La Mosquitia

kitchen at orphanage


Have 20 minutes til Norma picks me up to be at the church early to practice guitar. My progressively more arthritic hands and finger are balking at the thought, but guess movement is the best treatment. Returned just yesterday from a 3 day trip by air out to Puerta Lempira, in the Mosquitia to the east of us, land of swamps, drugs, another language and culture. 2 other women and I left at 6 am wednesday for the 1 1/4 hr flight, landing on the dirt airstrip to be greeted by many dogs, the pastor and Gris that work at Mama Tara's orphanage, and assorted people we didn't know. I had created havoc in the departing airport and almost missed the flight because the scanner showed 3 things in my backpack that weren't permitted! Oops. Even in the 3rd world they are careful. As the flight took off, a steady stream of water began to drop on the woman across from me, so Liz and I held up a barf bag to catch it to keep her from getting soaked. It soon stopped. The airconditioning for the ride out was the frequent opening and closing of the window in the cockpit, so was a pleasantly cool trip!

Dirt air strip in Puerto Lempira

We spent our day visiting in the orphanage, asking questions of the boss and various others connected with the work. Had time to play guitar with Gris, the 19 yr old from our area that I'd gone to encourage. She spends time teaching guitar to the kids with an evangelical program Dr. Don from our area created, and they were delighted to give me a concert! Part of our goal in the trip was to encourage the 2 volunteers there and assess their success and needs, so took the Canadien 29 yr old out for lunch to have time to talk with her alone. She took us on a tour of main street, a dirt road ending at the dock, bordered by many small wood shops. All goods come in by boat or plane, so the dock is integral. Prices are high based on lack of access by road, there is no clean water to be had, and electricity is sporadic to say the least. We were able to visit House of Hope, a special needs orphanage that is the nicest in the area with good support from the US. I slept well, despite no a/c or lights during the night. No coffee to be had in early am is my only complaint!

Our second day was also spent at the orphanage playing with kids or consulting with helpers, and then we left with Gris to visit another orphanage that is essentially a family in which lots of the mothers, (sisters), have died and so the aunties have kept the 29 kids together in a very small 3 bedroom house. They were spotless, delightful, orderly. Assessed their water and hygiene needs- water is from a deep square dirt hole pulled up by bucket- muddy to say the least. They walk a fair distance to a faucet in the community for "drinking" water, also not purified. We are so blessed!
We went back to our motel to process all we'd seen and while I was holding my water bottle over the sink in the bathroom to add some powdered drink mix to it, the sink fell off the wall. Shocking pain, as I began to form a hematoma on my foot immediately. The water began flooding the room so we had to evacuate! In the end, we were moved to another room and ended up having a peaceful night, again without electricity. I did NOT touch the sink in the new room!

Backtracking a week or so, John admitted a 7 yr. old with osteomyelitis (bone infection) in her leg from an untreated break. He sent the xrays to an ortho in the US for counsel, and he said it was among the worse he's seen. After 2+ weeks of IV antibiotics in the hospital, with her leg immobilized in a cast and more or less restricted to bed, little Fanny became everyone's pet. She is from a long ways away, but family stayed with her much of the time. It was decided she'd do better at the Children's Home with other kids to help her pass the time, so she was sent there a few days ago, with her IV, and the need to come to the hospital twice daily for her antibiotic. When Dr. McKenney returns on the 17th, he will assess her and decide what he as a surgeon can do for her. Meanwhile, we're fattening her up, introducing her to yogurt and other high protein foods, and loving her.

Because of the political unrest of the past weeks, we had missed an important wedding about 3 hrs from here, and it took place without our signature on the wedding papers. Last week, we took a 24 hr trip over to Tela with Silvia, the new bride, and stayed overnight in a hotel with her, enjoyed dinner at a place on the beach....and then went with her to sign her wedding papers. Silvia is now legal! We got to meet her family and enjoy breakfast with them before hoofing it back to the hospital. We had no problems on the road, met no demonstrators.
There is a political standoff right now, with relative peace but no resolution. Negotiations still going on, roads blocked on Thursdays and Fridays with marches. The teachers staged a large march on Friday with spraypainting bad things on public buildings and private dwellings. We are still expecting 2 teams in September, praying nothing will happen to cause them to change their plans. Life is more or less normal, with the typical swine flu scares, local shootings and macheteings, more civil weddings. We are safe, here in the center of His will.