El Guanabano, Honduras
In a community without running water, imagine the joy when taps are turned on for the very first time. With hard work by the Carpenteros and other organizations, water now flows to the people of El Guanabano.
The journey started at 4 a.m. on Monday, April 10, 2006 for most of the team. Rick DeJonge (Immanuel CRC), Adrian Kloet (Ancaster Meadowlands CRC), Henk Schilthuis and Coby Visser (Ancaster CRC), Nick Groen, Tony Verdonk and teamleader Ken VanderLaan (Calvary CRC) all met at Calvary CRC as well as some members of the church community and previous Carpenteros, for the send off prayer of blessing for the team and the journey ahead.
Steve Voortman (Calvary CRC) was supposed to be there but had slept in (a certain foreshadowing for the rest of the trip). So… his wife had to ferry him over to the Tim Horton’s at Brant Street and the North Service Road in Burlington where I, Stephanie Visser (Burlington CRC) was waiting to be picked up as well.
We arrived at Toronto airport and boarded our flight without incident. We caught our connecting flight to Honduras in Miami, Florida and landed in Tegucigalpa (the capital of Honduras) at 1:30PM local time. We were greeted by Ana (from CRWRC Honduras) and her sister Mirian, Santos (the Honduran translator for the trip), and Gregorio (singer and husband of Dilia, one of the people working for the Diaconia National which works with CRWRC). We were greeted by fantastic smiling faces and gorgeous weather.
Our luggage and 2 team members were loaded into the pickup truck which had been donated by the Carpenteros during the last trip in November 2005. It was really nice to see how they are using the truck every day.
The remaining 7 team members, as well as Santos and Gregorio’s two sons loaded into the small VW van and Gregorio drove as we began the journey to Guanabano. Guanabano is the small community we will call home for the next 10 days. We drove with the windows wide open to get a little relief from the heat.
After an hour and a half we stopped at a small store in the middle of nowhere run by Mennonites from the USA. We used the washroom there. First off we had to buy toilet paper from the store owners (it was very very cheap) and then we were told to throw the toilet paper into a box next to the toilet and not into the toilet. Ewwwwwww was all I had to think - but if we had thrown the toilet paper in the toilet it could back up their whole system. This was true throughout all of Honduras.
We were off again and we were told that Guanabano was only an hour and a half further. We would soon learn what “Honduran time” was.
The van over heated an hour later. We waited for the van to cool down and eventually we added what bottled water we had on board. Gregorio hopped a fence and took some additional water from a nearby pond. Soon we were on the road again. We got lost closer to the community because it was dark and so we had to ask for directions from a few locals. We arrived in the community of Guanabano at 6:30PM. We were greeted at the church by the whole community and a feast fit for a king. We had 2 lightbulbs there because of a small generator but other than that, the whole community does not have electricity.
An elder from the church, Matilde, greeted us and thanked us in the name of the Lord for coming to their community. We were very hungry and wasted no time diving into the re-fried beans, rice, plantains, beef and mixed peppers. We had watermelon for dessert. The whole community stood around and watched as we ate. It was a little awkward but we understood their curiosity.
We were divided into teams of two to our respective host families. We retired for the evening at 8:15PM. Sleep was a bit hard to maintain when the roosters started to crow at 3:00AM….and didn’t stop. I tried to close my eyes and imagine this “nature's choir” that Ken spoke of...
DAY 2 (Tuesday April 11, 2006)
The girls (Coby, Ana, Mirian and I) all stayed in the same room in the house of our host family and received a wake up call at 5:15AM. The whole team assembled at the church at 6:00AM to start the day with a cup of coffee. After some instructions, we gathered some picks and shovels and started to work. We discovered that 40 trenches had already been completed. It had taken the men of the community many weeks to dig all the trenches. About 15 local men helped us as we continued to dig one of the trenches. Each trench is about half a foot wide and two feet deep. The community is rather rural and all the houses are spaced far apart with trenches that lined their driveways. Some driveways were only 20 feet long and others were up to 2-3 kilometers.
Some might say “Why not just get a trencher?” but the reason is that the Carpenteros want the community to participate and not just receive a handout. Each member of the community had to dig in the trenches. The trench that they dug could not be their own. This established a sense of community.
We worked until 8:00AM and then we stopped for breakfast. We had pancakes with fresh fuit. We practised singing for the orientation meeting and service to be held later that day. Some of us suffered blisters already. We then went back to work but had to take frequent breaks because of the heat and we drank litres of bottled water before lunch time. We worked until 11:00AM and then stopped due to the heat. It was over 40 degrees Celcius! We had lunch and then showered. Well, only the girls had a proper shower. The boys had to bathe at the pilas. A pila is a concrete basin of cold water with a small bucket that can be used for rinsing off. Others bathed at a barrel in a stall with only 3 "walls" - sometimes no walls. The bathing water was often shared with cows who came along needing a drink and leaving behind their slimey saliva.
We went over a very dusty road for half an hour to the local town of Catacamas. There we could email and telephone our loved ones. We exchanged some of our money there. The local currency is Limperas: approx. 18 Limperas for 1 American dollar. It was very comforting and nice to speak to our loved ones again. I noticed that almost every business had an armed guard carrying anything from a 22 calibre rifle to a shot gun. The police travel in groups of 5-6 and carry AK 47 machine guns. To quote Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, “Toto I think we’re a long way from Kansas”.
We went back to Guanabano and had our orientation meeting with Ana at 4:30PM regarding the work of CRWRC and its partnerships within Honduras.
We were asked to come up with a list of 9 needs we think the community would have and prioritize them. We all put water and electricity at the top of the list. Here is their list:
Water to the houses (our project)
Construction of latrines
Construction of a health center
Credit Union
Schools
Community Center
Soccer Field (they love soccer or as they call it, football)
Building for the Community
Electricity
Ways to get water to the latrines
Dilia works for the Diaconia National and spoke to us about it through a translator. The Diaconia National works with churches who in turn reach out to the communities through their help. The Diaconia National teaches preventative health, working with children up to 6 years of age, providing nutritious vitamins and medicine. The biggest aim is to raise up leaders within the church. They work with the poor with agriculture and irrigation i.e. growing plantains. Many men will leave their families and try to make it to America looking for a better life to provide for their families. The Diaconia teach people to work in their own communities. The people will learn to raise their own money through access to the credit unions. The Carpenteros would provide seed capital for the credit union. A member of community will make application to join the credit union. The community member must have a certain amount of capital or equity to receive a small loan from the Credit Union. The community member must then pay back the loan at a reduced interest rate and then be able to buy seed, cattle, pigs,etc to further their own micro business. Once the loan is paid back, the community member can make application for a larger loan. Thus the community slowly begins to flourish until the Carpenteros' help is no longer needed - usually within a 5-year period. The interest paid to the Credit Union can now be used to raise the amount of seed capital or be used within the community for a small project important to that community. Some credit unions will use the interest to pay to its members.
Roldan is the coordinator for the Diaconia National training program, training local leaders within the community to help their own community. Roldan will work directly with the local communities with their projects and help them buy materials and actualize the project. He spoke on the water project that we are working on during this trip. The main water tank will provide water for three communities. Originally there were going to be 4 public faucets. They are currently in talks with the Red Cross to finish the project. The Carpenteros complement this effort. The community of Guanabano has about 84 houses that would see the benefit. Clean water is the main problem. The Carpenteros have motivated the community to solve this problem. It is very hard for the community to press the government to see results. It takes a very long time. With this project the community is motivated which also motivates the government to help by providing programs. The meeting ended around 5:00PM and then we had dinner.
We then left to get ready for the welcome church service. The women had to wear a skirt or long pants and could not have a sleeveless top in church. The men had to wear long pants. The service was in Spanish and was really nice and welcoming. Parts were translated for our benefit. Those who spoke and prayed did so with exuberance and passion unlike I have seen in a long time. Often it would sound like loud worshiping of thanks and praise to God. Even though the prayers were not translated the message came across in volumes. The musical accompaniment was 2 guitars, an accordion, and a turtle shell used as a drum. It was beautiful but many of us struggled to stay awake as the day had worn us out. We retired at 8:30PM and had no trouble sleeping this night.
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DAY 3 (Wednesday, April 12, 2006)
We had our wake up call at 4AM. Shoo! That’s early. Henk had the idea to start earlier to get more work done since the heat makes it unbearable to work much past 11:30AM. It was proven to be a very good idea. We met at 5:00AM beside the church in the shelter made of plantain leaves on poles. It was made especially for us. It was very nice and kept the sun off of us later in the day. They had also made make-shift ovens of cement on poles that were stoked with fires to cook each of our meals. The women of the community get paid a small amount of money to cook for us and all the money for groceries is provided by the Carpenteros. We had our morning Honduran coffee and waited for Adrian and Steve…as usual. Those boys sure knew how to sleep! We headed out for the day. Most of the guys worked on digging trench while Coby, Ken and I as well as two local guys, Jose and Mario worked with Roldan on laying pipes in the finished trenches. Roldan gave us a two minute, very animated instructional with hand gestures of how to lay the pipe and fittings and then glue the pieces together. Ana translated a bit but we still got the main gist of it without translation. Ken’s knowledge of Spanish really helped a lot too. We practiced on one house and quickly got into a nice groove working with Jose and Mario. I was known as glue lady as I glued all the joints together. Each trench was to be cleaned out of loose debris (including a couple of baby chicks that were running around in our first trench). Coby was a hard worker and it seemed she rarely took a break. You go girl! We laid the pipe next to the trench and glued the pieces together and then laid the pipe in the trench. We completed 14 houses this day. The guys (Steve, Adrian, Nick, Rick, and Henk) backfilled the trenches of three houses after digging trench for most of the morning. We stopped at 11:30AM because of the heat and had lunch.
After lunch we had some free time to shower and relax. Coby and I took some time to show pictures of our families and to attempt to converse using an English-Spanish dictionary. Struggling to communicate with our host family led to some very funny and good times.
Irene and Emily are coming tomorrow. Irene is the coordinator for the CRWRC for all of Central America and Emily is a volunteer through CRWRC who is here for 9 months after she completed her studies in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her term is almost over but she is engaged to a Honduran so I have a feeling she will be back!
We assembled at around 4:00PM at the eating area beside the church for a time of devotions and singing. The topic of the devotional was on the concept of poverty and what it really means. We all agreed that the people in the community of Guanabano are rich in spirit and faith and that is the most important thing. We had supper and broke out the Frisbees and skipping ropes. Even Henk had a joined in the skipping. The locals picked up the concept of the Frisbee pretty quickly and were waaaay better than most of us by the end of the evening. We had good fun!
Later three of the community women joined us for a chat. We talked about life, death, and other customs that make our cultures the same, yet so different. One of the local men, Jose talked about his life and plans. Jose is 20 years old and has a wife and two small girls aged 1? and 6 months. We asked him many questions about his plan to move to the United States and support his family from there. He had already tried twice to get to the USA but without success. The coyotes or people who arrange the way to the United States provide a dangerous path on which many men die. Jose’s father had lived in the USA and Jose had to go there to bring his body back to Honduras after he died. Jose's Mom had also died.
The concept of the Credit Union really makes sense for someone like Jose and it finally hit home for me when I heard Jose talk of his dreams and goals. The Credit Union would allow Jose to stay in the community as he could get a small loan form the Credit Union to buy supplies to advance his pig farm and production of the 100 acres left to him by his father. He has interest in raising cows, plantains, and chickens. The loan from the Credit Union would help him advance his ideas. After he developed more capital he could get a larger credit and stay in the community with his family. It was a very interesting conversation that lasted until 9:00PM which was unusual because most days the people all go to their homes around 8:00PM. It was cooler this night which made it nicer for sleeping.
DAY 4 (Thursday, April 13, 2006)
We assembled between 5:00-5:30AM. We had our morning coffee and were off. Coby, Adrian, Ken and I, along with Jose and Mario under the instruction of Roldan, laid more pipe in the trenches. Nick, Rick, Steve, Henk, and Tony all backfilled the trenches in which we had already place the pipe. We will probably do more of the same tomorrow. We are really making excellent progress. We stopped for the day at 11:30AM and then relaxed. Emily, Irene and her daughter Christie arrived at about 1:30PM. They then went in search of Santos, leaving Coby and me to have mini conversations with our host family. It went surprisingly well.
We had a devotional time with the team and Irene, Emily, and Christie. After dinner we had church from 7:00 - 8:30PM and then we all retired for the evening. We girls lay in our room at our house and chatted for awhile. It was really nice.
DAY 5 (Friday, April 14, 2006)
We were awoken again by roosters at 3:30AM. As I was lying there I listened to some of the congregation members in the church next door cry in loud supplications of prayer to God. During Holy week members of the church would gather from 4:00 - 5:00AM to pray. I wondered if I would ever do the same. We got up at 4:45AM. Emily took some prodding to get out of bed!! but finally we made our way to the eating area to congregate for the morning coffee.
We stopped work again at 11:30AM due to the heat and dust. We are here in the dry season which makes everything very dusty. We had lunch and then piled into two trucks at 2:00PM and went on a journey to look at the water source. We stopped at the well base only a 2 minute drive away. The well will supply 150 gallons of water per minute. It is a 6 inch drilled well - drilled by the Red Cross and donated by the Japanese. There is a 6 inch pipe buried 6 feet in the ground that travels 7 kilometres to a new pumping station that has yet to be built. The pumping station will be 600 feet higher than the well and will work on gravity. A 2 inch pipe that is 3 feet deep will run back to the community to feed each of the houses. The tank will feed 3 communities: Ochoa, Guanabito, and Guanabano. We went to the sight were the water tank will be built at a later date by the Red Cross. On the way, Ken misjudged one of the rocks on a very rustic road….more like a path. The truck hit the rock and put a “small” dent in a panel underneath the truck. I don’t think Ken should do anymore off-roading. We visited an existing tank which is functioning at the community of Excoto.
On the way back we drove through burning fields, which the farmers believe is an easier way to clear the land. Many are ignorant of the fact that there are better ways to clear the land. The land is good for 2 years after a burn but then is ruined for many years. The Diaconia National and CRWRC are looking at training farmers on better ways to farm and clear their land to create better crops.
On the way back we were flagged down by a community member who promptly loaded two bundles of somewhat charred wood into the truck to fuel the stove for our meals. It then came to mind that I saw this man yesterday with his two small children searching through his charred land for wood. This wood was now going to be used to cook our food. I originally felt bad that we were taking work from a man who doesn’t have much at all but then Emily explained that each family has to provide enough wood to fuel the fire for food for one day. They do this to contribute what little they can to the project; otherwise it’s more of a handout than a community effort. I then understood how a short term mission trip can be disastrous or beneficial based on the preparation and community liason.
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DAY 6 (Saturday, April 15, 2006)
We got up at the usual time and went to work. All of us were backfilling trenches now. I could not work after breakfast due to the pain in my right arm. I didn’t know what I had specifically done to injure my arm but I believed it to be sprained. Aside from that, we had the opportunity to see a parrot in the wild…well, sort of. One family had found a parrot that had fallen out of a tree and nursed it to health and now it lived in a tree near their house and they fed it. Some of us took the time to get our picture taken by Adrian with the parrot. That was really cool.
At breakfast Rick told us about his and Nick’s family dog at their house. "Spike" was a nasty dog that wouldn’t let Nick or Rick back into the house after dark. Rick said that he no longer has anything to drink after 4:00PM so that he doesn’t have to go to the washroom at night. We all had a laugh as we watched Rick’s dog walk behind the breakfast table. The dog was unusually well-fed and one of its eyes was smaller than the other. You could tell it had won its place at the top of the pecking order. After breakfast I could only observe the team working but couldn’t participate because my arm hurt too much to shovel. However, I couldn’t miss out on riding a horse that a community member visited us with. Some of us had a short ride on the horse. With one arm, I got on the horse and did a short jog down the road. It was my first time and really awesome. Afterwards we loaded the 16 of us into the truck which somehow managed to take us all back to our home base at the church.
After lunch we went to town and I saw a local doctor. We took also Jose and Mario for a change of scenery for them. I went to the doctor and it turns out I sprained my wrist. I got some medication and a tensor bandage. At the Dr's office we saw a man who looked very beat up. We found out with the help of Irene that the man had tried to jump from a moving car to a moving train so that he could get to America. He fell short and landed on his head. We were hoping Jose would see this and decide more firmly to not go to America.
After that we found an internet café and emailed and called our loved ones and then searched out an ice cream shop which was really hard because there was nobody in town today because of Holy week. Most of the shops were closed. Jose managed to find us an ice cream shop that was still open and we all devoured ice cream sundaes. We arrived back in Guanabano around 6:00PM and had supper. Gregorio then sang for us and we were all blessed by his great voice and songs. It was beautiful. Gregorio gave me one of his CD’s to take home. It is a gift I will certainly treasure for a long time. We all chatted for a bit and then said goodnight for the day.
DAY 7 (Sunday, April 16, 2006)
Easter Sunday! Today was the sunrise service outdoors where we usually ate our meals beside the church at 5:00AM. It was beautiful! “Pastor” Ken delivered a beautiful sermon in English translated to Spanish by Emily. Gregorio then sang, making a perfect conclusion to a beautiful service celebrating our risen Lord. With fresh new eyes we looked again at the amazing sacrifice Christ Jesus made for us by giving up His life for every one of us. No other faith, creed, or leader has ever died and risen again forever! Gregorio said this and it really struck a chord with us. There was no breakfast as the community was fasting until dinner and we decided to join them.
We loaded up and travelled to Catacamas to climb the many, many stairs to a cross that was on top of the mountain built by the Roman Catholics 10 years ago for the centennial year of Catacamas. Some of us had a dustier drive than others riding in the back of the truck. When we arrived there was an Easter processional going down the street. They were singing and there were large speakers on a small truck blasting the songs into the community. These people really like their loud music! Some were dressed in robes and others carried large banners and crosses. It was quite the thing to see. We then went to the base of the mountain and climbed the 560 steps and even though it was morning a lot of us were sweating heavily by the time we got to the top. We took a team photo and then left Catacamas and drove to El Sembra-Dor meaning “the planters”. It is a large farm set up by the World Gospel Mission from the USA in 1954. They help Hondurans by training them in vocational skills such as mechanics and agriculture. Each Honduran musy pay 5,000 Limperas a year and could be eligible for scholarships. Jose told us that his brother went here and he sold a cow to help pay for his tuition. He is now in a flight school in Honduras. The grounds were stunning with large trees and cows that looked American - unlike the Honduran cows with very large ears. The farm looked like a large scale American farm. They have their own electricity through their own electric generating station. They have over 2000 heads of cattle.
I couldn’t do the fasting thing any longer after feeling a bit faint and I ate a granola bar. The others were better than I and held fast.
After seeing the school we “eventually” made our way to the see the river that was close to Guanabano. The roads were long and winding and we took one wrong turn that landed us at someone’s home. We had to turn around and take another road. Jose kept on saying it was a short ways but we found out that that was a “Honduran Mile” which is much, much longer than a our Mile. Once we made it we had to walk through someone’s fenced in yard and around some cows and try to avoid the growling dogs (aka parros in Spanish). Seems you see these same kind of dogs everywhere you go and they have the run of every town. Often while eating, we will hear a hissing noise and a shout of "Parro!" as the women in the kitchen shoo the dogs away. One time they chased the dog out with a stick that was still on fire from the stove. Rick has an especially feisty dog that won’t let him out of his room at night. At the house where Coby and I stayed, the dogs wouldn’t let Adrian onto our property at night when he tried to use the better toilet at our house. We would always know when Adrian had tried to get in because the dogs would bark and growl like mad.
Back to the journey…..we eventually made it to the river and it was spectacular! There was a smaller river bed to the side of the main river that was blanketed by lilies with beautiful purple/blue flowers. Some of the boys waded in and let the cool water run over their legs for a bit. You can clearly see that 10 feet above where the water is now, there is a water line. In the rainy season the river swells to over 10 feet past its normal level.
Most of us were pretty hungry after that. We found out that Jose knew a short cut the whole time and we were back to the village in 10 minutes! We had a delicious lunch and then took a siesta as it was too hot to do anything else. We had church from 4:00 - 6:00PM. After another wonderful dinner including the classics of rice, tortillas, and re-fried beans we were off for an early bedtime because the generator broke.
DAY 8 (Monday, April 17, 2006)
Up again at 4:45AM and off to work after our morning coffee. I swear the roosters have gotten quieter but we are all probably adjusting to the noise. The boys along with our in-house mechanic, Adrian, managed to fix the generator this morning. About three quarters of us went back to digging trench and a small portion of us went to backfill. I, of course, could only supervise but that left me a great opportunity to speak to the locals with the help of Santos. That was a wonderful opportunity although it felt horrible not being able to help the others with the task at hand.
After breakfast we all dug some more. Even the locals were losing energy as it was “mucho calor” or very hot. We had lunch and went our separate ways to shower and meet up for a trip to see some caves.
The caves were just outside of Catacamas and were really cool. They were found in 1997 by 3 Hondurans who went exploring. Legend has it that they took some bones that were in the cave because they glowed an iridescent colour. On their way out their flashlights dimmed and they felt it was the gods telling them that the bones were not to leave the cave. The remains found in the cave are the oldest found in Central America and date back over 3,000 years. Now the government has made a tourist attraction out of it and local farmers give tours of the caves. The government still has a presence there as we could see by the armed soldier at the site. We then went for ice cream in Catacamas (some of us had 2….because of the heat!) and headed home.
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DAY 9 (Tuesday, April 18, 2006)
We tried to sleep in a little later today but we were up anyway as the sun was up and so were the people and all the animals haha. We had breakfast and set out to El Carrizal at 8:00AM for the dedication ceremony of the community center which had been built by the last team of Carpenteros in November 2005. We arrived around 2 hours later and in good form. The whole community awaited us. I was struck by the large amount of children in this community. There are 98 families and 900 people in the community…you do the math. That makes for a lot of children! They were all eager to hold our hands and try to touch my blonde highlights. We first visited the community center built in November 2005 by the last team. It was completed and truly a wonderful building for the community to use. It was nice for Coby to see because her son Paul had helped build that building.
Next we were led by the children to the two school buildings. One was for grade 1 and 2. The next building had two rooms. One room was for grade 3 and 4 and then another for grades 5 and 6. There were 95 brand new desks in the school donated by a generous donator. The children shouted thanks in Spanish in unison and were very eager to show off their classrooms. We saw a group of teenagers in uniforms in the back of a truck. They were on their way to school in their “school bus”. There were about 10 kids that were past grade 6 and therefore no longer seen as needing schooling. The Carpenteros provided scholarships making school a reality for these kids. One teenaged girl gave a very touching speech of thanks for the scholarship she had received.
We then visited the soccer field that was purchased with funds from the Carpenteros in November 2005. Because the land had been purchased (by the Carpenteros) the government built a kindergarten for the community and paid for part of the salary of the kindergarten teacher. The Carpenteros then pitched in some funds for the teacher’s salary and a genreous Canadian donor paid for the desks in the classroom.
The teacher, Herman Diaz and children said thanks and the teacher gave a very nice speech. A parent also gave a very heartfelt speech and thanked the Capenteros for all their help. We then went back to the community center for a presentation on what the community is doing with their credit union.
Pastor Anton opened the meeting with prayer and 2 songs were sung by the community in Spanish. Then a board member made the presentation on the Credit Union. The Credit Union started in March 2002. There are 58 members.
Outstanding amount 18,000 Limperas
Carpenteros Donation 40,500 Limperas
Saved Money in Banks 32,000 Limperas
Loans from Deaconia 20,000 Limperas
Interest Collected 70,200 Limperas
LOANS
Agricultural Loans 122,900 Limperas
Microbusinesses 38,000 Limperas
Bank Accounts 20,000 Limperas
Total 180,900 Limperas
(amounts totaled as of March 2006)
Agricultural loans are for 10 months. Microbusinesses are 3-4 months i.e. small grocery stores and clothing stores. Interest rate per month is 3%. They use the money to sew beans and corn. They give out loans for agriculture two times a year. There is no mercy fund.
Q- At the end of the year what is done with the profit?
A- Unknown the benefit because money is continually being used. The money is reinvested in the community. All members put in money to start the Credit Union. Some of the money is used for a social fund and seed capital. Parts of the social activities would be kindergarten.
Used to go to Catacamas and sign a paper i.e.use cattle as collateral. Now it is easier to verify collateral and easier to get a loan with the Credit Union. If there is no collateral then the loan is taken with 10% interest.
The kindergarten teacher, Herman Diaz, again thanks the Carpenteros and a community member gave a moving speech of thanks for a scholarship program because now her children have been able to further their education.
Dilia spoke on behalf of the Deaconia.
It was really nice for Henk and Ken to see their host families from a previous trip and spend some time with them. We left and went to Sante Maria Del Real to see the Deaconia headquarters (also mostly built by past Carpenteros teams). It was beautifully decorated and finished with gardens and ironwork. The people were welcoming and explained that they service all 8 communities in the province of Olancho. There are 12 employees therefore it is very important that each community have people with them that can head up Credit Unions there. We then went to email and telephone our loved ones. We had an ice cream and headed back for supper.
Once we sat down for supper, Ken broke out the “Fed Ex” package of letters from home. We all got a little misty eyed from very touching letters from loved ones. After that not much was said because of a very long and HOT day. We all said goodnight as the usual cool breeze never came. It was long, stale, hot night.
DAY 10 (Wednesday, April 19, 2006)
Up as usual at 4:45AM and to work at 5:45AM. We all laid a more pipe and back filled. Most of the team was soaked in sweat before breakfast time at 8:00AM! Today will be a hot one. We could only work until 10:30AM because of the intense heat…+38 degrees!! (in the shade).
We all parted ways to shower and change and met up at the church at noon for lunch. After lunch we loaded the piñata with candy and made gifts in the church for out host families, Jose, Mario and the 4 ladies that made tortillas for us each day. While we were trying to keep cool in the church we heard a female voice speaking in English to Ken outside. Ken came in and introduced Tabitha Boonstra from Dundas Calvin CRC, a sister church in Classis Hamilton. She had been in Honduras for the past few months working with a program called Save the Children. She had heard from her mother that the Carpenteros were in St. Pedro de Catacamas and took a bus by herself from Tegucigalpa that morning to try and find us. On the bus she met a man named Carlos from Guanabano, whose house we were actually working on and he took her to us. We were all in awe of her bravery and of the Providential blessing of her being able to find us. We showed her to where the girls were staying and let her settle in. Coby, Tabitha and I all sat down with our host family, Matlilde and Ilda to have a chat. Santos was there to translate. They said they had been married since they were 17 years of age and had 12 children. They have lived in Guanabano for 20 years and own 6 acres of land on which they produce plantains. They have been married for 48 years and their children now support them and they have hired hands to work the land. We enjoyed the rest of our conversation with them and thanked them for their hospitality. They told us we were like family to them. Matilde then gave us a tour of his plantain field and it was really neat. Matilde is a deeply God fearing man who can be heard laughing and praising God from sun-up to sun-down. After our chat we went to the church and broke the piñata with the children. It was great fun watching Ken put a blind fold on Steve, spin him around, and hear all the children roar with laughter as he swung in completely the wrong direction. I also had a turn and did the same. A few children had turns before the piñata was broken and there were masses of children….and adults scrambling for candies. Some children didn’t get any candies because they were too little or too shy. Henk in true form went to the local convenience store and bought some more candies for those children.
We then had a gathering with the community in the shelter beside the church. The community members had decorated the place with balloons and streamers and made it festive. We gave out thanks and gifts to our host families and others. We ate and then sat with the children on our laps with the community surrounding us. They put up a sign that thanked us for being there and wished us a safe journey. We retired for the night after some good conversation.
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DAY 11 (Thursday, April 20, 2006)
We met up at 6:30AM and had breakfast shortly after. At 7:15AM we were ahead of our 8:00AM departure time and decided to leave. Jose was nowhere to be found and we were certain he wanted to say goodbye. We said goodbye to our other working buddy, Mario and the rest of the community and some of the women cried as they wished us a safe journey and God’s blessings. We headed for the van and Jose came riding up on his bike as fast as he could. He said he had to feed his pigs and that is why he was not there earlier. We all said our goodbyes and some of us got a little misty eyed. I sat in the van as we left wondering what will happen with these people? Will Jose leave for America or stay with his wife and children because of the hope of a Credit Union? I could only pray and make a silent commitment to myself as I am sure we all did that we will continue to pray for all the people of Guanabano.
We headed out towards Tegucigalpa and stopped off at the Mennonite’s store for a slice of koek and an ice cream of course.
Once in Tegucigalpa we dropped off Tabitha in the market area. We then headed to the head office of the Deaconia. It was a tiny 2nd floor office with furniture built from what looked like the pipe we laid in the trenches in Guanabano. They have a $100,000 budget (American) and pay $200 (American) rent a month. We were told that once a week Roldan would come to town and meet with Irene, Ana, and Dilia and say overnight in the office. Ana advised that once they had people staying/living there. Ana said people will often stay overnight in the office because they need to go to the hospital or pharmacy nearby. Santo told us that once the hospital was out of simple medicines for four months because of corruption. Eventually the man responsible was elected to a higher position and never reprimanded.
Next we went to the CRWRC head office nearby and were greeted by Irene and Ana who showed us their cubicles and introduced us to Alex who also works there. We had a chat about CRWRC and some of us used the internet there. Ken found out he was going to be a grandfather again because his daughter-in-law was pregnant again. It was wonderful news. Then we all received gift bags with a CD about Honduras, a small ceramic wall hanging, a map of Honduras, and a book on tips for travel in Honduras. That was really nice of them. We loaded up and travelled wayyyyyy up the mountain to our resort. The resort is a Christian resort nestled in between huge mansions on the top of one of the mountains in the area. There was a stunning view from some benches and a small log cabin off to the side. We had a nice lunch and settled in. We met up again and went downtown to the market. We really couldn’t find anything we liked as they mostly sold clothing and cheap watches. We decided to go and use the internet and call home instead. After that I dragged Ken along on my mission to get my McDonald’s apple pie. Once I found that and thoroughly ravaged it we were on our way to Pizza Hut for dinner. We ended up switching vans there but we had no clue and so Adrian left his camera on the other van. Luckily that same driver will have to return to drive us in the morning.
We enjoyed our pizza. It was a real treat to have Canadian food again. We all shared a super huge sundae where the glass was coated in chocolate and peanuts. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Rick told us of how the first time he used a Pila (a small tub shaped reserve of water for showering that involves taking a small bucket from the reserve and pouring it over yourself). Rick told us that the first time he used a pila he actually sat IN the pila and bathed in it. We all roared with laughter and couldn’t stop for quite awhile. We all imagined a grown man sitting in the pila leaving a mound of suds behind him. In Nick and Rick’s case the cows also drank from that pila. Ewwwwwwwwww. We stopped off at Gregorio’s church where he pastors and listened to him sing as his son accompanied on the drums. It was a special time for all of us. We got back to the resort and retired for the evening at 10:00PM….well past our usual 8:00PM bedtime.
DAY 12 (Friday, April 21, 2006)
We all got up well before our breakfast time at 7:30AM. We had a fabulous breakfast at the resort and went and picked up Ana at the CRWRC office. We then departed for Choluteca at 8:30AM and arrived at approximately 11:00AM. The hotel had a pool and the guys jumped in as soon as they had their room keys. We all doubled up in rooms and enjoyed the cool breeze of the air conditioning units in the rooms. Ken called it a 1 star hotel but we felt like we were living in the lap of luxury with air conditioning and showers in each room. We then walked across the street and had Wendy’s for lunch. We all enjoyed having a burger. We then set out to the small community of Buena Vista to see their Credit Union. Ken informed us that the community has a weak Credit Union and we were there to see their progress.
Along the way we passed fields and fields for sugar can and melons. The locals only make $2 American a day picking melon and used to be able to take some home but not anymore.
The community welcomed us with open arms and the pastor, Venancio Santos spoke to us and gave a small sermonette. A small collection was taken and then we started our meeting. Ken apologized for our attire as we were not dressed for church. A member of the Credit Union, Gloria, gave a short presentation. She told of how the programs by the Deaconia National started and continued to work in this community since 2001 after Hurricane Mitch. They helped build houses. A health program was then set in place. They would give vitamins to the children under 6 years of age and measure and weigh them for health. A nurse comes once a month to work with the children and mothers. They provide vitamins for the children two times a year. They also bring soya milk if a child looses weight. They also provide leadership training program in the CRC church.
Ken made a small presentation and we were all introduced to the members of the Credit Union and their roles in the Credit Union.
There are 8 share holders is the Credit Union and 14 people with savings in the Credit Union. There is a current balance of $38,943 of credit available for loans. Stock price is $200 per year. There is a 3% interest rate pER month. Two people are currently not paying back their loans. The smallest loan is 3,000 Limperas and the largest is 13,000 Limperas.
INCOME
Interest 25,000 Limperas
Seed Capital 11,900 Limperas
Stocks 2,437 Limperas
Savings 19,553 Limperas
Total Income 58, 970 Limpeas
EXPENSES
Paying Interest 2,174 Limperas
Savings + Shares 6,000 Limperas
Legal Expenses 3,600 Limperas
Administration 673 Limperas
Total Expenses 12,447 Limperas
If a community member is not paying back the loan the committee will send a letter to the person and make a visit to inquire why they are not paying back their loan.
Some reasons for the failure with a loan is there is no need for another business of that sort ie. too many convenience stores. Another reason is one man, Juan, left to America with 5,000 LimpeRas after being given his loan.
Q- How do they screen who has a loan?
A- In the case of Juan he had savings. Then the treasurer alone came and said the man need a loan and granted him one.
Q- Why is the treasurer alone making the decision?
A- He just said he was the treasurer and he was making the decision.
Q- You need a new treasurer
The members of Credit Union told us that the next step is to get a new treasurer. Juan had a loan and paid it and took another loan and went to the United States.
Q-What is the pay out of the savings to the share holders?
Distribution of Profit
Net Profit: 12,633 Limperas
10% Reserved
20% Mercy Fund (Social Action)
30% Back to the seed capital
40% Back to the Share Holders
They advised that they are now going to have a committee to see who is approved for a loan with the Credit Union.
What are the loans for?
Grocery stores, clothing stores, cafeterias, sell bricks, purchase of pigs. Also have people who sell pre-paid phone cards
How long is the average pay back time for a loan?
8 months. Pay 24% on a loan.
One person gave an example of how the Credit Union helped her. Her name is Miriam. She could fix her house and help her business. She sells shoes, clothes, has a mill to break corn used for tortillas, sells food and pop, and also sells phone cards. She used to have to get a loan from the bank and pay it back every 15 days up to 4 months at 4%. Now she has more time to pay the loan back and can use all the money towards her business instead of having to come up with more money for the loan every 15 days.
The money for the Credit Union is kept in a bank. The Credit Union works out of the church and local houses. Only one member of the Credit Union belongs to the CRC church. The rest of the members go to other local churches.
After the meeting we sat down and had a chat with just the Carpenteros. Some of us were confused by the collection taken as the meeting was meant to be just a Credit Union meeting not a service. Ken explained that often people don’t get to see any outside help for years and so they take advantage of the help they can get when they can get it. Ken explained that the pastor of the church has been disciplined for money-related issues and Noel (same position as Roldan except in the south of Honduras) will check and make sure that the pastor did not take any of the collection money. Ken also shared how a previous treasurer had taken a large amount of Limperas from the Credit Union and the members were able to finally get all their money back through legal action. The Credit Union was in a state of disrepair and now it is all new people trying to make it work. We were all disheartened by the community but were hopeful that things will turn around and God will bless the community and the Credit Union. The Deaconia are withholding a large amount of funds from the Carpenteros until that Credit Union is more stable. This frustrates the community but is necessary.
After the visit we went back to Choluteca and had a dip in the pool and some snacks and hung out for the evening by the pool. Some of played cards for a bit but we all ended up at the pool. It was a relaxing evening and we all enjoyed the air conditioning in the rooms and slept well that night.
{mospagebreak}
DAY 13 (Saturday, April 22, 2006)
We slept well because of the air conditioning and had a rude introduction to the heat when we stepped outside our rooms in the morning. We had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel and loaded up around 8:30AM for the island of Amapala. We traveled for about an hour and a half. We parked behind a building and found some mangos growing on a tree. What a treat to have fresh mangos directly from the tree!. We made the 2 minute walk to the pier and loaded up our smaller bags we had taken for the weekend into a small boat 20 minutes later we were docking on the island. We were told that a land mass we could see to our right was Nicaragua. The temperature was scorching hot!! We boarded two trucks and headed to the small community of Tigui Lotuda which is right on the ocean. We traveled for about 10-15 minutes on a cobble stone road and another 2 minutes on a small, winding dirt road before arriving.
It was a rude awaking! The community existed of small wooden huts with a mud mixure slapped against the sides. We met one family where a woman’s husband was murdered and now she lived with her in-laws. There were 13 people living under one roof! And the house is the size of an average living room in Canada. We loaded our packs and walked along the beach to two houses that were made of brick and where we would be staying the night. We all headed to the beach for a quick dip in the ocean. The water was wonderful! It was a nice relief from the heat. We then had a pan fried fish lunch with rice and mussels, and plantains. It was delicious. We had a small siesta because it was too hot to even move.
After a small nap we loaded up on the same boat that took us to the island and stopped off at a hotel with a black sand beach. Ken and Ana were checking out this hotel for the team that will be coming in November. Some of us took the opportunity for another dip in the ocean and others took a tour of the facilities and had a cool drink while we waited for Ana to feel a little better. Ana was feeling ill from the heat. Even the locals were saying this is the hottest they have seen it in awhile. We then went to another beach by boat and got out. We looked at what the local fishermen had caught in their boats. They had small hammerhead sharks, reef sharks, and a bunch of smaller fish. The reef shark will fetch the fishermen 70 limperas per pound and the shark was about 2 feet long.
There I spoke to a local fisherman Leandro. Leandro told me his story. He said he had started drinking at the age of 15. He lost his second wife and falther when he was 21 and 22. He then because an alcoholic for 25 years. He said he had 1,000,000 Limperas left to him by his father’s estate in land when he died but he had drank it all away. He slept on the streets with no shoes and sometimes little clothing. He said he had met Dilia and Irene before but laughed at them about their Christianity. Then one day he tied a rope around his neck and before he decided to commit suicide he fell on his knees and cried out to God in desperation and prayed. He said he had never prayed before and didn’t know how. Now he has been sober and a Christian for 15 months and tomorrow he will receive a diploma from Noel for a leadership course he has taken. He wants to be a pastor now.
We stayed on the beach as Leandro helped some men take in their nets. We then left and went back to the place where we were staying and we all showered at the pila one by one. We sat down for dinner and watched the lightning flash in the sky. We ate by the light of our flashlights as the single bulb on the house wasn’t bright enough for us to see what we were eating. I gladly finished the plantains from the teammates who didn’t want theirs.
After Dinner Ana and Dilia, Noel, a public nurse and our host Juanita gave a presentation on that community. Ana interpreted for the nurse as she advised what she does in the community. She comes once a month and advised that the greatest need of the community is latrines/toilets. The people of the community just relieve themselves where ever they feel like it. Apparently there are 27 children in the community who live on dirt floors and therefore get respiratory problems. These children also play in the communities’ feces because there are no latrines for the people to get rid of their waste. This causes many diseases including worms and diarrhea. The Deaconia come twice a year and provide vitamins for the children in a liquid form that the mothers pour into a jar and administer daily to the children. Without latrines the vitamins are ineffective because the children are still exposed to the same disease infested environment. Juanita told us that they need approximately 25 latrines at 2,500 limperas per latrine which works out to about $125 US. Latrines would solve a lot of health problems for the youth and adults alike.
They also mentioned concrete floors to decrease the respiratory problems in the children from the dust and smoke from the ovens. Ken asked Ana if Juanita could prepare more exact numbers on the information given to present to the executive committee of the Carpenteros. We all felt that this community should definitely receive the help of the Carpenteros.
We all went our separate ways for the night and tried to sleep while a neighbour blasted loud dance music. There was no wind and the humidity hung in the air. Some of us slept in hammocks and for most sleep was hard to come by.
DAY 14 (Sunday, April 23, 2006)
Ken, Tony, Henk, and Adrian were awoken by the hissing of Noel whispering “fish fish” as he knows little English. They all got out of bed and went fishing at 5:00AM. The rest of us woke up at a saner hour.
I woke up with the realization that there are only two more days to go! Tomorrow we go home!! Most of us had little sleep and a strong desire to go home to our families. We all wished Rick a happy 50th birthday but it was a rough start to the day as we all tried to stay still to avoid sweating.
Those who went fishing arrived back smelling of fish and no time to shower before we loaded up 17 of us into the back of a truck and went to church. Before we left we took a look at their community center that was built in 1990 by the mayor of the village. The roof had caved in and hadn’t been replaced. The building looked more like ruins than a building that was only 16 years old.
We went to church where the children sang some songs for us and we sang a few for them. Ken sang a solo version of the Servant Song and it was pretty good! ? We all had to kneel on our knees when we prayed and although it was unusual it was highly humbling and impacting.
After the sermon Noel along with Dilia and Ken gave a presentation and the diplomas for 15 community members who took a 9 month course on leadership. They met once a month and also did a small community project. Their project was to paint the church. Then I remembered seeing the same aqua paint on the walls of the church under the nails of Leandro as he told me his story yesterday. This was all headed up by the Deaconia National. Leandro was one of the community members who received a diploma and his face beamed as he stood proudly at the front of the church and accepted his diploma. We all clapped loudly for him and the others. After the service we were invited to stay for a time of fellowship with Coke and chicken sandwiches. We all said a silent prayer hoping that God would bless the sandwiches and not make us ill, considering that they had been sitting out in the heat for at least 3 hours. We then loaded up on the truck and headed out to the docks to leave. We had the all-time highest number of people in that small Nissan pick up truck…18!!! The tires scraped the wheel wells on some of the bumps in the road. We all boarded an even smaller boat than before and crossed over to the main land. I was concerned about us making it as the water was only 2 inches lower then the sides of the little boat. We were all happy the water was calm that morning.
We then found the truck and van and headed towards Tegucigalpa after partaking of more fresh mangos in the parking area. A small local boy had climbed to the top of the tree and threw down mangos for us to eat. Now that’s fresh!
We stopped for a bite to eat at a hotel and then kept on our way. We made another stop for hammocks and then made our way to our retreat. Once there we settled in and had showers. Some even caught a short nap.
We assembled at 7:00PM for dinner with Gregorio and his family. After dinner Irene and Christie showed up with a birthday cake for Rick’s 50th birthday and my 30th birthday tomorrow. Ken had a Chinese candle thing that we burnt it and it chimed the happy birthday song. Ken said it would go for 2 weeks but we took the battery out. They all sang happy birthday to Rick and me and it was really touching and a fine ending to the day.
After that we had a short meeting with Ana, Irene, and Dilia about how to improve the next trip. WE all agreed no improvement was necessary. It was wonderful the way it was.
We all shared how the trip affected us and Gregorio told us of the challenges of being married to Dilia with her mission but of how he admired and supported her in her work. He told us of how he prayed ceaselessly for her in her work and when she is gone for sometimes 2 weeks at a time. It was very moving and awesome also to see the dedication of those who work for CRWRC and the Diaconia in Honduras.
Gregorio sang for us after we sang a song for them. We then prayed together. Each person praying one person at a time. It was very touching. We said goodbye to Irene and Christie and then re-assembled to share who our prayer partner was. It was nice to hear how we had all prayed for each other.
We chatted for a bit and retired for the evening at 9:45PM.
DAY 15 (Monday, April 24, 2006)
Today we go home!!! It is also my birthday. I awoke at 5:00AM and waited until 5:45AM to see if Coby was awake. We showered and walked down to the small log cabin to take in the view one last time. We all gathered there and took a group photo. After breakfast we were all in good cheer as today we go home to our loved ones. Some of us laid in the sun one last time before we loaded up at 10:00AM and left for the airport.
We said goodbye to Gregorio, Dilia, and Ana and boarded our flight home. The journey back was uneventful…which is a good thing. We were all met with the open arms of our loved ones at 11:45PM. We gathered for one last prayer and parted ways. The journey was a good one and we all smiled a weary smile as we remembered the good times and good friends we made and headed home to our own homes.
