Blogs from Gracias, Western, Honduras, Central America Caribbean

I am still struggling with blog posts and I am not sure where they are going or when they show up in this blog. Today was a good day on the site. Good news, we finally reached depth in our trenches. Even better news, the heavy rains last night did not make them fill up, collapse or float away as I dreamed they might. You guessed it. Today we filled the trenches with the rocks. Some of us made concrete in a pit and the masons began building the foundations with the rocks and cement. Several team members were really good at figuring out the puzzle of which rock fit best where, while others, like me, just lugged rocks and dropped them where we were told. I was surprised when the super asked our team to ... read more

Yesterday was an uneventful, but long travel day. Flights were on time, but the lines in Honduran immigration were almost 90 minutes long. Our drive from San Pedro Sula to Santa Rosa was close to 4 hours in a 15 passenger van, with 15 passengers. Not quite my new SUV, but it worked. The lush landscape and mountainous views made the drive interesting. We checked into our comfortable welcoming hotel, "Hotel San Jorge". They provided a delicious dinner of chicken, beans and rice. Today was a day to acclimate and explore the local culture. We started with an orientation to Habitat Honduras provided by our in country host, Luis. We reviewed the history of Habitat, safety concerns and learned a few 'Luisisms'. My favorite for today. . . "Remember to 'squeeze the lemon' before getting in ... read more

While sitting in my cozy, comfortable home, typing away on my computer, packing the essentials for our trip, I am reminded again how fortunate I am to live the life I do AND have the opportunity to serve others. My last trip (18 months ago) to build Habitat Home in Honduras had a profound and lasting impact on my life. So much so, that when presented with the opportunity to train to be a team leader and take a group of people to Honduras to help build and advocate for affordable housing, I jumped in with both feet. As a team leader my focus on this trip will be different. Although I will build alongside my team and our Honduran partners, my primary responsibility will be my team. Their safety is first and foremost. It is ... read more

After a short delay, our water arrived this morning. With all the space cleared, brick making began in earnest. Again, I felt efficient. I made 30 bricks over the course of the morning. A mason's helper make 3 lempira per brick. At the current exchange rate, I would have earned roughly $4.50 for half a days work. I am not as efficient as one of the standard helpers, but you can see how little the average earnings are. From the blog I wrote for the Habitat Wake website. “Yesterday I hit the wall. All the hard physical labor had finally taken its toll on my body. After a good night’s sleep, I felt revived. However, I was cautious about overdoing it. It turned out to be a blessi... read more

Roosters crowing, dogs barking, and firecrackers popping. This is how our day began at 4:30 this morning. Revelers celebrating Easter lit the fire crackers, which made the dogs bark, and likely had nothing to do with the roosters crowing. However, we got up and went to watch the sunrise Easter parade through the streets. We marched along with the residents of the city as the statues of Jesus, Mary and other Saints danced through the street on their way to church. It was all very festive and a unique experience. A yummy breakfast of local watermelon, eggs and pancakes was followed. We then loaded into our bus with Luis, our driver and Max, our local guide for the day. We traveled by bus to Belen Gualcho. There we toured a 500 year local church. This included ... read more