We’ve Seen It All

It’s hard to believe that today is our last day here in Quimistan.  An emotional day for us, excited to know that we will be joining our families back in the United States, and yet saddened to know we have to leave our new found friends and the gracious hospitality of this village.  Today started off by loading up the van with supplies and 14 people and going to a school in Los Panales.  It is a neat village in the fact that it has no electricity and most of the houses are built out of wood and not concrete.  While we were there, we did the hygiene clinic and eyeglass clinic.  After lunch, we did our VBS presentation.  Lots of playing with the kids took place also….(since that’s what we really do best)

Because there is no electricity in Los Panales, there is a small solar power system set up at the school.  The system was in need of repair.  The 2 oldest batteries were replaced and the corroded terminals were cleaned.  However, the power inverter was found to be inoperable due to 2 blown fuses.  System operation was verified by borrowing a inverter from a resident.  The teacher plans to take the defective inverter to San Marcos to have the (soldered in place) fuses replaced to see if this solves the problem.

At 3:00, we went to Tejeras for our final VBS trip.  The attendance was almost 70 people!  The kids really enjoyed the “ocean in a bottle” craft with wide smiles on their faces.  We finished up there by giving them cookies and soda.

We made it back to the ranch, giving the youth and our help enough time to play some Uno and Skip-Bo.  Once again, the Americans win!!!!!

Next stop was Reyna and Edwin Castillo’s home for dinner.  We had a traditional Honduran meal of tortillas, beans and eggs and of course the best pancakes ever!!!   Their house is always over-flowing with love and generosity for all of us.  And I do have to say while we were there, we saw our first limon chicken tree.

The evening has now come to an end.  Our rooms are picked up and suitcases are packed, and I don’t know about the rest of the team, but this is the hardest part of the trip for me, knowing that its come to an end, and that it will be a whole year until I can come back.

Authored by Barb Mahannah with excerpts by Tommy Thompson