Ana

One of the many stories yet to come from my trip to Honduras is about Ana. This story sits close to my heart.

Ana is a quiet, smart, beautiful young lady. She has been at the Hogar for about a year. Her story is one that brought tears to my eyes when I heard it, and they rise again each time I share her amazing words.

Ana was abandoned by her parents near the El Salvador border more than 3 years ago. Her five older brothers and sisters (some half brothers and sisters) went to live with their grandparents. When I asked her why she didn't stay there she said "they treated me badly, they were mean to me... so I left". Ana lived on the streets until the government found her and placed her in an orphanage in Tegucigalpa, Honduras (the capital). She lived there for two years before she ended up at the Hogar.

I asked her if she liked the Hogar and how long she planned to stay? She told me (through Sarah who was interpreting) that she was happy and she wanted to stay until she was 26. I asked her what she wanted to then? She told us that she wanted to move to Miami, FL and go to college to be a social worker. When she is done with college she wants to go to Africa and help people less fortunate than her. :) This moment was one that I will never forget. It was at this point in the trip that I was able to put words to the emotions and thoughts that had been running wild all week.

Life is all about perspective.

We see things through our priviliged American eyes. Ana sees life through her Honduran eyes. Neither is wrong, they are just different. To us, Ana is a girl who needs help, someone we would say has nothing. But in her eyes she has plenty, so much that she wants to give to those that have less than her.

After we had shared bits and pieces of our lives with each other, I asked Sarah to see if she wanted me to be her "Madrina"? (Madrina means Godmother.) She told Sarah "I do not want a "Madrina", I want a Mother." I have never felt the love of a Mother, so when I write to her (meaning me, Miss Beeman) I will write to my Mama. I had tears in my eyes.

I know from here on Ana will be a special person in my life, I hope that I can provide her with the love and support that she so earnestly wants.

~Miss Beeman~

Friday

I am sorry I did not write more over the weekend, it was a whirlwind tour (we were very busy)! We left Comayagua at 6am Friday morning and rode on a bus for what seemed like the entire day! We stopped along the way to see many neat things, one of which was a coffee plant, and were able to see how they make coffee.

After that we arrived in Copan just before dinner. Compared to Comayagya, Copan is a much more touristy city and there is more money in the city. It was a beautiful place.

On Saturday we went to the Mayan Ruins site and spent the morning learning about the history of Copan and Honduras. It was fascinating!

Both Friday and Saturday nights we ate at local place with delicious food and great entertainment!

Saturday afternoon we were able to go horseback riding into the mountains and see the city of Copan from up high. I felt bad as many of our horses had ribs and hips poking out, they sure could have used some more food! The best part of the ride was that 4 of the 8 children we brought with us chose to horseback ride, so we were able to share this experience with them!

By Sunday we were winding down and starting to focus on coming home. We had another 4 hour bus ride to San Pedro Sula to get to the airport. This took up our day Sunday. When we arrived at the air port we found out that our flight was delayed an hour and we would not make it to our connection in Miami :( So, here we are Shelly, Nick, Karla and I sitting by a pool in Miami hoping we will get a seat on the flight tonight at 8pm.

While we all wish we were home and able to get organized and share our amazing trip with everyone, we are enjoying some sun and glad to be in Miami instead of some city where we'd have nothing to do (without a car).

I plan on posting some more this week to share some of the more emotional and special moments of this trip, so check back again!

-Miss Beeman

Last day at the Hogar

WOW. It was nearly impossible to leave today! After six short days these children have become as important as the children we all teach and work with at school. They just like the kids at Aquila love to do art, play soccer, dance, listen to music, and read books. Like the children of the US the Hondurans like candy, BINGO, and a hug. Unfortunately they do not have a lot of these things at the Hogar, there just isn't enough money.
Imagine not having dessert (hardly ever), no video games, ho hockey, no brand new clothes when your jeans got "old". Worst of all, imagine not having a Mom or Dad to hug you good night or say good morning. Imagine not having a Grandma or Grandpa that you've never met, nor will you probably ever. Our hearts break when we see this. We are so glad we were able to come and play with these wonderful children. We were so glad to hug them as many times as they needed and let them know they are smart and beautiful and they do have people who think of them often and care about them in addition to their Hogar family!

More soon :)
-Miss Beeman

Wednesday in La Villa

On Wednesday there was a whole bunch of different things going on at the Hogar! I personally worked on washing out the shirts the kids had tie-dyed the day before, working on the brick wall, helping the 2-5 year olds tie-dye their shirts, and then baking with a group of 7 girls. We made over 150 oatmeal raisin cookies and a huge pan of rice krispie bars. They LOVED it. I am not sure if the kids were more excited to eat the treats or if the house Moms were more excited to receive hand held electric mixers, measuring cups, spoons, etc.

Today is going to be very sad. We will be leaving for our tourist portion of the trip so today is our last day at the Hogar. We will have to say good-bye to these 150+ new friends we've made this last week!

Work on Monday

I know this is a little out of order, but here is some video of our work we started on Monday. Chris Kreie took the footage. Our group has done SO MANY things it's unbelievable!
* Tore down 3/4 of a 5 foot wall
* Loaded all the wall into the truck and dumped it at the "farm"
* Removed 3 trees
* Painted 3 rooms (that each sleep 10-14 girls)
* Leveled the beds
* Fixed the electrical in the kitchen
* Repaired the stoves
* Painted a 10 foot wall
* Fixed the basketball hoop

AND MUCH, MUCH more! :)

Here are a few video clips to see us at work.





~Miss Beeman~

Hello SLP friends!!
Today we spent our morning loading up bricks from the wall into the truck and then dumping them out on the farm in the big hole. It was hard (and very dirty) work but with a lot of team work we made huge progress!! :)

At 10 am, the kids invited us to their school for an amazing program. They sang their national song, danced, and took us into their classrooms. What an experience. Hopefully, Miss Beeman will post some pictures of the school.

This afternoon we are planning to bake with the kids, play bingo, and tie dye. I am anxious to see how the baking goes---the kitchen here is VERY different from ours at home.

Thats it for now.

Peace,
Shelly

Omar y Elisa

The wedding last night was very different than a wedding in the U.S. It lasted over 2 hours and they have a civil and religious ceremony. The first is the religious, the second was a Bahi ceremony, which is a religion here in Honduras.

Afterwards we had quite the experience with our meal. It was dark by dinner, so we were hardly able to see what we were being served! When we got to our table we couldn't see a thing, so we were blindly eating food! Good thing we knew what the tamales were! They were muy delicoso!

The bride and groom were lovely, and had many friends and family there to support them. Omar the groom has been a resident at the Hogar since he was 2 years old and lived here until yesterday when he got married! Elisa is the sister of one of the house Moms for the boys. Omar and Elisa have known each other since they were little.

It was truly an honor to share in their special day!