The Boy Who Stole My Heart

There comes a point where you can’t do everything yourself and you know God is the only one with the power to fulfill every want and need in this world whether it’s through you or someone else. UPH is a wonderful program that serves God in great and wonderful ways but it’s just impossible to reach every child here in Copan Ruinas. The camp I’m working at is for the private school children because the public schools go year round and those that don’t have the privilege of attending either school can’t afford necessarily to take off of work because the money they make helps feed their family who depend on them. This hit me pretty hard on Wed, the 1^st day of camp. I was teaching my class. We were singing songs and having a good time and I look over and the sweetest little innocent eyes were looking at me with interest. They were wondering “Who is that Gringo” “What are they saying” “It looks like they are having fun”…but never jealousy! He would smile at the thought of imagining himself being a part of our class and then get back to reality and start to work on the school building. This sweet boy is maybe seven and works alongside 2 grown men to help keep the school grounds clean and add on! I feel really bad that we are practically right in his face showing him what he’s missing out on and I wish I could just say “Hey why don’t you go play with them while I do your job” but I can’t because it’s out of my control. I pray that he knows Jesus and benefits from us being there. I know God has a plan and purpose for him, I don’t know what it is but I do know that this boy with no name has stolen my heart!

Okay enough of that emotional stuff! Camp has been great. It’s hard for me because not very many of the children know English like I was expecting. The camp is a bilingual camp and is taught in English but soo many of them don’t understand me, especially the youngest who have only been attending a bilingual school for a couple years. I have learned though that I can connect with older kids. Naomi, Stephanie, and Marlon are some of the kids I’ve connected the best with and they are going into 5^th and 6^th grade….def. not the age I expected to be spending the most time with, but I love it! And you don’t have to speak the same language to have fun together!...Thursday during recreational activities I was down by the futbol field playing with some of the kids and noticed little Mario who’s 5 going over to the playground. One of our jobs is to make sure no children are off on their own so I snuck up on him underneath the slide said “Boo” and tickled him. HE LOVED IT!!! After that he would run and try to get away from me and I would attack him and it would start over and over again. Next thing I know Diego, Aleph, and Harvey joined in and they would point at me and say “Esta Lobos, Esta Lobos”. After running around so much I got tired and decided to pretend to play dead. Then they would sneak up on me and I would wake up again and trick them!! All we did was run and laugh and connected even with the huge language barrier! Martha came over about halfway through and told me that they were calling me a wolf! J

On Friday’s we don’t teach class and we call it “Special Friday” because we do different activities with the kids! Today we had a futbol tournament along with jump ropes, basketball, and water games! We started the day off in our camp teams which are equally divided into colors, mine being Green, and we made a poster and a cheer! My team named ourselves the green monsters and we totally dominated in the tournament, just saying!! Lol I was very proud of them. They were very positive and cheered on their teammates. We had a blast!  

We don’t have camp on the weekends so UPH planned a hike to a waterfall tomorrow and we get to swim!! I’m excited to get out and see what it’s like around Copan! 

He Makes Beautiful Things

Today is our day off because Camp starts tomorrow!!! Im excited to get started into the routine of camp and am blessed to have a relaxing day to enjoy by myself and become rejuvenated for an ENERGY filled next 5 weeks! Since I have some time I will update ya’ll just about random things that might be interesting!

                We went on a staff retreat Sat. and Sun to Welchez coffee farm and reserve about an hour away. It was Beautiful! It’s a family owned business where they grow coffee beans but haven’t completely done away with the natural landscape because they said the land needs its natural resources so they have preserved the land and grow the best coffee possible. They drove us up a hill and we took a walking trial around part of the land. It felt like I was in a rainforest!! It was gorgeous! There were giant trees and vines everywhere. We even crossed a wooden bridge over a small waterfall that had crystal clear water.

The path took us to an open restaurant where we ate a meal similar to what they would eat when they have special guests or during holidays. They served us tamales as an appetizer; rice, beans, and meat as a main dish; and a small thicker tortilla fried with honey and sugar as dessert along with coffee! After lunch we walked back to the house we were staying in and walked past the machines they wash the coffee beans in. They wash it about three times to get different layers off and then it dry’s and goes into another machine and comes out ready to sack! The rest of the time there we spent going over UPH’s core values, having devo’s, and enjoying each other’s company! (The Welchez have a café in Copan Ruinas just down the road from the UPH office with is where im sitting right now)

                Not really too much has happened besides the retreat because the rest of our time has been spent preparing for camp. We’ve gotten our class rooms decorated and our materials ready for the first couple days of camp. We’ve also been coming up with different games, songs, and activities that we want to do at camp…just a lot of running around and meetings!

                But I can’t end on that more boring note so here are a few random facts:

·         The power here goes out at least every few nights. Sometimes it flickers and other times it goes off for maybe an hour.  

·         20 Lempiras is $1 and things here are pretty cheap. You can get a Honduran meal for anywhere around 40 Lemp.s unless you go to a more touristy restaurant and then a meal is more Americanized and costs about $5.

·         It is the beginning of rainy season so it is pretty hot and humid. You can’t go anywhere without sweating, or at least I can’t J the good thing is its more cloudy than sunny and when it does rain it’s in the evenings and it cools the air down a lot!

·         Oh and I held a baby parrot!!

 

Bienvenido y Copan Ruinas

Week 1:

                I arrived at the airport at 11a.m. along with about half the interns. There are 10 of us from around the world. It’s very interesting to think that people who are so different (we have different homes, lifestyles, hobbies, ect.) were brought together to minister to children in Honduras because we have two things in common our faith in God and our interest in Latin America. While we waited at the airport we ate our first authentic meal, Baleadas. Baleadas are similar to quesadillas. They are tortillas folded in half with frijoles y queso in them, but the cheese here is a little different than back home. It is salty and sweet and looks like sour cream when it’s melted but has a little bit of a grainy texture….it’s hard to explain!! Some of the interns aren’t very fond of it, but I don’t think it’s too bad!

                Once all the interns arrived we drove to Copan Ruinas which was about three hours away. Copan Ruinas is a touristy town because it is right by some Mayan Ruins. Because of the tourism the economic level is very diverse. There are wealthy hotel owners and bankers and there are poor street venders. The population is about 7,000 so it is a small town and everything is within walking distance. We definitely get a workout every day!! J There’s a central park in the middle of town and from there everything is within about two blocks in all four directions. We’ve learned if you need to go north you go uphill and South is downhill…it’s pretty easy to remember!

This first week had been orientation, a lot of team building and preparing for camp to start next week. It has been a nice transition instead of jumping right in and not knowing what to do they have given us a lot of time to get to know each other, the staff, and the youth.

There are two camps, Camp Joy and Camp Peace, which are generally the exact same except for their locations. Camp Peace is in Santa Rita which is about a ten minute drive away. At each camp there are four different classes Bible, cooking, art, and discovery/science. I was assigned to Camp Peace and am the cooking teacher along with my Lider Joven who is Rita. Rita is fifteen years old and from Santa Rita. A Lider Joven (Youth Leader) is basically an interns partner. They help prepare and teach the class. One Goal of UPH is to help children grow up with hope and experiences that will help shape them into leaders to change their families’ future. A lot of the Linder Jovenes were campers at one point and now they are leaders at camp and hopefully someday they will be the interns and directors.

Blair, one of the founders of UPH gave a devo and talked about the importance of interactions with children. Some statistics he said are there are over 7 million people in the world and 2 million of those are kids (don’t quote me on that, I didn’t write it down when he said it so it may not be true…but something like that). And before the age of 13 a child can be impacted enough to change their path or direction and have hope for their future. After the age of 13 though it is more difficult because he/she has become, I guess more engrained into their minds of who they are and what they can be good or bad. One quote Blair used was “Every encounter with a child is a divine appointment”. Its our job at camp and everyone’s job really in their daily lives to always be positive, encouraging, and smart about what they do and say when a child is around because children are so moldable. Blair also referenced Exodus 2 when Moses was saved by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses could’ve been eaten alive by crocodiles, drowned, killed in anyway but she saved him and raised him as her own and because of that he was able to do amazing things and fulfill God’s plan for him because he had Faith. At UPH they strive for what Blair calls “moses moments” when you encounter a child and see the unfulfilled future they have ahead of them but with the love of God are able to change that childs future and give them hope!!

I could go on and on about so many more different things but this post is probably long enough. Please continue to keep us all in your prayers. Pray that we can be light to those children at camp next week and go out and experience your own “Moses Moments” 

Leaving the U.S.

Tomorrow I embark on a new journey! I am headed to Honduras with people around the world to be an Intern at Urban Promise Honduras. I don’t know what to expect but I trust that God has a plan for me there. I will try to blog when I can for those of you who want to follow and who knows…maybe I’ll post a few pictures on facebook if I get a chance!!

Thanks so much to those of you who have given me support and have already begun praying for our team. I really appreciate it and without you I wouldn’t be able to experience what God has in store for me these next six weeks.  Please continue to pray for those of us traveling there and the Hondurans we will be building relationships with. 

Kenya

Kenya is another beautiful country, also maybe the friendliest. To get to Eldoret we had to drive several hours from Kisumu. During the drive we past the equator line! Now that we are in the north it’s a lot cooler and cloudy! We spent our 1^st day at the market and then headed to the Marian school, which is a private school for all ages. It took us forever to get there because there were so many different dirt roads and we never knew where to turn. Since we got their late we didn’t have very much time there because we wanted to get out before the daily rain came otherwise there was no way we’d make it back to the paved roads let alone our hotel. Midafternoon we left and right we got on the bus it began to pour, our bus drivers still tried to get us out even though the roads were terrible. For some reason there was a white car on the wrong side of the road stopped so we tried to bypass it on the wrong side and ended up sliding into it. We didn’t really feel anything but since it was a wreck they drivers had to get out and negotiate. Well not just the drivers but 7 Kenyans pilled out but the motto is you can always fit one more in Africa. By the time they came to an agreement they couldn’t get the car to move so the guys got out and pushed the car out of the way, then the bus was stuck in the mud. So everyone got out to push but it wouldn’t budge. To summarize what happened 3 hours later, 3 tractors later, and tons of Kenyan observers later, we got out. It was about seven so it was cold and dark, but at least we didn’t have to sleep on the buses in the middle of the road. One of the tractors followed us to the paved road in case we got stuck again but we didn’t!

The next day we went to a church to hang out with teenagers. First we all ate madazie (donuts) and drank chi tea. They took us on a tour around the church, they have a big garden, and some bee hives, they also have built a well! A few of us girls went into the “kitchen” and learned how to make chipotty, which is similar to tortillas. Then we ate lunch and after they had us try murseek which is a drink that they have every day. It was the grossest drink ever, they said it was like chibwantu in Zambia but that I could at least finish, this drink had the thickness of a milkshake but tasted like sour milk with little chunks in it. There was no way I could drink it all! After we played volleyball with them, and the Kenyan guys were amazing! Not only can Kenyans run they can also play volleyball!

On Sunday we tried to drive on the muddy roads again, I don’t know why but I guess they thought we could make it but we didn’t. Luckily we were able to push the bus out of the mud and then we turned around and drove back to before the roads got bad in case it started to rain while we were at church. So we had to walk through the mud but that’s why God gave us feet, it was so much safer! Right when we got there everyone welcomed us; the women even gave everyone a hug. This is what I mean by being the friendliest people. They were all smiles and I loved it! After church they fed us the best village meal we’ve had by far!! They gave us rice, mashed potatoes, beef, soup, chipotty, and chi tea! When it was time for us to go everyone kept telling us we were welcome back anytime and said they would love to come to America to visit us one day.

Today we are driving to Uganda. We will be there for 2 days and then we start our journey home!

Tanzania

For the past week we were in Tanzania. It was so pretty! For the first
few days we were in Mwanza getting to know a missionary team there and
learning more about mission work.
 The first day was really laid back. We went to Lake Victoria and
played with the missionary kids and had orientation. Then we split off
and the nursing students went on a tour through a hospital while
everyone else split into smaller groups and ate dinner with the
different families. 5 of us went to the Guile’s home. It was really
cool to see how a family works as a missionary. They have four of the
cutest kids, 3 of them are old enough to go to the British
international school there while the mom stays home with their
youngest and the father along with the other male missionaries go out
and meet with different church leaders and work with the churches
they’ve planted.
 The second day we went to a museum where we learned about the Sakuma
tribes. We walked through models of their homes and got to see
different tools they used. One thing that really stood out to me were
these branches placed to look like a mini teepee (It’s really hard to
explain). They are about 3 feet tall and they are placed in the yards
of witchdoctors because they use them during traditional rituals to
call back ancestral spirits. At the end of the tour they performed a
traditional ceremony for us. It started out with just the women
dancing and then both men and women were along with others playing the
drums. It looked like a dance team because they were all in rows and
moved together. At the end of the performance one man opened up a box
that they were around and pulled out 3 pythons for them to dance
around. Then to end the show he picked one up and bit the pythons
head! That night we went downtown and ate at an Indian restaurant on
the lake.
 Sunday we all split off with different missionaries and saw different
church plants. The one I went to was a small church about 2 and ½
hours away. When we got there (at about 11) the preacher was finishing
up the lesson and then they had us all introduce ourselves. During the
service the wind came up and it got really cold since the windows and
door are just holes, so randomly as I’m sitting there it gets darker
and I look back and two men just carried up a tin door from nowhere
and leaned it against the doorway. Then it started raining and ½ the
church had a leaky roof so we all squished up to one side. At about 2
the service ended but then they went into a discussion that lasted
about an hour. Everything was in a different language so I have no
idea really when was going on. The missionary got up every now and
then and put his input in but afterwards he told us their goal in
Mwanza is to bring the Bible to people and then let them interpret
what they read into their own culture with what’s available and
accessible to them. He said they don’t give them answers right away
because they want them to solve their own problems and go through the
mind process, at times they will give them advice but he said they try
really hard not for force what a western church looks like on them. At
3 we ate lunch there which was bugala (their name for nsime), rice,
chicken and chicken awfuls (intestines). After church we thanked
everyone and headed back into town for dinner.
Monday we left our hotel on safari jeeps for the Serengeti!! Whatever
car you picked was your car/guide for the next 3 days. We drove around
looking at animals until 6 the first night and then went out the
second day from 6:30am until 7:30 pm. During those days we saw so many
different animals, some I don’t even know the name of but here’s a
list of what I remember: zebras, giraffes, baboons, warthogs, water
buffalo, wildebeest, impalas, topes, hippos, ostriches, lions, hyenas,
cheetahs, a leopard, and tons of colorful birds. My favorite moments
were when we saw the babies, I feel like we saw babies of almost every
animal!! I also loved the lions. We drove up to about 8 female lions
laying under a tree along with 2 adolescent male lions, they had a
little scruff going on around their heads but not a full mane yet.
Then the leopard was in a tree so all you could see was a spotted
trunk when you looked through binoculars but I also saw him move his
back paw that was hanging down back up. We also got to see the
wildebeest migration, we had to stop once to let about 100 cross the
road it reminded me of the lion king when simba’s father dies during
the wildebeest stampede.
The 3rd day  we packed up and left our lodge at 730 so we
could do a little driving around before we had to be out of the park
at noon. During that drive we saved the BEST for last!!! There was a
male lion with a full mane lying next to a female lion about 2 yards
from the road we drove past!! They didn’t seem to mind at all that we
were right by them, she was sleeping and he just stared at us.
After we left the park we drove to the smallest airport you’ve ever
seen, they are so small that 1st they forgot about our flight to
Kenya, second they let us take liquids through security (all they said
was “take a sip”, I guess if you take a drink and it doesn’t kill you
then its safe), then our tickets where hand written. But after all
that we made it to Kenya where we are now!

Last Few Days in Namwianga

Well I have officially finished my finals and I only have two crazy days left here in Namwianga. It is definitely bitter sweet! I’ve learned so much and will miss all the people here!! For the next two weeks we will be traveling in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda…and then home.

I know it has been forever since I’ve updated ya’ll on what we’ve been up to so here are some things that stick out for me!

1.       It started raining, not hard like it usually does here, but you can tell the rainy season it coming!

2.       I saw a baby black snake one night!

3.       During a crazy wind, lightning, and sprinkle storm our electricity went out and was out for about 19hrs! We thought we were going to die…i guess that shows how dependent we are on electricity when it comes to living. We had to bucket flush our toilets, use a gas stove, and use as little water from the pump as possible because it was low and we didn’t want to run out! It was definitely something we NEEDED to experience because now that I look back on it was fun!

4.       Then the power came on for like 3 hours and went back out for 3 more. During that the girls’ dorms were playing drums and having a girls’ dance party in the dark so about 6 of us girls joined!! It was a blast!

5.       I was holding Maya one Wed. when her dad came in again and THIS TIME HE HELD HER!!! It was so cute!! He came up to me and I asked if he wanted to hold her and he did along with feeding her, even though you could tell he probably has never fed a baby before, but it was adorable!

6.       Victoria can now stand with help. She has to hang on to one of my hands and is still wobbly but its progress…she even takes some steps if you hold both hands!!

7.       Last year the HIZ group went to Ba Monga’s wife’s funeral, and they had a 1 year memorial for her so we went to that. It was similar to an American funeral with the family sitting in the front left and a preacher talking, the only difference was they had a time when anyone could get up and say a few words. It was really sweet to hear the nice things and memories they had of Mrs. Monga. I really liked how that made the experience more personal for everyone!

8.       I found out my Tonga tutor is engaged to a guy named Oscar. He is a doctor in Lusaka!

9.       Monday Oct. 24^th was Zambian Independence day. The basic school had each grade put something together for a program so we went over there. It was WAY different than I expected. They had a girl’s fashion show, some boys rapped, then a group did a skit, another did a poem about Zambia, a group of girls sang a song about AIDS, and then they had the 6^th grade class do a traditional dance while they sang. It lasted a couple of hours and then all the kids were free to go home!

10.   One day I went over to the village by the clinic to play with the kids. When I first got there I just walked around with them to gather up more kids and a few of them showed me the houses they lived in. I didn’t get to see inside but it was interesting to see who lived where. It explained a lot to me about why they were the way they were. For example one girl who knows the best English lived in a mud brick house that had a cute little garden in front and a satellite dish. Another girl who knows little English lives with a very extended family in a smaller mud brick house and I didn’t notice a satellite dish. After we got more kids we went and played futbol  it was about 10 boys against 5 girls and one makuwa (me)…the girls definitely lost, but we did get two goals!!

All of the girls with their friends

Girls Devo with our Tonga Tutors

Holding Our Babies African Style with a Chitenge!

Independence Day

Mrs. Monga's Memorial

My House with their Babies

Rosa's House

Spiders all over our House

Studying for Finals

Tribal Dance at the Basic School

Victoria