Transition

The pastor from Blackhawk Church gave a sermon in Honduras about transition. He said that transition is never easy, but it is a part of life. He used a plant in Honduras as an example. The plant is planted, but then cut smaller, because the smaller it is the deeper the roots grow. So it keeps being cut so that the roots grow deeper. It is at our lowest that we do the most growing. What a cool visual for life!

I spent two weeks in Honduras and built some great relationships. I will most likely never talk to the kids that I became so attached to in Orica ever again. I struggle with this idea of leaving or ending relationships, but I am slowly learning to embrace it. Life is a series of encounters with new and different people that can last a day or years, but each has the ability to affect us and shape us.

God.

I knew that people believed in God in other parts of the world, but I had never seen it firsthand until these past weeks. We speak different languages, but we're all talking about God. Pastor andres gave a sermon in Spanish obviously, but was talking about the same struggles that I deal with and the goodness of God. His life is drastically different than my own, but we share a similar faith. His generosity was beyond my comprehension. He and his wife allowed 25 "gringos" to stay in their home for a whole week. I doubt if I would do the same. The people of Orica truly live out God's message to give generously.

Family photos.

Saturday started with a clothes sale for the members of the church alpha and omega in the town of Orica. Everyone from Wisconsin brought clothes to donate and then they were sold. A bag full of clothes could be bought for about $5.

For the rest of the morning families had the opportunity to have pictures taken. There is no store in Orica that does photography, so a lot of families may have never had a family photo taken. What a great keepsake for them to have!

Gringos.

Gringos is a term that is used to refer to foreigners (mostly Americans) abroad. Everywhere we went we were referred to gringos. Towards the end we even referred to ourselves as gringos, especially when we were being carted around in the back of pickup trucks.
When I asked the kids what it meant to be a gringo they said that you had to be American, wear sunglasses, and have a camera. The people their loved our digital cameras and the kids always wanted to wear our sunglasses.

I think this term really makes a statement about belonging though. It was hard for me to feel like such an outsider. I obviously don't look Honduran and the second I begin speaking spanish it is obvious I am not a native. I know God made people different and places different and that is a beautiful thing. But it is difficult knowing that there are places in the world where i will never fit in.

Los ninos.

The kids. How can I even begin to describe the amazing children in this community?
They each have their own story and their own personality which I was able to see in only a week spent with them. I feel extremely blessed to be able to know spanish because I was able to truly connect with them.
Their work ethic is unlike anything I have ever seen. Boys anywhere from 4-13 would be shoveling, manuevering wheel barrls and carrying rocks for hours a day. Most of them probably did more work than I did! Many of them play critical roles at home in helping their parents with daily tasks.
The love that they display for their families is unreal. It seems like almost everyone in that town is someone's cousin and many of the young girls are caring for their younger siblings daily.

It is refreshing to see that kids are kids no matter where they are. We played pato, pato, gonso (duck, duck, goose) and they asked to be pushed on the swing.

One afternoon we colored for 3 hours. In my experiences coloring with children here in the US a coloring activity usually doesn't last for more than 10 minutes. I asked one of the girls if she had any books at her house and she said no. Resources are limited here and in abundance where we live. It makes me think a lot about opportunity that children have in other parts of the world.

Playground.

The main "work" to do in Orica was to continue working on a playground/park that was being built. It was an amazing process to be a part of. About half of our group had a lot of knowledge about landscape architecture and did a great job designing and directing. Hours were spent sifting sand and moving large rocks by hand.
One of my favorite moments would be each morning as we were walking to the part and being greeted by kids the moment we got there. The kids were on their vacation and about 20-30 would be at the park each day. By the end of the week we had a total of 6 swings, a tire swing, and some other small equipment to play on. When the tire swing was put in , the kids went crazy for it!

First impressions.

Even though I've been out of the country before, this was my first experience in what could be termed a developing country. A couple of the things I had to adjust too...
1. Water cannot be used out of the tap. Instead water has to be purified. Using the tap water to brush your teeth would result in sickness.
2. Toilet paper is thrown in the trash can rather than directly in the toilet.
3. Stray dogs are everywhere and are not liked by people.
4. It is EXTREMELY important to know where the food you are eating came from.
5. Seatbelts aren't usually worn and riding around in the back of pickup trucks while driving at high speeds is normal!