Finishing Notes for 2010

Saturday & Sunday involved the 2-hour bus ride from Guaimaca to Tegucigalpa and then a 4-hour bus from Tegucigalpa to San Pedro Sula. We spent the night at Luis & Blanca's once again (what wonderful hosts), and headed out early Sunday morning for our flight to Miami, and then the connecting flight to Chicago where Bob & the kids picked us up (oh, how I missed them!).

Rather than bore you with details of my return home...I want to direct this last blog in a different direction. This last blog will most likely be my longest one of 2010, but I hope that you find it as refreshing while reading it as I feel writing it.

For those of you who have been following my blog since my first trip in August of 2008, I know that this year's entries may have seemed vastly different from the prior two years...and for that, I deeply apologize. This year was the first year that I had given my blog address to the summer school students I had taught who donated items to be sent down to Emmanuel. Unfortunately, here in Wisconsin, we have a STRONG legal separation between church & state and once I had give out the blog address...I wasn't sure how to tackle this blog.

However, after having this weigh on my heart heavily over the past month, here are the conclusions I've come to:

• This is my personal blog. It is neither a homework assignment, nor a requirement that the summer school children come to this site. Students who donated items who had a true concern about the situation of the children at Emmanuel would be able to follow me on my journey at their choosing.
• The entire trip I have been writing the blogs, I felt the pressure of not speaking in a true form about the experiences at Emmanuel weigh more & more on my heart. And for those of you who have read the past two years...you know that Emmanuel COULD NOT exist without God.

For those of you who haven't followed the past two years, there's a lot of information to share, but I'd invite you to go to the right-hand column of my blog to read how this trip came about. You'll find all this information in the 2008 entries during the week of July 20-27, but there are a few things I'd like to highlight right here:

First of all the motivating verse for me and many Christian volunteers throughout the world (and I will put it here in Spanish...the language of Emmanuel and that which is near & dear to my heart...feel free to look it up!):

Mateo 25:34-40

Entonces dirá el Rey a los que estén a su derecha: "Vengan ustedes, a quienes mi Padre ha bendecido; reciban su herencia, el reino preparado para ustedes desde la creación del mundo. Porque tuve hambre, y ustedes me dieron de comer; tuve sed, y me dieron de beber; fui forastero, y me dieron alojamiento; necesité ropa, y me vistieron; estuve enfermo, y me atendieron; estuve en la cárcel, y me visitaron." Y le contestarán los justos: "Señor, ¿cuándo te vimos hambriento y te alimentamos, o sediento y te dimos de beber? ¿Cuándo te vimos como forastero y te dimos alojamiento, o necesitado de ropa y te vestimos? ¿Cuándo te vimos enfermo o en la cárcel y te visitamos?" El Rey les responderá: "Les aseguro que todo lo que hicieron por uno de mis hermanos, aun por el más pequeño, lo hicieron por mí."

As I mentioned in 2008 during common ground in church during my presentation of the experiences I had at Emmanuel, volunteering doesn't solely have to be in 3rd world countries! Having been raised a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran and attending their parochial school from Kindergarten through the 8th grade, we had the opportunity to memorize a vast number of Bible passages and hymns. As I was putting the many hours in at the clinic, the words "Here am I, send me, send me" kept resounding in my head. I struggled to remember what the old traditional-style hymn was, but after a little bit of research, I finally found it. For those of you who feel that our Lord is calling you to serve, the following passages to the hymn may give a better idea where God could be calling you to serve:

Hark the Voice of Jesus Calling

Hark the voice of Jesus calling,
"Who will go and work today?
Fields are ripe and harvest waiting,
Who will bear the sheaves away?"
Long and loud the Master calls us,
Rich reward He offers free;
Who will answer, gladly saying,
"Here am I, send me, send me"?

If you cannot cross the ocean,
And the distant lands explore,
You can find the lost around you,
You can help them at your door;
If you cannot give your thousands,
You can give the widow's mite;
What you truly give for Jesus,
Will be precious in His sight.

"If you cannot speak like angels,
If you cannot preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
You can say He died for all.
If you cannot rouse the wicked,
With the judgment's dread alarms,
You can lead the little children
To the Savior's waiting arms.

"If you cannot be the watchman,
Standing high on Zion's wall,
Pointing out the path to heaven,
Offering life and peace to all,
With your prayers and with your bounties
You can do what heaven demands,
You can be like faithful Aaron,
Holding up the prophet's hands.

"If among the older people,
You may not be apt to teach,
"Feed My lambs," said Christ, our Shepherd,
"Place the food within their reach."
And it may be that the children
You have led with trembling hand,
Will be found among your jewels,
When you reach the better land.

Let none hear you idly saying,
"There is nothing I can do."
While the lost of earth are dying,
And the Master calls for you;
Take the task He gives you gladly;
Let His work your pleasure be;
Answer quickly when He calls you,
"Here am I, send me, send me."

Feel free to visit the website listed here: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/h/v/hvoicejc.htm to see the lyrics and to hear the melody of the song written almost 150 years ago.

Although I memorized all of these verses when I was in elementary & middle school, it was the last verse that I remember best and has stuck with me through the years. Is God calling you? What are YOU doing? What can YOU do???

August 20th - The Team Arrives!

Last Day at Emmanuel...

This morning Leigh and Therese both came to relieve me from the overnight clinic hours so that I could go to the BIG circle. I actually haven't been to BIG circle in 2 years, since they didn't not have it last year during my stay (due to the rains this time of year). I was so excited!!!

When I arrived to the yard (where the BIG circle was being held), I said my hellos/goodbyes to many of the children who I've become close to over the past 3 years. I chose to stay by Doris during devotions. The team that arrived yesterday afternoon was walking around, and I quickly recognized them as the same team who had come last year while Andrés, Jenny & I were there. They are SO kid focused and it was exciting to see them again. They had mentioned emailing me months before to let us know they dates they'd be down in Honduras, but since we had changed internet providers...the email never reached us. I was glad to be able to spend the day with them.

Verónica led the devotion this morning (with Tammy translating). It was about forgiveness and how we need to think about truly forgiving. We say it ourselves in the prayer that we've been taught by our Lord: "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us". Think about that for just one second. You are PRAYING to God that if you cannot forgive one another, you wish that God does not forgive you either! I don't think that I put too much thought into that during my elementary, secondary, and college years...because I have always had a hard time forgiving those who had hurt me. I still have a difficult time forgiving, but know to ask for God to help me through the process of forgiving those who have really hurt me...because I WANT TO BE FORGIVEN BY HIM.

Lydia spoke afterwards about the illnesses that are all throughout Honduras and at Emmanuel. We have 3 staff children who have Dengue Fever, and then there's been the chicken pox. The clinic has been running, but the energy of the few who are able to work the clinic (those who have had chicken pox previously, or the vaccine) is lessening by the day as volunteers like me have been working non-stop 8-18 hours per day for 2-3 weeks straight. We prayed with Lydia for the illnesses to go away and for rest for the volunteers. That was pretty emotional for me, as I realized that my time here was winding down.

After BIG circle, I headed to the clinic to update Leigh & Therese on how last night went and to see if there was anything they needed. On the way back to the volunteer house, the team leaders caught me and asked what they could do to motivate their team to do some clinic hours. I was SO excited for this question! We chatted a while and they said they'd try their best.

I spent the morning doing laundry, getting ready to pack to go back home. I had plans to go into Guaimaca when my laundry was done to get a few things for family (especially for my kids) before the day-long trip back to San Pedro Sula tomorrow. Tammy dropped by to ask me if I could take the team into town in the early afternoon, so I thought that would give me a good chance to talk with any who had questions about the clinic.

The team, Andrés & I headed into town about 1:00 and they got some groceries. I purchased a few items (not nearly as much as I had in years past, since I was focused on getting the team where they wanted to go), and after a few hours we headed back to the orphanage. There were team members who chatted about the clinic and had questions, and we agreed to meet there around 5:30 to show those who were interested around and what was going on.

So here's how I spent the time inbetween town and what would be my last stop at the clinic: Heading to various girls houses to drop off a few notes of encouragement to those children I had made connections with:

• Blanca & Carol -I gave them some glitter shower gel, to help her SHINE for Jesus!,
• Doris -I also gave her a few Christian T-Shirts I had brought from home,
• Dalia - She had helped me so much when she was in the clinic with the chicken pox, so I also gave her a T-Shirt of the U.S.
• Pamela (aka: Invisible) - I had a pair of tennis shoes which didn't fit me correctly and happened to notice her shoes were completely worn out...all of her toes were completely exposed because her tennis shoes were ripped from wear. I didn't think that anyone would have the same size feet as me (since most girls, even the upper teenagers, are around size 7 or less)...however she wore a 9! What a perfect match. :-)

At 5:30, I met with the team at the clinic and noticed that the clinic was back up to 10 children...all ages 8 and under and 4 of them were toddlers. Once again they have their hands full! I was so happy that FIVE team members wanted to help out. Leigh even shed a couple of tears for the relief that was about to come - most likely from sheer exhaustion. This helped me to feel better about leaving tomorrow. If they can only get a couple of days of rest...that'll most definitely help!

Rachel had made some cupcakes for two girls who worked over at the toddler house, so I offered to help her take the trays of goodies over with her in the pouring rain! Then I headed to bed early, knowing that we'd be out the door early Saturday morning at 5am.

August 19th - Sponsoring a Child

This morning I was at the clinic again from 6:30am - 12:30pm. As of the morning, the count was at 6 (a new one came in during the night), still all ages 8 and under with 3 toddlers. They had América spend the night and the morning to help with the toddlers. She says she's 19 years old, and she works over at the toddler house. She was a tremendous help in calming them down...especially when these precious children are frightened to be in a place that is unfamiliar to them.

When I got back to the volunteer house, Leigh asked for my assistance in translating two sponsor letters, which I was happy for a job in which I could help that was different from "the norm" at the clinic. Many children here have sponsors, but this is another way if you feel led to help...as there are still quite a few children who are not sponsored. If this is where you feel you're being called, again...let me know and I will get you the contacts you need. It took us about a half hour to go through them and re-write these letters...she did the writing, I did the translating.

After the translating, I decided to use the fresh tomatoes, onions and garlic that I had left to make myself & Andrés some "sopa mexicana". Unfortunately it only consisted of potatoes when usually there's a variety of veggies...especially zucchini. And the caldo that I had purchased, was MORE than just "caldo de pollo" (for those familiar with my sopa)...but the flavor was still delicious!

As I was making supper, Therese brought me a note from Blanca - for those of you in my summer school class...she is here & still doing well (still skinny & not eating much though). I would post here what she had to say, but have forgotten to bring her letter along with me to the clinic - so as I type this, do not have access to it. So that brings us up until now. It's 2:45am on Friday morning and my last shift at the clinic. There are now 7 children here and the toddlers have been restless all night, taking turns crying. There was not another girl to help me through the evening, so this will be an all-nighter for me (thank you so much to Kelly, my godfather - Steve, and Aunt Linda for keeping me alert enough to tend to the needs to the children during the evening).

Leigh and Therese have told me that they will be here at 6:00am (rather than the traditional 6:30) so that I can go to the BIG circle, if they haven't cancelled it due to the rain we've had overnight. This will be the first circle, big or small, that I've been able to attend the entire 3 weeks I've been here...and I couldn't be more joyful. I know I've been serving where Emmanuel has very much needed me and am glad to have helped. Because of seemingly "working all the time", once again the time has flown by and it's hard to imagine it's coming to an end.

August 18th - A Plea for Volunteers

Having come off of being at the clinic from 6:30pm - 6:30am, I needed to rest this morning from 9-11am. When I woke, I needed to "hunt down" Brittany to relieve Leigh at 12:30 at the clinic. I stopped where she was staying (with Lori at the farm...in the same place we were last summer), and unfortunately woke Lori up. The doctors told her that the medications are beginning to work for Dengue - so that is definitely something for us to be thankful for. On the down-side, we found out that 3 of the toddlers of staff here at Emmanuel now have confirmed cases of Dengue. Rachel had told me that Dengue fever has been in the newspaper a lot lately in Tegus and that 3 have already died in the country. We see a truck some and "fumigate" the premises 1-2 times a week now.

Andrés was in the clinic again to relieve Brittany from 3-4pm, and the stayed a little while longer to help me bathe the children for the evening. I do not want to "steal his thunder", so I will let him finish up the story of excitement for the evening. We are heading uphill again with the number of children in the clinic. This evening we're up to five. What makes this time around particularly difficult is two things: 1) the knowledge that I'm only here until Friday, and 2) the fact that all 5 are ages 8 and under...and 3 of them are toddlers.

Rachel also let us know this afternoon that she needs to head home, permanently, in 2 weeks. I only walked in on about 1/2 the conversation (so will probably hear more later), but can say that she was supposed to stay until November when school let out. She is working full-time at the school as an English teacher, and this came as a shock to us all.

With that in mind, here's the situation at Emmanuel: within 2-3 weeks, there will be only 2 volunteers here. We've heard around 5 are coming mid- to late- September, but for a short span, there will be only two who try to fully man (actually "woman", hee hee) the clinic. I know that this blog is reaching my family, close friends, many from church, and previous students - but if you feel a calling in your heart to serve...now is the time that Emmanuel needs it. Let me know & I will hook you up with the right people.

August 17th - Measuring Non-School Children is Almost Done

This morning, Leigh & I headed to Papi & Wade's large boys circle (devotional time) to measure the farm/working boys. I was scheduled from 6:30am - 12:30pm at the clinic, but had arranged for Andrés to cover me from about 6:15 until we were done with measurements (ended up being about 7:00 or so). I think that we have now pretty much sized all of the children here at Emmanuel who are not in school - so that when the group comes this Thursday, they can focus on the school children (which will be pretty easy for them, as the teachers just pull them from class and line them up).

I've heard that it's been in the 70s back in Wisconsin - something for me to look forward to! Down here today, it was cool enough to wear pants all day - which I don't think I've had the chance yet to do in the 3 years I've been here. When Leigh went to the clinic at 3pm to relieve Brittany, the door was locked, the lights off, and all was locked up. Kevin (our last chicken pox child) was GONE!!! She came back & we celebrated...for an entire hour & 1/2 - until we got the call that another girl was admitted for chicken pox, meaning I got to spend the night.

Up until this point, we have had children from the little boys house and the medium girls house. This girl was from the little girls house, her name is Yolisa and she is in Primero A at school - meaning she was in Kevin's class. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more children as the week goes on - the chicken pox strikes again.

August 16th - Dengue Fever Strikes Again

After I got back from the night shift (6:30pm - 6:30am), I rested until 9:30 when Leigh & I went to measure all of the special needs children. Initially we had thought that it would take us two visits to the yards to get all of them measured, but her & I are are now working well together and we got all of the special needs children measured in just under an hour!

I was back at the clinic again from 12:30 - 3:30pm. We're down to one boy, Kevin; however Gerson let me know that a toddler would have surgery on Thursday and would need to spend the night both Wednesday night (to ensure he doesnt eat/drink from midnight on) and Thursday night...most likely going home Friday. Of course this means that once again two volunteers would have to staff the clinic, as the toddler cannot be exposed to the chicken pox.

When I got back to the volunteer house, I decided to make spaghetti before our volunteer meeting @ 4:30pm...and enough to last for a few days. It turned out pretty good, using the cheese that is native to this area (similar to that which Patti gives me 1-2 times a year from El Salvador).

At the volunteer meeting, Brittany shared that her aunt (Lori - who works almost exclusively at the toddler house) has Dengue fever. This is the 2nd volunteer/staff now in the 3 weeks I've been here who has contracted it. I'm super careful to make sure I use the mosquito spray multiple times during the day to minimize my chances of getting it. We will be praying for her and a quick recovery as the week goes on. I know that Brittany is worried about her, yet she faithfully fills in one shift a day at the clinic (while she does her other responsibilities of helping and the toddler house & distributing medicines to the boys) so that Leigh and I can have a short break.

We had a wild discussion of all of the flags around Emmanuel, thanks to Owen. I think that took up most of the time during the volunteer meeting. But it was a fun, engaging conversation that gave us ALL a few laughs. There's a flag hanging from a bunch of poles that are lined up which is the flag of the U.S. Border Patrol, and the comment was made that it should have the American Ffag on one side and the Mexican flag on the other. Although it does have the American flag on one side, the Iraqi flag is on the other...maybe it'll get switched.

Katja also mentioned at the volunteer meeting that a group which is SUPER KID-FOCUSED is coming in on Thursday. This really gives me hope that Leigh & Therese (who was gone the past 2 weeks, but will start at the clinic on Wednesday) will have some relief through the weekend and next week - since Andrés and I will be leaving early Saturday morning and are hoping to have the day off of clinic on Friday in order to go to Guaimaca to "shop". We'll see and I'll be praying for Leigh & Therese!

When I called home this evening, Bob had the 3 little ones in the tub...but I still got to talk to them. I do think of them often (when not at the clinic, where my brain is on so many things at once) and reminded each of them that they would see me in less than a week - and letting them know I was excited that they were coming to the airport to pick us up!

Before heading to bed, Therese had arranged for another volunteer get-together to say "goodbye" to her boyfriend Thomas, who was heading out tomorrow. She made crepes and we had dinner together down in the school - just like when Mallory had left last week. She showed Andrés how to eat crepes which contained ice cream (which I guess is different than how you're supposed to eat crepes when they are filled with jelly). Although Rachel had showed Mallory and I how to make crepes 2 weeks ago, I'll hardly remember by the time I get home - since cooking is "not my thing". I am hoping to get a GOOD lesson in making tortillas though. I've seen it done a few times, but would like the experience before going back. If not...I'll try making them during the day with the kids and if they turn out...GREAT...and if not, my husband will be none the wiser.

August 15th - Church at Last

I had requested to not be at the clinic for the 6:30am shift because I desperately needed to be in church to hear God's Word. Since we had to leave at 4am on August 1st (a Sunday), it has been 3 weeks since I've been in church. I know that I've been working where I've been needed...but this was the last chance I'd have at making a Sunday service at Emmanuel since we'd be heading out in just 6 days.

I felt so rejuvenated and refreshed after going to church. A large number of people came from the Valley of the Angels - where David & Lydia first began ministering 23 years ago. It was powerful to hear their pastor preach about the story of Jonah going into Nineva to tell the people to repent and how they listened! David closed up with how Jesus is knocking at our doors (hearts) to ask us to dine with him. Do what he asks, no matter how difficult or lengthy the task. I truly needed to hear this - especially with all of the blogs that you've been reading so far. As I've mentioned before, David has a special way of giving all of his messages that really reaches the heart.

After church, I rushed to the volunteer dorm to change out of my church clothes and then headed to the clinic, but promised Andrés I would treat him to lunch when I was done at the clinic at 12:30pm. I met him out front at the store/restaurant, however he was already seated and had already eaten a hamburger. By the time I got there, they had run out of hot food...so I just sat and chatted with Rachel, Therese, Thomas (her boyfriend) and Andrés for a while before we headed back.

I made myself some lunch and then headed over to the little girls kitchen to visit with Doris. We played soccer for about an hour - it was my first time ever playing soccer in my life. Doris said I should be on her team and I joked that she would have the losing team then (since the only thing I knew about soccer is that you want to kick the ball in between the goal posts). It was fun and I learned a lot.

The volunteers got together to have a Bible Study around 5:30pm. We shared readings from the Bible and just caught up on stories that had happened to us both physically & spiritually throughout the week. It was definitely refreshing to be able to communicate on this level with them as I was preparing to spend another night at the clinic.

It's been almost a week since I've spent a night at the clinic (with Leigh & Owen taking most of the night shifts over the past 5-6 days), but only Kevin was there...so it was a little more relaxed environment. All of his chicken pox are finally gone - the only ones that remain are the ones he has picked at over & over until they've bled. He does have a small infection around one pox on his leg due to scratching it so much, but we're hoping that he can go home tomorrow.

August 14th - My Last Week

One week for today we will be on 2 buses to get back to San Pedro Sula where the airport is located. Time seems to have flown by (no pun intended) while I've been here.

This morning I was at the clinic from 6:30 - 9:30am. We are winding down with the chicken pox and really praying that no more new cases come in. There were 3 children in the clinic as of this morning, and by the end of the day two girls will be sent home, leaving us with Kevin. Kevin was a special case...I have NEVER seen a child with so many chicken pox. He has spiked a fever at least once a day, and I truly believe that his body/system is shocked by how bad he has the pox.

When I was done with the clinic, I ran some of the huevos rancheros leftovers from last night to Doris. I only get to see her in passing and feel terrible about it too. Last Monday as I was headed to the volunteer meeting, she ran to me and gave me a big hug and began crying. She said "she didn't want to talk about it right there & then", but it was very difficult for me to watcher her, since I've never seen her cry before - she always has a smile on her face. When we have the last child out of the clinic, I am going to try to spend as much time with her as possible.

I called home early afternoon to find that Alina had lost a tooth and Noah would like to come to pick us up at the airport. Peanut refused to talk to me because she was more concerned about getting some "leche" (apparently Bob needed to do some grocery shopping). When I was off of the phone, I needed some time to myself - so sat back & watched the movie Family Man, which was the movie Bob & I saw on our first date. That movie does have a lot of good qualities to it, on how to love and appreciate your family.

When the movie finished, a volunteer who has been vacationing for 2 weeks walked in and introduced herself. She's from Denmark & her name is Therese. Her boyfriend (who came to visit for those 2 weeks) will be staying in the boys volunteer dorm until Tuesday, when his plane takes off for Denmark. We found out that we happened to be on the same flight from Miami to San Pedro Sula when we flew in on August 1st! What a coincidence. :-)

August 13th - Mallory's Goodbye

I again had the 6:30 - 9:30am shift at the clinic. After that, Andrés and I went into Guaimaca to buy some supplies for the supper I was going to make tonight. Mallory, a long-term volunteer who was going to stay until September, is heading home on Saturday due to the health of her father. Rachel wanted to have a nice supper for her with all of the volunteers, so I agreed to make guacamole and huevos rancheros (as something different from the food we've been eating around here).

We were only in town for about an hour or so, since I had to be back at the clinic from 12:30 - 5:00pm. Andrés relieved me at 5:00 so that I could start supper. We (Owen, Leigh, Rachel, Andrés, Mallory & I) ate at the school. This is just to give you an idea of the need for volunteers in the month of August. It seems that June & July are pretty full of volunteers. At one point in July, there were over 20 girls in the volunteer dorm - and that doesn't even count the males over in THEIR dorm. But many high school & college age students head back in August to get ready for school.

We had a great time together, and unfortunately since I had lost track of time, I had forgotten to call home by 8pm like I had promised. Andrés had mentioned that Bob was keeping up the kids a little later anyway lately, so that they should still be up...but when I ran back to the dorm to grab my phone, Bob let me know that they had went to sleep early due to their behavior. I chatted with him for a while, before turning in for the evening.

August 12th - A Little Rest...

David (the "vacationer") took my 6:30 - 9:30am shift this morning at the clinic to give me a little relief going into next week's schedule. I am very thankful for that since my brain now only seems to be working when I'm at the clinic. When I head to the volunteer dorm, I seem to forget A LOT - although Bob would probably tell you all that "That's normal"!

Even though I didn't have to go in at 6:30am, I still did in order to be sure Andrés was there to relieve the volunteer who was watching Erika and also to give him his malaria pill (4 days late). He came a little late, but did manage to get there...so I went back to the volunteer dorm to lay down.

I didn't realize how sleep deprived I actually was until I woke at 10:30am still groggy and my body still extremely tired. Although I had a pretty good night's sleep, this was much needed due to the demanding hours of the clinic. At 10:30am I mustered what little energy I could to get up and prepare my mind & body to work at the clinic again from 12:30 - 7:00pm. Although that was a slow 2 hours of moving around, when I walked into the clinic, my adrenaline kicked in once again and all was fine.

The electricity went out again (which is actually a pretty common occurence), but that meant no fans in the clinic to move the air around. We were brought a DVD player last week, but two days have now went by where it hasn't been working...so we are left with coloring books, reading books (most are in English), a few chess games that have pieces missing (which I just showed them how to use them as checkers games), and a few stuffed animals. Six hours will go by pretty quickly if you keep the kids busy!

August 11th - The Soccer Game

Today's hours for the clinic are 6:30 - 9:30am (for chicken pox) and then I was also scheduled to be with Erika (the girl with bronchitis) from 11:30am until 7:00pm. While I woke for the early shift, Andrés was preparing himself for the pig slaughter (you'll most likely read about it in his blog, so I'll spare the details).

Due to the amount of children who come to the clinic daily to get checked, Karelia was still around at 11:30 when I arrived to watch Erika, so she told me to come back around 2:30pm to take over. It was nice to have 3 extra hours off, especially since I heard that the girls soccer team here at Emmanuel was going to have a team from town come in and have a game. They were going to sell food as a fundraiser as well (like concessions), so I was very excited to get the chance to see the game. Although I didn't get to watch all of it, I stayed until just after half-time when it was tied 1-1. I bought lunch for Andrés and myself & we watched together - which gave us a little time to spend together.

Due to my later shift at the clinic, I missed church this evening and the art show where the children sell the art/jewelry they've made and get to keep a percentage of the profits. I'm hoping to check out more jewelry before heading back to the States.

Back at the clinic, I had to help Erika with her nebulizer treatment. This was not new to me since both Noah & Kaylyn have had nebulizer treatments when they were infants. When 7pm came and I was relieved, I walked back to the girls volunteer dorm in the dark. It's amazing that it's so dark here that early...when in Wisconsin it's still pretty light at that time.

August 10th - Double Time at the Clinic

Well, the events of last night (2 toddlers being rushed in to get looked at) resulted in one of the toddlers needing to go to the hospital today. She was diagnosed with bronchitis, but since she doesn't have chicken pox, she needed to stay in a separate room at the clinic which means double-time on the volunteers...one would have to cover the children with chicken pox and another would have to be with this toddler (well, actually 5-year-old - she just lives in the "Toddler House"). I am so thankful that David (the man on vacation) took our 6:30am - 12:30pm shift.

Leigh and I finished sizing the toddlers this morning. I had this job last year, along with a group that was here from the Northeast. We take their measurements and equate them to sizes so that if sponsors would like to give them clothing for Christmas, they know approximately what size to get. After we finished sizing the toddlers, Katja put a halt to sizing (since all 400+ children are supposed to get sized)...primarily due to the demands of the clinic. There are currently 8 children with the chicken pox.

August 9th - A Minute to Call Home

This morning I was at the clinic from 6:30-9:30am. After that, Leigh & I ran to town. Due to the demands of the clinic, I have not yet had a chance to get to town (for phone cards, groceries, etc) since our arrival on the 1st of August. My plan was to stop at the internet café to type up my blog, but Leigh suggested that I use her laptop back at the dorm when I'm not in the clinic rather than using time in town to catch up. That sounded good to me!

We first stopped at the TIGO store. TIGO is probably the main cell phone carrier down here. My Verizon phone doesn't work down here and even if it would, TIGO offers much better rates than Verizon ever could to call home. I bought 3 of the $100 Lempira cards, planning to give one card to Andrés and the other two should allow me to call home multiple times to chat with my 3 precious children left behind: Alina (7 yrs), Noah (5 yrs), and Kaylyn (2 yrs); and of course my AWESOME husband Bob who allows me to come down here for such a length of time while he watches the kids who are still too young to come down & help. I am also thankful that I have sisters, parents, aunts, cousins, and other family close-by, to help with the kids while I'm down here!

Lempiras is the currency of Honduras and 1 U.S. dollar will yield about 18-19 Lemps in exchange (so I purchased $15 worth of minutes to the States which should be MORE than enough to get us through this week & next). Leigh also offered to buy our extra unused minutes before we head back if we had any, but I'll probably take them with me to San Pedro Sula so I can maintain contact with Blanca & Luis (from the bed & breakfast we stay at before heading home) and also to make some last minute phone calls home the night before our arrival back to the States.

We headed to the supermarket next. Generally I've eaten with the little girls the last 2 years, but have found it difficult this trip because of the clinic needs. The hours I'm in the clinic usually run right through the eating times of the girls, so I think I've only been over there to eat twice now. It's best to have some food "on hand". This supermarket is nothing like our Super-Walmarts back in the States. It's even smaller than a small local supermarket back in the States, but since it's bigger than the other stores in Guaimaca...it is THE supermarket. I bought some spaghetti noodles and some sauce (which comes in packets rather than a glass jar or can), some Honduran cheese (which is similar to the cheese that our old babysitter Patti brings us from El Salvador), 4 boxes (yes, BOXES) of milk, and some orange juice. We stopped at Glenda's small stand on the way back to Emmanuel for tomatoes, eggs & onions. There is an avocado tree next to our volunteer dorm, so I'll try to make some guacamole at some point for everyone.

Katja held a volunteer meeting at 4:30. Rachel and Malorie (two long-term volunteers) made donuts for the meeting and brought sodas. The focus of the meeting turned to the clinic demands. Katja mentioned that there was a couple just arriving as we met who were going to be at Emmanuel during the week "on vacation", but that the husband, David, was a paramedic. If it were a vacation, I really didn't want to ask him to do it (who wants to work on vacation, right?)...but noticing Leigh & my exhaustion, she called and asked David to help out at the clinic from 6:30am - 12:30pm the next day - just as he was bringing his suitcases in to where they were about to stay. He agreed to be there.

After the meeting, I hurried home to call my kids & was excited to hear from each one. Kaylyn said "hello" but the next thing out of her mouth was "When are you coming home?" Did she come up with that one, or was that Bob helping her to talk in the phone...I'm not sure. I let her know that I'd absolutely love it if she was there at the airport when I flew home in 2 weeks. I got to talk to Noah and Alina as well before talking to Bob & saying "good-nights" to all. Although the bus rides back to San Pedro Sula will be torture on me ('cuz they're all I'll think about, which will make me miss them more), the blessing of Emmanuel is that each year I come, I am SO NEEDED and they fill my hours - giving me little time to dwell on having left the rest of my family back home.

I spent the night at the clinic (6:30pm - 6:30am) and it was a long night. Two toddlers were rushed in to the clinic about 9:30 with Karelia. They had high fevers and she needed to check them out. With all of the lights going on in that room & all of the commotion, most of the children who were there with chicken pox woke up and it took them quite a while to get settled back to sleep. I was more appreciative of David agreeing to be in at 6:30am so that I could get some rest the next day!

August 8th - Andrés

This morning I was at the clinic from 6:30am - 12:30pm, meaning I missed church. I am going to try to be able to get to church next Sunday as it is our last Sunday here & I have not yet been able to sit through a service, due to the demands of the clinic and all of the children here with chicken pox. We'll see what we can work out now that Leigh is here.

I found out that Andrés made it to church and immediately made a point of seeing him when my shift was done for the morning. He's been sick all this last week and has only been out of the boys volunteer dorm working for about a day or two. I'm thankful that he's 15 years old and, for the most part, can fend for himself but it was time to check in on him. He said that he's feeling 80% (that's how we measure our health, since it's easy for me to understand...being a mathematician), so that made me feel better. I told him to stop down at the clinic during my late afternoon hours to check in once again because I had a cell phone for him that one of the volunteers who had come earlier in the summer had left behind for future volunteers. That way we could communicate daily if I wasn't able to see him (as was the case last week).

I was back at the clinic from 3:00 - 7:00pm and it was eventful. Between 3 other volunteers (who stopped by for various reasons) and myself, we spent 2 hours trying to get a tangled comb out of the hair of a girl who tried to "roll the comb up her hair until it got stuck". I think that this is something every girl tries (I know I have and the other 3 volunteers admitted to it too), but once you get to the point where it's completely stuck and it either kills your scalp to get it out or it needs to get cut out - that's really the last time you try it. We got as much as we could out, but the last bit had to be cut. She cried and cried (the girls really don't like having their hair cut here), but unfortunately the comb was knotted so tight in her hair that there were no other options. She was still sobbing after the comb was out, so I ran back to our dorm to get all of the clips I had brought along and a few glittered bobby-pins that were left by another volunteer and showed her how to put up her hair so that no one would notice that small patch that was cut only an inch from her scalp. That seemed to help and she's had her hair done beautifully ever since!

Andrés stopped by and I had him bathe the boys before he left. Each of the children at the clinic needs to shower in the morning after they wake and then again before bed. It was nice to have a second person there helping like that because it's difficult to monitor the showers and the children who are still playing in the clinic. When Andrés left, just the girls had to shower, and since they are older - it went much smoother.

August 7th - Leigh Arrives!

When I got home this morning, I napped for about an hour & 1/2 since I had gotten so little sleep at the clinic. When I woke, I arranged the Community Food Cupboards. These cupboards are food that is available for any of us to use, generally left over from volunteers that have went home. Since there were 20+ girls in here prior to my arrival, the cupboards were very full, and there were many containers that could be combined. For example, there was about 10-15 bottles of pancake syrup...each one had anywhere from 1/4 or more syrup in it. Rather than letting that many bottles take up space, I combined like-brands into one or two containers and threw out a bunch of the extra bottles. I wiped down the cupboards. This is something that needs to be done on a regular basis. In these countries, ants are agressive and if any food is left out...the ants (and other critters) show up immediately. It is very important to have a clean kitchen for that reason alone.

I went back to the clinic from 12:30 - 3:30pm and brought the movie The Princess Bride (which was on our entertainment center in the volunteer dorm. The kids had never seen it before and they sat through the whole movie watching intently. The girls helped me tidy the room up a bit for the volunteer team that arrived yesterday. Today they would stop by the clinic to visit.

I've been in constant communication with this team of 14 that arrived yesterday about helping out in the clinic, but it seems that the chicken pox is scaring them off. The team has older teenagers on up to senior citizens, and while the teens are worried about if they've ever had chicken pox (or might get it)...the older adults are worried about the possibility of shingles. There were 2 members of the team (Esau & Connie) that agreed to come from 3:30 - 6:30pm to watch the children. I am hoping that they will share their experiences with their groups in order to encourage a few more to volunteer to help staff the clinic this coming week that they are here.

On a positive note for the clinic, Leigh arrived yesterday. She is a long term volunteer who needed to go home because she was bitten by a mosquito & contracted Denge (not sure if I spelled that correctly). Generally this infection is only common between the tropics, so when she went home her blood sample had to be sent to the CDC for confirmation. Most cases of Denge is easily cured if caught early enough. Hers has lasted for 5 weeks down here before she had went home to get medical attention (since her blood tests down here came back negative, leading her doctors back home to believe it was something else). She will be helping to relieve me at the clinic...which means we'll soon be teaming to relieve each other from the long hours there.

August 6th - Making Jewelry with Raquel

This morning I rested quite a bit (after having worked 20 of the last 24 hours). About 1:00pm, I went with Raquel (Rachel - long term volunteer) to her jewelry making class. The school had gotten a grant from the Danish to begin this class and then sell the jewelry to buy more beads...keeping them self sustaining. I know that my sister Julie makes jewelry, but if any of you out there had started this as a hobby, but nothing ever came of it - please let me know! We can send any extra, unwanted or leftover beads their way to help them in their efforts. The jewelry is beautiful: necklaces, bracelets & earrings. They will be having an art show next week for the volunteer team that's coming in where they display and sell their jewery. The children get to keep a percent of the sale (which is more motivation for them to work hard at creating great works of art), and the rest goes to buy more beads. I will most likely be in the clinic and not be able to attend, but am still hoping that I can purchase some jewelry before I head back.

When I arrived to do the night shift in the clinic, there were 11 children there (that were supposed to stay the night). In the 3 years I have now been down here, I have never seen this many in the clinic. Generally there's only been between 1 & 4. I felt completely overwhelmed. there were only 4 beds and a couple of cushions to lay out on the floor. Finally we agreed that 3 boys would go home. Their chicken pox were completely dry and they hadn't had fevers for more than 24 hours. This left me with 8 children...still a handful - but I felt that the impossible task of staying the night (and staying sane) had now become possible.

It was a long night of cleaning the clinic (sweeping & mopping), washing dishes, lathering on the calamine lotion, taking temperatures, getting the cushions out & bedding on them and putting the children to bed. I was so wound up with adrenaline (mother's instinct to ensure that all is okay to settle down for the night?), that I had to read most of the night until I was finally tired enough to fall asleep in the rocker around 2:00 or 3:00am.

August 5th - More Clinic Hours

Because of the chicken pox going around here, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update this blog. Generally in any given 24-hour period, I'm at the clinic at least 8 of those hours...but sometimes up to 20 of those hours due to the small number of volunteers here right now. Of course, wouldn't you know that just a week before I came, there were more than 20 girls here in the volunteer house - too bad the chicken pox wasn't that bad then. But I have heard from pastors, family & friends over and over throughout my life that God will not give us MORE than we can handle. (He sure does know how to "max us out" though!) :-)

A volunteer here at the girls dorm has graciously suggested that I use her laptop to update this blog, since my hours at the clinic prevent me from going to town to update at the internet cafe. However, the internet here at Emmanuel is very delicate and some days it works...some days it doesn't. So, I'll try to update as much as I can when I have a free 2-3 hours during the day - if the internet is up & running.

This morning I was at the clinic from 6:30am - 2:30pm. Guzman (who is a 20-year-old boy that had been in the clinic with fever but not chicken pox) finally got to go home, however with his absence they brought another boy in WITH chicken pox, so the total number of children remains at 7 in the clinic. When the new boy came in, they mentioned that there were 2 more boys likely to come into the clinic at some point (because they were pretty sure that they had chicken pox as well).

The girl who was supposed to do tonight's shift (6:30pm - 6:30am) backed out. She is fairly young and knows very little Spanish, so I can hardly say that I blame her. Owen (one of the long-term volunteers) has already done 3 nights in a row and had had a couple of rough nights with the kids. Since he also teaches in the school during the day, I didn't want him doing a 4th night in a row, so I insisted on taking this shift to relieve him. I rested a bit during the 4 hours I would have off of the clinic, and then headed back to stay the night.

August 4th - More Chicken Pox

I was at the clinic again from 6:30am - 2:30pm. This will most likely be the BIG job I have here, since children seem to keep coming & not many leave. Two of the boys with the pox had a pretty rough night for the volunteer that stayed with them.

Before I left, 2 girls from the medium girls house came in and 1 girl from the toddler house. Now the total in the clinic is 7.

I went to the church for the service @ 5:15 and saw David - who recognized me. YAY! I really hadn't seen him too much the 1st two years I was here because of just being in different places of the orphanage. Tammy asked me to help with the staff's children while the church service was going on. I don't have much experience working with little children, but it was nice to take them out.

August 3rd - The Clinic

My clinic hours today went from 6:30am - 2:30pm. I had to scramble to fill in the schedule for the week because there are only 3 of us that are "safe" to be here. Two of the 6 volunteers haven't had chicken pox OR the vaccine and a 3rd volunteer speaks NO Spanish (so we figure in an emergency situation...that'd be a necessity).

Andrés came in at noon and said he was sick (sick to the stomach & had a fever). Little did I know at this point (since I'm writing quite a bit after the fact) that he'd be sick for an ENTIRE week, and due to my being at the clinic so much...I wouldn't be able to see him & check up on him.

Around 4pm I went with 2 of the long term volunteers to make bread with 3 girls from the medium house before settling in for the night.

August 2nd - Trip to Emmanuel

We had to get up pretty early to catch the 4am Costeños but to Tegucigalpa. Andrés slept the entire way since we had to get some dramamine in him (he's been getting sick on these bus rides). When we got to Tegus around 9:30am, we headed to a Pizza Hut to get some food in his stomach before the ride out to the orphanage. We walked to the Aurora bus station to take the 10:30am bus to Guaimaca (and Andrés slept again while the dramamine did its trick).

Since there were no taxis at the bus stop, we grabbed our luggage and walked to Emmanuel. I'm thinking it's about a 2-mile walk, so it's a good thing that I started running back home (although for you Facebook friends, I still don't enjoy running). It's also a good thing that we only had ONE carry-on and ONE suitcase this year.

When we arrived, we stopped in at the office to meet with Katja and then took our stuff to our volunteer dorms. This year Andrés & I are in separate dorms (as opposed to staying at the farm together last year when Jenny was along). I had supper with the little girls.

There was a volunteer meeting at 4:30pm when I met the other volunteers. Katja put me in charge of the clinic schedule for the week (so I'm really missing Linda right about now, since I'm not really a nurse). Chicken pox is running rampant through the orphanage.

August 1st - We´re here!

This morning I woke up at 3am to finish getting ready. I woke up Andrés about 4am in hopes to leave at 4:30, however we didn´t get on the road until 5am. With Bob sleeping in the passenger seat and Andrés sleeping in back, it was a long ride (especially through miles of fog). We arrived at O´Hare at 8am and realized fairly quickly that Andrés forgot both his gum (for the plane ride) and his camera - so no pictures this year folks.

Our day consisted of 3 flights: Chicago to Cincinnati, Cincinnati to Miami, and finally Miami to San Pedro Sula. We never really had to sit for too long (unlike last year where our layovers were fairly lengthy). During these flights, Andrés realized that he forgot quite a bit more than just his gum & camera, but he´ll probably update you on that. The most interesting flight was in Cincinnati where we got on to the runway & what I THOUGHT was our take-off was really super fast acceleration to get off the runway, because another plane was coming in for a landing!

Luis picked us up from the airport and drove us to an ATM and then to a Baleadas drive-thru to get some supper since the neighbor´s small restaurant up the street is not open on Sunday (and Andrés decided not to eat in Miami because he wanted the tacos that this guy makes). We got settled in and here I am typing this blog.

Tomorrow we´ll head on the earliest bus possible (leaves @ 4am) to Tegucigalpa...which is a 4 hour ride. From Tegus, we´ll catch another 2 hour bus to Guaimaca. I expect we´ll be in Guaimaca at Orphanage Emmanuel by sometime between noon & 3pm. Again, I´m not sure how often I will be able to update this blog, since my first priority is helping out at the orphanage, but today is just to let everyone know that we´ve arrived okay & are en route to the orphanage. And with that, I´ll need to say "good night" so that I can actually wake up tomorrow. ☺

July 31st - What a Rocky Start

It's been a busy summer for me, which is good since I'm absolutely NOT a teacher who enjoys having 3 months of "free time". Here's a brief synopsis of what I've done this summer:

• 4 weeks of summer school - Teaching beginning Spanish (and a new Going Global class, which required LOTS of prep work) at Ferber Elementary up on the north side of Appleton. Both Alina and Noah were in summer school this year, coming with me each day.
• More family camping trips than ever before - Generally we only go 1-3 times per year, but this year we had each of our children pick a state park and made reservations which is in addition to our annual trip with my sisters.
• Lifest - We were down on the grounds every day for something. This is such an awesome festival to refresh & renew your soul. It definitely helps me gear up for my trip down to Honduras!
• Three weeks of taking Andrés to Driver's Ed. (I think he's excited to get his temps when he gets back from Honduras)

Finally we're just about ready to go. I had many students from Ferber Elementary school donate supplies (toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoos, conditioners, hair clips, small toys, etc) and they were shipped on Thursday. I sent along our 2 VCRs with the shipment of donations, because last year when I took the 50+ Disney movies (VHS in Spanish) that Andrés owned, there were 2 dorms that had non-working VCRs. Hopefully now the little & medium boys can watch some of those movies, and since they're IN Spanish, they'll understand & have fun!

Andrés had lost his passport since coming back from Honduras last year, so we had to go through the process of reporting it lost and applying for a new one. What a horrid experience that I hope to never go through again. With the time crunch and the U.S. Passport Office's request for paperwork that I didn't have (and was impossible to get...because it never existed), they took forever in issuing him a passport (he got it this past Thursday, 4 days before departure). I don't know WHY this wasn't an issue for his last two passports. But all is done & ready to go now - so our focus in on what's ahead.

Today we need to pack. The suitcases are in our living room and open. Laundry is caught up, so we just have to put our clothes together. Andrés says he's looking forward more & more to going, but is still a little nervous because this year we will stay in separate dorms (meaning he'll have to do his own laundry, which he's never done before). I'm hoping to pack in the morning, so that anything we need (like mosquito spray with 100% DEET), we can run & buy before the day is over.

Hopefully we will be able to keep you updated daily via this blog, however I'm not sure what will happen. If we cannot update daily, we will keep a journal like last year & make sure to update this blog when we can - so that our family & friends know how things are going and that we're okay.

To think that tomorrow at this time, we'll be 1/2-way to Chicago to take off! We'll see most of you in 3-4 weeks. ☺