the auditorium of Iglesia Mennonita. The church became much fuller during the main service.

Here we are sorting and repackaging medicines and vitamins that we would be dispensing throughout the week.

Yesterday's Events and Observations

2006-01-15T08:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, after we arrived, some of us spent time informally talking and getting to know all the team members and some of us took naps. We have our own Honduran cook to make most of our meals. Last night for supper, we had meatballs, rice and peas, and a lettuce sald made Honduran style - very delicious (muy rica). For snacks anytime, we have been provided with bananas and pineapple. After supper, we had a meeting time together in which everyone formally introduced themselves sharing things like what we do for work, our avocations or interests, and why we chose to come on this project trip. It was a great way to start the week.

Even here at the hotel, we have to adapt to things different from America. We have no hot water unless we would heat up on a stove. So we wash our dishes and get our showers in cold water. And when one has to use the restroom, toilet paper goes in the waste basket not in the toilet.

I am not sure what we will do today. It is somewhat weather dependent. Right now, it is sunny which is a good sign, I think.

We are thankful for everyone´s prayers.

Below is a typical breakfast view of our team for the week. For most of us, most of the time, breakfast was scrambled eggs, toast, and orange juice or coffee.

Safe Arrival

2006-01-14T16:43:00.000-05:00

We all arrived safely but we´re still waiting for Dr. Kathy. It was raining when we left, was sunny inbetween, and raining when we arrived. Our flight was delayed an hour and a quarter and we think Dr. Kathy's flight may have been delayed due to weather and traffic. We are just settling in at the hotel now. The rooms are nice. We thank God for safe traveling.

The picture below is an aerial view not far from the San Pedro Sula Airport in Honduras.

This is the hotel we stayed at - Hotel Villa Nuria. The women stayed in two units on the left and the men in one unit on the right.

Beginning Prayer Requests for January DRE MAMA Trip

2006-01-03T15:52:00.000-05:00

That Honduran children continue to improve their health through proper nutrition, medication, and good clean water.
That the MAMA staff in Honduras is healthy and ready to receive another team from the States.
The the DRE MAMA team works well together, and fills the needs of all the people that come to the clinics.
That the people might see that Jesus is the reason for our being there -- out of our obedience to Him and our love for Him and our neighbors.
That all would be safe and secure -- in the air travels as well as on the ground
That Hondurans would be blessed through our visit, and that the DRE team would be blessed through their contacts with the people of Honduras.
That people would encounter others personally, and that new relationships might be formed.
That the medicines being shipped out of New Orleans to Honduras would arrive in time.

Prayer requests written by January team leader Bob Moyer

DRE MAMA Project Team Introduction

2005-12-31T09:50:00.000-05:00

Deep Run East Mennonite Church will be sending two teams to serve under the MAMA Project in Honduras - one in January and one in February 2006. The January team consists of Bob Moyer, Rolando Zalaya, Tim Rice, Phyllis Nyce, Rhoda Detweiler, Kathy Myers, Rachel Myers, Carmen Miller, Kathy Roeder, and Terri Nyce. The January team will be in San Pedro Sula, Honduras from January 14 - 23, 2006.