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Published: January 19th 2006
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01/16/06
Today we arose at 5:30 am with breakfast at 5:45. We had egg and bacon omelets and coffee. Afterwards, Don led devotions and read from something he had written about why we come here to Honduras to do what we do. We sang a few songs as well and I played along with the guitar. Then we all took in the brilliance of the morning sunshine painting it’s glory onto the mountains and the clouds. The sight was breath taking and I am excited to get to spend so much time in such an amazingly beautiful setting. Next we all loaded into the bus and headed for our destination about two hours away in a valley surrounded by high mountains. The roads were concrete and fairly smooth for a while until we got closer to the village area, then the road changed to dirt and was a little twisty taking us way into the mountains and then down again into the valley. When we finally got to the sight where we were to hold the clinic the people were already lined up one hundred deep in the hot morning sun. We hopped out and began unloading equipment. I immediately
began to shoot a few photos of the people. We unloaded the medical boxes and containers and decided where the stations would be and who would do what. I helped in every direction but mostly focused upon the deworming and vitamin A clinic. People kept arriving in small groups and the line stayed pretty steady most of the day. We could see them walking trough the valley from a long was away in little packs. We saw 250 plus people and had eight referrals. The eye-glass clinic gave away 60 plus glasses. I shot over 600 photographs and came away some really nice images. It was hot with clear skies all of the day. The people were very friendly and curious about us all. They did not know quite how to act at first and neither did we. We all loosened up as the day progressed. The children were the most natural as always. They stared at me whenever I was taking a photo and as soon as they found out that they could immediately view the image on the back screen they all wanted to see. So I would shoot and then show them their picture and they would
smile and crack up with laughter. After things slowed down for a bit around midday we got to have lunch. It was a pleasant lunch of chicken salad, an apple, and a fanta soda. A very skinny dog stared at me as I ate my sandwich. It was kind of strange to eat chicken since I haven’t really eaten it in so long, but I was so hungry that didn’t matter too much to me. We continued to give deworming medicine to people who needed it and the line for the clinic station to see Dr. Marco continued to lengthen. Anna a lady in her sixties or seventies after putting deworming medicine and vitamin A down people’s throats all day began her clown act. That is what she does in Richmond VA when she is not doing mission work. She brought hundreds of balloons, the kind that you twist into shapes. She played with the kids giving them balloons for hours. They swarmed around her in a chaotic mess of arms trying to grab the balloons out of her hands. I wandered around and snapped photos and played with the kids. They were al covered in dirt and so earthy.
They had a bit of an Indian Mayan flare to their look. Dark eyes and hair with light brown skin. Most of the people were much smaller in stature than the average American. A new guy came along on the trip named Josh. He was a Honduran and had lived in the states with his prents for several years. They lived in Idaho. His English was excellent and he was very up on American pop culture. He was obsessed with Napoleon Dynamite and could quote the film verbatim. He was fun to be around. The day finally closed at late dusk with the sun setting behind the mountains. The dusk was warm and magical and the last few patients were seen. The med containers were loaded back into the van and we said our goodbyes to the few remaining people there. We had to change a flat on Dr. Marco’s truck and then we left on our way to dinner in a nearby town before heading back to the mission house. The restaurant was called bongos and it was a nice buffet style place owned by an English speaking white woman. The food was delicious after a hot hard days
work. We all boarded the bus and left for the Barnabas house.
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moorepants
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rojo amor
hey, amos, it looks like your having a great time. I am sure it is very rewarding. I am glad you decided to write a travel blog. peace.