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The update: Andy, Laura, and Luke
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April 27
Today was supposed to be
the day of the year when the sun's rays were the strongest. I
don't know how this information got passed around, but the first person
to tell me was the pastor at church on Sunday. Since that point,
I have been hearing about this day all week long. Though the
sun's rays were "strong," it was not supposed to be the hottest day of
the year (believe me, it was not). We looked on-line to find out
if this information about the sun's rays were advertised anywhere else;
but we couldn't find any information. School was canceled;
people didn't go work in the fields; in fact, people didn't leave their
houses. So mom, Luke, and I left for Glenda's, completely
forgetting that today was "the day." On our way home, the rain
clouds rolled in, but they didn't let loose until we got home. We
got home to the pastor and his family singing praise songs with Andy in
our living room. I put Luke to bed and, while rocking him to
sleep, it started raining. Soon after the rain started, I heard
little bangs on the roof. It had started hailing!!!
Incredible! On the day when the sun's rays were supposed to
be so strong, we had ice falling from the sky.
April 23
We have been busy!
The brigade arrived here on the 15th. With the brigade came
Laura's mom. Since that point, Andy has been helping orient and
teach, and Laura and Judy have been busy with Luke, taking walks,
making yogurt, cleaning, etc. On Friday, we're going to go visit
Glenda, which is a 45-minute walk uphill. That evening, we're
having the pastor, his wife, son, and sister-in-law to dinner.
We are anticipating our up-coming trip to the US. I think, we are
looking forward to seeing family and escaping the heat, above all else.
Our absence from the clinic means that the life skills students
will have lots of homework but no class and that the clinic will be
down a doctor. At some points, the O'Deas will be working alone,
as Ruben is taking his monthly week off.
April 9
Luke is 7-months old
today. Amazing. He is feeding himself tortillas, trying to
squirm out of our laps, and reaching for anything he can get his hands
on. (The latter is how he spilled a glass full of cold water on
himself this morning).
I am tired. I spent this morning cleaning up a lake of water on
our balcony. The water-conserving washer that I mentioned before
does not drain into a pipe. We fill these big plastic buckets
with the water from the laundry. Well, this morning during Luke's
nap time, I did a load of laundry, put the hose in the bucket, and left
to accomplish the other tasks on my list. I came back to check
on the laundry only to find the whole balcony covered with at least an
inch of water, and it was coming into our apartment, too. The
hose had flown out of the bucket with the force of the water from the
washer. So, I pulled out all the old towels we have, got a mop
from downstairs and a mop from our apartment, and went to work.
It took about an hour, but I managed to get up the water by
wringing out the towels in the big bucket. The back balcony is
now sparkling clean. After I finished that, I hung the original
laundry and then sat in the hammock for a few minutes to try to get
some rest before Luke woke up.
I think I hit the
"I'm-ready-to-get-as-far-away-from-Honduras-as-possible" wall the other
day. Everything came together to frustrate me and make me want to
run. Since that point, I have been recovering.
Surprisingly, worship in church yesterday was healing for me.
I say surprisingly because it was the first time I knew the words
to a majority of the songs.
Recently, a hard thing for me has been the response that many parents
have to being told they need to take their child to the hospital.
Over and over, we hear the same story about how Andy or James or
Ruben or Christy told the parents that they needed to go immediately
with their sick child to the hospital; and then, weeks later, the
doctors find out that the parents never took the child, and the child
died. Honestly, I cannot even begin to fathom such a decision.
This is a cultural difference that it will certainly take time to
understand. My initial reaction, though, is anger. How
could parents do such
a thing (by not doing anything they are doing something)? Parents
are given the responsibility of caring for their vulnerable child.
This is child neglect resulting in death! All they have to
say is that they don't have the money to take their child, and the
clinic will cover those costs out of the benevolence fund. Even
with money in hand, though, parents have not taken their children.
It enrages me and tugs at every maternal fiber in my being.
Trying to understand the culture, trying to be "culturally
competent" is hard. I ask for eyes to see how and why things work
the way they do here, especially when it goes against my own values and
opinions.
April 4
Praise the Lord!
It has been raining. The rain has been wonderful! It
definitely cools things off. The wind blows a little more.
The dust is gone, for now. The rain disturbs the mosquito
hatching grounds. There is an abundance of water. It is a
huge blessing.
The first night it rained was the night James returned from his short
trip to Tegucigalpa. He had gone to take the Brashlers to Teguc
for their flight out. The Brashlers are the couple who came to
help with the lab. John, the husband, is a lab technician with Worldwide Lab
and had a good time getting all the machines up and running.
Emma, the wife, helped out with Luke and was a good person to
talk with for Laura. So James took the Brashlers in to the city
because Francisco, the driver, was not going to be available due to his
impending firing (long story, still doesn't have an ending).
James, while in Teguc, did some shopping, as usual.
However, this time, he made some big purchases. James came
back with a HUGE and beautiful new refrigerator for his family and a
wonderful water-conserving washing machine for all of us to share.
The night he got back, the heavens opened and poured out sheets
of rain. Andy, Don Berto, and James unloaded everything in the
pouring rain. It was quite a sight. Andy ended up carrying
this huge fridge on his BACK up the steps all the way to the apartment
with James and Don Berto supporting from below.
That's the big news for now: RAIN!
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