Day 3- El Hogar and Santa Lucia
Buenos Tardes,
Today, Lunes, was a busy day for the men´s team here in Honduras as we made our first of three trips to Santa Lucia, soon to be home to the first graduating class of young girls from El Hogar. Although today was the start of a new work week, the schedule was a bit more relaxed as it was actually a holiday here in Honduras. However, we were never quite clear on what exactly was being celebrated. Regardless, it meant that the day started a bit later as there was no devotional to share with the kids to start as there will be on all other days. After breakfast, Raul pointed us in the direction of a large pile of wood in the back of the buildings that was to be moved and loaded onto a truck to be taken to Santa Lucia later in the day. The group teamed up along with about a half dozen eager boys, and we all moved many long and heavy planks through the campus and down to a waiting truck.
We then piled into the van and pulled away from El Hogar with many waves and smiles from children who were hanging around to see what happened. Raul took us through the city on the way out of Tegucigalpu and towards the east. The road took us out of town and into hills and valleys that steadily became more rural as we progressed. The winding road led us into a beautiful area of the country that is home to Santa Lucia. The girls school is through the picturesque town of the same name and accessed via a twisting and turning cobblestone road. The van climbed steadily and squeezed past other vehicles and Raul amazingly delivered us to the site of the school which is nestled high in the hills overlooking the outskirts of Tegucigalpa. The place is beautiful, just as a number of boys had told us it would be earlier in the day before we had left. There are several buildings on approximately two acres of peaceful, private property that was acquired with the generous help of friends to El Hogar from Canada. Matt Engelby is staying at Santa Lucia when he is in country and he was there to greet us.
Work is under way to ready the school for the first graduating class of girls who are scheduled to start classes in February of 2013. There are 6 girls in the first class, and they are going to absolutely love their new home. The team split up into two groups who worked on two different projects during the day. Bill, Tom H., Thomas, Ed, and Josh worked all day shoveling wet, heavy soil from a large pile into a trench that had been dug along the boundry of the property for a new security wall that is going up. This was difficult work, but the guys made great progress during the day. Meanwhile, the other group went inside the dorm where the girls will live and began cleaning and then painting a bright new color on the walls. The dorm is a great space with room to prepare and serve meals on the ground floor, and bedrooms on the second floor. There is an outside staircase that takes you up to the bedrooms which are off a long and wide open porch that overlooks the valley. It is stunning.
We broke at noon and made a quick trip back up to the small town center of Santa Lucia to meet the truck loaded with all the wood from El Hogar. The truck was not able to make it through the tight and twisting streets to the campus. So we unloaded wood from the truck and loaded it into the van while Raul engaged a friend of a friend of one the workers at the girls school to also load wood onto his very small pickup truck so that it all could be moved. Wow, what a sight! It is amazing that the resulting load did not shift and lead to disaster, but the driver skillfully delivered the load intact. All this wood is going to be used for scaffolding which will be needed to finish the wall over the next couple of months. After lunch, we finished up projects for the day and headed back to El Hogar.
This is what I had waited for all day. I had not seen Cesar Yoel over the weekend as he spends his weekends at home. I grabbed the photo book and cards that had been prepared at home, and went out to see if I could spot him. It only took a few minutes and I recognized him right away. I introduced myself and asked Cesar if we could sit together. I then showed him the pictures and notes, and the letter from Henry whom he had met this past summer. Kids gathered round and could not wait to look on with Cesar as he took it all in. His shy personality gave way quickly to smiles as he recognized members of the family. He also became an instant celebrity as all his friends wanted to see the photos as well. It couldn´t have been a nicer way to end a busy day.
We are all enjoying our time here and look forward to a return trip to Santa Lucia tomorrow. What a great day.
Hasta Manana, Rick
Nice post! (from Henry)
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