Final Farewell

I apologize for the lateness of our final blog, but our day has been a full one.

I agree with Seivert, we could not do this without Francis and Julio. They make everything run smoothly for us from the moment we step out of the airport in Tegucigalpa until we leave on that final day. However, I need to point out the countless hours that Richard Seivert puts into this program. We also, wouldn't be here without all the work he does in the background, and of course, all the stress and worry for him until we are home safely. Thanks, Seivert, from all of us here in Esquias.

The missioners got to sleep in again this morning - 6:30. After breakfast we loaded all the gift bags into the truck and also packed some candy and little toys to distribute. A few of us went with a couple local teachers to tour an agricultral project their school is doing. The students have agreed to fund their project, which will help the students for years to come. They will be learning how to plant and raise vegetables, howto raise chickens and fish, and how to provide for themselves in the future. We were impressed with their planning and vision.

We left for the village a little early because we wanted to get a group photo on top of the mountain and in front of the water tank. The view rivals any I've ever seen. The villagers began arriving for our little celebration around 11. The village leader thanked the team for their efforts in the water project and for working with them as friends. My speech to the village of El Picacho is as follows: On behalf of Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras, Richard Seivert, our director, Francis Seivert, and myself, I'd like to thank yiou for allowing us to work with yiu for a short time. Special thanks also to our friends Angel, Julio, and Carlos for their help. We pray today that the village of El Picacho will always have clean water, and even more, that people everywhere have access to clean drinking water. We hope you will hold us in your hearts, as we will hold you in ours. Thank you! God Bless You!

We distributed the gift bags to every single person of El Picacho. The bags included shampoo, bar soap, clothes appropriate for the ages of the family, hair items, toys, shoes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and lotion. You'd think it was Christmas day the way everyone was excited to get their gifts. The school received loads of notebooks, pens, pencils, rulers, chalk, reading books in Spanish, etc. The group from El Picacho sang their national anthem for us, so we sang our national anthem for them. That brought smiles from everyone. The villagers also presented us with gifts, as they tied bracelets in the Honduran flag colors onto each of our wrists.

We surprised the missioners on the return home when we stopped at the fiesta the mayor of this area was giving in our honor to thank us for our hard work. We had a delicious picnic lunch by a small river. They grilled bits of marinated pork and chicken. We also ate salsa, tortillas, refried beans,  and red cabbage in vinegar ( not our usual picnic fare). A large part of this afternoon was spent relaxing.

As soon as we returned to the compound, clean up began. A handful of us toured the local high school and chicken farm. Supper was served at 5:30, and then everyone rushed to shower, clean the salon, pack more items, and just general get-ready-to-leave activities.

Mass began tonight at 7 with the fire on the road just below the church. The first hour was spent singing songs around the fire (You could call it church campfire.). Then we lit our candled from the Easter candle and processed into the church, Oh yes, we got all 7 readings tonight with reflections and singing in between. We also renewed our baptismal vows, had the blessing of water, went up to bless ourselves with the newly blessed water, as well as the regular Mass. We dragged back to the compound at 10:25 to begin our final junta. It was important to take everyone through what they'll need to know for their return trip. I still wish I could bring them home to you! So, give them extra hugs for me. Linda and I will be following their flight until we get the call that you've got then in your arms.

Thanks for lending your children to us for a while. I have enjoyed every minute with them.

As they leave Honduras, their mission here is complete. However, they now have a much larger mission to carry out, and each of them will have to find his/her way to carry it out. May God be with them!

Final Missioners' Blog

Micah Neary: This whole trip has been an experience for me that changed my life in many ways. I have learned that the Honduran people have different outlook on life they take it day by day compared to back home. I will miss what I have called home for ten days. Well anyways hi Mom and Dad! Hi Morgan! It’s been a busy day but I have only two more days till I see all of you. We get to give the gifts to the village tomorrow so it should be fun! I got everyone gifts so don’t worry I’m sure you will all love them. Well I’ve got to go so I’ll see you all Sunday! Hope to see you there Morgan!

Dave and Janet:  This has been an amazing trip to give up our Holy Week to help people who are truly in need.  The thing that is so ironic is that they are so happy and satisfied with what they have rather than worried about what they do not have.  We hope to take this home with us.  We had an awesome day beginning with the Stations of the Cross that was a combination of the Stations and the Passion it really allowed us to put ourselves in Jesus’ time.  I think the Honduran people do it right they do not worry about how long things last they just enjoy what they are doing and celebrate their faith.  Happy Easter – see you Sunday.  We miss all of you.

Trevor Bouma: This trip has been an experience I will never forget. The thing I will miss the most is the joy of the kids in Honduras. Today we watched the Stations of the Cross. It was very hot, but it was very moving. I am excited to give up our clothes to the village tomorrow. Thanks Steph and everyone for the birthday wishes. I miss you too. I had an awesome cake for my birthday. Steph, I challenge you to make a better one haha. I will see you Sunday bearing gifts.

Ali Galles: This trip has taught me many things and has made me appreciate my life back in the states. The people are always so happy and optimistic about life. Hello Mom and Dad! I can’t wait to see you in two days. I have gifts for everyone. Mom, tell Calla and Emma that I got them good gifts. I am very excited about the dove chocolate. Rachelle says to bring back double stuffed oreos. Tell Jose to quit raiding my closet. Love you all and see you Sunday!! J

Alec Mousel: This trip has been a great experience because it took me out of my comfort zone. I did fine shopping Karen so you can relax. Thanks Steph for the shout out, I miss you more. I plan on coming home on time Brittany, ten days is a long time. I will also be winning the cat bet because you won’t have one by the time I get home. This is the last blog before I come home so see ya’ll at 8 on Sunday in the flat lands!

Ross Ruhland: This trip has taught me what it truly important in life. It is not the material possessions we have, but the interactions we have with other people. Hopefully I can bring this new perspective stateside. Tomorrow is our last day cant wait to see y’all on the great plains.

Mick Sitzmann: Hi everybody! This trip has been great because I have met so many great new people. Just wanted to say hi, and that this is our last blog and that I’ll see you on Sunday!!     

Joe Begnoche: This trip has made me realize that I am very thankful for everything that I have and that this has been great with everyone here. Hi family this is my last blog until I see you on Sunday. Can’t wait to see everyone! Kendall I hope I get to see you on Monday!:)

Rachelle Lipp- I won’t let go of any experiences or people I have met.  This trip has been extremely eye-opening to how materialistic most of us really are.  I’m craving some oreos and a 4 piece chicken strip basket.  Thanks Nicholle for writing to us! I think you’d like to know that I saw a kid in a Perry the Platypus shirt today. J

Jesus is flogged.

Procession

Jesus falls the second time.

The church is seen in the distance as procession continues.

Missioners watch Jesus being nailed to the cross.

Jesus is taken down from the cross.

Jesus is laid in the tomb.

Stations of the Cross

We let everyone sleep in a little today to give them a break. However, by the time the students get home, parents, they should  be pretty used to 5:30 - 6 a.m. wake-up calls.  Breakfast was scrambled eggs, refried beans, bananas, and cereal today.

At 8:45 we headed for church and the beginning of the Stations of the Cross. It's difficult to describe what we witnessed this morning. I'd say it's as close to the real thing without actually being real. We watched Pilate ask the crowd to release Jesus, Jesus being whipped (complete with fake blood), walking the complete path all over Esquias, actually falling on the pavement while carrying the cross. all the other actors participating, wailing by the women, and nailing in the cross. The last few Stations took place in the rock quarry with the stripping his clothes, nailing to the cross, dying (with him speaking to God), taking him from the cross, and they even had a burial spot in the gravel with a cross made of rocks and a tomb cover made to look like various sizes of rocks. It lasted just over 3 hours and the heat took a toll on all of us. AND, we still had to walk back to the compound from the edge of town.

At this time we are awaiting our lunch. We'll have a little more church this afternoon with veneration of the cross at 3. The rest of the day is to be spent in reflection, laundry, visiting, prayer, and rest.

I am requesting that today's student blogs begin by stating why they're glad they came to Honduras. These will be the final student blogs for this group. We'll see all of you at the Omaha Airport on Sunday, I expect.

Mya, I heard you kept Seivert busy for a while. Good for you! I can hardly wait to see you when I return on the 15th. Jay and Miranda, it would be nice to get one message from you with information on Paige.

Final Full Work Day

Due to our rainy evening - a big thunderstorm that knocked out the electricity for the evening - we had a little difficulty getting to El Picacho today. The road we normally take was pretty wet and soft, so that first mountain caused us to turn back. Frank and Julio found alternate route that bypassed the bad area, and we were back in business.

The missioners began digging a bit more slowly each day. Like one of them said, "The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Each day more of them discovered it was easier to team up with a Honduran worker because those guys are machines! Once again we dug through horrendous terrain, mostly rock, and if we were lucky, some clay-like dirt. We also put the finishing touches on the cement floor, and Carlos fixes their window sills with the leftover cement. Linda took the family's photo with their "Extreme Makeover" home.

We knocked off work at noon for lunch. As soon as we'd finished eating, we gathered together with as many of the villagers that showed up and took a group photo. We'll print the remainder of the photos we've chosen for the village's photo book. We've been printing them as we go on our portable printer.

I know everyone is looking forward to our day off tomorrow. It's "shop 'til you drop" day in Valle de Angeles (Valley of the Angels). It's a quaint little town with many tourist shops and artisans. Our noon meal will be pizza, which I'm sure sounds great to the kids. We've been eating well, but there's nothing like pizza. As soon as we return, we'll eat supper and prepare for the 7 p.m. church service. I may not have time to blog until after all those activities are complete.

Work Begins

The village of Picacho welcomed us this morning with speeches and applause. Everyone was anxious to begin, but perhaps a little less so when we saw the pile of bricks and sand that had to be carried up the mountainside. Frank let us know that we were standing a mile above sea level, and that really made everyone anxious to carry bricks and sand up the mountainside.

Our missioners are fast learners, however; they only made a few trips carrying bricks before they set up the line to toss bricks to each other. It made the breathing required for mountain climbing much easier. The missioners worked hard, but did take their required rehydration breaks. We enjoyed wonderful weather this morning. The sporadic breezes kept us from overheating.

Our missioners defnitely noticed the poverty apparent in this country. They also noticed some of the nice, colorful home we have occasionally seen. Many of them already have children latched to them. The girls enjyed a game of duck-duck-goose with a few of the chilThedren. They've learned we all smile in the same language.

The village ladies fed us a lunch of fried chicken, rice, tortillas, tomatoes, and lettuce. It reminded the students of Lally's. Many villagers enjoyed the meal with us. The bus ride back was quiet and more than a little bumpy.

We enjoyed our first cold shower of the trip. The missioners stated it was one of the most enjoyable showers they'd ever experienced. We are now taking it easy. We'll then sort our donated items in the salon, work on our junta books, and eat supper.  Oh, I almost forgot. The guys learned how to do their laundry using the pila. Carlos, our bus driver, gave them a laundry lesson, and then just shook his head as they all tried their best to copy his methods. They need a lot more practice!

We'll cool off at the park tonight and play with the local children. Look for more blogs to come, and PLEASE send comments our way. Happy 18th Birthday to Austin Meyer today!

Preparations for the Spring Mission Trips in Full Gear

We'd like to invite all of you to once again follow our blog as we embark on our next missions into Honduras.

And We're Off...

The Gehlen / Heelan Catholic Mission Team had a beautiful send-off at Gehlen Catholic School this afternoon. Shortly after that we were on the bus and heading for Omaha. We had a huge meal at the Golden Corral; then it was off to the Country Inn & Suites. We had our team meeting at the hotel to make sure everyone is on the same page for tomorrow - the day we have all been waiting for! Our wake-up calls will come early: 2:50 - 3:20 a.m. Seivert will update you on our flight on Friday. We'll put up a team photo from Esquias once we've unloaded the bus and gotten settled into our dorms.

St. Thomas More Is on the Way to Honduras

It's 9:35 p.m. in Houston. The mission team from St. Thomas More has had their introductory meeting and is eating pizza. I can feel the excitement and anticipation in this team. They are anxious to get into Honduras tomorrow and continue the work that Springfield started.

Everyone seems healthy and ready to work. I think this is going to be a great group of missioners!

Springfield Catholic Team Arrives in Esquias

This is Carolyn blogging for the Springfield Catholic Mission Team. Seivert just spoke with the team (6:01 p.m. Iowa time) and they were unloading the bus. After that they were going to get settled into the dorms and get everything organized. Merica hopes to blog if she can. Everyone on the team is excited and ready to go to work tomorrow.

Trying to figure this blog out

Hi to all.  Maybe, just maybe, I have now figured this blog out.  The problem is down here in Honduras, all the titles and directions are in Spanish.  I have also sent Dick and Carolyn 2 photos of the "Stick Lady" from last year.  Julio and I met them on our way to Sulaco today (Sunday).  I gave them 30 lps each because we were concerned they looked so dirty and tattered.  It is very hot here.  Keep these 2 women in mind for March/April.  I hope this goes through!

Peace.

Mr.Francis

'Stick Lady' on right in March, 2011

'Stick Lady' on left, with Linda in July, 2010

In Esquias

Hi All,

Good day yesterday into Esquias. Very ill little boy. We saw him yesterday afternoon. Today we had a long day of bumpy travel to Vallecillo. Made a deal for next year's water project. Then drove to La Florida to check the water project. Everything is fine. Next we visited El Junco to check their water project. Things are okay but they need a little work after the heavy rains. Visited numerous sick people along the way that are being helped by Mission Honduras LeMars. Look forward to putting up more information tomorrow. We have awesome photos. We will try to blog or email tomorrow.

Carolyn

Eye-Opening Sites

It is Saturday; well, not for much longer as I write this blog. It will be hard to tell you about some of the things we saw today. If I can get it to work, I will upload a couple photos. I hope it will work.  (Photo on left was taken in the place called "the hole" in Tegucigalpa.)

This morning we met some Honduran friends who would take us to a place that was in Tegucigalpa, but way UP on the edge. It was the home of Cynthia, a little girl who suffers with a heart condition. At this time Cynthia is living at the orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity. The doctors are unable to help her, and they say she has months, perhaps a year or so to live. Her mother would like to take her home to die. However, the mother requires a latrine and pila - a place to do the wash - so she does not have to leave Cynthia alone. Cynthia needs someone with her all the time. Marta took us to visit her home. It was a small shack with a hotplate for a stove, a table just large enough to hold it was the kitchen. There was a table just barely large enough for two. A sheet hung from a string to hide the twin size bed that served the mother and 2 children who are living there with her. The mother was off working. She does laundry for some families in the city and makes very little money. With that money she pays her bus ride to work and buys drinking water for the family and a small amount of food. Marta is getting funding for a pila and latrine. We are hoping to help her family with enough money so the mother can stop working and stay home with her children until Cynthia dies. It is a very sad situation.

The priest who is also helping this family and many others - including the school I blogged about yesterday - showed us another place he is building in that area. They showed us the progress on that building. Then the volunteers and Marta took us to another school that is what you could call a supplemental school. All the children must be in extreme poverty to be there. 1700 children attend that school. Some of the older children stay on after a certain age to work and teach the younger one, as well as take care of the grounds and go to university themselves. It was an amazing place to see.

This afternoon we picked up Dr. Teri Kemmer, the professor of nutrition from USD, and her son Nick. They attended Mass at the Basilica with us. Afterwards we all went to Marny's house, which she share with her parents, Fabio, and Graciela. They served us a delicious supper of chicken, beef, rice, bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and more. We had cake for dessert. We all enjoyed lots of conversation.

It is now 10:30 in Honduras. The rest of the team is sleeping. We will rise at 4:30 a.m. to start our drive to Montaña de la Flor. It will be another special day for us. We hope to meet with all the chiefs of the Tolupan to set up a medical/nutritional connection of some type that will help the Tolupan with much better health. It was raining when I came to the computer. We hope it will not be raining in the morning or we will not be able to travel up the mountain.

Until tomorrow,
Carolyn

On Our Way

Hey Everyone,
We left Le Mars around 9 a.m. enroute to the Omaha Airport. Francis likes to go through security early and Seivert likes to wait until the last minute. Linda and I stayed 'middle of the road.' We all went through security without a hitch; however, Linda got the experience of the full body scan. There is just NO privacy anymore.

Our airplane was a small one. We experienced a few bumps, but altogether, it was a pretty uneventful ride. We were in the Houston Airport, picked up our luggage, and were waiting for the hotel shuttle before 5. After settling into the Country Inn & Suites, we all walked down the block for some beverages. It's cloudy and extremely humid here in Houston. We noted that the temperature was a bit cooler than last year, and I'm pretty sure it's a lot cooler than what we'll be experiencing in Honduras the rest of our trip.

While waiting for our shuttle at the airport, we all met a newly ordained priest from Kentucky. Before leaving on the shuttle, Seivert had told him all about our mission trips - both student and medical. We left him with a business card with hopes that he will be checking our websites.

After resting tonight, we'll head for the airport at 6:30 a.m. Our flight leaves for Tegucigalpa leaves after 9. Sr. Val will meet us at the airport. It will be great to see her again and to spend some time with her. She has a wealth of Honduran experience and will be our translator throughout the trip.

Ah, you may be interested in knowing that Seivert gave us quite a history lesson as we relaxed this evening. Thus, I'm pretty sure we can already call this a 'work' trip because Linda and I worked very hard at learning our Texas history tonight. Seriously, the real work begins the minute we step foot on Honduran soil. We can hardly wait.

I promise to keep you updated to the best of my ability - as long as I can find a computer with internet. Please keep all of us, as well as those we hope to help, in your thoughts and prayers over the next week.

Hasta luego,
Carolyn

Thursday, April 8

Hi All,
Unfortunately, the internet is not working in Esquias, so Merica has shared lots with me and I will do my best to give you everything that is going on in Honduras with our newest missioners.

The missioners had a great day. They brought a load of school supplies to the small school in La Florida. They had the sweetest little teacher there, and everyone had a chance to visit with the teacher and the students.

The 107 degree temperature didn't slow our missioners down. They carried bags of sand up the mountainside where the Honduran men are building the water tank of bricks and cement. Everyone was excited to do the work, knowing the difference clean water is going to make in the lives of the people of La Florida. The missioners were awed with the work ethic of Alex & Max. They worked hard at digging trenches today. There just was no 'quit' in them. The adults are extremely proud of all the missioners, but these two young men have been a head above when it comes to working hard.

Mary had a little trouble with dehydration. She got down some gatorade and Francis fixed her up with some rehydration salts in her water. That heat can zap you before you realize it, so I know Francis will make sure she gets fixed up and back to work soon.

On the way up the mountain this morning, Carlos, the bus driver, picked up a man and his young baby. They were glad to help him when they heard he was taking the baby to the doctor.

The missioners took along a couple small bags of ball caps for the workers today. They loved them and immediately began to wear them. It was a blast to see how excited they became over such a simple gift. The girls also took the opportunity to remind everyone to eat just a little less so they could hand out the left-over food to the villagers. The girls enjoyed seeing the pleasure everyone got from sharing food together.

Merica discovered a lot of the children from El Junco were hanging around La Florida. They remembered many of the missioners from last year's trip, especially Merica, and wanted to join this year's missioners in La Florida. Merica admitted she felt just a little guilty when she heard they'd skipped school today to join the missioners, but they did pitch in and dig trenches with the missioners.

Due to the extreme heat, some of the missioners discovered that some of the trees were dripping little bits of moisture and they were enjoying the coolness of it. However, when they discovered that the little bits of water they were exeperiencing was locust pee, they soon cleared out of those areas. Right now the country is full of locusts. They buzz so loud in the late afternoons that it sounds like loud buzz saws all around you. The children like to chase the missioners with the locusts because many of the missioners scream when they see a huge locust in front of their faces or clinging to their arm.

On the return trip to Esquias, the bus became stuck. They figured it must be because of the weight in the back of the bus. So everyone told Kaitlin to move to the front, and sure enough, the bus was able to get out when Kaitlin moved to the front of the bus! I guess even a little person can make a difference.

Once the missioners were back in Esquias, they headed for the little store and purchased some ice cream. It was delicious and a great way to cool off. They also spent a little time in the park with some children.

Coach White: All the soccer girls want you to know they are NOT sore.

Bob Becker had a few problems today. It seems like trouble followed him all around the compound today. The cement bench broke while he was sitting on it. And when he tried to improve the clotheslines after he'd washed his clothes in the pila, that also broke. Bob was afraid to touch anything after that.

Merica sends a big hug to her family at home. All the missioners want everyone to know that they are doing great, loving their mission trip, and making the most of their opportunity.

Please continue to pray for our missioners in Honduras. They will have amazing stories for you upon their return to Missouri.

(Carolyn substitute blogging for Merica today.)

Springfield Catholic Team Arrives in Esquias

This is Carolyn Bickford blogging for the Springfield Catholic Mission Team. Obviously, they are unable to get to the internet tonight, so I will do it for them.

The time in Honduras is now 6:12 p.m., which makes it 7:12 p.m. here in Iowa.

The team stopped in the village of El Guante as they drove from Tegucigalpa to their home base of Esquias. It gave them an opportunity to tour the clinic built by Mission Honduras LeMars and local villagers in 2002-2003. They enjoyed looking at the scenery and seeing various birds along the way. It was a nice drive, though bumpy once they got to the gravel road.

The team arrived safely in Esquias at around 4 o'clock U.S. time. Seivert has been in touch with them by phone multiple times. All team members are fine. As soon as the team arrived, they unloaded their bags (all arrived) and got set up in the dorms. They were pleasantly surprised to find such nice accommodations. The girls were really excited when they found a note left by the girls from the Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras team. The note welcomed them to their mission and told the Springfield girls how much their mission trip has impacted their lives already. It also gave them a list of do's and don't's to help them with their mission experience. It made the Springfield team feel right at home.

Though Tacha had told them supper would be at 5, she rang the bell early. After supper they walked down to the park where they discovered some young boys. It gave them a chance to play a little frisbee with them.

Merica planned to have their 'junta' meeting at 8 to go over the chore list and the tips she has for them. She would like them to retire early and get some rest because it has been a long day. Many of them were up at 3:15 a.m. She wants to make sure they stay healthy by staying hydrated and well-rested.

I hope you find these blogs as helpful as the Gehlen group did. Seivert and I will make sure the blog gets updated if Merica is unable to get to the internet.

Best of luck, Springfield Catholic Mission Team! You are going to have the experience of a lifetime!!

Our Honduras Mission Ends

This morning began at 4:30 a.m. Miguel had purchased one of those cow horns in Valley of the Angels on our shopping day, and he thought he should test it before returning to the U.S. Thus, at 4:30 A.M. all of the guys gathered just outside the girls' dorm window for the blasting of the horn. I have to admit that it was hilarious to hear all those girls jumping quickly out of bed at that hour. It was definitely the fastest they ever climbed out of bed any of the mornings in Honduras.

Though Tacha was told she didn't need to make breakfast for us, she wanted to be there. She, Sylvia, and Noriela made us a final breakfast of pancakes. We all removed the sheets from our beds, did last minute cleaning up, and Fr. Cosgrove did our final prayer before boarding the bus.

There was a cheer when we drove off that gravel/dirt road for the last time. Except for the speed bumps, the ride into Teguc was fairly smooth. We did have one check-point to contend with, but Carlos finally got us through.

At the airport everyone had a chance to look at the shops and purchase something to eat. Many of them headed for McDonald's.

Our plane from Tegucigalpa into Houston was right on time. We had a couple minor glitches getting through immigration and customs, but we made it to our gate in plenty of time. Everyone had time to grab a snack and restroom break before boarding our flight for Omaha. We had already discussed how we would disembark in Omaha as a team. Wearing our mission shirts, we exited the plane last and went up the ramp together to meet our welcoming committee. It was wonderful to see all those faces waiting to meet us. There were lots of hugs and both tearful greetings for their families and friends and tearful good-byes to their mission teammates, especially those from schools other than Gehlen.

It was an amazing trip - a life-changing event for all. Thanks for everyone for reading this blog. I hope you will check out the website in the coming weeks so you can see all the photos and the story that Seivert will write for us.

Finally, thanks to the students and my fellow chaperones. It was wonderful working with all of you. Special thanks to Francis Seivert for having everything ready for us upon our arrival and getting us around safely in Honduras.

Most of all, thank you to Richard Seivert, without whom NONE of this would have been possible for any of us. He puts in countless hours of work preparing for these trips and continues to work on the trip even while it is happening. And then he even does the work required to wrap it up. On top of that, he never gets to actually join us in Honduras and participate with the missioners. So Seivert, though we might forget to tell you in person, I hope you know we all appreciate the opportunity you gave to us!

Farewell to La Florida

Everyone rose a little sad this morning, knowing it would be our last day in the village of La Florida. Tacha and the other cooks made french toast for breakfast. We loaded the 39 and a few extra bags to take to La Florida. That meant we all had to squish into the bus, but we did not mind today.

We spent a couple hours digging more trenches and laying some pipe. Some people even starting covering the pipe. They still have close to three weeks of work to complete the water project. We only got to be a small part of it.

At ten we stopped working to have a small celebration. The leader of the water project for the community, the president of La Florida, the paternoster, the leader of the village women, Angel, and I gave speeches. I basically read in Spanish the speech that Seivert had written. I made only minor adjustments to it. I am going to put it here in its entirety. For our blog readers, I will write the English version only.
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(Today I would like to read a message to all of you from Richard Seivert, Director of Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras & Mission Honduras LeMars, and me. Please excuse my poor Spanish.

To the wonderful people of La Florida, Comayagua, Honduras, Central America.

Greetings from Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras, Le Mars, Iowa, U.S.A.

On behalf of our team and our families, friends, schools, churches, clubs, and communities, Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras says THANK YOU to the wonderful people of La Florida.

Thanks you for welcoming all of us into your life through this water project. The kindness and love yopu have extended to each of us has been felt in the homes of hundreds throughout our communities in the U.S. Make no mistake: the bond that has been forged between the people of La Florida and our team is strong, and Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras will continue to help you in whatever way we can.

Special thanks to the president and committee of La Florida that has given our group the change to work side by side with you - two countries - all Americans.

Special thanks to Angel Paz, Francis Seivert, and Julio Rivera for their prepatory work for this team. Thanks to the Rotary Club of the central U.S. along with International Rotary for their trust, faith in Mission Honduras LeMars, and belief in this project - their financial support has made this possible. Thank you to Fr. Bonilla, Tacha Alverado, and the wonderful people of Esquias for their support and hospitality - we always know our teams are taken care of. Also thanks to Carlos for driving us safely each day.

We have one other request for you. As our team leaves Honduras tomorrow and returns to our homes in the U.S., we ask you to welcome the next group of young people from Springfield Catholic School of Springfield, Missouri. Please welcome them into your lives like you have our group.

On behalf of our team and our families, Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras, and Mission Honduras LeMars, we promise to pray for you and your entire community. May the bond that has been created in the ground of La Florida between our two peoples, last forever. God bless all of you.)

The villagers surprised our birthday three with two cakes and a happy birthday song in English. We all got to eat cake and drink soda. The cake was delicious.

The weather was quite cooperative this morning. It was in the nineties by the time we returned to Esquias. We now have cloud cover with possible rain on the way, but we are hoping for nice weather to take our group photo in twenty minutes. After that, we hope they get lots of rain because it is sorely needed.

We are celebrating an Easter vigil mass here in the compound at 5 p.m. We will try to have our meeting after that. We have lots to process tonight to get ready for our return. Supper of hamburgers is planned for 7. If needed, we will meet again. We are also trying to prepare for our return. A pile of our clothes, shoes, and other items is piling up next to me in the salon.

Tomorrow we will rise around four forty-five, eat a little, and load the bus. By six we should be on our way to the airport. The plane leaves around noon and we should be in Omaha around eight. We are anxious to see our families there and at home.

I will write the final blog upon my return to Le Mars that will wrap up our trip. As soon as possible I will get done with the new trip on our website. That page will include up to 250 photos from our mission trip. All missioners will also write a reflection which I will put together into a reflection book for them. Finally, I will create the PowerPoint presentation for our mission trip and we will set a time when we can all come together to view it on the large screen. I look forward to that day.

Please read our final entry on Monday. Thanks for being with us through this blog,. Look for the Springfield trip to start shortly after.

Good Friday

Students had been told last night that they could sleep in until seven thirty this morning. We were on our own for breakfast to give the cooks a morning off. Would you believe that they were pretty much out of bed by six thirty. Parents, you might want to keep that in mind when you have them back home. They can get up quite early.

At eight thirty we headed for the opposite side of Esquias to join the Stations of the Cross procession. That was to begin at nine. As we awaited the nine a.m. start of the Stations, we searched for shade wherever we could find it because it was already quite hot. As we progressed, it got even hotter. Our liters of gatorade were polished off quickly.

The procession proved to be one of the most interesting we have witnessed. The children were dressed in robes and soldier outfits as well as Mary, Veronica, Simon, Pontious Pilate and, of course, Jesus. Jesus was portrayed by a teenager. As Jesus carried his cross, he was whipped, mocked, and had rocks made of tin foil thrown at him. They placed a crown of thorns made from vines upon his head. They had smeared tomato paste,ketchup on him for blood, which looked pretty realistic. When his face was wiped, it revealed Jesus face on it. When he was nailed to the cross, they actually nailed in the nails and then tied his arms to the cross and he grasped the nails. They also had the two robbers who were side by side with him on their crosses. They gave him the sponge with vinegar. When we returned to church, Jesus was wrapped in a burial cloth and placed in the prepared tomb. As well as that performance this is the way the Stations worked.}

Around the village of Esquias various houses decorated a table outdoors with a white cloth, flowers, palms, candles, etc. They placed the Station which usually hangs in the church on that table. The procession begins at one of those homes. There are readings, prayers, songs, and ending prayers. Then we processed to the next house, following Jesus as he carried his cross. As we walked, we sang different songs. Then we would stop at the next Station and do the songs, readings, and prayers for that one. After thirteen Stations we had been participating for three hours. The last Station took place in the church and only took fifteen minutes. They then had the benediction for those who wished to stay. We had to leave. All of that took place in mostly sunlight. As soon as we returned to the compound, I checked the thermometer. It read ninety five in the shade and when I moved it into partial sunlight, it shot to the top of the thermometer, which is 120. With this kind of heat, we are having great difficulty staying hydrated. We had originally planned to play soccer with the local youth this afternoon, but the chaperones quickly nixed that idea. Our bodies needed to stay out of the sun. The soccer field is all sunlight.

Our lunch consisted of tilapia, fried bananas, and melon. This tilapia is gutted, floured, and fried head and all. That makes for some interesting facial expressions when the missioners enter the dining room for their Good Friday meal. The tilapia is delicious if you can handle having that eyeball staring at you. Many rested afterward. Then we filled our gift bags.

Each person received one or two bags to fill for a family from La Florida.Francis Seivert had found the amount of people in each family and listed the boys and girls ages. The bags were filled with shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, school supplies, toys, clothes, sandals, etc. We prepared thirty nine bags to be distributed tomorrow on our final work day in La Florida..It will be an emotional day for all of us. We also have a stack of books in Spanish from our Book Fair that we will present to the school there.

After supper but before our nightly meeting, we are hoping to go to the park for a while. We hope it will allow us to cool off a bit in the little breeze there is.

Here in the compound our water supply has been sporadic. More than once people have been caught in the shower with no water to rinse with. We have never lost electricity though. The toilets do not always flush properly either. So we then carry buckets of water from the pila to pour into them.

Every year our group brings their own clothes, towels, and sheets to use in the compound. We go home much lighter because we go home with only the clothes we are wearing. Everything else is left here to be used where needed. We leave shirts, shoes, our extra hygiene materials, sheets, lotions, etc.We leave flashlights, batteries, towels, you get the idea. We pretty much carry home the souvenirs for ourselves and our families. Most importantly, we all return with a greater appreciation for all that we have been blessed with, and I do not mean just stuff. We all realize how much our faith and families make a difference in our lives. We ALL return better people because of our mission trip to Honduras.

Shop Til You Drop

I am running a bit late tonight. We returned to Esquias from Valley of the Angels at four thirty. Then I had a few items to take care of before I could blog. It is now five thirty here, six thirty in Iowa.

All the missioners had a great time on our tourist day. We have chosen Valley of the Angels for our shopping day because of a few reasons. It is a beautiful drive, it is much easier to get around in that village instead of the huge city of Tegucigalpa, and it is much safer for all. They have lots of shops with items made by local artisans. The students were given two hours to shop. Some of the male chaperones were not too excited about that, but afterwards stated that it was not too bad. I saw lots of t+shirts, beaded items, machetes, etc.

At noon we ate a lunch of pizza at a local place. Everyone agreed that it was delicious. Then many went next door to purchase ice cream. The weather was pleasant, so it was great for all.

On the was to Valley of the Angels we made a quick stop in El Guante. For those of you who do not know, the mission teams originally stayed in El Guante. We also have a clinic there which was built by Mission Honduras LeMars. We walked down to the clinic and I explained the background of it to everyone.

At this time most of us are doing a little relaxing or writing in our junta booklets, which are our journals. Supper will be served soon. Mass tonight is at seven. Fr. Cosgrove will say some in English and have Miguel translate. Five of our guys will have their feet washed.

Tomorrow we will participate in the Stations of the Cross. It is a very unique celebration that I will describe in detail tomorrow.  We also p´lan to put together our gift bags and ´play a little soccer. There is not much time left on our mission.

Oh yes, I wanted to let you know that our hour and twenty minute drive to La Florida is approximately sixteen miles in length. That lets you know the type of roads we travel and the speed at which we drive.

As Seivert told you, the money that Heelan started has grown. Today we met with our friend Marny, who met us in Valley of the Angels. Francis asked her to price high chairs for the malnutrition center and to prepare to buy food for Montaña de la Flor. They will take care of everything next week. Thank you to those who have added money to our small amount. It is going to make a big difference in some very desperate lives.

We feel your prayers as we continue our mission. Though we took a break today, we have not lost sight of our real purpose in being here.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Another Scorcher in La Florida

This morning we had a special treat - las mañanitas - which is a morning birthday wake-up. We celebrated the three birthdays for Drew, Sarah L., and Sam by waking everyone at 5 a.m. with singing and a man playing the concertina. We dragged them out of bed as quickly as possi ble, which was not fast at all. They all groaned about losing that extra thirty minutes of sleep, but I know it will be a neat memory for them later. Many of them scrambled for their beds as soon as the three songs were over. This evening will have a bit more music and a big cake at 6. That will be a real treat for everyone.

When we put the thermometer in the sun today, it went to the top. That was 120 degrees, but it was only 92 in the shade. We have been pushing them to drink to their limits and beyond. Tomorrow will be a good break from work. Three days of hard labor is tough on everyone. Today a group of people finished carrying the bricks to the top of the mountain. Everyone else dug trenches and shoveled out dirt. We made a lot of progress, we felt. Our trench is just a few feet short of the top of the mountain.

As soon as we finished, all missioners and villagers of La Florida posed for our group photo. That allows us to print out the photos with a small camera printer we keep in Esquias so we can leave a booklet of photos with our friends in the village. As I type this, Linda is printing photos for our 100 picture booklet. We will present that booklet to the villagers at our little celebration on Saturday, our final work day.

You might wonder what we do when we are not working in La Florida. Well, we do need a little time to just rest and possibly siesta. We sort the goods we brought for others. Some people do laundry. That is a bit more difficult than throwing it in the washing machine. You use something called a pila, pronounced pee-la. It looks like a big vat of water with a cement scrub board on either side. You wet the clothes and scrub a cylinder shaped bar of laundry soap onto the piece of clothing. Then the real fun begins. You scrub and you scrub and then scrub some more. If there is a Honduran around, they typically laugh or take over at that time. If you are alone, you finally rinse by scooping water out of the pila and wrining the clothing by hand. Then you hang it on the line. The heat dries the clothes in a few hours, even if it was dripping wet. If a Honduran helped with the laundry, the white shirt is white. If not, the white shirt is usually a tannish color. We all do our best at laundry, though.

The students all have chores to do at the compound. They vary from dusting the pop bottles and stocking the fridge to emptying the waste baskets next to the toilets. You see, we are not allowed to put paper into the toilets, so that job is one that is avoided. They also refill water jugs from the five-gallon jug, sweep the floors, wash tables, set up for our nightly meeting, and clean sinks. In the evenings we head for the park and have a meeting

Gotta go. The battery is almost dead.