Jet Setting Breadners

2011-06-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

Dick with completed stove, (prototype #1)

We're back in Canada!
It was an interesting trip back. There was the 2 hour drive to Eldoret over very bad roads and a 1 hour flight to Nairobi. The fellow that was to pick us up at the airport was almost an hour late and the hotel he took us to, well, it had a double bed.
The next morning he was an hour and a half late picking us up to go to the airport. The flight wasn't until 8:10 so what's wrong with getting there at 7:30??? He had never flown. We got on board, but not with a lot to spare.
From Nairobi to Amsterdam was 8 hours, a good flight operated by Kenya Airways. In Amsterdam we had a 1 1/2 hour layover then another 8 hours to Toronto. Our daughter Cathy was there with grand daughter Deborah to pick us up and take us to her place where we spent the night before driving the 1 1/2 hours to Belleville.

We are now settled in and are planning to speak at 2 churches in June, "The Gathering" on 19 June and at Quinte Bible Chapel on June 26. One big job we are working on is selecting, naming and organizing the hundreds of photos and videos we took into a coherent story. We've heard from Bruce, the Australian who replaced us and he seems to be getting into things very well.

Shortly before we left we had lunch with Mary, one of the advisory committee members. While talking to her we learned she had been raised by a father who insisted she learn the old ways. Her children are grown and she thought Eva's idea for her to teach those old traditions to the children was a great idea. (In Kenyan culture the grandmother would usually do this but the children at Robin's Nest don't have a grandmother.) Mary agreed to take on the roll of grandmother and the next Saturday she spent 2 hours talking with and teaching the children.

Our thanks to all who were praying for us during the mission. I'm sure that contributed to our feeling of peace and security during the mission.
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2011-05-06T21:08:00.001-07:00

Fri., May 6
Just 4 more days until we leave here to return to Canada. It will be good to see the family again.

My main project this week has been building a demonstration stove that uses less fule, (I’m told), and will take the smoke out of the house through a chimney. Traditionally in Kenya they build a fire in the center of three stones that hold the pot above the fire. This is even done inside the homes making for a very unhealthy environment. I am using locally made bricks and mud as morter to hold them together. Experience in Hounduras has shown mud works better than cement based morter as it dosen’t crack. It’s also cheaper.

The base of the stove ready for the smoke chamber, cooking surface and chimney.

While we were away Jotham finished putting the corrigated metal on the shelter under which we are building the stove. This evening, a neighbour picked up the metal part of the stove that a welder in town made for me, so tomorrow morning I hope to finish it and will have to wait a couple of days for the mud to dry before we build a fire for to test it. Being a prototype, it has been somewhat more expensive than it will be normally.

2011-05-01T09:33:00.001-07:00

Fri., 28 Apr., 2011 We had planned on being back at Robin’s Nest Thurs. night, BUT!!! We were ready to leave, as agreed, at 8:30 Thurs. morning, but no van and the driver Henry wasn’t answering his cell phone. We waited, and waited, and began to get worried when he arrived at about 10:20 am. Someone had stolen the only unlocked wheel on the van and he had to find another one and a buyer for one of his 2 cell phones (the phone we had the number for) so he could pay for it.

We headed south toward Nairobi and instead of taking the road we thought we would, they carried on toward Nairobi saying they didn’t know what the road was like. (I think it was really to take John, the other driver home.) About 50 km from Nairobi, about noon, the fan assembly on the van came off and the fan was smashed. John went in search for a replacement and after a while we took a matasti, (small bus), to a service station about a km up the road to wait. About 6 pm we decided to return and find out what was happening. When we got there, no van. I then rec’d a call from Henry saying he was at the service station so we took a matasti back. (They overcharged the rich white people both times.) The van had been moved and after the difficulty getting a matasti the first time since they were all full, we walked. By this time it was dark and walking on the side of the road was scary, especially when an impatient driver decided to drive on the shoulder where we were.

The van was finally fixed about 9pm, (work lights were 2 or 3 flashlights), and we went to a nearby hotel for the night. This was especially interesting because the van broke down within 2 km of where the alternate driver John lived when attending university. That’s how they found someone to fix it, John knew him.

Friday morning it was decided to take a secondary road which bypassed Nairobi and saved about 100 km driving. It was an interesting drive and we saw some very large tea plantations but much of the road was ‘rustic’, (translate ‘full of potholes’).

Tea Plantations covered the hills along the secondary road.

We met the main highway home, A104, and stopped at Nakuru for lunch. About an hour later as we climbed out of the ‘Rift Valley’ the engine overheated. We pulled over and discovered this was a common problem at that point and some young men had a successful business of supplying water and cooling down the engines. There was a truck there at the same time, same problem.

Site of the Sachangwan Oil Tanker Tragedy and mass grave
Right where we stopped was a mass grave for some of the victims of the Sachangwan Oil Tanker Tragedy on 31 Jan., 2009. A tanker truck turned over and many nearby residents and others gathered to ‘salvage’ the fuel. One person was smoking and set the fuel in the whole area burning. There were 347 victims, 130 burned so badly they were unidentifiable. 69 more later died in hospital of their injuries. 78 of the victims were buried in the mass grave.

About 20 km later, the engine overheated again, this time right by a garage. After some work, and 750 shillings we carried on, only to have it happen again 25 km later. Henry suggested we take a matasti back to Bungoma. The one we caught only went to Eldoret and it was almost dark. We have decided to stay in Eldoret as we are concerned about arriving in Bungoma after dark and getting to Robin’s Nest.

So I’m sitting in our 1800 shilling, ($21.69)room on the 5th floor of the Asis Hotel in Eldoret writing this summary. (Last night it cost 2000 shillings.) It has been an interesting trip.

Sat. 30 May
We were up and out by 8 am wanting to catch a bus to Bungoma and get ‘home’. A taxi took us to the bus station(?), really a large lot filled with busses and people encouraging you to take THEIR bus. We got right on the bus and it pulled out shortly. The trip only took 1 ½ hours and we almost missed the point we had to get off. We quickly got a local bus that droped us off at the end of the road to Robin’s Nest.

We arrived back to find the propane tank for the stoves was empty so we called a taxi to go to town and refill it. We also had to go to the bank to get cash to pay the salaries for the 9 staff, (most things are paid in cash here. Jotham went with us so while he was filling the tank, Eva braved the end of the month crowds at the bank and I picked up a few groceries. Returning to RN, we took it fairly easy as we were both exhausted from the strain of the last few days.

Sun., 1 May
This morning we held our regular bible study for the older children in Robin’s Nest and 2 from the surrounding community. For lunch we went to the nearby home of one of the Advisory Committee members. It was a traditional meal of stewed chicken, cow pea leaves, ugali, (ground corn boiled into a paste), and chapati, (similar to a large tortilla but fried in oil). The last time I had ugali it was plain and I didn’t care for it, but with the juice from the fried chicken on it, it wasn’t too bad.

2011-04-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Tues., 27 Apr.
We have learned that a Mr. Bruce Foley will be arriving the week of the 2nd of April to take over as administrator when we leave. Mr. Foley is an Australian. The time between his srrival and our departure will give lots of time to do his orientation.

The 2 day power outage we had last week is a good excuse for not updating the journal/blog as we got way behind in some of the work we had to do. But it’s just an excuse. The day after the long outage it went off for 5 minutes and when it came back on, the UPS, (uninterupted power supply), began to smoke. We’re having it checked to see if it can be repaired.

Jotham and Dick erecting frame for stove shelter

Jothan and I started to put up the shelter for the fuel conserving stove I would like to introduce. I bought the steel roofing and poles for the frame. We got the frame up and Jothan will probably work on putting on the roofing while I’m away.

The wall across the front of the property is coming along well and they were plastering when we left. The welder was to arrive Sat. With the steel bars for the opening in the walls but he still wasn’t there when we left about 9:30 am Sunday.

We have been working on getting uniforms for the guards consisting of 2 monogramed shirts, boots and socks. Having a lot of trouble getting the shirts and one of the day guards fitted with boots, then I found out Sat. night that one of the night guard’s boots wern’t fitting. I’ll have to get that corrected when I get back.

Jan is returning to Austraila on Monday night so on Sunday, 25 Apr. we left for Nairobi. We have crossed the equator before on an aeroplane but this was the first time by land. On the way to Nairobi we stopped at Nukuru National Park. It’s a very large park with a lot of wildlife to see. I’ll leave you to look it up on the WEB. It was dark by the time we left the park, having gotten a lot of photos, and we decided to stay in Nukuru for the night. On Monday morning we drove 4 hours to Nairobi, had lunch, then went to the “Bomas of Kenya” for a cultural experience including traditional dances and replicas of homes and homesteads of the different tribes of Kenya. (www.bomasofkenya.co.ke)

Eva and I stayed in a downtown hotel while Henry, the car owner and another Kenyan (John) who was driving in Nairobi, (I don’t blame Henry for not wanting to drive in Nairobi), stayed at Henry’s sister’s house. Our room had a very comfortable queen size bed with about 16 inches to the wall at the end and 2 feet on one side. 0" on the other. The bathroom had a sink and toilet, and shower on the wall that sprayed water just in front of the toilet. Very ‘compact’.

This morning we left Nairobi and drove to Nanyuki near Mt. Kenya. Eva and I are staying at the fabulous Fairmont Mt. Kenya Safari Club. (I understand Prince William proposed here last year.) We are in a 4 room suite with all the amenities, even a real fireplace. It was raining when we arrived but it is expected to clear tomorrow morning.

Mt. Kenya Safari Club is is right on the equator
The Safari Club had a demonstration of Kenyan folk dancing just before supper. The two dancers had the daughter of the manager, about 5yrs, join them in the first dance. For the second dance they invited us to join them. We then went into the dining room for a delecious steak dinner which neither of us could find room to finish.

Fairmont Mt. Kenya Safari Club

Eva and Dick with Safari Club native dancers

Wed., 27 Apr.

We are here at the Fairmont Mt. Kenya Safari Club and throuroughly enjoying the stay. This morning Henry and John picked us up at 9:30 am and after refueling the van, we headed to the Sweetwaters Game reserve, part of ‘Ol Pejeata Conservancy”, a 90,000 acre game preserve. Although expensive, ($65 each for each non-residenset), we saw a lot. Various types of antelopes, elephants, geraffs, wart hogs, and we even got to feed a black rino. One of the park rangers, Patrick, accompanied us and made the trip much more interesting. The 18 km drive into the entrance was over a very rough road and the roads in the park were marginally better. We were there from about 10am until 3pm when we returned to Nanyuki where we had a light lunch before returning to the ‘Safari Club”. Tomorrow we return to the orphanage at Bungoma. I’m sure we will miss the pampering and luxury here at the Safari Club.

Eva feeding a black rino

2011-04-17T19:48:00.001-07:00

Fri., 15 April, 2011
My how the time flies. Some men started to dig a trench for a foundation for the wall that is being completed across the front of the property. We already had the brick and sand but had to order stone for the concrete foundation. The truck bringing the stone kept on breaking down so the men finally used some of the stone on the driveway. Just before 6pm it arrived, and quit about 50 feet from the gate. They got it going long enough to get inside the gate where it quit again. The men with the truck unloaded it off the tailgate, blocking it’s exit, and left it for a mechanic Sat.

Sat. morning we went into Eldoret with Jan Suffock with Henry driving. We droped Jan off at a lawyers then went to a large hardware store to try and get parts to hang the swings properly using the chain we recently found had been bought. I was able to find some parts but will have to keep looking. We have also been having trouble finding the boots for the guards uniforms. The store in town that had the ones we wanted only had 2 pair in the correct sizes. Don’t know when they will get more.

I am beginning to suspect that there will be no one coming in to replace us when we leave on 10 May. We can’t stay longer even if we could get our visas extended. All of our medications including the anti-malarial drug will run out and changing our flights would be really difficult.

Sat. morning we set out with two of the children that have a parent to try and find them. The drive was long over very bad gravel roads. We finally arrived at the correct village and some of the people recognized the boy, (about 5 yrs). They were able to direct us to his mother’s home. It wasn’t until we got very near that the boy recognized it. The mother wasn’t home but someone phoned her and she hurried home. She was then able to provide the information we needed. We got the usual comment from a couple of people in the area, ‘my boy is disabled, do you think you could help him?’ The only thing we can do is explain that the government considers we currently have the maximum number of children for our current facility.

We then went on an even longer drive to find the girl’s mother. We found her and got the needed information, and also got a request that we take another of her daughters. So many children are not really wanted.

There was time before supper to pop into town and buy a wheelbarrow for use on the wall construction. (The contractor doesn’t provide such things.) We also made arrangements for a welder to come out tomorrow and assess the metal work required.

The mechanic came to repair the truck and wound up taking the engine away leaving the truck in the driveway. (To give you an idea of the layout of the property, you can see the back of the truck in the above photo of the wall.)

Sun. 17 April
Nothing special today. The truck is still in the driveway without an engine. The men returned to work on the wall, and a welder came by to look at what was needed to make grills for openings in the wall.

2011-04-11T04:14:00.001-07:00

Sunday, 10 Apr., 2011
We returned yesterday afternoon from a 3 day safari to Lake Victoria and region. Thursday morning we left with Pastor Gideon driving, a local youth, Mohamed, Eva and Dick and drove first to Homa Bay where we met another local man, Nixon, at the hospital. He was there to pick up his father and take him to the much larger hospital in Kisumu for treatment, then to Bungoma. It was lunchtime so we had fried, whole, tilapia with chips at a local hotel. The bill for the 4 of us was just over $12.

Ruma National Park -

After lunch we drove to Ruma National Park. The park is considered remote, and after driving on the roads I know why. The Kenyan Govt. recognizes that non East Africans have more money so entrance fees were 100 shillings, (12 cents each), for them and US$20 for us. However there was a 7 km trail we drove and saw baboons, giraffes, wildebeests, and a huge water buffalo in the natural setting they have occupied for thousands of years. Very interesting!

Giraffe at Ruma National Park

Fishing on Lake Victoria

After the park we drove to Mbita where we spent the night. It wasn’t fancy at 1400 shillings for 4, ($18), but it was clean and the beds were comfortable. The next morning we drove to the car ferry located n the same town to take the ferry across Lake Victoria, then drove to the city of Kisumu. We checked into the ‘New East View Hotel’ which was somewhat higher quality than the night before.

While waiting for the ferry I met 2 Dutch medical students who were on their way to a large orphanage with the director to pick up a Dutch boy they had discovered there. Apparently his mother had died and authorities knew nothing about him or his family so placed him in the orphanage for care. The girls had contacted the Dutch and Kenyan governments about him and arranged for his release into their custody and transportation back to Holland. (I don’t know his age but believe he was quite young.)

In the afternoon we visited the National Museum of Kenya. They had both live and static displays and we saw crocodiles, a selection of snakes, and a replica of a Luo tribe family compound. We had a guide for this visit which, as usual, was well worth the cost.

Supper that night was again tilapia but done in a delicious sauce. (Sorry Bruce, I didn’t take a picture.)

The leopard at Impala Nat. Park likes to be scratched

Saturday morning we went to the Impala National Park in the city of Kisumu and on the shore of Lake Victoria. Again we were pleased to have a guide, Linda, who made the visit so much more interesting and informative. After our visit we headed back to Bungoma and Robin’s Nest Orphanage

I’d love to be able to describe everything we saw and experienced on this trip but there just isn’t room. The few photos included may give you a glimpse, but if you want more you’ll have to talk to us when we get back and suffer through the slide/video presentation I plan to make.

Jan Suffock was to arrive from Australia Sat. night for 2 weeks but they had car problems about ½ way here from. The car still wasn’t fixed Sun. night so another one was sent, which developed problems. She planned on taking a bus if it wasn’t fixed by 1pm Monday. The roads are not good so will be a slow trip. This is the same car and driver we are hiring for our safari starting April 24. We hope the car runs well for us.

2011-03-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

The front of the cottage we are staying in. The 1'st window to to the left of the door is the office. The window on the right is the kitchen.

Wed., 30 Mar.
Some of you may be wondering what out accommodations are like. The building is a combination of brick and adobe, all plastered with morter and painted white. We have a very serviceable kitchen with a gas stove and refrgerator but only cold water. There is a 2 pc. washroom at that end. The entrance is into the living room and the office is off the LR. A door, which we lock when we have leave without locking the building, is off the LR and leads to a hall off which are 2 bedrooms and a 3 pc. bathroom. The shower has a pressure operated electric heater. (This one really works – we have hot showers!) The bedrooms have painted cement floors and all the other rooms have ceramic tile. There are 2- 48" wide beds in each bedroom with mosquito nets. The LR has 2 arm chairs with small side tables, a couch with a coffee table, a 2' x’4' table with 2 lawn chairs. Althgether it is quite comefortable.

Our biggest problem is getting a variety of vegetables. This is the dry season and those available ard mainly tomatoes, cabbage, carrots and sometimes beets or beans. Now that the rainy season has started, things could improve in about 6 weeks, shortly after we leave 10 May. Meats are restricted to ground beef, chicken, and sausages. That’s OK because I probably wouldn’t buy pork here and the beef we have had in restaurants is generally tough. We have been warned not to buy from the butcher shops due to poor handling.

We were in town Tues. at lunchtime so ate in a restaurant. We had matoke and 1/4 chicken. The chicken was rather tough but the Matoke was good. It is something like a stew made with potatoes, some carrots and bananas and ???. Another very common meal item is ‘ugali’ which is ground corn boiled. It is about the consistency of dryer mashed potatoes. Neither Eva or I care for it.

Thurs., 30 Mar.
We were in town this morning to get the money from the bank to pay the salaries and monthly bills. People here don’t like cheques because the banks always hold the money until the cheque clears, often up to 7 days. On the way in we saw a man transporting about 10 bentwood arm chairs strapped to the back of his bicycle.

We enquired about having a 4 unit locker made for the 4 guards to keep the uniforms they are going to be issued. Somewhat high at 14,900 ksh. When we got back, Nixon, a member of the advisory board, was here and when he heard the price, he just laughted.

2011-03-27T10:12:00.001-07:00

If you want to get in touch with us, send emails to breadner@kos.net

Sun., 27 Mar.
Again it’s been a week since my last update. The time seems to go by so quickly. Last week we planted the field that was plowed with corn and beans. They dig a shallow hole and drop 2 or 3 each of corn and bean seeds then add a small handfull of fertilizer. The holes are 12 to 16 inches apart in rows 2 feet apart. I have asked Jotham to try planting some squash seeds we bought around the corn and beans. This is a method the Incas used in Latin America.

Just outside our door is a tree bearing “jungle fruit”. They are up to 8" in diameter and 16" long. I had been told that when they were ripe they smelled sweet. The one I could reach smelled sweet so I told Jotham and he agreed then picked it. It had a white sap which the kids love but adults find it too stickey. I tried a little and it was OK but then formed a stickey film on my lip and denture, almost like wet contact cement and quite difficult to remome. I don’t think I’ll try the fruit itself. The kids came over later and climed the tree where they found more ripe fruit.
Jungle Fruit, sweet but Oh so stickey!

I bought some clothes line that looked like it had a wire or a cord in the center to prevent stretching. Found out it is only molded to look like it does and turned out to have more stretch than I wanted. I put it up under the porch for them to use when it is raining as they wash daily.

There wasn’t enough of the clothes line so I bought some rope at the market in Manyanja, just up the road, on Sat. morning and completed 4 lines. I also bought rope for swings. The metal frames were here but never completed. When I erected them Sat. afternoon the kids thought they were great and were very good about making sure everyone had a turn.
Children and their new swing

The Market was interesting having everything from fruits and veg., (limited variety), to clothes, shoes, hardware, beans, corn, and even a sales area for cattle, goats, sheep, and chickens.
Dick views part of the market at Manyanja

Today we went with Pastor Gideon to their outreach church the other side of the highway cutoff to Bungoma. They are using a rented building about 16 ft sq. Some 35 people were packed inside for the 3 hour service with possibly another 20 outside. These churches are part of the ‘Pentecostal Universal Christian’group and the music and preaching are very Pentecostal with an African flavour.

Outside the church after the service.
After the service we were invited to Gideon’s home for lunch, not realizing it had to be cooked. We did a lot of talking and got back to Robin’s Nest about 5pm, (after the ‘almost daily’ rainstorm).

2011-03-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Monday morning I looked at the roof and thought I knew where the leak was coming from. Jotham went on the roof and cleaned a lot of leaves out of the roof valleys and spillway. I removed the portion of the celing that wasleaking and was sure I knew where the leak was but Mon. afternoon we had a fairly heavy rain and no leakes. Maybe it was just the leaves. The leak was in the unoccupied bedroom so I’ll watch it for a few days.

Wed., 16 Mar.
This morning I was talking to a young man named Robert. He invited me into his home, a thatch roofed adobe bldg. for tea. His wife brought in a pot of hot, sweet tea with milk and a bowl of pcs. casava. It was dirt floored and the room we were in took up over ½ the bldg. Of about 15 ft sq. Later I saw the kitchen, about 4 x 6 ft and farther on was a bedroom. Cooking was done on the ‘traditional’ 3 stones where 3 stones are arranged on the floor in a triangle and the fire built in the middle. The pot is placed on the stones The He has an acre of land and 2 young cows. One comment he made was that they have a good education system in Kenya but far too few jobs. Farming is difficult on such small pieces of property and with the limited water available, although they have more in this part of Kenya than some others. I had a good visit.

The other day one of the day guards had a malaria attack and had to go to the hospical for medication. Today it was the turn of the other one.

Sun., 20 Mar.
I went into Bungoma with Jotham on Friday to buy maize, (corn), seed and fertelizer to plant in a field across from the home that a neighbour lets them use. It was to be plowed on Sat. While there we bought some rabies vacine for the dogs and made arangements for a vet to come and show Jotham how to do it. (We had to buy a bottle containing 10 doses so we will keep it in our refrigerator until next year.) I also bought a lot of groceries, too much to carry back on a bike. We planned on a taxi back so the vet came with us then rode back to town in the taxi. They only charged 50 shillings for waiting while Leah learned how to vaccinate the dogs, not Jotham.

Sat. Morning it was raining too heavily to plow.

Tues., 15 Mar.
Sunday morning they arrived and did most of the plowing but still have a little to finish Monday. In the afternoon we had a visit from the Chief of the district. He asked if Robin’s Nest could consider helping a 15 yr old girl finish her high school. Her father has died and they have very little money to pay tuition. We will pass the request on.

About 5 o’clock we had more visitors. One of the men, an engineer I believe, who had worked on the const. of the home came by with some people who are interested in setting up another orphanage. He was explaining the construction and how the interlocking bricks used were made on site, up to 1500 day.
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586761878175352066" />By using these bricks they don’t have to use morter to hold them together and construction is faster. I thought it would be cheaper but a neighbour costed a job he was doing and found the ‘extra’ costs on a small job made it more expensive. One of the visitors, Dr. Wauyany, owns a hotel near town and told me to be sure to visit.
End Post 5

2011-03-13T21:48:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted an update. We have been having a lot of trouble with the power going off, especially when I have just about completed a post and am ready to upload it.

Sun., 6 Mar.
After Sunday School here at Robin’s Nest we went to a local church with Jotham. He originally told us the service started at 10 am but suggested we don’t leave until about 10:20. (Like many things here and in Latin America, people take the scheduled time as the time they begin to get ready to go.) We didn’t leave until about 10;40 and could hear them singing as we approached. There were 3 chairs set out especially for us to one side near the front of the adobe, tin roofed building. Also at the front were 2 other visitors: Bishop ------------, the bishop of that church and about 150 others. The second was ‘Apostle David B. Wanyonyi, bishop/senior pastor at Lamb’s Chapel Christian Center in nearby Kimilhi.

The service was very loud, and there was a lot of feedback from the unnecessary microphone. There were several members to give testimonies, a baby was dedicated, the Bishop spoke, we were asked to pray for the people, Apostle David preached, people were prayed over with laying on of hands, and Dick and I were asked to pray over Apostle David. All this was done with the delays of translations into either English or Kiswahili, as necessary. Altogether the service lasted over 4 hours. Because we arrived late, we did not have a chance to ask permission to take photos.

After the service, Pastor Jeremiah asked the two of us to preach next Sunday. That is going to be really different for them since we are not the yelling and screaming type and they are. Please pray for us.

Apostle David wants to make arrangement for us to visit his home church in Kimilhi. There is also a training school there. I suspect that he will be asking us to speak to people while we are there. He has an extensive training ministry for those wanting to go into ministry.

The name of the blind lady whom Robin’s Nest is helping is “Angripene”. On the way back from the church we stopped by her house. The son has cut all but 3 of the poles needed for his mother’s roof. He was stripping the bark off when we arrived.

Tues., 7 Mar.
Nelson's brick kiln for making his own bricks
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583793217318527586" />Yesterday afternoon we went to the farm of Nixon, the chairman of the advisory committee. He is a retired banker who has settled in this area and wants to work on showing the people of the area better farming methods. One of the big problems in the area is water so he had a well dug. He got down over 20 feet and hit a big rock. He is still trying to figure out what to do. There is a little water at the bottom but he needs to go deeper. He has the healthiest looking cattle and chickens I’ve seen, mainly due I think to ensuring they get adequate water and nourishment as well as spraying the cattle for insects weekly. He is raising watermelons and other cash crops. He has been watering the watermellons using a foot operated water pump that operates similar to a ‘stair machine’ at a fitness club.

Foot operated water pump - operates like a stair machine in a fitness club

While there, it started to sprinkle rain, then started to rain in earnest for about ½ hour, then lighter for another half hour. For a while it came down really hard, and there were hailstones mixed with the rain. We waited it out in the house where we met Alex, a tomato farmer who has been chosen to head up a pilot project at a nearby polytecnic institute to grow tomatoes and other vegetables in a greenhouse. The units come from Israel and he attended training sessions on the methodology. Both be and Nixon are quite excited about the project.

Wed., 9 Mar.

First truss on the house made from younger eucaliptus trees
Dick started the day by going to by Mrs.Angripene’s home, ( Blind lady), with the nails for the men to start building the roof on her new house. He waited to watch them build the 1'st truss then headed into town to do pick up the bank statements and do some shopping. (Each statement costs 100ksh here.)

Framing almost complete. The roof was completed in one day.
After lungh the 5 trusses were completed and they were starting to set them up and before dark at 7pm they had the roof finished.

Thur., 10 Mar.
Eva, Jotham, and I went to Webuye, on the road to Eldoret, this morning. We visited the school where Robin’s Nest sponsors a student, Naiome, talked with one of her teachers and paid the school fees to the end of the term.

Naiome's grandmother and a sister in their home
We later went to visit her grandmother with whom she lives. The grandmother is very poor but is looking after 4 girls. They had had no food in the house since yesterday and we left them some money to buy food. ===

Sun.,13 Mar.
Eva and I were asked to preach at the local church we went to last week. We arived about 10:15 am and they were singing and dancing for about an hour. The pastor read the bible and talked about it for a while, more singing. We each gave a detailed testamony with teaching. This took about an hour as everything was translated to Swaheli.

After lunch we had a heavy rain. Weather forcasts are for rain every day next week. Guess the rainy season is starting. We have a bad leak in the roof which I am having to get fixed quickly.

2011-03-05T09:22:00.001-08:00

Sun. 27 Feb. (Evening)
This afternoon we went to see Shaban Wanjala, vice chairman of the home’s ‘Local Advisory Committee’. He wasn’t home but we had a pleasant visit with his son, Mohamed who was studying law until money ran out. Mohamed took us on a tour of the neighbourhood which included a visit to a local fish farm and the community spring which supplies drinking water for most of the community. Part of the way we were joined by Eric, so both Eva and I had ‘personal guides’ telling us about the area. Mohammed has offered to escort us to Lake Victoria before we go back to Canada. We’re only about an hour and half away from it.

Mon. 28 Feb.
We headed into the bank this morning to transfer funds into the Kenyan Shillings Acct. so that we could pay salaries and a number of bills coming due at the end of the month. Monday on the last day of the month is not a good time to go banking. It took about two hours.

The phone is missing and has been for a few days. We have searched everywhere we can think of and if it doesn’t show up shortly, will have to buy a new one.

Wed. 2 Mar.
Dick did a few odd jobs around the home and went to inspect the adobe home that is being built for a local blind woman. Robin Byrnes had agreed to pay up to $300 to cover the cost of putting a roof on the building, windows and doors. He then asked Jotham to request a quote on the cost.

The Blind lady and Jothan at the construction site

In the afternoon the Local Advisory Committee met to discuss the business and plans for the home. Many things have been put on hold until a pending land dispute claim is heard in court in April, so the discussions ranged mainly around future plans. The goal is get the Home as self-sustaining as possible. Members started to arrive at 2pm and the meeting finally got under way at 3:30pm.

Thurs., 3 Mar.
Back into the bank again today. Since Monday several bills have come in which we wern’t expecting. We had covered them with our own funds as most bills are paid in cash since cheques are a real problem for several people. Now we needed cash ourselves.

We decided that we had better do something about the phone. We have our phone from Honduras/Canada and thought we could postpone things by just buying a new SIM Card. Unfortunately the SIM Card won’t work in our phone so we had to buy a new one. Much cheaper than in Canada, only 2500 Ksh, about $33 Cdn. for the Nokia phone and SIM Card. This took a while to find the right place as we wanted to stay with the same air time supplier. We were also looking for a concrete drill. None of the hardware stores had them but we finally found one in the hardware section of a Supermarket.

Eva 'rests' while waiting for lunch

It 11:50am and we decided to get something to eat before grocery shopping so we went to the bar/restaurant in a hotel across from the grocery store. They only start cooking when they get a order so we has a long time to relas on the 2'nd floor veranda. We ordered chicken and chips.
Oily fries and overcooked chicken. Next time we eat out, I think we’ll try someplace else.

Sat., 5 Mar.
The estimate on the house came in about 9000 shillings above budget. I went to a local building supplier myself on Fri. and got some prices which were comparable but learned about ways to cut costs. We are having them use the traditional ‘poles’ rather than milled lumber saving some 5700 shillings. We can also have the door made much cheaper than ready made and by using a lighter grade of corrugated steel roofing we can save another 1700 shillings. I will take the nails to the job site and monitor to ensure any that aren’t used come back to Robin’s Nest.

2011-02-26T23:51:00.001-08:00

Fri., Feb. 25
How time flies! On Thurs. we realised that we still had computer problems so we called for the repair man. He arrived about 8:30 pm and worked until 11:30 doing a backup and a complete cleaning of viruses on the backup then strippng the computer of everything and reinstalling windows and the various programs. I told him I would update the virus checker he installed, (‘Avanti’ for you computer geeks), and the printer files.

Friday I went into town with Jotham to transfer money from the US$ acct to the Ksh, (Kenyan Shillng), account and get cash to pay bills. I then paid some bills and bought a printer cartridge and a ‘Flash Drive’ to back up files for Robin’s Nest.

Going into town we took bicyles to the corner then caught a mini bus into town. Coming back we used a ‘piki piki’ which is a 3 wheeled motorcycle with an enclosed driver and passenger compartment. There was one passenger when we boarded and later a 4th passenger got in front sharing the drivers seat. It was only 20 Ksh each to go to the corner, then 20 each to return to Robin’s Nest on bicycles. It’s more because it is up hill.

Sat., 26 Feb
In the morning Eva and I went for a walk to the corner of the highway A104 to visit some of the local stores and learn what each one carries. Not a great variety. It takes about ½ hour to reach the highway. There is a small market as we approach the highway that has a little more variety and some of the stalls have some hardware items. On the way back we bought some tomatoes from a small shop.

In the afternoon Eva worked on the payroll due the end of the month while I built a workbench in preparation for other projects.

Sun. 27 Feb
The numbers at Sunday School were down today and we only had 6 in the Bible study. Most of them did not have their own bible and they were different translations. We didn’t have enough to go around so they had to share. Hopefully enough money will come in to buy some, (550 shillngs each, about $7.50 Cdn.)
Eva and the Bible Study Class last week.

2011-02-22T10:02:00.000-08:00

Sun., Feb. 20
Sunday School was scheduled for 8:30 this morning in the new residence still under construction. Not unexpectedly, not everyone was there but they began to drift in and things got started about 8:45, with kids from the neighbourhood arriving for the next 15 minutes or more. They started with singing led by Jotham, the ‘house father’ and then Leah, ‘house mother’ took over to teach the Bible Lesson. Eva and I took the older ones back to our cottage for a Bible study. Eva wants to teach them about the Bible, how and why they should read it and be familiar with it. We had 12 children. Including the 21 children in residence and the visitors, there were 74 children attending. [Eva: I don’t know whether the children were just shy, or unfamiliar with finding theire way around the Bible and reading for their own answers, but response to questions were slow. It is certain, however, that the neighbourhood children were not used to using a Bible.]

The rest of the day was quiet. Jotham and I went to get a photo of a boy hoping to enter the home. He is living with his parents and several siblings in a mud home about 8 by 12 feet and they are having trouble making ends meet because Brian’s father hada stroke recently and so is unable to work.

Mon., Feb. 21
While doing her morning bible study, Eva spotted a very large spider, about 3/4 inch body, on the wall. We got rid of it.

Later in the morning we went into Bungoma on a number of errands. Two buses passed us, filled to the brim so we decided to ride the backs of bicycles. These bicycles have a padded seat over the rear wheel, handle grips under the seat and foot rests at the axels. Going in toward Bungoma it costs 10 shillings, coming back it is 20 shillings because it is up hill. We rode these to the junction of the main highway and the cut off for Bungoma, then transferred to a very small van in which they could cram no more than 9. (The larger ones, about the size of a minivan will take 19 including driver and conductor.)

We checked in at the bank to see if a transfer had come through – no, and at the electric company to see about changing the status of the home from commercial to residential. It will make quite a saving. The computer was down so we have to go back. After other errands we again took a mini van to the junction. We then had a meeting with a welder/teacher of a young man who works part time at the home. This time we took a motorcycle with the driver, Eva and I + groceries on board, 40 shillings.

The office computer has one or more viruses that are causing a lot of problems and it won’t download either of 2 virus protection programs I tried. We have called for a technician and he’s here as I write.

11:30pm:
The office computer has been cleaned of its viruses and the system reformatted. Hopefully that will end the problems.

Tues., Feb. 22
Well, it seems our computer problems are not yet over. This morning I prepared to send to files to Robin Byrnes concerning 2 children for whom they are looking for sponsors. I checked my flash drive on my own computer first, then went to the office computer to copy the needed files to my flash drive. The computer won’t recognized the flash drive! It sees it as a folder that it can’t open! I tried other ports, and different flash drives – the problem continue. However this afternoon Jotham tried something different and it worked.

Dick replaced a faulty water tap and a broken latch on the boy’s bathroom this morning. Jotham brought out three boxes of screws he had, great, but they are ‘Robertsons’, (square head), that were left by some Canadians, and there are no screw drivers here that fit.

This afternoon one of the neighbours had a tractor come in to plow a field. They were using a disk plow and having trouble with the disks coming loose. They finally left for repairs but returned about an hour later to finish the job. We had few drops of rain again and they tell us the rainy season is near. Water is getting low so they are cutting back where they can until the rain comes. I discovered a rain barrel just outside our door was full of mosquito larvae so Jotham had the kids water the plants that are beginning to wilt. from it

2011-02-19T09:22:00.001-08:00

Mission Trip to Bungoma, Kenya - 13 Feb to 11 May, 2011

Wed. 16 Feb. - On Sat. 12 Feb. we drove to Toronto to visit Brian, Cathy, and Deborah. Cathy is going to drive us to the airport Sunday after church and keep the car at her place until we get back in May.

The flight to Nairobi was uneventful and very long. The trip took 18 hours. We were met by 'Judy' and taken to her home for the night. The next morning, Tuesday, we went back to the airport for the flight to Eldoret. Arriving at Eldoret about 9 am, there was no one waiting to meet us but we realized they could have been held up on the road. 3/4 hour later I tried to phone, on a borrowed cell phone, but couldn't get an answer. We were sitting outside the terminal when a van pulled up and 3 men, 2 women, and 4 pre-school children got out. Obviously that wasn't them – but it was. They had had trouble on the road when the bolt holding a shock absorber fell out. After meeting everyone and several minutes of figuring out how everyone and our luggage would fit, we headed for the mechanic to get the shock absorber fixed.

WAITING FOR FUEL

Before we got into Eldoret, we ran out of diesel fuel. The driver headed into Eldoret to get more and we waited about an hour and a half for him to get back. (The first station he went to was out of diesel.) Back on the road we first stopped to put in 1000 shillings worth of fuel in this hired van, (about 9 L).

I had left my shoes back in Canada and only had sandles which will not be suitable when the rains start in March. Therefore I went into the Bata shoe store and bought a pair of leather shoes with a good heavy tread, about $12. After grabbing something to eat as it was now gone noon, we headed for Robin’s Nest in Bungoma.

Robin’s Nest Children’s Home is a fenced compound on a small dirt road about 10 minutes drive from Bungoma. There are two residence buildings, one still under construction, a 2 bedroom cottage with living room, kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and the office. Only the bedroom windows have screens but we hope to rectify that soon.

Wednesday was a ‘confusing’ day. Jan, the administrator, was finishing up things before she left Thurs. to return to Austrailia and we were trying to get settled and learn as much as we could before she left. We had a trip into Bungoma with her to finish up some business and bought some groceries while there. There was also a meeting of the Home’s ‘Local Advisory Committee’ called for 3 pm that got started about 3:45. At least we got to meet them and a couple are close neighbours who told us if we need anything, call them.

The people speak Swahili here most of the time but most also speak fluent English so we shouldn’t have any problems that way, except for the accent. This is, of course, a mutual challenge of course. Also, They speak very softly with an inflection that will take us a while to get used to. Everyone we have met so far have been very friendly and we are looking forward to a good experience.

Some of the kids putting on a fashon show with the clothes we brought from Canada

Fri. 18 Feb. - We’re getting settled in. Jan left early yesterday morning for Australia. The house parents told us they were running out of food so we went into town with Jotham to buy groceries. We took the bus. (Gari) Because we were so rushed on Wednesday, we had not been able to get very much in groceries, so yesterday we bought more. We are, of course, having to get staples as well as day-to-day groceries.

Meat is going to be a challenge. One of the “supermarkets” in Bungoma only sells cheap sausages, ground bee, whole chicken and sliced lunch meat.. The staff at Robin’s Nest have warned us that the meat at the butcher’s is risky - uninspected and carelessly handled.

This assignment has turned out to be more than originally advertised, which was “signing cheques and anything else you see that you would like to do.” We are actually the Administrators. The task is similar to running a low-budget hotel/restaurant, something for which we have no experience. Pray for a sharp learning curve.

This morning I (Eva) spent most of my time with Jacinta, the sceretary, learning mor about the book keeping. It rained today, just a light rain starting about 4:00pm, off and on during the evening.

Sat., Feb. 19 The plan had been for one of us to go the Bungoma to check at the back to see if a deposit had come in yet from Canada. It is a fairly large one, and the funds are seriously needed. However, we learned that at trip into the city would be needed on Monday. The electricity provider is charging the commercial rate, and we have been trying to get residential, since this is not a business. We’ll do the bank and the electrical company Monday morning after I have spoken to Jacinta about the funds and figured out how much needs to be converted to Kenyan shillings.

Last night was quite cool, but this afternoon it got really hot.

2011-02-12T08:49:00.001-08:00

We’re off! In a short time we will be leaving for Toronto to spend the night with our daughter Cathy, her husband Brian and our granddaughter Deborah. Tomorrow we’ll go to church with them then Cathy will drive us to the airport for our 5:45 flight to Kenya via Amsterdam. We arrive in Nairobi Monday night then Tuesday morn we fly to Eldoret in the Rift Valley. We’ll be met there and driven to the Robin’s Nest Children’s Home in Bungoma.

A lot of luggage to manipulate!

It has been a real rush to get ready and to top it off I came down with cold like symptoms, but it may be a reaction to the Yellow Fever vaccine, our previous one ran out in Dec 2009. In any event, I’m taking something to clear up the worst of the symptoms and as they say in the TV ad, “Feeling better!”

We have 4 bags, 2 of which are devoted to things for the children’s home, mainly clothes. KLM allows us 2 bags each of 23 kg. but the airline from Nairobi to Eldoret say 1 bag at 20 kg. Excess weight is charged at 50 Kenyan shillings per kg. (About 59 cents Cdn). The extra bags weigh about 18 kg each. However, we have been told that they won’t charge if they know they are for the children’s home. I hope that’s correct.

Last Sunday the congregation at Quinte Bible Chapel officially sent us off with prayers and we had dinner last night with old friends and were thoroughly prayed over again. We’re looking forward to this trip.

That’s all for now folks. It may be a while before I figure out the best way to post to this blog but keep tuned and I’ll get something up ASAP. Dick

We're off again!

2011-01-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

Bungoma, Kenya is our next destination and the "Robin's Nest Children's Home" is where we'll be. This is sudden. We were asked on 20 Jan. if we would be willing to fill in for the administrator at the home for possibly 3 months or more. After much prayer, we said YES.

The flights are arranged. We leave 13 Feb. and return 11 May. We would have gone earlier but our yellow fever vaccination, (required for entry), expired last year and we can't get it renewed until the 3rd and have to wait 10 days before traveling.

You can check out the organization's web site at; www.robinsnestchildrenshomes.com/

This is just a preliminary post. I'll put up more info as it becomes available. Keep checking.

Dick

2010-08-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

Away we go again. this time to Canmore AB to visit son and daughter-in-law. They bought a condo there this past spring and we were anxious to see it.

We drove to daughter Cathy's place Tuesday and left the car with them. Wed. morning a taxi took us to the airport, (cheaper than airport parking since Cathy picked us up on return). The flight was at 7am. Bruce picked us up in Calgary and after some errands, his wife met us at a dim sung restaurant for lunch. Then on to some brief shopping and then Canmore.

View from their condo in Canmore

We had a really good visit. Bruce, who is a chef at in the park, had several days off. On the Monday before our return we borrowed a canoe and traveled down the Bow River from Banff to Canmore, (about 25 km). It only took about 2 1/2 hours due to the swift current.

Canoeing down the Bow River, Dick in the bow, Eva, and Bruce at the stern.

Of course we ate very well. Bruce loves to cook. Sunday we had a BBQ at a friends and we ate too much, but it's oh so hard to resist. Every meal was a gourmet treat.

We got back to Toronto 27 July. Cathy and 3 yr old grand daughter Deborah picked us up and we went to her place in Markham, then drove back to Belleville.

2010-06-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

Day 23, Sat., June 12, 2010: Canada

Well, we’re back home again with all our luggage. We left the Casita de Cabreja, Cuenca, in good time yesterday (Friday)and found the Hotel Don Luis with no difficulty in spite of a bit of incorrect information from the Reception desk at the Casita who downloaded a Google map and printed it out for us. Fortunately our careful reading of street signs paid off when we discovered that Ave. General was reached directly from a roundabout instead of via Ave Logruño.

Returning the car was another matter. There were no signs at the airport in Madrid to direct us to the car rental agencies. Nor did some of the airport workers we approached know where to look. One worker told us it was behind the taxi stands at terminal 3, another in the parking area in Terminal 2. We finally found it in the public parking at terminal 1. We are very glad we chose to return the car on Friday instead of Saturday morning on the way to catch our flight. All this was completed before noon.

The subway system of Madrid has a line out to the airport, although there is a small surcharge for using the stations there. The terminals are also all interconnected so that we could go from Terminal 1 where we returned the car to Terminal 2 where the subway stop was located, on foot. Dick & I caught the subway to do some sight seeing, final shopping and get some lunch. There were 3 separate subway lines involved to get to the center of Madrid, all for about $2.50 Cdn. each. The receptionist at the Hotel Don Luis gave us a map of the subway system that made this easy in spite of the transfers.

We got to practice our Spanish some more on the way home, getting directions back to the hotel when we left the subway. Streets in Spain are a maze, often with 5 or 6 streets exiting from a roundabout, so we had to check 3 or 4 times on the way back.

Knowing that we had to be up really early to catch our 6:45am flight, we spent a quiet evening. Dick when down to the hotel bar for a glass of wine about 9:00, and received a plate of perhaps 20 green olives along with it. In Spain you always get a little food with your alcoholic beverage. By the way, wine in Spain costs about the same as water, and sometimes less than the pop offered in the restaurants and bars.

Travel to Toronto went smoothly. In spite of leaving Madrid about 15 minutes late we caught our flight without mishap, partly because the Jetairways India flight delayed boarding to let those from Madrid a little more time.

A word about Jetairways India - we recommend the line, especially the transatlantic fights. The seats are comfortable, the staff courteous, and the food delicious, especially for those who enjoy the food of India. Both coming and going we were served 2 meals, and provided all the water we needed for drinking - all we had to do was ask.

2010-06-10T10:37:00.001-07:00

Day 21, June 10: La Casita de Cabreja

It cooled off a lot yesterday and started to rain rather persistently. Because this area is a bit mountainous, the streams and small rivers are filling up quickly.

We got a look at the wine cellar in the hotel this morning. This photo only shows 1 corner. There are several hundred bottles there with some liquor, cold cuts and cheese for wine tasting.

We drove into Cuenca today to do some final shopping before flying home Saturday. At least that was our plan. Didn’t quite work out that way. We also planned to visit 3 museums: the archeological museum, the science museum, and the artisans’ museum. These are all located in the old town of Cuenca (with the hanging houses) that we saw at the beginning of our tour.

The Archeological Museum concentrated on the discoveries of archeologists, with a lot information on the people of the Iberian Peninsula before the arrival of the Romans and the resulting conquest. The artifacts included a lot from the daily lives of the peoples. Non of what we had seen up to now showed any of this but was focused more of the fortresses and cathedrals of those who triumphed in the long run: the Spanish, of course.

The Science Museum was divided into 3 sections: the study of the development of the world and its living creatures as science sees it; development of technology now, and the development into the future beginning with space travel. Dick would have loved a couple more hours here.

Unfortunately for us, the artisan’s museum was closed. This was disappointing because are forms from the past up to modern times were included: marble, glass, carpets, weaving, pottery, sculptures, etc.

By the time we finished up in the Old Town and drove back downtown it was almost 3:00pm and the stores were all closed. We had lunch then dawdled around expecting the stores to re-open at 4:00. It seems that Cuenca is a little different from the rest of Spain. Nothing reopens until 5:00. Not wanting to wait around until then, we returned to Casita de Cabreja. We’ll do our shopping in Madrid tomorrow.

We have been eating more like Spaniards while here. About 2:30 pm the menu del dia which consists of two plates. Because of the differences in terms and our poor Spanish, we don't always get what we think we will. Yesterday the 'premero' (first dish), was a very good mixed salad. The 'secundo' turned out to be home fries and side pork.

I, Dick), ordered coffee after the meal and didn't specify what kind. This is what I got, (note the size), but was it ever strong, more of an espresso.

We’ve paid the hotel bill and let them know we plan leave 7:30 to 8 am. Antonio, son of the owner, said he would be in to give us breakfast. We hope to get the car back in time to save 1 days rental. We’ll take a taxi to the airport Sat.

2010-06-06T13:36:00.001-07:00

a view of Casita de Cabreja

Day 17, June 6: Casita de Cabreja

This has been a very quiet day. Woke up at our usual time, had to wait until 9:00am for coffee and breakfast, then walked around the grounds for a while, took some pictures. There is a ping-pong table, bats and balls set up outside. I’ve lost some of my “skill”. In fact we both did, and spend a lot of time chasing the balls.

Dick checking out the vineyard at Casita de Cabreja

This afternoon we drove into Cuenca for lunch at the ‘El Togar” restaurant. We forgot that the servings are actually large enough for two people, so had no room left for dessert. We each had a paella, then I had a lamb dish and Dick had Iberian ham. The dinner included 1st and 2nd courses, dessert and a beverage, which included alcoholic beverages. Everything was delicious. We had a big lunch at 2 pm because the hotel would not be serving dinner this evening.

Especially for Bruce, a picture of the 'pre-dinner tapas' served at this meal. We're taking other photos of meals for you Bruce.

After dinner we did a little driving around to see if you could find a restaurant closer to the hotel. There is a service center on the highway between here and Cuenca that looks good, and we could avoid the city traffic.

We drove around the small town of Jábaga, which is even closer, but there were no stores at all there, not even on the main square. We discovered a recreation center under construction just outside the town, including a pool.

We were disappointed to discover that the pool here at the hotel has not yet been filled for the season. There seems to be only one other couple left at the hotel several couple checked out this morning - have to go to work in the morning.

2010-06-06T00:47:00.000-07:00

Day 15, Friday June 4: Madrid

We set off this morning for an optional tour of Toledo, the former capital of Spain. This old walled city was made famous by the paintings of El Greco, and even now it’s like a great open-air museum of Spanish history and art. However, we were rather disappointed in the tour.

Toledo showing the Cathedral and Mosque on the left. The river boarders 3 sides of the city.

Within the walled city was an ancient mosque and ancient Jewish synagogue, but we were not taken into either of them. However we did spend a lot of time in the Cathedral of Toledo, listening to our guide giving a boring, detailed description of the many elaborated decorations around the interior. The design and artwork of these huge building are magnificent, but we have to think that man rather than God was glorified, since only the priests and wealthy were able to get close enough to see and understand the services. Toledo is one of the many towns in Spain that claim the honour of being the home town of Don Quixote and his sidekick Pancho Panza.

Don Quixote and his sidekick Pancho Panza

Since there is no group dinner plan for this evening, we opted for a Spanish lunch, which is the main meal of the day. This way, we can have a smaller meal this evening and be able to settle down better for the night.

After lunch, we participated in a sight seeing tour of Madrid. There are a lot of beautiful buildings in this city, some dating back to the Moorish occupation. Madrid is situated 2,180 feet above sea level, the nearest thing to heaven the Spaniards say.

This is the last day of sightseeing on the tour. Most of the people will be going home tomorrow. We will be renting a car and heading for ‘La Casita de Cabreja’ at Jabaga, (near Cuenca). We will be there until next Fri. when we return to Madrid to head home 12 June. I, (Dick), must admit that after seeing Madrid’s traffic, I am a little concerned, especially about the traffic lights.

Day 16, Saturday June 6: Casita de Cabrejas

Well, we got out of Madrid with only a couple small alterations in our original plan. When we went to the reception desk of the Hotel Praga, the gentleman there looked at us as if we were slightly mad to plan to walk to Hertz car rental. We could if we really wanted too, of course, but it would take us a least half an hour, and to park the car while we colleted the luggage and checked out would cost us the 14∉ (Euros), the cost for a full day. We decided to use a taxi, and take the luggage with us. The taxi cost 4.70∉.

Madrid streets, like so much of Spain, do not run in straight lines. Many are also not marked at every intersection. Fortunately the Hertz agency was located very close to the major artery called the “anillo”, the ring road. This circles the entire city, with clearly marked exits. Unfortunately for us, the connection to the southbound lanes, which we wanted, was not marked. We ended up in the northbound, so instead of only driving past a couple of exits, we ended up going almost all the way around the city of Madrid.

We did not have specific directions to this guest house, only those to the nearby village of Jábaga. When we asked directions to la casita, one of the gentlemen said it would be better if we just followed him since he was going in the same directions. That worked very well. Later this week we’ll go into the village to take some pictures.

Windmills -old and new, On the way to Cuenca, an old stone based windmill with modern wind powered generators in the background.

We are now settled in. Lunch is not served, not is dinner Sunday evenings, so we are going to need to go into Chance, 12km away, everyday for lunch. We may look at options for this.

This is a very classy guest house. There are lots of places to sit in the shade outside and comfortable seating inside. There are two dining room. This evening a group of four guests and another group with small children were seated in one quite modern dining room while the couples were seated in a more intimately decorated room where it would be quieter. The meals were well prepared and well presented. I (Eva) am going to enjoy this. Mealtimes are typically Spanish: breakfast from 9:00am to 10:30, Dinner between 9:00pm and 10:00pm This feels strange to us, and leaves me feeling a little at loose ends between 6 and 9 pm. Mid day to a Spaniard is around 2:00pm.

2010-06-03T22:19:00.001-07:00

The outside of the Mezquit

Day 14, Thursday, June 3, Codoba and Madrid

Before leaving Cordoba we visited Mezquit, one of Islam’s most important pieces of architecture outside the Arab world.

Inside the Mezquit

When the Christians re-conquered the area in 1236, they made it into a Cathedral. The inside of the building is magnificent. A forest of columns support the vast roof and the main alter is in the center, as is common with the great cathedrals, with small chapels around the side.

Tower just outside the Mezquit

Leaving about 11:30 we drove for 1 ½ hours before our lunch break at a very modern service center, then on to Madrid and the hotel Praga, our base till the end of the tour Tomorrow.

Dick and out tour guide Vitor in the main plaza of Madrid on the way to a 'tapas' dinner

2010-06-03T22:02:00.000-07:00

Pool at the Alhambra

Day 13, Wednesday, June 2: Granada (cont.), Cordoba

Visit to the Alhambra
We arrived too late last night to do the complete sight seeing of Granada, so before we left the city, Vitor arranged a guided tour of one of the major political centres of the Medieval world this morning - the Alhambra.

Fountains at the Alhambra

Granada was the Arabs’ most treasured city. They still morn its loss in their prayers. We had local guides for this. The Alhambra itself was a major fortress, built by the Moors, surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella in January of 1492. Yes, before Columbus sailed the Atlantic. The King and Queen lived in the Alhambra of Granada for a few years, and it was here that they met Christopher Colombus. During the hot summer months, the court spent a lot of time in the “Generalife” , no, this is not an insurance company. Somewhere in the beautiful book we bought about the Alhambra we will find the explanation of the term. The days were spent in the cooler structure, but at night Isabella insisted on returning to the fortress because it was better defended. This was a subtle reminder that life was dangerous in those times.

The water system is very efficient. The system used by the Alhambra today is still gravity fed from the mountains through aqueducts of various types. Even the pools and fountains are part of the system as the edifice continues down the mountain.

Trivia: the pomegranate fruit is native to Granada.

Cordoba - After arriving at the ‘Hotel Don Juan’ we headed for the Alcázar. Wednesday there is not charge. This is a palace of the Christian Monarchs, (view http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A1zar_de_los_Reyes_Cristianos ).
We had a little difficulty finding our way to the entrance and wound up walking around a large part of the outside until we met a British couple going the other way looking for the entrance. We retraced our steps plus a little and finally got there. It is very large with beautiful gardens. Unfortunately there is no furniture or explanations in English. We didn’t climb the tower as Dick’s foot was hurting a lot. The gardens were, as usual, lovely. Heading back to the hotel we again passed beside the old defensive wall (they're hugh!), then the old Synagogue in the Jewish quarter,(it was closed) and back to the hotel for dinner at 8 pm. I (Eva) was going to wear a new navy summer dress for dinner for which I purchased a lovely scarf, but I seemed to have left it behind.

We are amazed at the olive trees. In this part of the country they cover the land as far as you can see. Spain is the major producer of olive oil in the world.

Olive trees on the way to Cordoba

2010-06-01T13:00:00.001-07:00

Day 11, Monday, May 31: Seville.

Today was one that was left unplanned by the tour company. We went on the optional tour, a drive through part of the city, then walking through the Spanish Pavilion,the Royal gardens and the Cathedral of Sevilla.

The Spanish Pavilion at the 1929 World Fair in Seville

All this took over 3 hours. I had hoped to see the álcazar, but we both had very sore legs, a condition that started a couple of days ago, and so decided to pass on it. The King of Spain and his family still use it as a winter residence becasue it is so much warmer than Madrid. We walked back to the hotel rather than taking the bus. Walking at a natural pace is much less tiring than the pokey pace of a guided tour.

On the way back we stopped for lunch at a restaurant with outdoor tables.

This afternoon, after a sleep, Dick & I went up to enjoy time at the rooftop saltwater pool.
Internet at the hotel was down so this will be posted in Granada.

Day 12, Tuesday, June 1: Jerez, Ronda, Granada

Jerez We were en route from Sevilla by 8:15. Our first stop was in Jerez, where we were given a guided tour of wine cellars of Tio Pepe & Stock.
Tio Pepe, the symbol of the Winery

The winemakers follow a practice of partially emptying a cask that has matured sufficiently, leaving it 1/3 full, then refilling it from the cask next to it, etc., until the last cask is ready to be topped up with new wine. The process takes several years. Important visitors get to autograph a barrel. No, we weren’t important enough.

At the end of the tour we were invited to taste their sherries, and, of course, spend money in the always present gift shop.

Ronda The people of the town of Ronda were the originators of bullfighting back in the 14th century. This ring was open to the public and includes a museum of bull fighting and other weapons of defense and aggression through the centuries.

Dick in the bull ring at Ronda

One of the members of the tour got lost on the way back to the bus. When she was asking directions back to the bus, she was told to turn left, instead of right. We were a bit late getting on the road again.

We’re in Granada now. We have all done some independent exploring and are looking forward to the tour of the Alhambra tomorrow before we move on to Cordoba. Dinner was at 8 pm, a little early, and it was very good. This was the first time we had to pay extra for the water on the table.

2010-05-30T13:42:00.001-07:00

Day 10 - Sun. May 30 - Salamanca-Cáceres-Seville

Last night while walking near the 'Plaza Mayor' in Salamanca there were young people break dancing. The crowd was so large that we decided not to stay and try to watch.

A little cool when we left the hotel this morning at 9 am. The drive to Caceres was uneventful, just a short pit stop at a “service center”. We arrived about noon and our guide, Victor, took us to the main square and warned us not to try to go back to the bus by another route or we would probably get lost. We picked up a very good map of the city, which would probably prevent getting lost.

Passing into the old city our first stop was the ‘Carvajal Tower and House’. Unfortunately the detailed model of the town was enclosed in plexiglass and we could not get a good photo.

Carvajal Tower with Eva to give an idea of the size.

Next we went to Plaza de San Jorge to visit ‘San Francisco Javier’s Church’. Admission was only 1 Euro and although not the largest by any means, the white walls gave a refreshing brightness and it was well worth it. Admission also included admission to the tower from which there was a good view of the town. We took several pictures of the small chapels around the sides of the church.

San Francisco Javier’s Church

On our way to the Cáceres Museum in ‘Las Veletas Palace’ there was a concert by a military band in the Plaza de San Mateo, but we didn’t linger. There were excelent displaies from the Palaeolithic age to early middle ages and we visited the cisterns built during the Muslim occupation. Unfortunately the contemporary exhibits were not open.

Heading back to the bus we stopped at the Plaza Mayor and sat in the shade to each our meat and cheese sandwich on a baguette. Allong the way we could see traces of snow on the top of some of the hills.

Back on the road to Sevelle we stopped again at a service center and had a drink, Eva a Fresca and I a beer, (about the same price). It was then on to our hotel. The room isn’t quite as nice as last night and no refrigerator, but it will do for the 2 nights we are here.

Just got back from dinner,(10:30 pm). Great 4 course meal. While in the restaurant there was a large parade passed by on the street with a couple of bands, a statue of the Virgin Mary, and a lot of the populace. We weren’t able to find out why, not even from the waitors.

2010-05-29T12:52:00.001-07:00

Day 3 - Sun. May 23 Madrid to Aranjuez-Cuenca-Valencia

Stop 1: The castle Aranjuez was originally built to provide additional defenses and easy access to the river for goods and travel. Queen Isabel adopted it as a summer palace because the location was cooler than in Madrid, although now, 5 centuries later, Aranjuez is now on the out skirst of Madrid. Travel by boat would be much more comfortable that travel by carrage over the bumpy “roads”.

The Castle at Aranjuez

One of the tour members was 15 minutes late returning to the bus to travel on.

Stop 2: Cuenca “the Hanging Village”. The original village was built up the sides and on the top of a high hill that has been truly eroded over time into steep cliff sides.Some of the buildings are definitely clinging. Personally I wouldn’t want to live there because of the danger of collapse. In the meantime the villagers are making a lot of money out of the tourist industry – at least someone is.

One of the 'Hanging Houses'

A second couple was late to the bus. Apparently they got sidetracked into a church on the way down after we were called together at the top. They were quite embarassed because they had been one of the louder complainers about the first couple. They were greeted with the suggestion that they owed everyone a round of drinks. Hopefully everyone has learned from this.

Our last stop today was at Valencia where we will be staying 2 nights. Too bad our bags hadn’t arrived for us.

Finally, a post!

2010-05-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! This is our first post on our 2010 trip to Spain. Sorry for not having something up sooner but you'll soon see why.

Long time friends Doug and Marilyn were leaving for Venice 10 minutes after us so we all drove to Toronto together. We stopped in Markham and picked up Cathy at work then drove to the airport. Cathy then took the car to her place and will pick us up on 12 June when we return.

The flight from Toronto to Brussels Friday/Saturday went smoothly, leaving on time at 6:10 pm, but we both had trouble sleeping despite a week of trying to grow accustomed to sleeping earlier by going to bed at 9 pm. There was also a very young child near us that cried for what seemed like the whole trip. We got to Brussels with about an hour till the next flight and breezed through immigration. After a long walk to the gate for the flight to Madrid there was a sign saying the gate had been changed. It seemed like that new departure gate was the other side of the airport, but we got there about 10 minutes before boarding.

In Madrid we waited for our luggage to show up on the carasol, - and waited, - and waited and finally an employee said "there aren't any more". Oops! Several others were in the same boat and we all went to file reports. (We got to file first.) She checked the computer and told us it would arrive at 4 pm and would be sent to our hotel, great. But the next morning it still wasn't there. To make a long story shorter, we finally asked them to sent it to Barcelona as we were afraid it wouldn't arrive in Valencia on time. Fortunately we had a change of clothes in our carry on knap sacks.

We arrived in Barcelona Monday, but our 2 suitcases didn't. The hotel staff called and made arrangements for it to be sent the next day When we got back to the hotel Tuesday afternoon, one case had arrived. Now we had more clothes to change into but we still had to track down the other suitcase. The girl on the front desk promised to call Wed. morning when they opened. When we arrived back at the hotel Wed. (today), she smiled and said she was just about to phone when in came our other suitcase.

The reason we haven't posted till now is that they use a different style of plug in Spain and our adaptor was in the last suitcase to arrive. We couldn't use the computer until it got here today.

Now on the the trip itself.

Our stop in Madrid was quite brief. We met the other members of the tour on Saturday evening, got some very important information from our tour director, (like where and when to meet the bus the next morning), and had dinner together. We have enjoyed meeting many new people, from all over the world: France, England, Scotland, United State, Canada, Philippeans, Australia and New Zealand. -- a very cosmopolitan mix! There is also a wide range in ages.

It's now 10 pm. We want to get this posted, and we need to be up by 6:30 tomorrow moning in order to get an early start on the road to Pamplona. Tomorrow night we get to enjoy a tapas dinner, and would hate to miss it because of a late arrival. We'll give you details and post some picture in another day or two.

Off to Spain

2010-05-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

For a number of reasons we didn't go to Honduras this year as we have been doing for the past several years. So we decided that it was time to see something of Europe, starting with Spain.

We are scheduled to fly from Pearson Airport at 6:10 pm on 21 May. We first fly to Brussels and then on to Madrid. First is a 15 day "Grand Tour of Spain" during which we will visit 19 cities and cover about 3500 km. Returning to Madrid on 4 June, we rent a car on the 5th and head for "La Casita de Cabraja" near the town of Jábaga, about 160 km SE of Madrid. This is called a 'casa ruales' (rural house), and we have a reservation for 6 days. On 11 June we return to Madrid and stay the night at the "Hotel Don Luis" near the airport. Our flight home leaves at 6:45 am, again through Brussels. The trip home will take 11 3/4 hours and we arrive in Toronto at 12:30 am EST.

With the volcano eruptions in Iceland we are a little nervous but believe that if we don't get to Madrid for the start of the tour on the 22nd, we won't be the only ones and the tour company, Cosmos, will probably have arrangements for catching up to them. If not we have the schedule and we speak enough Spanish that we feel comfortable taking a bus to wherever to catch up with the group.

You can check out the tour and where we will be going at < http://www.ruba.com/tour/Cosmos-Grand_Tour_Of_Spain#!tab=0&step=3 >.

You can check out tripos in past years by clicking on the relevant "Archive" to the right of this post.

2009-12-06T05:52:00.000-08:00

Every 2 or 3 months we publish "¿Que Pasa?". a newsletter on the 'El Paraiso Project'. You can view them on the SAMS Canada website under 'Mission Partners/El Paraiso Project' and click on "Que Pasa Newsletter". Below is the information from the Nov. newsletter. You can subscribe by sending an email to evab@kos.net
.

¿Que Pasa?
News from the El Paraiso Project

November, 2009

Pilgrimage 2010 Update

Because we (Dick & Eva) will not be leaving for
Honduras until mid February, 2010, the deadline
for Registration has been changed. The new date
is Jan. 1, 2010. This gives you a chance to put it on
your Christmas wish list. The cost will be between
$650.00 and $675.00, plus your travel to and from
Honduras. Contact SAMS Canada at
sams_canada@on.aibn.com or Dick & I as soon as
possible for the registration package.

Hugh Rowlinson, who took the Pilgrimage last
March, wrote the attached testimony to encourage
participation in a Pilgimage to Honduras. Please
pass it on to others who might be interested.

Crop Report

We recently received a news letter from SAMS US
Missionary, Mrs. Jeannie Loving. She wrote to
report that the weather in Honduras has been good
this year. As a result, both the corn was excellent,
and the bean crops looking good. Praise God for
this!

Update on Mauricio

Mauricio Zuniga, son of Hilda Lagos and Hector
Zuniga remains very ill with cancer in Spain, too sick
to be flown home. Thanks to some anonymous
donors, Hilda and Hector were able to fly to Spain
to visit him for a few days. Please continue to pray
for this family.

Moto-taxis are newto Honduras

¿Qué Pasa?

Welcome
Rudy Vasquez

Thanks to the generosity of one of our El Paraiso
supporters, and in agreement with Bishop Lloyd
Allan, the Board of Directors has been able to add
Lay Minister Rudy Vasquez to our sponsored
pastors. Rudy lives in Tegucigalpa, but the two
communities in which he ministers are each about a
one hour bus ride outside the city, in opposite
directions. The rural community of Redentón is
north of Tegucigalpa, on a very steep mountainside.
When we visited it with the Pilgrimage, our guide
had us drive up the mountain on the main paved
highway, in order to drive down the steep dirt track
into the village. We left by driving on down that
same track to return to the highway at a lower point.

Typical home in Redentón

Rudy started his seminary studies this fall, along
with the many others who have been awaiting this
new series of instruction. He truly loves the Lord,
and is enthusiastic about his calling.

Rev. Maria Consuelo Cartagena de Arevalo, his
Dean and Vicar, told us that the people of Redentón
had been asking for the establishment of a mission
there, but she had been reluctant because of the
shortage of pastors. Rudy Vasquez volunteered 2
years ago to minister without pay, and has been
doing this ever since . They are both grateful for
this support.

The community of Las Moritas, where Rudy also
ministers, is south of Tegucigalpa. We have have
not yet had an opportunity to visit there, so are
unable to give you any information.

PRAYER CONCERNS

< For the communities of El Pedregal,
Guaimaca, Talanga, El Paraiso, Danli,
Yuscaran, and Oropoli, that they will
grow in spiritual maturity and that their
needs will be met.

< For the Deans, MRP Dagoberto Chacon,
MRP María Consuelo Cartagena, and
MRP Alejandro Chirinos: for spiritual
strength and wisdom as they go about
their work of leading and training their
clergy.

< For every member of the pastoral teams:
for spiritual strength and compassion as
they minister to the members of their
congregations, and that the Lord will
bless them for their work for Him.

< For Rev. Hilda’s son, Mauricio, ill in
Spain with cancer.

< For the raising up of more supporters in
Canada.

< For the Pilgrimage 2010 now in the
firmly in the planning stages.

2009-11-20T04:38:00.000-08:00

It's been some time since our last post, mainly because we're not in Honduras and I haven't had a lot to post. The political situation in Honduras is still not resolved but the elections are still scheduled for the end of Nov. and the US has recently announced that they will recognize the winner. I have difficulty understanding the thinking of those countries that say they will not since the candidates have been scheduled for a year and according to the Honduran constitution, Mell Zelaya is no longer eligible to serve as president. Also the current interm president, Micheletti, cannot be added to the ballot.

We are confident that things will have returned to normal by the end of Feb., the time we are planning to lead the 8 day pilgrimage to Honduras for those who wish to check out the conditions in some of the poorer sections of Central Honduras and meet some of the people.

Consider joining us. Of course, we will not proceed with the Pilgrimage if we consider things have not settled down sufficently.

2009-08-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

Latest on the current problems in Honduras from Rev. Kunz, Director of El Hogar Childrens Ministries in Honduras

11 August, 2009
Today I got caught briefly in traffic backed up because of a demonstration. I was able to wind through some dirt roads and get to my apartment. I gave a call to Raul to warn him to stay away from Blvd. Fuerzas Armadas. He answered and thanked me and then said, "Too late! I am already stuck here!" I was trying to repay him for his warning two days ago not to go near the university, where a violent confrontation between police and demonstrators was breaking out. These little warnings from friends, coworkers, taxi drivers, and neighbors have gotten to be a regular part of coping with the continuing unrest here in Tegucigalpa. If we know where the demonstrations will be, we can pretty much avoid them, and go on with our regular work.

There does continue to be disruption here in Honduras. In my experience, most people just want to go on with life, but there is a core of people who are becoming increasingly aggressive in making sure things do not go back to normal. They continue to block roads, deface buildings (including churches), break windows, throw rocks, and even burn cars. Yesterday they targeted one of the cell phone companies. One of the unions involved has called a strike which will last indefinitely and involves the hospital for the poor. The military is now helping staff that hospital and protect those who are seeking care there. A group of nurses has announced that they will defy the strike and continue to take care of patients. (I still do not understand the logic of denying medical care to the poor as a political weapon for someone who claims to be their advocate.)

Claudia had to go to court the other day regarding one of our students. She told me she had talked with one of the teachers who was demonstrating. The teacher told Claudia that she did not want to be there, but that if she did not show up, she would lose her job. I suspect she is not the only one involved in these daily marches that is less than enthused.

Adding to the burden on parents, who have seen their children miss much of the past month of classes because of the striking teachers, the health department has closed all classes for eight days as a response to the spread of H1N1.

Meanwhile, as daily demonstrations continue, there are some people marching both toward Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula. Tuesday is the day they anticipate arriving, and large demonstrations are planned. Apparently the groups marching are not as large as the demonstrators had hoped, but there is still a significant number.

The small union of weather forecasters for the airports (90 employees) has also announced a strike in support of Zelaya's return. Flight regulations prohibit flights over a certain size from landing without a current weather report, so this has temporarily grounded all international flights into and out of Honduras.

Meanwhile, the "peaceful militia" Zelaya was forming in Nicaragua has pretty much disbanded. Zelaya, after announcing that he was staying in Nicaragua to be with "his people" and help train this force, has left the area. He recently traveled to Mexico, and now also has trips scheduled to Ecuador and Brazil.

In an interesting development, the United States, which had avoided calling this situation a "military coup", which would have automatically put sanctions into place, has decided that it does not qualify as a "coup", and humanitarian aid will not be stopped. In addition, in a letter to Senator Lugar, the State Department stated that it was not supporting any one individual, but only a return to democratic order. Both Zelaya and Chavez are angry about this statement, and very critical of the Obama administration because of it.

In another interesting move, the Organization of American States has agreed to send a delegation to Honduras to meet with representatives of society here and work for a peaceful and negotiated resolution. Up until now, no foreign body has been willing to engage with this current government, arguing that they were not legitimate, and therefore could not carry out negotiations. This is, I believe, a step forward.

2009-08-10T05:03:00.000-07:00

The political situation in Honduras has been weighing heavily on our minds. the world's governments seem to be working on very different information than we have through our sources in Honduras. Recently the US appears to be softening their stance and perhaps taking the first steps to reducing it. In any event, here are three posts from the director of the Episcopal school for homeless children in Tegucigalpa. They paint a quite different picture from what we get through the newscasts in Canada.

From Rev. Rich Kunz
Executive Director, El Hogar Ministries, Honduras

3 August 2009
Those following the news in Honduras already know that the situation here is not resolved yet. Zelaya had put out a call to supporters to gather in Nicaragua to form a "peaceful militia" to escort him back to power. Several hundred folks answered that call, most of them poor farmers. They are doing exercises and learning to march, living on very little food and with scant shelter. These are people who believe that Zelaya is committed to helping the poor, and have made great sacrifices to join him. They have no weapons, and are a far cry from the well armed revolutionary groups that are still present in places like Columbia.

Zelaya, meanwhile, is no longer staying with them. He is back in Managua, preparing for a trip to Mexico this week.

Demonstrations continued on a daily basis last week, with one of them devolving into violence. Quite a few people sustained injuries, and one man, a teacher, was shot and eventually died. Once again, there is argument about how he was shot. The army claimed to be using rubber bullets, and this death was from a "real" one. On his way home from that teacher's funeral, another teacher was stabbed to death. This appears to be have been done by the gangs, however. The police now have a representative who is meeting with the demonstrators to come to agreement about the nature of the protests in order to prevent further violence from occurring. The government has announced it will no longer tolerate vandalism or the prolonged blocking of roadways. The demonstrators, many of whom are from one of the teachers' unions, have announced two protest walks. One group will start in San Pedro Sula, and one in Tegucigalpa. Each group will walk to the opposite city, a trip that will probably take at least five days. They have promised to walk on the side of the road, and not down the main roadway.

The U.S. suspended the diplomatic visas of four government leaders, and Spain has announced that it will not recognize the government that results from the November elections, since the elections are being held by an illegitimate government. A lot of foreign aid has been canceled, and the road blocks and the dearth of international visitors have left the country more impoverished than ever.

The present President has asked Arias to send a representative to Honduras to listen to the different groups here, including church officials, business people, human rights activists, etc., so that a more informed solution to the crisis can be found.

Quite a few people are coming to the conclusion that no matter what happens, it will be a tough six months for Honduras. No one believes that Zelaya is pushing so hard to return just to serve out the last few months of a lame duck presidency. They believe if he returns, no matter what he signs, he will continue to push hard for constitutional changes and closer relations with Chavez, and that he will use the groups that are demonstrating now to pressure the country into going along with those things. On the other hand, if he does not return, the diplomatic and economic sanctions that have already begun will just get worse.

There is lots more, of course, but I write this to give you a general idea of the background in which we are operating. It is also important to say that often it feels like things are totally normal. The level of protest activity has fallen considerably, and most Hondurans are just trying to go about their lives. Last night Barbra and I went out for our Sunday evening ice cream at the Baskin Robbins across from the Presidential Palace. The place was crowded with families and couples. There were a few soldiers patrolling across the street, but even that close to the center of government, things seemed pretty routine.

>>>>>>>>> (Information on life at the school omitted)

So, we begin another week, hopeful that a peaceful and just solution can be found to the current crisis, and thankful for all God's blessings on us in the midst of it! Please keep up your prayers!

July 29, 2009
The focus of the political crisis in Honduras has really shifted away from Tegucigalpa for the time being. Zelaya has set up a kind of headquarters in a little mountain town in Nicaragua, close to the border, and says he is gathering supporters for his next step. The towns in the department of El Paraiso are feeling the impact of this, laboring under a curfew that some days has amounted to a type of house arrest. There are stories about people hiking through the woods to join Zelaya, and sleeping with little food or shelter on both sides of the border. Depending on the sources, there are either thousands, or about three hundred, of these supporters.

Here in the city things are settling into a routine. Every day a group, largely composed of the teachers who have still not returned to their classrooms, forms and then marches to a designated point in the city. Yesterday it was Mall Multiplaza. The marches have been largely peaceful, although every day some tires get burned, and the demonstrators leave behind buildings defaced with graffiti.

I had a blessedly normal day yesterday. I was able to drive out to the Institute without any incident, and saw that classes were functioning very nicely. There were two women from an agency that offers technical assistance to schools, and I got to meet them and hear about some of the curriculum materials they had available. (They were very impressed, BTW, with our Institute!) At El Hogar things were bubbling along very nicely, with the children all in their classes. I did not get to the farm yesterday, but I am hoping to visit there tomorrow. They are far enough outside the town of Talanga that they have had very little disruption during this past month.

Politically there is a lot going on behind the scenes. The congress and the supreme court are looking carefully at the agreement proposed by Arias. An investigation is underway to determine the meaning of the mysterious list of organizers and dollar amounts, along with the signed receipts. The US has revoked the diplomatic passports of four prominent government officials. (Apparently their tourist visas are still valid.) Zelaya's wife, having passed on the offer the military made to fly her to her husband, is still trying to journey across the border. The economic costs of road blockages and canceled aid and closed borders are being tallied. Restaurants, taxis, hotels, and shops are all feeling financial strain.

But Hondurans are very resilient, and are doing their best to carry on with life as normal.

Once again, I am grateful to our dedicated staff, who have managed to hold normal classes at all three centers almost every day. When I compare that with the prolonged closure of the public schools, I am doubly grateful to our staff, who see this not as just a job, but as a ministry in which they share. Please continue to hold us in your prayers, and pray for a just and peaceful resolution to this crisis.

22 July, 2009
At our staff meeting yesterday, the directors were joking that last week there were only three educational institutions open in all of Honduras; El Hogar, St. Mary's Institute, and the Agricultural School. It is not so far from the truth. The teachers' unions here in Honduras have devoted themselves in the past few weeks to demonstrating on behalf of the deposed president, and have provided much of the person-power for those demonstrations. Many people here feel that it is one thing to strike for better pay or educational conditions, but a very different thing to strike in order to press a political position. They feel that the children and young people of Honduras have been used as pawns in a political power struggle. Our teachers have shown their dedication and resourcefulness in the last few weeks, consistently showing up and providing an education for our students. I have talked with some of them, and their political opinions cover the full range, but whatever their individual views, they are following through on their commitment to our children and young people.

This week, for the first time, we are suspending some classes. The Institute is located off of one of the main roads in Honduras, and that road has been shut down repeatedly by demonstrators. Those organizing for the return of Zelaya have announced a general strike and a shutdown of the country for Thursday and Friday this week. We decided together that we do not want to put either teachers or young people at risk by trying to get them to the Institute those days. This afternoon, when classes have finished, those students who live close by will go to their homes for the weekend. Those who live far away will stay at the Institute with a skeleton staff. A few who have nowhere to go will come and stay at El Hogar. At El Hogar, the teachers that need to travel are being invited to temporarily move into the volunteer house, so they do not have to be out on the streets. Classes there will continue as normal. We are still in discussion about the best course for the Agricultural School. They are more isolated, and the teachers stay there anyway, so it is not as much of an issue. But we do not want anyone having to travel during this time.

It is hard to say what the next few days will bring. The general strike and shut down which has been announced is of concern. I have heard from a few people to avoid going out on the streets during such a strike, as the potential for violence is real. This is especially so if, in fact, outside agitators have been brought in to provoke confrontations. So far, the military and police have been remarkable restrained in their responses to protests. I have seen them circulating through the crowds, greeting people, smiling, and enjoying snacks they bought from the local vendors. One thing that Hondurans are clear about is the right to peaceful protest, and this present government, although under great pressure from within and without, has pledged to preserve that right. (This is in contrast to what Zelaya continues to tell the world - that there s currently a repressive bloodbath going on in Honduras.)

There are conflicting reports about whether negotiations are on or off, whether Zelaya is returning today or Friday or once there is a settlement, and about almost everything else. Lots of posturing is taking place by both sides. I think the one certainty is that there is a lot of talking going on behind the scenes. Late last night the current government approved a budget (something never produced by Zelaya), which I take as a good sign. I think Zelaya will be eventually returned to office, but under constraints, such as having to conform to the budget which has been approved.

Zelaya continues to indulge in colorful rants. He claimed yesterday that he would return today, by a route he would not divulge. He said, "Only God can stop me now, and he will not, because He is not on the side of the coup mongers! God is on my side, and my return will be spectacular!" He is also claiming that the full sized statue of himself, and the twice-life-sized oil portrait, were not his doing, but were gifts. There was an interview with the artist who did both, who affirmed that Zelaya was, in fact, the one who commissioned both works, but that he still owed money on both.

Humor is starting to catch up with this situation. One email is a proposed farewell tribute, thanking Zelaya for what he has accomplished. It mentions, among other things, that before him most Hondurans had never read the Constitution, and now they have. It also thanks him for bringing together, for the first time, the Roman Catholic and Evangelical churches, who put out a joint statement in opposition to his policies.

After our staff meeting we stopped by some of the El Hogar classes. The Prep students were working on learning mechanical drawing as a way to teach angles. Jose Arturo had his English class learning to tell time. Another teacher had her spelling classes out on the sidewalk, divided into teams, writing the words she called out with sidewalk chalk. Also, yesterday was the birthday of Dona Tona, who has been the cook at El Hogar for 30 years. We took her out for some good Chinese food.

Please cherish, and do not take for granted, the peace you enjoy in the US and Canada! And keep us in your prayers.

July 20, 2009
No villain need be. Passions spin the plot,
We are betrayed by what is false within.

George Meredith

As we enter the fourth week of the political struggle here in Honduras, there is still no resolution in sight. The weaknesses and oversights and self-interest of all sides are becoming more obvious as time goes on. The present government, of course, was wrong to simply remove the president by force in such a theatrical way, without affording him due process. This method of confronting his illegal actions cost them the support of the world community. The Organization of American States and other world bodies were wrong to cast this as just another military coup, and demand Zelaya's unconditional restitution, as if he could simply step back into office as if nothing had happened, and as if Zelaya held no responsibility for the actions leading up to his ouster. Their stances had less to do with the welfare of Honduras than with their own political fortunes. Much better if, at the beginning, there could have been a more measured response, calling both sides to account for their violations of due process.

You have probably read that the talks broke down yesterday with no agreement reached. Arias had presented a proposal. Apparently some good discussion came out of this, but without an agreement being reached. Zelaya's side claimed that he agreed to the proposal, although in a news conference he himself rejected two key conditions:
that he form a "reconciliation" government made of participants from all sides, and that he desist from trying to change the constitution. The present government has rejected Zelaya's return to power with amnesty for all political crimes committed. They want him either out of power, or willing to be put on trial for what he has done. They also want any agreement to go through both the supreme court and the congress, since what is at stake is the constitution. They argue that an extra-constitutional process is not the answer to a constitutional crisis.

Arias has asked for three days to meet with the present government's delegation, and hopes to restart bilateral talks on Wednesday. Zelaya's delegation has declared that the talks are over, and that he is planning his return to Honduras regardless.

His supporters in Honduras are meeting today to plan their strategy for the week. Their announced intent is to block roadways, paralyze commerce, and "shut down" the country on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, investigations continue to uncover misuse of funds, etc. by Zelaya's government. I must admit that in a country where one out of four children is suffering from malnutrition, and the hospital has not been able to pay its electric bill, it breaks my heart when I read of the millions of dollars spent illegally. I have a huge pothole in front of my building (David Letterman jokes about a pothole so big it has its own convenience store.) which has grown in size and depth for months. (The neighbors have piled large, brightly covered objects in it to warn oncoming motorists! I recently found out that also in my neighborhood there was a phone center set up to push the illegal referendum. This operated for over a year with government monies supplies illegally, and had fifteen full time employees making calls. A tiny fraction of that money could have bought some asphalt to fill our pothole.

Perhaps the funniest thing to be uncovered so far is the life-sized fiberglass statue of Zelaya that he himself commissioned to be set with four other similar statues of great Honduran heroes.

Although people are trying to live their lives as normally as possible, and there are times I have to shake myself to remind myself all this is real, the stress is wearing people down. The demand for psychiatric services has tripled since this began. This has been disruptive enough that business owners are suffering, and people are in turn losing their jobs or seeing decreases in their incomes. Parents are struggling to take care of children that would normally be in school. (That includes the El Hogar staff, many of whom have children in the public school system.)

Our classes have been disrupted because teachers cannot get to their jobs. Our volunteer program, which provides relationships for our children and teachers, valuable person-power, potential new sponsors, and financial support, is on hold. We are eager for a resolution, but live with anxiety because it is so close to turning violent.

So, each day we set out to do as much as we can on that day. Young Cristian, who had surgery just a week ago, is back in class, looking very hardy and healthy. On Saturday, I stopped and saw some of our students helping some of their elders to learn to read as part of our adult literacy program. Other children were playing soccer, or launching homemade parachutes made of plastic bags with sticks tied to them. Others were listening to an impromptu guitar concert by one of our teachers. Some of the children were able to go out to a park yesterday, since demonstrations were on hold for a day.

I ask your continued prayers for us in the week ahead.
Rev. Rich Kunz, Executive Director, Honduras

2009-03-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Wed., 18 Mar. - The fire apparently died overnight and we could not see any indication of it from this distance.

More water problems. We had not had water from the city for over a week and people were starting to run out, us included. Thank goodness for the well that ‘Living Water International’ drilled here a couple of years ago. I filled the tank, (gravity feed system), from the cistern on Tuesday. Half way through Wed. morning there was no more water. It appears a tap someplace has been left on but I can’t find it and I don’t want to use up all the water in the cistern filling the tank just to have it drain away. We will turn on the pump to fill containers when we need water.

Tuesday afternoon there were some booths set up at this end of the football field next door. The city was sponsoring a presentation against violence. In an effort to attract people they had some giant puppets ‘dancing’. Later there were speeches and music, rather pleasant and not too loud. They wrapped things up about 8 pm.

Giant dancing puppets at the city’s presentation

Things seem to be slowing down as we approach the end of our stay and we are looking forward now to getting home and seeing our family

Thurs., 19 Mar. - Eva has had a sore throat for the last 3 days and has been finding it difficult to teach. We were able to get some menthol throat tablets today that are helping.

These “Mototaxis” have started to appear around El Paraiso. They are operated like a motorcycle and have a motorcycle engine. They can carry 2 adult passengers and are quite cheap to hire with driver.

Fri., 20 Mar. -This morning we went to Cristo Rey to meet Dean Alejandro and Jeannie, then on to the deanery meeting in Jacaleapa. Alejandro told us that there are about 6000 people, mostly single mothers, in the Danli area who are now out of work. The church will do what they can, however most of their members are from the poorer groups who are themselves struggling

A common sight, increasing as ‘Semana Santa’ (Holy Week), approaches is the police, with military backup, checking vehicles for registration and violations, particularly impaired driving

Eva’s last class was this evening, those who could already carry on a conversation in English. We now have to clean everything up and get ready to leave.

I don’t know what happened, but this afternoon when we got back, we had water in the taps from the tank. I don’t think I’ll question it any further.

2009-03-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

One of the chairs for Jacalapa purchased with the donation from Western Canada

Sun., 16 Mar. - they have been working on the sewer installation all week. First they dug the trench and put in the pipes, then filled it in. Then they dough holes over the pipes they had just covered up to build the junction/clean-outs. Then they dug a trench from each house to put in a connecting pipe and covered it in. Then they re-dug a hole at the end of the each pipe by and in front of the house to build a brick and concrete connection box which will later be connected to the household system, replacing the septic tank. I haven’t been able to figure out why they didn’t do all the digging and lay all the pipe at once then cover it in leaving only the holes where they were going to build the junction/clean-outs and connection boxes. At least it created a lot of jobs in this time of higher than the normal high unemployment.

During the Pilgrimage, Eva (in English) shares the Gospel reading with Rev. Dean Alejandro (in Spanish)

We ran out of water in the holding tank Sat. morning but decided not to fill it until Sunday as we were afraid it might be drained with all the people expected Sat. night. The cistern is also low and we don’t expect water from the city until the end of construction on this street.

Yesterday we took the bus downtown to meet Jeannie and collect the refund we were able to get from the Hotel Kyros. We were still charged more than quoted last year and didn’t get the 25% discount, probably because there was only one room used. We then had lunch, did some shopping and came back.

Last night, Sat., there was a concert at the church. Music and vocalists were provided by several churches in the area. It was very loud, too loud for me so I sat outside on the balcony as the sound was just as loud in the apartment. Eva and Jeannie joined me after about an hour. They had a very good turnout. Tickets were 20 L and they were selling food and beverages. I expect they did well financially.

The ‘Focon’ or wood stove used by the restaurant where we ate breakfast in Yuscaran.

This afternoon I noticed a little smoke on a hillside 2 or 3 miles away. This evening we could first see a glow and as the fire proceeded up the far side of the hill it got redder until now, at 7:30 pm, we can see the orange of the flames and the visible progression up the ridge. It’s too far away to get a good photo.

2009-03-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

Tues., 10 Mar. -

The garden of the Humuya Inn from the dining area.

The Humuya Inn is beautiful. All the reception people speak good English and have been well trained by Scott, the American manager. The rooms are spacious, the beds comfortable, and there is free internet, (with 3 computers for guest use just off the garden/restaurant area). About 5:30 pm on Thursday we arrive back at the hotel. Long term friends of us all, Josefina Santos and Claudia Zuniga were invited to dinner and we had a wonderful visit.

Josefina Santos, Claudia Zuniga and Hugh Rowlinson

Friday we went first to the Project Office to meet with Sandra Herrera and her assistants to learn of the activities of ‘Anglidesh’ (Anglican Agency for the Development of Honduras). Sandra spoke of the Credit Union, aid to small communities to improve life and sanitation by helping build toilets, efficient ‘fogons’ (wood burning stoves), cement floors in houses, and ‘pilas’ (water storage tanks). Another important project is helping parishes with plans for fund raising businesses. These businesses are designed to not only help the parish become self supporting but to help people in the community. Anglidesh provides assistance in preparing a business plan, startup funds, and management training and oversight through the first 3 years of the project.

Bob buys bread from one of the students

After our meeting we dropped into the class downstairs on making specialty breads. We were warmly received and had an opportunity to buy some of the breads for a later snack. Delicious!

Next we headed about 30 km north of Tegucigalpa to the small village of ‘Reventón’ where Lay Pastor Rudy Velasquez serves.

Bob and Rudy eat lunch in the home in Reventon

They meet in the home of a very poor family who cannot afford to send their children to school. On special days, when everyone shows up, like Easter, they hold services in the local school. We shared our picnic lunch with the family.

On to our next stop at ‘Santa Cruz, Arriba’. This is the church where Rev. Gladys Velasques, (now in El Pedregal), was ordained last year and we had the opportunity to be her lay sponsors.

One of the girls displays the cushion cover she is working on.

They have a successful project hand embroidering table cloths, cushion covers and alter linen. Twice a year an American comes to collect the output and take it to the US for sale.

A street in Villa Nueva. The road is about 45 degrees and required low gear and brakes to descend.

Our next visit was to the East of Tegucigalpa in the community of ‘Villa Nueva’. This community is built on the side of a hill and has been the site of a congregation for several years. They have over the years built a large facility attached to the church with classrooms, kinder garden, kitchen, dormitory, workshops and meeting rooms. The community itself is very poor and the majority of residents are either unemployed or earn very little. This has caused the church to have to suspend many of the programs until they can find more funding.

Returning to the hotel about 4:30 we were able to have a rest before we met Rev. Dean Maria Consuelo and her husband for dinner at the hotel and a final wrap up of out visit to the Deanery for Francisco Morizan.

Saturday morning we left the hotel about 9 am for the airport. We left early because we had to make final arrangements for our flight home on 27 March and the TACA Airline counter is closed from 10 am to 5 pm on Sat. While Eva arranged that, I turned in the vehicle. Bob and Hugh went through security about 10:30 and we headed over to Patty’s home. After dropping off our things we walked over to the ‘Mall Multiplaza’ for shopping and lunch.

I will be in contact with ‘National Car Rental’ representative when I return on 26 Mar. regarding settlement of the damage to Bob and Ann-Marie’s clothes from what appeared to be battery acid someone had spilled on the seat before we rented the vehicle

For supper at Patty’s we ordered pizzas. There were 9 of us, (4 teens, 3 adults and 2 children), so we ate a lot. We were very grateful to be able to stay in town the night rather than have to drive back to Danli then return to Teguc. Sunday to pick up SAMS US missionary Jeannie Loving who was returning from 3 weeks in the US.

Sunday morning we met Jeannie’s flight and went to the ‘Cascade Mall’ for lunch and so she could stock up on groceries. Then back to Danli.

Monday Eva had classes in the afternoon and evening.

City workers installing the sewer junction in front of the church. They build a round tube with bricks then plaster with concrete.

City workers have been installing sewer lines in the area. Monday afternoon a backhoe arrived outside the church and proceeded to dig a large hole. They had to put in a junction where 2 streets joined. The job continued into Tuesday. It was interesting to note that practical every schoolchild on the way home ducked under the safety warning tape, (which didn’t survive the night), to have a look.

2009-03-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

Mon., 2 Mar. - Sunday we had Bob, Hugh, and Anna Maria, (the Peace Corps worker who will be translating), to our place for breakfast. We had had trouble finding a restaurant that we knew would be open for Sun. breakfast. We served a ‘plato tipico’ consisting of scrambled eggs, refried beans, queso fresco, (fresh cheese), avocado, tortillas and coffee. We had planned on fresh cantalope but when I cut it open, it was green inside even though it appeared ripe from the outside. Fortunately we had some pineapple juice in the refrigerator. We visited, got acquainted, then went to Cristo Rey for the morning service.

One of the children in Jacaleapa sitting at one of the tables in one of the chairs donated from western Canada through SAMS

After a picnic lunch with Dean Alejandro and discussions re the deanery, we went to Jacaleapa for an afternoon service. Following the service, one of the congregation made an excellent presentation to the congregation and us re proposed projects that they felt they could accomplish. These projects were to provide income for both the church and those working on them. The proposals will now be submitted to ‘Anglidesh’, (Anglican Agency For The Development Of Honduras), for approval and seed money. Eva then presented to the congregation the Sunday School chairs and tables that had been bought with part of a donation from western Canada. We will also be making presentations in Oropoli and Talanga later in the week.

Today we met at 8:30 and headed for Juteapa. This town to the west of Danli is one of the central locations selected to open a preaching point this year. Unfortunately, the local church leader, Yenia Banegas, the public school principal, had to be in Danli today so we didn’t get to meet her. However, we were able to tour the school and talk extensively with the vice principal, learning a lot about the town, the school, and the children. For instance, she mentioned that 90% of the students leaving primary school go on to high school, quite a high percentage here. Juteapa was very hard hit by the rains in Oct. with extensive crop loss and flooding of homes.

We then went back through Danli and south to San Matias, another location planned for opening a preaching point this year. The local leader here, Alicia Valerio has been a member of the church for several years and has just completed the pre seminary training. We visited her in her home and learned about her the community and their plans for starting a congregation.

From San Matias we went to El Paraiso city to visit Rev. Deacon Hilda Lagos and her church ‘La Resurrection’. Hilda, a long time friend of us all, had a delicious chicken and rice dinner waiting for us. Following dinner we talked about the parish and their plans. We then did a quick tour of the area she covers, visiting the community of El Rodeo, (1 ½ km away), and the area surrounding the site for a proposed second area church, San Alerio, (2 ½ km in another direction). The church already has the land and will need about $5000 US to put up a building.

Arriving back in Danli we split up agreeing to meet 1 ½ hours later for supper. When we got back together we discovered that there is a problem with the SUV we rented. Bob has had 2 pair of new pants disintegrate in the seat, and Anna Maria had a pair of jeans begin to rot in the seat. Both of them had been sitting in the back seat. We compared notes and checked the car to find there has apparently been something like battery acid spilled on the seat and it was affecting the cotton pants but not the material of the seat which is probably polypropylene. I notified National and will straighten it out when we turn the car in. In the meantime I bought large heavy duty plastic bags to cover the seat and will put a blanket over them.

Wed.,4 Mar. - Tuesday morning I woke up with diaorrhea. I took some medication but continued frequent visits and took more. Things finally settled down and we headed downtown to pick up Bob and Hugh. Then off to Yuscaran where we checked into the Colonial Hotel. This is a rather large colonial building facing the main square and was renovated 2 years ago. It is in excelent condition. Not as luxurious as the Kyros Hotel in Danli, the 4 rooms are rather plain but in good repais and very clean. The biggest drawback is the bathroom door, actually the lack thereof. Not even a curtain. But the showers are hot, which we don’t have at the apt. in Danli.

After checking in we drove to Oropoli. There were several others gong to so Dean Dagoberto drove as well. We met Rev. Deacon Lourdes and her husband Heriberto, (pastor of Oropoli), at the house they use to hold services. Over the next half hour other members of the congregation drifted in and they finally decided to get started with the meeting. I was beginning to feel quite ill and went to lie down in the SUV. At the meeting the needs, dreams, and plans for the church were discussed. These included renting a location to set up as a church or, preferably, buying land and building. Another plan is to conduct a training course in electricity. The government will supply an instructor if the church can provide a location and about $500 for supplies. They can train about 30 students. Following the meeting, lunch was served. This was a typical meal of rice, potato salad and a little beef with, of course, tortillas and soft drinks.

Members of the congregation in Oropoli with the Hymn books donated through SAMS

Before we left we had the pleasure of preseting to Lay Pastor Eriberto 20 hymn books. They are a collection of 749 songs in this collection published by the Dioces of Honduras. This was the second part of the donation from western Canada.

After lunch we returned to Yuscaran, arriving about 4. We then took it easy until the meeting we had with some of the people of the Yuscaran church to hear about their needs, plans and dreams. Following this we went to the restaurant next door for Honduran Tacos, m m good.

Tuesday night was unseasonably cold. We had only 1 blanket and were barely able to keep warm. The 4 of us went to ‘Comodor Lilas’ for breakfast where we ran into Bruce and Jane Ergood from the US. We have worked with them for several years. They have been conducting workshops for the health care workers in the deanery and Bruce has been teaching at the university in El Zamarano.

After breakfast we went to the towns of Moroceli, Cacao, and Ojo de Agua were we met the priest or pastor and learned of their plans and dreams. In Morocoli we also inspected the property they are purchasing, probably Friday. It already has a large concrete block building on it which will make an excellent church, a smaller building which will house the computer lab they plan to establish, and is surrounded by a 10 ft wall for security, (a big thing here). All this is costing only $25,000 US and the money has just arrived at the deanery office in Tegucigalpa. The son of the Priest, Carlos, Alvarada is a computer technician and they have made arrangements of 15 computers. At Ojo we had lunch before the meeting.

Bob Burns joins Rev. Dean Dagaberto and Rev. Raphael in an impromptu sing-along at Corral Quemado

Leaving Ojo we went to Corral Quemado, a favorite community of many former visitors to this area. Corral now has electricity so no more generator at night if a group is staying there. Rev. Rafael, Dean Dagoberto’s brother is still in charge there. Before and after the meeting Dago and Rafael treated us to short concerts of music and song, first with the 3 string base and guitar and after with Rafael on the violin and Dago on the guitar. We had planned to visit Rancho Obispo, another of Rafael’s churches, but we were all getting weary and there was little to be gained so we returned to Yuscaran.

We got back early enough that Eva and I were able to get to the Credit Union where we have had an account for 3 years, and close the account which we no longer need. We could also feel it cooling rapidly as the day ended and obtained extra blankets for the night.

At 6:30 we met again with Dean Daboberto and translator Anna Mariea for dinner and a final wrapup and disussion of the deanery’s priorites.

Thurs., 5 Mar. - We are now in Tegucigalpa, staying at the beautiful Humuya Inn. We left Yuscaran at about 8 am and headed for Ojo de Agua were we were to meet Dean Maria Conduelo and Maria del Carmen who will translate. We first went to Villa Sanfrancisco and met Rev. Gladys Valasquez, a long time friend who we had the honour of sponsoring at her ordination as priest last year. Gladys showed us the new ‘Coporativa’, (Credit Union) opened in Feb. by the church. They are a new branch of the church’s Credit Union which accepting deposits and in future assisting members with loans for small businesses and buying homes. We then received a tour of the lovely church.

Pilgrimage member Bob Burns in at the church in El Pedrigal with Rev. Dean Maria Consuelo, Rev. Gladys Velasquez and 3 of the local children

Next we went to El Pedregal. SAMS Canada has been assisting with the support of whichever pastor is serving El Pedrigal ever since the team from Knowlton Quebec arrived there as an evangalistic brigade and the congregation began. We visited the church building and learned of their hopes and dreams.

It was then on to Telanga, some 50 km north where Canadian missionary Kara Thompson Mejia and her Hondran husband Nelson Mejia first served. (Both are now ordained and working on the Bay Island of Roatan.) The current pastor is Hector Salgado who also serves in Guiamaca, a further 40 km away, where we also visited. Before we left Talanga we made the final presentation from the gift, 10 bibles, 5 to each of the churches under his leadership.

After Guiamaca we returned to Ojo de Agua where Rev. Dean Maria and Maria del Cammen transferred to their own vehicle and we both headed to Teguc.

2009-02-23T07:22:00.000-08:00

Sat., 21 Jan., - Thursday we met with Dean Alejandro and drove to Jacaleapa to check with the carpenter to find out how much it would cost to have wooden tables and chairs, similar to the type used in the schools, made. They are much sturdier than the plastic ones. LP Marlene wasn’t at the church so we couldn’t get a sample, but we went to his shop and described what we were interested in. He will check with Marlene and get back to us. We also gave Alejandro the 800 L, ($52), to purchase the 2 tables and 6 chairs from the school currently on loan. Back in Danli we drove to the supermarket and stocked up since we had Jeannie’s car.

Being a woodworker myself, I found the carpenter’s shop very interesting. His table saw was homemade using 12 in carbide tip blades. The table was made out of 2" lumber as was the rip fence. It was very sturdy. There was also a handmade wood lathe on which an assistant was turning spindles. The only other electric tools I saw were a commercial jointer and a router. One tool one doesn’t see often was a 16" hand plane. Several pieces of wood to be incorporated into projects appeared skillfully crafted.

Just before sunset yesterday we had a rather heavy rain followed by a lovely double rainbow. I now know where that pot of gold is located, I think.

During the day Thurs. there was a truck driving through the community with a loudspeaker system announcing a Veterinarian clinic for dogs on Friday. Friday morning there were a lot of dogs on leashes going by the church. This is a common form of getting information out. They also use it to announce the many evangelistic services, that the truck driver is selling fruits, veg. etc., and anything else. (As I write there is a pick up truck going by with a freezer in back announcing they have fresh chicken.) There was an outdoor evangelist Thurs. and Fri. nights just a block from us with, of course, BIG speakers. Unfortunately for him, it started to rain heavily about 45 minutes after he started. The crowd melted away.

The vegetable garden that the Texas team put in a month ago is growing tremendously well. The radishes are almost ready for harvest, tomatoes are 6 to 8 in. tall, and the squash, cucumbers, and watermelon are about to send out runners. Even the carrots, generally slow starters, are doing well.

Mon., 23 Feb. - Yesterday we drove to El Paraiso city to visit Rev. Hilda Lagos and her husband, Hector Zuniga whom we have known for 12 years. Hilda’s church is very large, built from a quonset hut, about 40 x 80 ft. this includes the sanctuary and other rooms for Sunday school and other uses. One of those uses is a program to teach sewing and dress pattern design. This is government sponsored and they have 20 treadle sewing machines. Last Friday they also had a workshop on how to make donuts.

After the church service we drove Hilda to El Rodeo, a small, very poor community, to check the blood pressure of one of her parishioners. She has been trained as one of the ‘Guardianas’ or

El Rodeo home

‘Health Care Workers’ by the Honduran church. Presently she is a deacon and is attending a school for working adults on Sunday morning to obtain her high school diploma which will allow her to be ordained as a priest.

It continues to be cool and rain a lot, almost every day. When we first started to come to Honduras in 1998 we might not see rain for three months at this time of year. This has changed drastically over the past 4 years. But even in the rainy season, June to August, they don’t get the frequent overcast skies of this year.

2009-02-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry about that last post folks. I’m not sure what happened so I’ll carry on from just before the last post ended.

Rev. Dean Juan Jose of Copan Deanery in white with 3 of Eva´s students

PRICES are interesting here. ($1 cdn = about 15.1 L). This afternoon I visited the barber, 25 L (about $1.65), then went across the street and bought 10 eggs, 28 L,($1.85). A 2.5 liter bottle of coca cola costs 26 L, and a taxi ride anywhere in Danli/Nueva Esperanza costs 15 L per person. When we buy fresh corn tortillas they are 3 for 1 L, (about 10 cm diameter), and a loaf of bread is 25 L. Bananas are 2 for 1 L and oranges are 2 L or 3 L depending on size. Tomatoes run 3 L each and potatoes are 15 L lb. Lean ground beef is usually 42 L per lb. Most US made goods and food tend to be more expensive than Central American. And for you drivers, premium gas is 57 L per US gallon, about $0.89 liter.

Tues., 17 Feb. - Jeanie headed for the Us today and we went with her to do errands and drive her car back which we can use while she is away.

At the end of Jan. we rec’d word of a donation for chairs, bibles or hymn books for churches in Honduras. Today we went to the dioecian office in Tegucigalpa after dropping Jeannie off and picked up the cheque. We then had to go to a bank which specializes in cashing US cheques where Eva opened an account to enable her to cash the cheque. All told it took about an hour. I wish they had inter-branch banking here. The money will be used for hymn books in Oropoli, and Sunday School furniture in Jacalaipa, both missions where the pastor is supported by SAMS Canada. We plan on presenting them during our visit with the people on the pilgrimage.

After cashing the cheque we went to a friend’s home, Patti Eregurie, for lunch, then on to the church Santa Maria where we met with Rev. Dean Maria Consuelo to discuss the plans for the Pilgrimage while in her deanery, Francisco Morizan.

The drive home was uneventful except that I only hit one of the hundreds of pot holes between Ojo de Agua and Danli. We got home about 5:40 and had spaghetti for supper using a sauce already made. Eva had a class at 6:30.

2009-02-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

BLOG -Thur., 12 Feb., - One of Eva’s students who lives across the street had a birthday yesterday. After the evening class we were invited over for birthday cake. It was beautifully decorated with flowers and trimming and was very tasty. We were offered coke or ‘horacho’ which is a locally made drink, different formula in different countries, (check google). Since we didn’t know if they had used bottled water, we settled for coke, but I really like horacho.

Sat., 14 Feb., - This morning there was a youth conference in the church. There were about 25 teens in attendance and the speakers were Dean Alejandro and LP Victor, (LP = Lay Pastor). It ran from 10 am to 2 pm. Also this morning Jeannie came by with the ‘Peace Corps’ workers from Danli and Yuscaran. They will be doing the translating for the pilgrimage in those cities as both have taken the ‘translator course’. Both girls are named Anna Marie. This evening one of the houses across the street is holding a worship service. They set up lights in their parking area, put out chairs, set up BIG speakers and opened the gates. We were going to watch a movie on the computer but will have to wait until they are finished. Instead we sat out on the balcony and enjoyed the music.

Sun., 15 Feb., - We went to Jalcaleapa today with Dean Alejandro. As the city bus doesn’t run on Sunday we took a taxi. We had our folder with all the pilgrimage info, maps, and a DVD of Rev. Gladis Velasques’ ordination last year. It got left in the taxi. Most of it can be rebuilt, but we are praying it will get back to us. We arrived in Jalcaleapa shortly before 3, expecting the service to start at 3:30 as normal when the Dean is there so he can get the bus home. No one had showed up until just after 4 pm, including the pastor. We started about 4:15. Immediately after the service we walked up to the highway to catch the bus and were about 100 m away when it went past. Last bus was 6 pm, (we think). About 5:45 a van stopped and offered the three of us a ride for the taxi rate of 15L each. He even took us past the normal drop off point and 2/3 way to Nueva Esperanza. We walked the rest of the way even though it was very dark. There is a pedestrian walkway which we shared with other pedestrians and unlighted bicycles, with car headlights blinding us. We got home about 7 pm.

Rev. Dean Alejandro Chirnos and Dick

I sometimes think Hondurans have death wish. None of the bicycles, even those on the side of the auto traffic lane had lights or reflectors. Some drivers don’t like to use their headlights because ‘it costs gas to use them’. These are 2 reasons I don’t like driving after dark.

Mon., 16 Feb., - We got a phone call this morning from Anna Marie, the Peace Corps worker in Danlí, saying she had our folder with the Pilgrimage material. They looked in the notebook inside and saw her recently recorded phone number and called her, then dropped it off. We wanted this material for our meeting with Rev. Maria Consuelo in Teguc. tomorrow. Thank you Lord.

PRICES are interesting here. ($1 cdn = about 15.1 L). This afternoon I visited the barber, 25 L (about $1.65), then went across the street and bought 10 eggs, 28 L,($1.85). A 2.5 liter bottle of coca cola costs 26 L, and a taxi ride anywhere in Danli/Nueva Esperanza costs 15 L per person. When we buy fresh corn tortillas they are 3 for 1 L, (about 10 cm diameter), and a loaf of bread is 25 L. Bananas are 2 for 1 L and oranges are 2 L or 3 L depending on size. Tomatoes run 3 L each and potatoes are 15 L lb. Lean ground beef is usually 42 L per lb. Most US made goods and food tend to be more expensive than Central American. And for you drivers, premium gas is 57 L per US gallon, about $0.89 liter.

Tues., 17 Feb. - Jeanie headed for the Us today and we went with her to do errands and drive her car back which we can use while she is away.

At the end of Jan. we rec’d word of a donation for chairs, bibles or hymn books for churches in Honduras. Today we went to the dioecian office in Tegucigalpa after dropping Jeannie off and picked up the cheque. We then had to go to a bank which specializes in cashing US cheques where Eva opened an account to enable her to cash the cheque. All told it took about an hour. I wish they had inter-branch banking here. The money will be used for hymn books in Oropoli, and Sunday School furniture in Jacalaipa, both missions where the pastor is supported by SAMS Canada. We plan on presenting them during our visit with the people on the pilgrimage.

After cashing the cheque we went to a friend’s home, Patti Eregurie, for lunch, then on to the church Santa Maria where we met with Rev. Dean Maria Consuelo to discuss the plans for the Pilgrimage while in her deanery, Francisco Morizan.

The drive home was uneventful except that I only hit one of the hundreds of pot holes between Ojo de Agua and Danli. We got home about 5:40 and had spaghetti for supper using a sauce already made. Eva had a class at 6:30.

2009-02-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

Wed., 4 Feb. - Monday morning about 6:30 am I was headed for the kitchen at the other end of the balcony and noticed a long line of people, adults and children at the school. About 200 m long. Many of them were carrying a file folder and it was later confirmed this was the first day of registration, school begins Monday. Eva is having to do some shuffling of her classes. The school is on 2 shifts, am and pm, and those attending ‘colegio’ didn’t know when they registered with Eva which shift they would be on. Tues am had another, though shorter line, and today it was insignificant.

We waited most of the day for Cristina, the laundress, to arrive with the clothes she got last Wed. We’re running short of some things. Last year in Yuscaran it never took more than 2 days. We went to her home but she wasn’t there. It was a very poor looking home but her son called her on a cell phone and she said she would deliver them today. (Everyone has a cell.) 6:30 pm, the laundry arrived, 50 L, ($3.35), 24 pcs. washed and ironed, .

Now that we have gas for the stove, we had roast chicken and baked potatoes with beets for supper. It is great to get away from fried meat or stew from the stove top. However, the oven doesn’t get as hot as it should, at least not in the time I had it on.

Fri., 6 Feb - The printer quit last night and we got a message “Waste tank full.” Several weeks ago I cleaned out the waste tank and tried to reset the counter. It obviously didn’t take. I don’t know if it just needs resetting or something else that we can get repaired here at a reasonable cost. We’ll see what can be done.

Sat., 7 Mar. - The printer is working. This morning we headed to the stationary/internet store to check our mail. We took the printer with us intending to head downtown for a computer store. We asked for a good place to go and he was headed downtown and gave us a lift to ‘the best technician in town where we left it. We then went to the bank to get smaller bills. Few stores like 500 L bills, ($33) except for large purchases.

BANKS in Honduras always have 2 or 3 armed guards, some of them often outside. Men are often searched for guns or knives before allowed inside. Some banks have a ‘vestibule’ where you have to check packages. (Packages also have to be checked as you enter many of the larger stores.) Once this is done you are allowed in where you are generally faced with long line-ups and one short one which is reserved for handicapped, pregnant women, and those ‘tecera adad’, (over 60). I have twice entered the long lines and been pulled out by guard and sent to the short line. Grey hair is great.

Alejandro teaching the pre seminarians

From the bank we went to Cristo Rey to take photos of the pre seminary class that Dean Alejandro was teaching, their last day. The class started with 9 people and has shrunk to 4 people that are defiantly interested in continuing.

Eva relaxing in the central park

Returning downtown we enjoyed sitting in the ‘parke central’ until 11:30 when the computer technician was due back. He was able to show us how to temporarily overcome the problem. I will have to do an internet search for a more permanent solution. Then to lunch followed by the grocery store to stock up on things not available near ‘home’.

The fellow on the bike just couldn´t wait to read the newspaper

Sun., 8 Jan.- An interesting thing happened at the church service this afternoon. A baby was ‘introduced’ to the congregation after which it was passed to each member of the congregation old enough to hold her. In Honduras this includes those about 10 and even younger who have probably already had experience looking after babies. I was particularly impressed how the baby took it so calmly, but then she’s probably is used to being passed among strangers.

Tues., 10 Jan. - With the return to school this week, (the long school break is from Dec. to Feb.), Eva was concerned that many of the students might not be able to attend. (They have 2 shifts in the ‘cologio’, (secondary school), morning and afternoon. Fortunately there has only had to be one big change, the Tues/Thurs afternoon class moved to the morning and 2 students switched to a class at a different time.

I went to the deanery meeting in Yuscaran this morning, Eva stayed to teach. Cindy and Laird from the Texas Scholarship program were there as well as a few of the students. Thoughts and ideas and future plans were discussed followed by the regular meeting. I finalized the schedule for the Canadian Pilgrimage to Honduras which begins 28 Feb.
Dean Dagoberto and Rev. Lourdes are scheduled to go to the US later this month where they will be visiting and speaking to several churches in Central Texas. I pray they will have a rewarding trip and not find the culture shock too severe. They return the day before the pilgrimage arrives in Yuscaran, Dago’s home.

2009-02-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

2009-02-02T08:02:00.000-08:00

Fri., 30 Jan. - Water continues to be an ongoing problem. A pipe broke in the wall Wed. and if the valve from the tank is opened, the cavity in the concrete block wall fills up and begins to leak into the church office. I have opened it 4 times since Wed. for the 45 sec. it takes to fill a bucket from the outside tap, but this morning the tap was locked. I’ll have to speak to Victor that we need clean water.

We also found out that it will cost 900 Limperas, ($60), plus propane to replace the propane tank that didn’t arrive here with our stove. A second large expense we didn’t expect.

We went into Danli by bus to do some shopping and have “almuerzo”, (noonday dinner). While there we ran into Pastor Victor and Church Warden Betti as well as two women who lived next door to us in Yuscaran last year. We ate at ‘La Terraza’ resttaurant as we were considering having the pilgrimage team eat there. I was not impressed. We’ll check out another next week.

Shortly after we got back a truck arrived with a new stainless steel, 6 burner gas stove and refrigerator that the ‘Manos de Dios’ team bought for one of the kitchens. The ‘chumbo’ (gas tank) is arriving tomorrow, (I think). I believe we will be able to borrow the tank in return for filling it and they will have the gas we don’t use.

The vegetable garden that the team put in is sprouting and some of the young people were putting in stakes and stringing cord for the cucumbers to climb. The unusually wet weather certainly has helped germination.

Sun., 1 Feb. - The propane tank arrived on Sat. afternoon and we now have 4 burners and an oven to cook with. A big improvement from 1 element electric hotplate.

We went to church at Cristo Rey in Danli for 10 am, (started 10:30). Afterward we went to a local restaurant and had a Honduran soup called ‘Mondongo’. It’s a complete meal in a large bowl with meat and vegetables with rice and tortillas on the side, only 40 L each, (about $2.60)

Back at Cristo Rey for 2 pm we walked to the bus station and caught the bus to El Paraiso (city) to attend services at the church of our long time friend, Rev. Deacon Hilda Lagos. We had to leave right after the service to catch the last bus back to Danli at 5:20. In downtown Danli we got a taxi that turned into more of a ‘collectivo’. Part of the trip we also had a woman and 3 little children, dropping them off we soon picked up a woman and a girl who were going not too far out of our way, then near home a single girl about 11. I guess that’s the reason they are only 15 L ($1) per person anywhere in the city

BUSES IN HONDURAS
I have to tell you about the Honduran buses. First, all buses have a driver and a conductor who collects tickets, cash fares, and assists passengers. There are 3 basic types, the luxury intercity that are lovely highway coaches with a separate driver compartment. On some routes there may even be a light lunch served, otherwise they stop at a good restaurant long enough to get a meal. Viana buses charge about $15 US to go from Tegucigalpa to San Pedro Sula, (5 Hrs).

Then there are the ‘milk runs’ using almost exclusively old US school buses, (sometimes repainted). These are in various states of repair and often pick up passengers with large bags or cartons. Once a man got on with about ten 12 ft 2 x 4s which were carried in the aisle. If there are more passengers than seats, whenever they come to a police check point, everyone crouches down so it doesn’t look like that anyone is illegally standing. Most of these buses have had racks added above the seats for storage. If you are on one, hopefully you will like the music because they always play something, often loudly. Part way through the journey the conductor will come through the bus and collect the fare depending on how far you are traveling with them. From Danli to El Paraiso is 15 L ($1). They run every 20 minutes and the trip takes a little under an hour.

Then there are the city buses. Here in Nueva Esperanza they vary widely in size but in Tegucigalpa they are full size. The first time we took one it was the size of standard van. I’ve ridden with 18 people in that vehicle. Others are larger and the only thing you can say about their condition is that they run. The fare is only 5 L ($.35) and they run about every 15 minutes except Sunday.

So long for now. Dick

2009-01-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

Tues., 20 Jan. - The Texas team ‘Manos de Dios’, who paid for the construction of this church, has just left after a farewell service where they gave gifts such as backpacks to the many scholarship students they support. A brick walkway to the stairs to the 2'nd floor was installed, a storage room built, plumbing improvements made, and seminars for women were held. A successful mission trip.

After they left and the vigilante (guard) was locking up, he discovered that someone had left the tap on in the downstairs kitchen, with the plug in the sink – ½ an inch of water on the floor which we had to mop up.

There are still problems with some of the plumbing. Cristos, the Texan plumber, was very unhappy with some of the parts used, but they are the best that could be found here. He plans to bring several parts from the US such as check valves and good flapper valves for the toilet tanks when he returns in the summer.

We are trying to stick with our Ontario time schedule which fits in well with Hondurans, to bed at 10 and up at 6, (Honduran time; 11 and 7 Ontario) although we are often awake at 5. It gets dark at about 5:45 and daylight starts about 6 with a short dusk and dawn.

Tomorrow the community water is scheduled to be turned on from 8:30 am to noon, (once a week only). I will have to be sure that the correct valves are turned on and turn on the pump to fill the tank from which we get our water pressure during the week. We only have cold water for showers. I don’t think there is enough pressure to operate an electric shower head to provide ‘hot?’ water.
Thurs., 22 Jan. -It didn’t happen. No water Wed. We went and asked Betti and she told us it isn’t until Sat. (every 5 days).

Things were a lot quieter Wed. with the team gone. The turnout as opposed to those registered for Eva’s classes was again poor and it looks as if she can accept other students. She had to turn away some as those registered filled the class times available. V. Rev Alejandro, Dean, was by in the afternoon and described some of his plans for the deanery. He told us there is a deanery meeting in Santa Maria Sat. morning and we are invited to attend. He also broached the subject of English classes for the 10 members of the deanery team on Sat. mornings following a deanery meeting. This will be looked at closer at this Sat. meeting.

WED. -Eva spent the morning working on the lesson plan for Friday evening’s advanced (?) class and I installed my video editing program on the old laptop. I had some trouble running it and will try again tomorrow. It could be the computer just isn’t up to the job.

This afternoon a bus arrived carrying the kitchen cupboards for the kitchen we are using. The ceramic counter tops were already in place. They look really nice, (base units only), but they made one bank of cupboards too long. They installed what they could and will to be back Sat. with that 3 door section remade. Looks like Sat. will be busy.

Installing the kitchen cupboards

Fri. 23 Jan. - About 10 am we took a bus into Danli. It was a van which in Canada would hold 8 passengers. By the time we got to El Centro, there had been up to 13 passengers plus the driver and conductor. Cost, 5 Limperas, (33 cents) each.

We bought some needed kitchen supplies, had Honduran tacos for lunch (about $2 each for 2). This favorite is quite different from Mexican tacos and are deep fried after filled with a chicken base mixture then served with a tomato sauce and shredded cabbage over them. We then did some grocery shopping and because of the groceries & parcels we took a taxi back, 30 L ($2.00).

Sun., 25 Jan. - Saturday produced no water. We used the last of the stored water Wed. and have had to rely on bottled water and water from the hand pump on the well on church property. Unfortunately the water from the well has fine sand in it which eventually settles and a fine dust which floats to the top and I have to skim off. A member of the church was by this morning to collect a 5 gallon pail of water from the pump, which she then carried home on her head. Also, the carpenters didn’t arrive to install the last of the cupboards.

The congregation Sunday at ´Manos de Dios`

Jeannie came by about 10:30 to pick up Dean Alejandro’s alb and asked us if we wanted a ride to Cristo Rey. The service was well attended with a lot of young people. The new church is roofed but the money isn’t available to complete the construction. In the afternoon we went to service here an Manos de Dios. The congregation is young but doesn’t seem to be large enough, hence the difficulties they are experiencing in maintaining this very large building.

Sunrise and sunset here are very fast and sometimes quite dramatic. This sunset was taken from the balcony just outside our kitchen

Mon., 26 Jan. -We go water. The water tank is filled and I was able to take a this afternoon shower. Boy it felt good. However the carpenter hasn't been back with the re-worked kitchen cabinet.

2009-01-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

Fri., 16 Jan. - I have never seen rain like this in Honduras. 3 times since we arrived in Danli Tues. The weather has been cool at nights and our blankets didn’t arrive from Yuscaran. Fortunately we were able to borrow one from Jeannie along with a few other things like a microwave, coffee maker, and toaster. The bed also came from her but was short 9 slats to support the mattress. We have had the carpenter make 9 more, which he delivered tonight. He also put the legs on the tables and took one that had been made by joining two narrow ones and re-split it into 2. These tables are getting expensive. The job on the tables and 9 slats was 700 L.

English Class registration was today. Eva has 68 registered so far and is bound to get a few more Monday, although not everyone is likely to show up. She has 3 which she thinks might be better in a more advanced class on Fridays. Since our tables had not arrived by 3:30, registration took place in the sewing room. There are so many registered that Eva will have to use that room for classes, at least until the numbers drop.

The group from Texas arrived late afternoon yesterday. The men came by this morning and started to build a storage cupboard in the church. Slo-o-ow going. The group is also planning to do some landscaping.

We are still having to cook in the kitchen downstairs and are still having problems with the water. I thought I had the system figured out but went to take a shower this evening and there was no water.

Sat., 17 Jan. - We were able to move into the upstairs kitchen today and no longer have to navigate 23 steps to go from our bedroom, where we kept the food, good pots, etc., to the kitchen.

The Texas team continued working on the storage cupboard, held a seminar on growing vegetables and started to build sample plots, a leadership seminar, and a vision clinic. all were very well attended.
Josefina Santos who many teams from past years will remember was by this afternoon and will be here for the dedication of the second floor tomorrow. Bishop Allan will be officiating. We had a good visit. Josefina continues to work for the Lutheran Church. Last year she was sent to England, Germany, and Italy to take courses. Later this year she expects to go to Chile for a 2 month course.

Tues., 19 Jan. - We went to Yuscaran with Jeannie for the meeting of the staff of Yuscaran Deanery. However when we got there, no one was around. Jeannie phoned Dean Dagoberto and learned the meeting was in Ojo de Agua, 20 km away and which we had driven by. With us was a family who were meeting Kathy Pennybacker to go Tegucigalpa with her. The little girl, about 2, was sick in the car.

Deacon Lourdes Herrera is to be ordained priest in March and will be the Vicar of the town of Yuscaran.

After the meeting Jeannie dropped us in central Danli where we visited the hotel where the ‘Pilgrimage’ team will be staying in March, then had some keys cut and returned home.

Eva had her first English classes yesterday and as usual, only some of those registered showed up. There was a slight confusion with some of those registered and they thought they were to come Tues. They didn’t meet for long as there was a lot of noise from the construction and it was

We’re in Danlí!

2009-01-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

The trip down was long as we had to be at the airport for 5:30 am. We arrived in El Salvador about 2:30 pm Toronto time, (1:30 Central Standard), and having only had a breakfast on the plane about 9:30, we bought a Subway sandwich for lunch. Before we continued on to Honduras at 7:30 we had dinner in the airport ‘secure’ area which we never left. Our friend Pati picked us up and took us to her home where we visited with her and her 3 children, then spent the night.

Next morning we went to the ‘Mall Multiplaza’ to exchange money and get ‘SIM’ chips for our phones. As usual we encountered Latin American bureaucracy, but with Pati’s help, were able to manage without too much trouble, Cell phones here are quite cheap and for just over US $5 we got both phones working with US $5 air time, (about 24 minutes). After a light lunch, Rev. Deacon Kathy Pennybacker picked us up and drove us to Nueva Esperanza on the outskirts of Danlí where we will be staying in the church apartment.

We are the first to stay here and all the furniture etc. had been piled in here and in the kitchen downstairs that we will be using temporarily. Our first job was cleaning and organizing. By the time 10 pm arrived, we were tired and headed for bed. Unfortunately, our blankets had not arrived and it was cool with only a sheet over us.

Wed. we did more organizing and SAMS US missionary Jeannie Loving drove us to a major supermarket to do some shopping. Spent about $130. We have a new fridge with a large freezer so there are no worries there. IT HAS A FREEZER DOOR THAT CLOSES!! We met an itinerant vegetable seller this morning who told us he will be by every day about 8 am. Also, the Jr. Warden (Betty) of the church lives just down the street and she makes and sells tortillas, (starting about 4 am). Some things haven’t arrived yet such as the gas tank for the stove. Fortunately it has one electric burner so we can do simple cooking. We have also been able to borrow a few things left behind when SAMS US missionary Dotty Gleason returned to the US a week ago.

The Texas group ‘Manos de Dios’ who built this church are arriving Thurs. On Sunday Bishop Lloyd Allen will be here to dedicate the second level, which contains the apartment and the room in which Eva will be teaching, plus 3 other rooms. The church sanctuary was dedicated last year while we were here.

This is thesite of the mud slide that sent a motel crashing down on a number of houses below. There were 3 more of these slides on the way to Danli that destroyed part of the highway.

Here you see the motel that slid about 50 feet onto the houses that you can just see in the bakground. No one was seriously injured.

Honduran weather continues to be very different from the rainless 3 months we experienced when we first arrived. On our way out from Tegucigalpa we stopped to view one of the land slide areas from the recent rains in Oct. Half the road was gone, the motel below slid down and into some houses which also slid down the hill possibly 50 ft. Fortunately, no one was badly injured. However lost crops are continuing to cause severe hardship for many.

That’s it for now folks. Keep tuned for further news.

Preparing to GO

2009-01-02T14:50:00.000-08:00

Happy New year everyone.

We are in the final stages of preparing for our 2009 mission trip to Honduras. It seems to be comng up so fast, with so much to do, but I'm sure everything will work out.

We go to our daughter's on Monday, 11 Jan. and spend the night. At 5 am we will be picked up and taken to the airport for our 8:30 flight to San Salvador where we wait 6:5 hours for our 40 minuite flight to Honduras. A dear friend in Tegucigalpa will take us to her home for the night. On Tues. am we have meetings in the capital and will then go to Danli, (100 km).

We will be staying in an apartment in the church 'Manos de Dios', (Hands of God), in the community of Nueva Esperanza on the outskirts of Danli. There is a classroom available in the church compound that Eva will be using to teach English. Keep watching our ongoing saga.

This is the church 'Manos de Dios'. The apartment is left hand door you see on the second floor.

2008-10-31T05:47:00.000-07:00

Honduras is currently undergoing problems comparable to those from Hurricane 'Mitch' in 1998.

Rains have swollen rivers and created landslides and ground fault openings killing 35 as of Tues with over 3200 in Tegucigalpa being forced to evacuate. Check out this video at <> from the English language newspaper "Honduras This Week"

If any of you wish to help financially, we suggest you donate through the South American Missionary Society, PO Box 21082, Barrie, ON, L4M 6J1. Their administration costs are only 10%, possibly the lowest your will find, and they have the contacts to get it to where it is needed.

We are wondering if our roll in Honduras this coming winter will be different from what we had planned. When we were in Honduras in 1998, just after Huricane Mitch, we spent a lot of time helping with relief efforts.

It is interesting that we in Canada hear about every event of this type in the US, but rarely those in the Caribean or Latin America. When you hear of a bad storm in Florida, check out what is happening in these areas, remembering that in most cases, the whole country was hit and not just one state. Please pray for them!

Eva is headed for Nfld. on Wed for the annual SAMS board meeting in St. John's. On Sat. and Sun. she will be speaking at St. Paul's in Lewisporte, Nfld.

God bless you all ............. Dick

We're off again.

2008-09-22T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hi folks. This is just a quick note to let you know that we have booked our flight to Honduras for 2009. We leave 12 Jan. and will return 10 Apr. This year we plan on going to the city of Danli, not too far from the Nicaragua border. Eva will be teaching English as a Second Language. I will be her back up and expect to work with Dean Alejandro, the clergy, and SAMS US missionary Jeannie Loving. We got a great price on the flights, $409 less than we paid last year so we felt we couldn't wait.

When I have more info, I'll let you know.

God Bless ......... Dick Breadner

Since our return

2008-08-18T12:15:00.000-07:00

Hi to anyone that is still checking;

It's been rather quiet since we got back. We were in Owen Sound for a wedding. Eva spent some time in Toronto looking after our newest granddaughter until Cathy could get another sitter.

We will be starting to promote the "Pilgrimage to Honduras" in Feb. next week. If you want more info or your church would like someone to speak on Honduras, let us know at <>. Also, if you want us to send you a copy of our publication ¿Que Pasa?, the newsletter covering the areas we work in, let us know.

All for now and God Bless

Dick Breadner