Copan

Copan was a great experience for all. Despite the sickening, curvy roads that we had to take to get there, the outing was immensely enjoyed. We even got to eat pizza and hamburgers! As you can tell, we are all very tired due to our busy, adventurous day. The picture below captures one of our many moments at Copan. Our great tour guide, Antonio Rivers, took this picture for us.

Jenna and Morgan

All in Day's Work

Lots of work was done today. Once again, the group separated in construction for houses one and two, flouride and deworming treatment in the morning, and eye clinic in the afternoon.

Kathy and Mike returned to House #2 to finish up some work needed there. After this morning, no more assistance is needed at that home. House #1 had lots of help available. Sam, George, Jenn, Vanna, and I (Jenna) went over to make ourselves useful. Even the children wanted to help as they carried concrete blocks over to the house with us. Since there were so many people, Vanna and I opted to play with the children for a little while. Armed with Bubbles and a beach ball, the children went wild and were very excited to play games. They especially enjoyed "mono en el medio" (monkey in the middle) with their own rules to the game. Needless to say, all of us were extremely tired from our various activities. At left, Joey tries to interest the kids in a photo.

Morgan, Roxanne, Andrea, Blakely, Brittany, Joey, Arturo, and Suyapa (Arturo's wife) went up to Pinal to deliver more fluoride and deworming treatment for about fifty school kids. Despite stories of rocky roads up to Pinal, the path was smoothed out for them thanks to the municipality. The teacher in the school their had contacted them a few days ago asking for them to do that. Much to our surprise, the one who okayed the deal has become a very valuable resource for us. His daughter, Andrea, has translated for us the past two days in the clinic. He is also Martha's cousin. Afterward distributing the medicine, everyone played various games with the children there as well. Bubbles and jump roping were among the top favorites.

Today was the last day for the eye clinic. We were able to see and assist 79 patients today. That brings the eye clinic's total to 311 patients assisted. It was very exciting to know that we helped that many people in and around Quimistan.

Even though so much has already been done, we know that we can't do everything. It is very fulfilling to see the small steps taken to completing a larger vision. Stay tuned for tomorrow's excitement at Copan (the Mayan ruins).

Jenna Francis
Pictures chosen and input given by Morgan Fletcher

As Jenna and I sit here, we are somewhat at a loss for words. Each day brings with it something new and unforseen. Even though we are doing a lot of the same task, the people that we come into contact with make each experience different.

This morning the majority of us loaded into a vehicle destined for a school in Banderas (a small community up the highway). Apparently the maximum capacity of the vehicle was surpassed. We were stopped by the national police who then questioned Arturo extensively as to where we were going and why. By the grace of God, the police had compassion on us, and we were not ticketed. This was truly amazing seeing as how the fine for this infraction is very hefty. This incidence goes to show how God honors those who are trying to serve them. Nonetheless, we certainly didn't want to push our luck, so we took two trips back.

Once in Banderas, we administered the typical deworming medication and fluoride. Because it was a smaller school than the others, we were able to do more with the kids. I had made little cross necklaces to give to some children, and it turned out that I had enough for all the grade school kids. The kindergardeners got to play with lots of balloons. After the passing out of necklaces and balloons, eight of us grabbed bags of purchased rice and beans from the back of the truck to go door to door evangilizing. We found families who were in great need of food, and told them about the love of Jesus. Each bag of rice and beans had a little Spanish track included so that the families could read more about God and being saved. Brittany, Blakely, George, and Jenna remained at the school to play numerous games with the children. When we got back the kids were in the midst of a "Blakely Says" game. I joined in and it soon evolved into follow the leader and "Hot Avocado" (there were no potatoes available). In the picture George is in the middle of an intense game of Duck, Duck, Goose.

The construction group made great progress today. Only one person is needed at site 2 tomorrow, because basically all that is left to do is the roof. The materials for that are not yet available. Site 1 will be the greatest concentration tomorrow. Team members will be doing concrete, steel bars, and other things to catch it up the level of the other house. Whoever goes in the morning will for sure be plently busy.

We have gotten the afternoon eye clinic down pat. The people come in in an organized fashion and leave with a pair of glasses that helps them to see. I have been taught a very valuable lesson today. Every day that the clinic has been opened thus far, I have been in the examining room. I have been the operator of the auto refractor. Today I wanted to see the final stage of the process, so I checked Jenna out on the machine and went to the fitting room. After a while, I noticed that some of the people were very greatful, while others were not so much. When I got back I started thinking. We are not here to receive praise. Our sole purpose in coming is to spread the love of Jesus. It is instances like that that make you remember why it is that you came. I am very appreciative for being shown a different perspective on the issue.

After dinner tonight, some of the more adventurous missionaries (Blakely, Jenna, Brittany, Jenn, George, and I) went to see close friends of the veteran team members play soccer. The boys, and one girl, were really excited that we came to watch. Their ages ranged from probably about 8 to 17. The field was extremely small, but they played better than any American kids that I have seen.

Until later,

Morgan Fletcher
(Jenna has become my blogging buddy. Even though she did not have to stay up, she has chosen to stay with me to keep me company and pick out pictures.)

Monday is Funday

Hola! I have decided to be blog queen tonight as we are stuck in the house due to a terrential downpour. In fact, it has rained nearly every night we have been here. We are not complaining though because the clouds keeps the temperature down! Something the morning constuction team was very happy about.

Mike, George, and Sam along with Kathy, Blakely and I (Brittany) went to home site 2 this morning for construction and a little play time with the kids. Try as I might, I couldn't seem to find a picture of the men working (although I'm sure it did occur). Blakely and I were goaded into a fitness challenge and found ourselves hoisting "bloques" up to the brick masons on the scaffolding. The other most common request--"cemento" allowed Kathy to earn her keep. Sam demonstrated his uncanny ability to summon rooster crows from all over town. If only I could post sound bytes...

There are close to 15 children who live in or very near the home, and every single one of them loves balloons! There were Bombas, Bombas, Bombas everywhere. As many of these children were barefoot, we also made a game of tracing their feet on notebook paper to estimate shoe sizes. Kathy was then able to return after lunch with donated shoes that fit the children that needed them. This home site is in its final stages as work on the roof will commence tomorrow.

The other members of our group---sans Ken and June who flew out this morning--traveled to Jicaro school to administer anti-parasitic medicines and fluoride. There are 24 students at that school, 22 of which were present today, and they span grades 1-6. In previous trips, the foundation helped to complete a row of bathrooms and security bars on this site. After fluoride, the group travelled to a kindergarden in Pinalejo to assess opportunities for future projects.

The eye clinic was open again this afternoon and around 45 patients were seen. There was some confusion during the set up which caused a pile-up of anxiously waiting patients at the door. Pablo's bilingual skills were very helpful in organizing and calming the crowd. After the initial bump, things moved well. The photo shown on the right is of a particularly thrilled gentleman who needed some very strong glasses. When I put them on him and Jen asked if he could see the letters of the eye chart, it was hard for us to distinguish his answer amongst all the giggling. I have found the eye work to be particularly rewarding as gratitude is shown through wide eyes and smiles.

We had a leisurely dinner and a lot of time for group fellowship this evening.

Hasta Manana!

Brittany Klein

Today was an adventurous day. After breakfast, we did some housekeeping and played some games before the Agape Promise children arrived. After gathering for another delicious meal, Joey, Mike, and Kathy performed a wonderful skit telling of the story of David and Goliath. Of course lots of help was given by Jenn, our gifted translator. The kids thought Mike's impersonation of Goliath was funny, especially as he taunted David, who was played by Joey.

The Agape Promise children were then taken back to Quimistan by Roxanne. They won the "packed like sardines" award in the truck.

Upon her return, we went to Santa Clara. Much excitement occured on the way there, when the police tracked us down. However, despite Morgan's belief that we were in trouble, they were just there to join us on our journey. With them as our escorts, we truly felt like we were in a parade, guns and all.

There was a birthday party in Santa Clara for a little boy, Ronnie, who turned four. Unfortunately, we missed his party, but he was extremely delighted for the presents that we gave him. Out of his ballons and toy cars, Ronnie like his Tickle-Me Elmo the best. He couldn't stop making it laugh.

After visiting the family, Arturo and his wife took us down to see their mission work for the village of Santa Clara. The main focus is this area which holds a kindergarden Monday through Friday and church as well. It then started to rain, but afterwards, we hiked down a ways to a small home that a family of eight lives in. The children loved the bubbles, ballons, and candy that were given to them as well. The hike back up surpassed Blakely's wildest dreams, since just this morning she wished we would go for a walk.

Arturo had one more activity on our agenda planned for us. We visited a little boy, Jeronimo, and his family outside of Santa Clara. It was an eye opening experience for everyone to see the abject poverty. As you can see in the picture, this family was living in nothing more than a house of sticks with burlap and collected trash on the side of the road for money. It was touching to see the resilience within this family despite their conditions.

There was a quick dinner, and off we went to the Agape Church. Sam wasn't kidding when he said they were spirited. Brittany and Blakely loved the little girls who did the ribbon dance and wished they could have joined them. It was a new and interesting experience. It was pouring down rain after the service but that didn't prevent the brave souls of Blakely, Jenn, Morgan, George, Brittany, Vanna, and I of running over to Shirley's for some yummy ice cream and soda treats. It was a great way to end an adventurous day.

Jenna Francis and Morgan Fletcher

So . . . another day in the mission field under wraps. Today was a very long but productive day. After devotion and breakfast, one group (of 12!) headed out to the kindergarden for more eye examinations. We were able to set up two eyeglass fitting stations which really sped up the process. At one point, the fitters had gotten ahead of the examiners. That was truly amazing. I got very comfortable with the auto refractor, seeing as how we helped 95 people today. Blakely continued checking everyone's blood pressure and examined the patients' eyes for irregularities. Andrea and Ken were particulary helpful with doing the figuring for all of the prescriptions that the machine had compiled. And without Arturo, we would have been up the creek. Arturo has really helped out greatly with all of our translating needs in the examing room and more. We joke with him about opening his own clinic, because he enjoys so much predicting each person's eyeglass strength. He is certain that he is always right. A career in optometry is probably not in his future! Jenn and June have also done a fabulous job translating in the fitting room. After the power came back on after lunch, we were able to get cranking again. People kept pouring in. We examined some of Mrs. Martha's (the owner of the ranch we are staying at) workers' eyes towards the end of the day. The picture that we have included tonight is of a boy who came to the clinic with his mother. Everyone thought that he was really cute. As it turns out, Brittany had taken a picture in the other room very similar to the one that I had taken. I thought that he wanted to see his picture, but apparently that was old stuff to him!

The construction group, consisting of Mike and Sam, continued their work at one of the sites today. I think that it was worksite number 1, but I am not totally sure. They mixed concrete and filled the cinder block walls. The excitement of the day came when Jose Pinto, the foreman, was moving a stack of blocks. Mike heard him shouting what sounded like "snake" in Spanish, and it definitely was. Jose had uncovered a small rattle snake, ready for action. Thankfully, Sam acted quickly and came to the rescue with with what turned out to be his quite deadly shovel. The afternoon was also busy. Mike said that the locals didn't want the missioners to have to sit around! He said that he learned things about construction that he had never known before. Check out the progress on the house!

After dinner this evening, Jenna, Joey, Roxanne, and I attempted to go to the ever popular Saturday night event. . . a soccer game. The boys in town pay 15 limpiras and get to play from 7:00-9:00. Unfortunately when we arrived, there was no soccer to be watched. I think that we hadn't gotten the memo. Roxanne took us on a tour of the town, and we went to Shirley's. While at Shirley's we figured out that the big Honduras vs. Guatemala game was on TV. We are thinking that that was probably where everybody was. Anyways, we came back here and started the blog.

Jenna has stayed up to keep me company while doing the blog tonight. Forgive me for any typos or mistakes. Everyone else has gone to bed, so I think that we are going to go join them. We hope that everything is well back in the States, and we will send another update tomorrow.

Buenas Noches!

Morgan Fletcher

July 11, 2008

After breakfast the group separated into three sub-groups. The first consisted of Roxanne, Andrea, Vanna, Brittany, Blakely, June, and Ken; they returned to the school to finish giving the older students fluoride and deworming treatment. June, Morgan, Andrea, Roxanne, and Brittany got up the courage to try the fluoride themselves. It was apparently an interesting experience.

The second group attempted to aid in construction of the two homes. However, they did not need everyone who was available to help. Instead of three people per each home, they only needed three total. Therefore, Joey, Mike, and George stayed while Kathy and Morgan went to the school to help out the others. George moved cinder blocks at the first site and then went to help the second afterwards. Joey and Mike also helped around the site in whatever capacity was needed. After lunch, Sam traded job positions with Joey. The new group filled the cinder blocks with concrete. They say they're feeling the burn now. George and Mike took a break for a brief photo opp.

After breakfast, Sam, Jenn, and I went up the

mountain to Pinal to assess a possible con-struction project for their school. While Sam and Jenn evaluated the situation, I played with the school children as they taught me "pica" and other playground games. They also loved seeing their picture displayed on the camera. I enjoyed getting my picture taken with the children.

After lunch, those who were not part of the construction crew went to the kindergarten where an eye clinic was set up. Half of the group tested the patients' eyes, and the other half fitted eyeglasses for them. We were very busy the whole time. Blakely was particularly helpful taking blood pressure readings for those with a history of high blood pressure. Kathy and Arturo (in the background) aided a young boy with the auto refractor.

We then gathered around for dinner for some food prepared by Gloria from her restaurant. Unfortunately, a huge storm came up, so George and Arturo had to bring the food to the hacienda. After dinner, ten of us decided to attend a local church, La Cosecha. Despite the language barrier, we were able to get a good idea of what the pastor was saying due to his enthusiastic hand gestures. We were also able to talk over ice cream and soda at Shirley's, a local convenience store, so that everyone knew what was said.

Overall it was a productive day. We are very tired due to our hectic schedule. Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow.

!Hasta luego!

Jenna Francis
(with gracious input from Morgan Fletcher)