Honduras 2010 - post #2 of ...

Another installment of our adventures in Honduras is here.

Monday morning arrived with sticky, hot weather. I rolled over in my bed and looked over at Moriah. She was sound asleep with crumpled and dried out handkerchiefs all over her and a glisten of sweat on her face. Her hair was beginning to curl all around her in a ray of blond making her look like a sweet little cherub.


Moriah and I got up, had our cold showers and got ready for the day anxious to see what the plan was for the day. We both slipped on our flip-flops and headed toward the Wards house happily chatting about all the jungle sights and sounds we were seeing.


As we rounded the corner of the building, I saw Trish sitting on her front porch surrounded by drift wood and a burning tool carving Honduran sayings into pieces that would be made into decoration and sold in the gift cabinet. As she sat in her chair, I noticed her bible, and devotional on a little table next to her. I was imagining how amazing it must be to wake up in the morning grab your coffee and head outside to listen to the jungle sounds and spend some good personal time with the Father. It was another thing that made me smile. One of many.

I plunked down in a chair next Trish and she started telling me about her ideas for items to go in the gift cabinet. The idea behind the gift cabinet is to sell souvenir type items to people who are on short term missions at Hospital Loma de Luz. A lot of times the people coming in don’t have any time to shop in the city so this would give them an opportunity to get some mementos of their trip and help to support the staff housing and children’s center.

We finished our brain storming, got some breakfast and began our tour. Trish drove us in the blessed air conditioned truck down to the East farm and Children’s center. I was surprised by how large and homey looking the children’s center building is. It is a really beautiful building that sits at the middle, back of a semi-circle made up of smaller houses called sanctuary housing.

A view of the Children's Center

The children’s center is a place for kids to live while they are being cared for at the hospital or on more permanent basis as they may be abandoned or orphaned. In addition, the smaller houses, called sanctuary housing, are a place where children can go when something bad has happened. They will be cared for by volunteer “parents” when they arrive at sanctuary housing.
When we got to the children’s center we found Brad out in back of the children’s center supervising the building of the barn, compost stalls and shade house. He kindly showed us what they envisioned the building looking like when finished. I am looking forward to going back to see the finished product.


Me holding a chick (Moriah didn't want to)

From the barn he took us over to one of the sanctuary houses and inside we found 100 chirping, tiny chicks. The chicks are a new venture for the farm. Brad told us about their life cycle which is truly amazing. They are fully mature 6 weeks from the time they hatch. When the chicks are mature enough to be out of their “play pen”, they are then put into chicken tractors daily and placed in between the rows of African Palm trees. There, they feed on insects, poop, scratch to find insects, which spreads their manure which happens to be really great fertilizer and the process is repeated which in turn, lends to a very eco-friendly, organic process in farming. After the chicken’s are fully mature, several village women are hired to butcher the chickens and prepare them for selling to the missionaries at the hospital and the people in the villages. Some of them are given to the staff at the children’s center to cook for the kids too. All that to say, raising these chickens is very beneficial for many people.

The baby African Palm Trees and the Mangrove Forest in the background.

I mentioned African Palm’s which are a huge part of this farm project the Ward’s are involved with. African Palm’s have been planted in the West and East fields. The big deal about them is that the fruit they produce is turned into palm oil which is sold for cooking and as a component to make bio-diesel. The yield from the fruit is upwards of 75% which, if you think about it, is a huge yield and potentially very profitable. The idea being that these African Palms, in a matter of 5 years will be in full production and will be helping to support the operation of Hospital Loma de Luz and the children’s center.

In addition to the African Palms, Brad and his crew are experimenting with other crops that are proving to be beneficial to the communities around them as well as eco-friendly to native jungle, soil and ocean reefs. He has a small banana and plantain crop growing like gang busters, has been experimenting with rice and has several other really cool ideas brewing. It was fascinating to hear the plans, the reasoning behind the plans and careful thought put into all aspects of what they are doing on the farms.
They are very conscious of making sure not to harm the environment but also hoping to help impact the outlying villages in a positive way economically, educationally and in the people’s health and nutrition.

Touring the fields proved educational on a global level for us and on a very personal level. We became familiar with the ants that are in Honduras. As Brad put it, it’s a good idea to keep moving so you don’t end up with little biting insects crawling up your legs. Moriah and I each got chewed on about 10 times. The little things really sting when they bite and then a couple of days later; they itch worse than a mosquito bite. I have never had anything itch like that.


Brad & Sydney

At the back of the East farm is a mangrove forest that is a barrier between the farm and the Caribbean Sea and reefs. The Wards call it the enchanted forest because it is so beautiful. Brad and Sydney took Moriah and me through on a slightly raised path and we got our first glimpse of the Caribbean Sea. The waves gently rolled onto the white sandy beach as warm wind brushed our sweaty hair back. We stood looking at the ocean for a couple of minutes and talking about the mangrove forest.
When we turned to head back through the enchanted forest we noticed a small dugout canoe at the base of a giant mangrove tree. Brad said it had been carved out of a tree and is used for fishing. It looked pretty small to me but then Hondurans are small people.

Sydney and Moriah in the dugout


Hospital Loma de Luz

As we passed through the gate back out into the fields, I had to pause just to take in the scenery. Behind me stood the enchanted forest, a barrier between a farm and the Caribbean Sea and in front of me stood mountains covered in lush, green jungle. About half way up one of the smaller hills sat a large white building with what looks like a bell tower and a cross on top. That is Hospital Loma de Luz, a city on a hill so to speak. Just to the left and down sits the children’s center. A place filled with activity and love and accented with the laughter of children who for all intents and purposes have no good reason to laugh. But, as it stands, they are children and children laugh and play, even when they have been through more than most adults can tolerate. I just stood there looking, trying to preserve all the images, smells and sounds in my mind. A totally foreign place I quickly fell in love with. Alas, as Brad says, it’s a good idea to keep moving. The ants, they were marching and biting.


Yuca Trees being harvested

We met up with one of Brad’s foremen who was harvesting a plant called Yuca. It is a tree that grows tubers that are used like a potato. Like many plants in the tropics, you cut a branch off the mother tree, stick it in the ground and it grows. As they were telling about yuca, the foreman began to chuckle and in Spanish told us about how you must plan your crops. You must plan for a percentage to be eaten by critters, a percentage to be stolen by passersby and the rest you can harvest, hopefully. He told that they had been having trouble with people coming into the field at night, pulling up the yuca trees, breaking off the tubers and sticking the trees back in the ground. The famers, not knowing this go to harvest yuca, pull up their yuca trees and there is no tuber. Dissappointing.

Once we were done with the yuca, Moriah and I helped carry some of them up to the children’s center where Trish and Brad introduced us to a bunch of the cutest kids you will ever meet. Michelle was one of the first to greet us and immediately jumped into Sydney’s arms. Sydney proceeded to twirl her around and around upside down until the living area was filled with gales of giggles.

Sydney & Michelle

All of the kids have difficult stories. Whether it is an illness that takes them out of the jungle to get healing or the loss of parents and anything you can imagine in between.

Andrea was the first girl we met when we pulled up to the children’s center. Andrea is the same age as Sammey and they are great friends. She and her Mom came to live in one of the sanctuary houses while her mom was very ill. Her mom passed away and left Andrea with no family so her new home is at the children’s center. Now, as she heals from her loss and sadness, she is in a situation where she is being well cared for, receiving a terrific education and lots of love. Of course, nothing can replace a mom and her sadness lingers.

Another little girl, Fannie, is at the children’s center because she has a terrible bone infection that has been recurring. She and her parents live 2 hours into the jungle by foot and because of that journey, Fannie remains at the children’s center until she is all well. She has had 4 different surgeries to clean out the infection and each time, her parents come and take her back home before she has fully recovered only to bring her back to the hospital because the infection festers again.
According to the docs at Hospital Loma de Luz, because of the heat and humidity of the area, it is like a microcosm of bacteria and nasty stuff that festers quickly. This leaves many people in a situation that can go from a small cut to something very, very nasty in a short amount of time. In addition, because the people are so poor, they tend to wait to go to the hospital for help until the situation is really bad. Can’t say I blame them. When you have no extra money, you have no extra money.

The overseer and caretaker of the Children’s Center are Ian and his wife. They are from Scotland and have such a heart for the kids. In addition to their son, they also care for a baby named Orlin(pronounced Orleen ). Orlin’s story is difficult to be honest. He is around 1 year old. No one knows for sure when his birthday is. When he was very tiny, around Thanksgiving, the police brought him into the hospital and placed him in the hospital’s custody. His little head had been slammed or crushed somehow and he was on the edge of death. The doctors that worked on him didn’t think he was going to live more than a day or two. He has held began to heal but is still in very bad shape with severe brain damage. When you look at him, you can see a flat spot on the front and directly across the back side of his head. He has a stomach tube and must be kept in a semi-upright position because he can neither swallow nor hold down his formula which has caused no end to medical issues. He has had pneumonia every month of his short life because of these issues. In addition to that, Orlin requires feeding every 90 minutes around the clock due to the small amount of formula he can hold in his tummy at any one time.

Our first time seeing Orlin and Ian was when we were invited to come into Ian’s house. There standing in the archway between the living room and one of the bedrooms was Ian holding a very unhappy Orlin. Orlin was inconsolable as Ian, feet splayed as if he was in for the long haul, gently swayed back and forth, balancing Orlin with his bottom on Ian’s belly and Orlin’s head in his hand. He alternated between telling us about Orlin’s condition and talking to Orlin about this crying and grumpy attitude, all with a Scottish brogue.

Ian had been on Orlin duty for upwards of 48 hours without his wife. Her brother had passed away so she had flown back to Scotland to be with family. I think the picture of Ian, the Scotsman, holding that helpless baby with eyes that were so tired and the stance of a momma in for the long haul will forever be impressed into my memory. It is one that is heart rending and sweet.

Ian, Orlin & Trish

Hopefully I have given you an accurate picture and feel for the importance of the farms and children’s center in this rural area of the North Coast of Honduras.

After our tour of the East farm and the children’s center, we climbed back into the pickup and Brad showed us the West farm. They were planting African Palms and also experimenting with a new way to slow release nutrients into the soil. Brad learned about it at Echo in Florida. The process uses bio-charcoal planted at the base of the trees. I will be excited to hear how the experiment turns out. Brad said that they are already having some unexpected results. I hope that is a good thing.

The West farm is situated on the Caribbean Sea as well. It is many acres with fields that have been leveled out and planted with the African Palm.
Once we were done looking at the properties, we dropped Brad off at the Children’s Center again and then drove back up to the Ward’s house for lunch and a little relaxing. That afternoon, I was scheduled to teach an art class to 10ish of the missionary kids so I was beginning to feel a little nervous.
I decided to head down to our room and try and rest for an hour or so. The traveling was starting to catch up to me. I really thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep much because of the heat but I turned on my iPod and drifted off for about 45 minutes. It was a much needed nap.

After waking up and taking a cold shower, I headed back up to the Ward’s house and Moriah and I worked on setting up for the art class. We had pre-prepared art kits to give to the kids as well as a bunch of extra supplies that they could use. We were going to teach art journaling techniques.



It was so much fun to watch all the individuals make a layout representing themselves. Each one was different and representative of its maker. The class was really fun to do and I probably learned more than the students.
After the art class, we cleaned up and Brad made us some amazing pizza for dinner. Of course I had a hard time not eating way more than I should just because pizza is one of my favorite foods of all time and it was just delicious.

We cleaned up and Trish and I went into her air conditioned bedroom and she showed me her new sewing machine and several projects she was working on. I must admit that after sweating so hard through the art class, air conditioning was very, very welcome.
While Trish and I were bonding, Sammey and Moriah were busily playing with American Girl dolls and Polly Pockets in Sammey’s room. By the end of the night, Sammey’s room looked like a girls dream party. Dolls had exploded from every nook and cranny and were put in all sorts of places doing all sorts of things to simulate the imaginations of two playmates in full glory of imaginings.


Sammey decided to stay the night with Moriah and me at staff housing. I tell you what; we were up until close to midnight as those two girls came up with all sorts of mischief. At one point they were running around the room in their underwear playing hide and seek. Small spaces make for some of the most creative hiding in the world. As I sat trying to download pictures on the borrowed computer I got to listen to the giggles and squeals of two girls having more fun that one could have thought possible in a tiny dorm style room with 2 sets of bunk beds.

As it got later, I realized that we weren’t the only ones in staff housing and so I told them they needed to quiet down a bit. They transitioned from hiding and seeking to art journaling in the middle of the tile floor and laughing their heads off about the different things they were coming up with. It was a very fun evening and I fell asleep with a smile in my heart.

Stay tuned for more of our Honduras trip. Your comments and thoughts are welcome.