Roatan

Thanks for your prayers.....we have arrived safely on Roatan. We woke up at 430am and headed to the bus station for a 6pm bus from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba. Very nice bus ride. Once in La C eiba we quickly found a taxi and sped to the ferry terminal and wer able to catch the boat to Roatan. The boat ride took over an hour and most of us had upset stomachs from the choppy sea. But we are now here and are very pleased with how beautiful everything is. We have not gotten into our room yet but the place is just across the street from a nice little beach. There is a little grocery store nearby so we can buy some food. The water is pretty and we are looking forward to a few days where we can "decompress" and talk about our experiences over the past 6 weks. It sems strange to go from the streets of Teguc with kids living in the streets to the beauty of Roatan. This is exactly why we wanted a few days "off" before returning to Greenwood. We feel truly blessed by our experinces and we want to talk about all of them as a family before we return to the hectic pace of real life at home. Perhaps we can reevaluate our lives at home and get our priorities in order and not be so hectic.....we'll see.

More later hopefully. Thanks again for your prayers....we have ben blessed with safety and health!!

Copan Ruins

We arrived safely in San Pedro Sula last evening and Kent picked us up at the bus station. Had a great dinner at a nice Honduran restaurant and then drove around San Pedro Sula a bit to look around. It has a very different feel than Tegucigalpa--more orderly and more spacious streets for sure! Today we took a day trip (thanks to Kent) to the Copan Ruins--Mayan ruins about a 3 hour drive from San Pedro Sula. We got a guide and spent about 2 hours touring the ruins. Very interesting, especially for Nate and Chase who had never seen anything like that before. They were especially fascinated by the field where an annual game was played--and the captain of the winning team was then taken to a special rock and beheaded as a sacrifice.

We had a late lunch in the town of Copan--a very cute, very touristy little village, with a similar feel to Valley of the Angels for those of you who have been there. Returned to Kent and Judy's and are right now reorganizing (once again) to get ready to leave for the bus at 5:30 tomorrow morning! Our bus leaves at 6 and is scheduled to arrive in La Ceiba by 9.....we will try to grab the 9:30 ferry over to Roatan so we can relax on the beach ASAP!!!
We feel kind of caught between 2 worlds---the one we have left, and the one we will be returning to, spending time thinking about each. Have been singing lots of the songs that we learned all the words to in Talanga with the kids, and bought a couple of CDs so we can listen to some of the "new" artists (new to us but not to the people here) often when we get home.

Looking forward to sleeping late and relaxing on Roatan. Will try to update at least once more before we head for Indy in less than a week! Wow. Continued thanks for your notes and prayers. Will be in touch. EWM

New adventures

Good morning! A quick note before we head to the bus station. Alex and I just sat at the breakfast table here at the Guest House wondering how the morning went at Manuelito....whether anyone had a fit about getting dressed, whether everyone remembered to pray before they ate breakfast, who walked the kids to school....we know that they got along well before we arrived, and they will all be fine now that we are gone, but it feels funny not being there with all of our friends and kids. We are emotionally pooped out right now. More difficult good byes (difficult for us, not for Jeremy!!) today as we leave Teguc, but fun hellos as we join our friends Kent and Judy in San Pedro Sula for a couple of days, and then to Roatan to decompress, relax and visit with my sister Barb who will be vacationing there for the week as well.
We are thinking about all of our Center Grove pals as you all head into Spring Break--safe travels for everyone, and a wonderful, relaxing, rejuvenating time, we hope. A week from today we will be back in Greenwood. Nate is talking about the things he will eat when he gets home, Chase is anxious to take the new class mascot that he bought to school, Charles is thinking about what the stock market might have done while we have been gone.......Alex and I are thinking about when we can get back to Manuelito. The boys have had a wonderful experience as well, but Alex and I are not thinking ahead right now---we are pretty blue and still spending our day dreams in Talanga. One thing is for sure--we have been changed as individuals and as a family by this time together. God works in strange and wonderful ways sometimes!!
Thank you for your prayers for all of us. During our last week please pray for our safety and that we have a smooth readjustment to life, work and school back in suburbia. See you soon!! EWM

Back in Teguc

Charles here ----- We don't have a lot of time to update right now...but today we left Proyecto Manuelito in Talanga. As I mentioned before, this was a bittersweet experience. Last night the kids and staff put on a special show and had a special dinner for our last night. It was very fun and emotional. We have had a great 6 weeks and we were sad to leave. Here is a photo from last night....we made our own silk screen shirts while at the project and each kid had their t-shirt on!



Today on the way to Teguc we stopped in Valle de Angeles to do a little shopping. Tonight we went out for a nice dinner and then went into the streets to see where the street kids hang out, sniff glue, etc. As always....very interesting. I think our kids had a real eye-opening experience. We took food and drinks along to give to the street kids. they were all sniffing glue from bottles, bags, and baby food jars. The smell of glue was VERY strong. Sniffing glue takes away the hunger pains for the kids. We were in a very rough part of this very dangerous city so we had 3 heavily armed police with us...they carry shotguns and we felt very safe. We shook hands with the kids, gave hugs, and talked with 15 of them (or so) for about 20-30 minutes. They were all very "out of it." We definitely had faith while we wree in the streets.....faith that God would protect us, faith that these kids could be saved, faith that God is always present everywhere. Just think....we only saw a fraction of the kids living in the streets in the entire world! Will try to upload some more pictures soon!

Tomorrow (Thursday) we take a 4 hour bus ride to San Pedro Sula. Friday we drive to Copan Ruinas to see the Mayan ruins. Saturday we take a 3 hr bus ride to La Ceiba and then a 1+ hr ferry ride to Roatan where we will stay for 4 nights. Then back to San Pedro Sula by ferry and bus again.

Thank you for your continued prayers for safety. We definitely need them over the next few days as we travel by bus, car, and boat on some dangerous roads and areas of Honduras. Please keep us in your daily prayers.

3 days left in Talanga

Hello everyone. It has been awhile since we have written because we have been so busy having fun!

The week of vacation with the kids turned out to be a blast. About 7 of the kids were gone so the ratio of adults to children was much more reasonable and we got to relax and do a vareity of fun activities. One day we went to a very nice ¨state park¨ and had a picnic. There were about 35 of us and it was a beautiful day, and we all got to go swimming. It was a very nice pool area--clean and guarded by several guys with machine guns!! It is the first time we have been searched before going into a pool. Also no real rules at the pool so our time was spent picking each other up and throwing everyone into the pool. Actually, a very fun time for all. There was a baby pool too so all the little ones got to swim as well. On another day, we hiked up a nearby mountain, again with a picnic lunch. It was quite a long walk, but the views were spectacular. When you take time to step back and look at the surroundings here, it is really beautiful. On the way down the mountain, Charles and Nate took one route to get some pictures and the rest of us took a different, supposedly easier route. Ha!! Alex and I only each slid on our behinds only 2 or 3 times. We were filthy, tired--but it was quite a fun adventure. By the time we got back, Charles and Nate were showered and well rested! Another day we got to use the Project´s van and go to a nearby town to look around and explore a bit. We took 3 of the kids at the Project with us and it was a fun adventure.

Alex had a very fun Semana Santa too--but I will let her tell you those details.....

I forgot to tell that on the way home from the State Park, the accelerator on the bus was acting up. Turned out that the cables were fine, but the foot pedal was disconnected. So here we are in the mountains, attaching a rope to the accelerator cable. Jeremy then steered and did the brakes, and Charles sat on the floor next to him, pulling on the rope whenever we needed to accelerate!! The rest of us in the bus just prayed that we would get home safely--which we did.

One more event during the week that was really fun was Nate´s birthday party. The Youth Group from the church decided to have a surprise party for Nate on Saturday night. During the day they came out to the new dining hall at the project to clean and decorate. I made food and we got snacks in town. By about suppertime, Nate knew that something was up. We walked out there and there were about 40 kids from the Project and Youth Group (most of whom we had gotten to know pretty well) ready to play games and whck at the pinata. It was very fun. Especially when Nate was the first one to be blindfolded for the pinata. About 10 of us were ready with eggs and flour, and as soon as he couldn´t see, we began the Honduran custom of smashing eggs and throming flour on him. A few of the boys had prepared a big basket of water balloons as well so those got added to the mess as well. Nate was a good sport and we all had a wonderful time. Lots of good photos to share.

Now we are thinking about what we need to do before we leave. Alex and I have each already had a good cry about leaving. It will be very difficult to say goodbye--especially becauase we are uncertain when we will be able to come back. It is very difficult for Honduran people to get passports and visas to visit the US, so visits to our friends will most likely be from us visiting them. It has been 6 weeks of 24-7 time together and we have gotten to feel very at home here. Very close friends and very wonderful times together. It will be hard to wave goodbye on Wednesday morning. The five of us have each been changed in a very positive way by this experience--God works in wonderful ways.

By Wednesday night we will be back at the Guest House in Tegucigalpa and we will have the opportunity to update again with pictures. Then off to San Pedro Sula, Copan and Roatan for our Spring Break and a chance to adjust before coming back to suburbia.

Hope everyone in Greenwood has a great Spring Break. And also hope that all of you had a blessed Easter. Miss you. EWM

Semana Santa

Hi everybody. We are in town for the second time today--so I decided to sto by and do a quick update myself. In Honduras, during Holy Week there is no school and by Wednesday, pretty much everything has closed down and they say things get pretty quiet in the city becuase alot of people head off for visits to family or to the beach. Unfortunately, although it is Holy Week, it is a big deal here because of lots of wild partying, not necessarily for a celebration of the resurrection. There are some Easter customs here that we will be learning about this week. They thought we were weird when we tried to explain about dyeing eggs different colors and hiding them around the house!! They also don´t use the term Easter--calling it Resurrection Sunday instead. No special service for Palm Sunday either. Instead, we had a big celebration at church for Dia del Padres (Father´s Day) which is March 19th here. Dances, skits, food etc. The kids and I were in skits with the other women and kids from church. It was very fun, and as you might imagine, the gringos stood out quite a bit in the dramas! The pics will be pretty funny. I wore a mop on my head for a wig because I was Sarah (of Abraham and Sarah).
Anyway. Things are different this week because of no school. Also, 7 of the kids are away with family members visiting so we are down to 11--but we also added 3 of the ¨big boys¨Alexander, Juan and David who are ¨home¨from school at El Sembrador. So we are a happy group of 14. Plus la familia (that is us). We will be doing some fun things including taking everyone into Teguc in the bus on Wednesday. Charlie says I have to go so will try to be on again soon. The power has been off the last couple times we have tried to get on!! Thanks for your notes and prayers. We are all well and happy here. Love, EWM

Forrest Gump/Nate/Poop/Lice/and MORE!!

Remember in the movie FORREST GUMP where Forrest and his friend Bubba open the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company? Bubba keeps talking abput all the various ways you can cook/serve Shrinp??? Well...that´s the way we feel about corn tortillas and beans!!

Nate didn´t really fall off that wall into the4 raging waterfall/river. He is fine and didnt get injured!

Alex has officially entered her quest for Honduran status by getting ..... Head Lice! It is all gone now thanks to that special shampoo and an electronic lice comb. She was pretty grossed out...but it is not unusual since almost all the girls at the project have it.

A work team from the US was here for a couple weeks building a brand new septic system. This was a HUGE undertaking with majoe earthmoving equipment, etc....since some of the trenches needed to be more than 12 feet deep leading to the eventual leach (?) field. Anyway...I was "helping" out by digging a trench with a pickaxe and accidentally smashed into the 4" PVC which was the active septic line for the old system. Immediately, poop and urine started flowing into the trench...lots of it! Of course I had to hurry and resolve the problem...which entailed standing and working in poop=mud for several hours. THAT was fun!! That same afternoon, some of the project kids were messing around and...to make a long story short...Chase ended up being pushed into the trench that had filled up with poop water! Needless to say it was gross and we didn´t get any pictures. He immediately went to take a LONG warm shower. He seems no worse for wear!

Lots of work around the Project. The church put on a very special event last night for Father´s Day. Various skits and a special dinner where onyl the men ate!! special dances by the girls of Manuelito in special costumes. We visited the "farmers market" on Sat and had a blast. Very typical indoor/outdoor market like we have seen in other parts of Honduras. Like something out of a movie. We bought some veggies and had a nice salad after washing everything in clorox water. Our health has been "Ok"....definitely some stomach issues...but we are okay.

We will be leaving the project next wednesday....a little over a week from now. I am sure it will be bitter sweet.

We hope you are all well. We think God is using us here in a good way to show these kids what a family is all about. It certainly has its frustration ... living with 18 kids who come from troubled pasts and have behavioral issues, etc. But in general it is still good. We are looking forward to a few days of relaxation before we reenter the US.

Thanks for your prayers. Will update again as soon as possible!

CEANC

Pictures - back in Teguc for the night

We had a very nice time at Lago Yajoa with Kent and Judy. We visited the old Mercies Unlimited site where a new mission organization is renovating the hospital and it seems like they are really going to make it work! We saw don Sheppe and Amalia too. We also went to the Pulhapanzak Falls which was fun (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Woh9NjygVf8&NR=1). It turned very cold and rainy but we still had fun. That part of the country is famous for fish and we had some fresh (and I mean fresh!!) talapia for dinner. Here, you pick the fish you want from the cooler and then it appears again, head, eyeballs, fins and all on your plate. The only one that it really grossed out was Alex--especially when Nate picked up his fish and made it talk.

We are now back in Teguc after another bus ride on VERY winding roads. We will spend the night at the guest house and head back to Talanga tomorrow morning. Departure time will be before 7am. It will be good to get back to the kids and get into our routine again. We have another 3 weeks there, one of which is Semana Santa (Holy Week) when the kids do not have any school. We are trying to plan things to do each day during that week so there is some routine and the kids stay busy. One day we will bring everyone into Tegucigalpa to a park and another day we will take a walk up a mountain that is near the project. We brought along a couple of craft projects and some games that we will bring out that week as well.

Picture of us at the Waterfalls:





Ooops.....Nate fell off the edge into the waterfall. We were able to rescue him with a special life raft down river a little bit. He only had minor scrapes and bruises.




Widow Maker Shower head I mentioned earlier:





Nate and Charles fixing broken water pipes:




Chase doing one of his chores...cleaning out the Pila. This is a large concrete basin where the kids wash their clothes, etc. It also turns into the cows watering hole at times!






We are headed back to Talanga.....so will not have as much access to internet. Talk to you soon!! Keep praying for our safety and health. God is doing great things down here!

Love,

C,E,A,N,C

From Chase

Hey everyone how are you doing. i miss you all and sorry mrs. bower this keyboard is in spanish so i cant type right. i have not had to shovel to much cow poop only when it is in front of the kitchen. it dosen't sound to odd of mr. lake or my classmates with that chat thing on his website. i do not do that much english here haha stinkes for you guys. GO TO BOOK CART. ZACH HOOTMAN COUNT THE MONEY OR ELSE. hey got to go see you in about 30 days bye. the alphabet here has 28 letters the extras are ll, rr,and a special n.

Update from E

It has been awhile since I have had time on the computer. Charlie and I walked to town--it is a very hot day here and windy too. Becasue the streets are all dirt, it makes for a dirty walk! We have enjoyed mostly bery nice weather--it is the dry season here so things aren´t very green, but we would rather it be dry than muddy everywhere.
The time seems to be flying by--last night Alex said something about us being almost halfway through our time--wanting things to slow down so we could be here longer. The kids are all having fun. Last night our kids and the Project kids were killing themsleves laughing with ¨My Big Fat Greek Wedding¨style things---like Nate had them (adults included) saying Ï am a fruitcake¨, and then Alex and Nate and Chase would laugh themselves silly. The the kids from here would have Nate and Chase say something in Spanish, and laugh themselves silly. Alex catches pretty much all of the Spanish, so the game doesn´t work on her.
Tomorrow morning we will leave the Project for a few days to meet our friend Kent and his wife Judy up at Lake Yahoa (sp?). We will be taking buses from here to Tegucigalpa and then another bus to Lake Yahoa. Should be an adventure riding the Honduran bus lines! It will be nice to have a little getaway. On Sunday night we will return to the Project, and then will pretty much be here for three weeks straight until it is time to leave.
We know we have been here for awhile because for the last 2 nights in a row, Nate--our sleep walker and talker--has been speaking in Spanish in his sleep. Last night he said very loudly something about viejo and gordo which means old and fat. Not sure what he was dreaming about (hopefully not me!!)
We are outside all day long and so are getting pretty tan. We only still need to be careful of our noses getting burned--and of course Charlie´s bald spot. Otherwise, we are pretty well used to the sun. Charlie and Nate and Chase have been hleping a group put in new sewer lines at the Project for the last few days. It is hard, hot work, but it will be so great for the Project to be able to depend on an incredibly improved system. We have been without water for only 2 days when we have been here and only without electricity twice for a couple of hours. It can go out for days at a time apparetnly--so I guess we have been lucky.
We continue to write in our journals everyday, take lots of pictures, spend alot of time learning, laughing and working. We have a short chapel service each day--all in Spanish of course--so while they are praying their prayers (which can go on for a very long time), we all pray our own prayers. We pray that you are all well and that things are going well at home. We got the news yesterday that Brett Favre retired--and Charles just informed me that the Stock Market is taking a beating. It all seems very far away--and we feel very detached from all of it. But we love getting all the fun posts from you, and are always excited when we get a chnace to get on the net.
Need to head out now. Our Spanish teacher arrives at the Project at 2 and doesn´t like to be kept waiting. So--hasta pronto and Dios de Bendiga. Love, EWM

March 5 Update

Hello again from Talanga. This will be short again due to time constraints. Nate and I are in town a few minutes before we have to pick up the kids from school. We are all still relatively healthy although the BIG D has hit (and I don´t mean Dallas.....rather Montezuma´s revenge). But we are all back to normal for the most part. Ellen doesn´t necessarily like my posts...but here are some random thoughts...

# our days are very busy...still getting the boys of the Project up at 5am. Ellen is now in charge of making sure the morning schedule is met. she makes sure all kids are at the table for breakfast at 6:20. We are setting new expectations for manners around here!

# Ellen has been doing tons of laundry...just catching things up at the project. she also teaches our kids school from 7 to 9 and then teaches the project kids English at various times throughout the day. We also take our own >Spanish classes for an hour or more in the afternoon.

# Nate and I repaired several broken water lines yesterday...lots of digging and searching and repairing. We also tore out barbed wire and fence posts to make way for a new road being built on the perimeter of the project. A group from the States is here and they know how to build roads and have some big machinery from a local provider. They are also updating the entire septic system...a huge task.

# Chase is REALLY enjoying herding the cows at 5pm everyday back into the pen. the cows could be anywhere on the 30 acres and he goes and finds them....these are BIG cows too. We saw a calf born a few days ago...very exciting!! There is also a new baby pig.

Lots of stories to tell of course. More later as time permits. Please keep praying we need it. But we are all amazingly happy. Our living area is approx 9 feet by about 15 feet with an attached shower. I will try to upload a pic of our shower head....called a widow maker...very common in Honduras. There are no hot water heaters.....the shower head is actually hard wired into the electricity. then when the water passes thru the shower head it is heated. very interesting to shower with electricity just above your head.

Pray for safe travels for us tooo.....we leave Fri to take a bus to Tegucigalpa then another bus to Lake Yahoa to rendezvous with our friend Kent Burdine and his wife Judy. We will return to Teguc Sun and maybe back to Proyecto Manuelity Sun or Mon. Bus travel here is questionable so pray for safety please.

More later.....we miss you all and can´t wait to see you again. Until then, may God bless you as he is blessing us!!!

P.S. Very hot here !!!!