A Church for El Quebrachal!

We are building a church in El Quebrachal that is almost identical to the one pictured above. We started building it this year while in El Quebrachal in July, and we are hoping it will be done by the time we return so we can have a church service together! Those who have called me to give me updates have said the walls are already up and they are starting to do the roof :) I am so excited and I can't wait to see the church up on the hill overlooking the soccer field. The church in El Quebrachal will have bells in both towers so that they can call those in surrounding aldeas to join them for church services. We are so thankful to God that our church was given the resources to be able to fund the building of a church in El Quebrachal. Laying the foundation this past July was an event that will never be forgotten by the missionaries on my team, or the residents of El Quebrachal. It is one more of many events that we have shared together that have made our bond stronger.

Rancho El Paraiso - It really is a Paradise

Freshly cut grass at Rancho El Paraiso. When we are on our mission in Olancho we stay at Honduras Outreach Inc.'s ranch, which is located near San Esteban. From the dorms you can see the big wooden cross with the mountains in the background. The picture doesn't do it justice! It is beautiful there and one of our favorite places to relax is in on the porch which looks out onto this view. There are rocking chairs and hammocks that line the porch, and they are always full in the early mornings and late at night. Star gazing is a popular activity since the view is nothing like you've ever seen. Given that we are in the "middle of nowhere" with out city lights or pollution clouding the sky, you are able to see every star that exists, which always leaves our new members in awe. It is also quite common to see a shooting star!

To the left there is also a picture of the walkway to the dinning hall, which is now lined with various plants. The agriculture students have been working hard doing landscaping and the results are certainly paying off. :)

Home Improvement Project: Cement Floors

Dirt floors are common in the homes of those who live in rural Honduras. Part of our mission is helping the residents of our assigned aldea put cement floors in their homes. The main reason is to improve health, since having a dirt floor can lead to various infections in their feet. The first step is clearing the floor and leveling it. The residents do this before we even arrive. The also bring sand and water to the home in order to make the cement when we get there. To make cement mix a bag of cement with 70-85 shovels of sand. After it is mixed, we make a "crater" where we can pour water. The water is poured in until the crater is filled to the top, and then we take the cement/sand mix from the outer edges of the crater and carefully place it in the water. We continue doing this, until the top is covered and we can no longer See the water. We call this the "crater dance" because we walk in a circle around the "crater" as we are adding the mix to the water. Afterwards we reach the right consistency, we bring the cement into the house in buckets where a pro smooths and levels the floor. The finishing touches are an extra layer of pure cement (without sand) and a design made with a red powder. We aren't involved in this part since it takes a very skilled hand to do it!

Making Baleadas

I have many favorite Honduran foods, and Baleadas is one of them! However, it is important to make them from scratch, or at least it is to me. I tried the lazy way of buying store bought tortillas when I didn't have time, but it wasn't the same. I decided to go watch a pro make flour tortillas with her hands (no press!) and practice making them myself.

First I tried to guess how much of each ingredient she was using since she doesn't measure. She was making baleadas for about 30 people, so she used a 5 lb bag of flour. They she put two sticks of melted butter and a swirl squirt of that cream called Sula. The "swirl squirt" is pictured above. I think she added some Mazoloa oil as well, but I don't remember how much. After she mixed that together she would add water until it was the right consistency.

Next, you have to roll the dough into balls and place them in rows, slightly touching, and cover them with damp paper towels. She said it is better to let them sit for awhile before making the tortillas (it helps them keep their shape when your stretching them with your hands). After she has all 60 or so done, she takes the first ball she made and shapes it into a round disc, and then does some magic to make it stretch out into a huge, perfect circle. She places it on the comal to cook it and then it's ready to eat!

At the same time, you should have the beans going! If you've already soaked and boiled beans, then you can do one of two things. One option is blending them in the blender, the other is to refry them while mashing them into an almost paste-like substance. When they're done, spread them on a tortilla, add some Sula, and enjoy :)

Rural Honduras - What is school like?

When Honduras Outreach Inc. began working in the Agalta Valley, many of the aldeas had one school room, if that. Grades K-6 would be taught in a single room with a single teacher, to about 80-100 students. After 20 years in the Agalta Valley, we have seen some significant changes. For one, HOI has a kindergarten in every aldea with a separate teacher. Many of the aldeas now have two additional school rooms for grades 1-6, with at least two teachers. This is a huge improvement which has had a significant impact on how education is valued in the region. More children are going to school, and more are interested in continuing school after sixth grade even though many of their parents either never went to school, or only went for a couple of years. Thankfully HOI runs a scholarship program to help students continue their education, and has built a middle school and high school in Culuco near their ranch. If anyone wants to help their website is http://www.hoi.org/.

As much as the situation has improved, it is important to note that it is still no where near ideal. Many students still go to schools where they have to sit on the floor because there are no desks or chairs. In addition, many do not have school supplies so it is hard to complete assignments. They can still use further assisstance in the form of donations or missionary work. Each mission team brings a school kit for each child in their assigned aldea, so there is the option of bringing supplies directly to the children.

The special part of helping this way is the experience you have when you walk into a school room and see how little they have, therefore giving yourself the opportunity to better understand the situation. Secondly, the smiles on their faces when you hand them a new spiral notebook and pencils are priceless. And thirdly, the message that you send them that they are worth the visit means the most of all. When they see you standing in their school room, they know for certain that you care, and that they can trust you. Afterall, they don't ever see anyone from the government coming to help them, so for some we are their last hope.

Try drinking this

For those living in El Quebrachal, their only water source is this "river" which runs through the village. It is used for bathing, livestock, washing clothes, and drinking. It is 98% contaminated and most people must take medication for intestinal worms 3 times a year or more. Children are sent to the river on donkeys to collect the water in plastic jugs and take it back to the house where it is kept in a large barrel.

The water is not treated and usually attracts mosquitoes. The mosquitoes can cause additional problems since they carry malaria and dengue fever.

Making a home, Honduran (Rural) Style

This year, while working in San Buenaventura (near Gualaco), I had the opportunity to do a lot of "mudding", or as the Hondurans call it, pegando tierra. I usually don't do room additions or house construction because most of our projects have been putting in cement floors and latrines. However, pegando tierra is my favorite job of all because it resembles working with clay (for those of you who are artists).

One day, while working on a house, I started to ask one of the elderly men there how long it took to make a house from start to finish, and what all was required to do it. I had heard in the past, when working in other aldeas, that pegando tierra was a "woman's job", so I also asked him if he had helped to make his own house. He told me that in his aldea, women and men always worked together to build a house, and that it took approximately one to three months to complete. The first part of the job was to find a place to build your house. In Olancho you can claim land as your own, and if no one objects with-in a certain time frame, you can keep it. After choosing a place to build a home, they go up into the mountains to get 3 types of wood. One is used for the frame of the house, which includes the four corner posts, the posts for the doorway, and the posts to support the roof. The second type of wood is used to make the grid that they create for the construction of the walls. the third types is used to tie each place where two pieces of wood cross over each other. This, he explained, took the most time.

After creating the frame, they would put the roof on, which is usually made of tin these days. In the past it would have been a thatch roof. This is necessary to keep the walls out of the rain as they dry. To create the walls, the couple would get a clay-like substance that they have in certain parts of their terrain, and mix it with water. This creates the "mud" that they pack into the grid to make walls. This can also take a significant amount of time, especially when there are only two people doing it. However, when we work in large groups with the residents, we usually finish in two days.