Urgent update / Coming home

Hola everyone! If you've been following my trip on social media or this blog, you know that I'm here during the presidential election. Well, things have not gone the way they did last time I was here for the presidential election and my friends here have literally never seen it this bad during their lifetime. My flight was originally scheduled to leave Tuesday December 5th which was a week and a half after results of the vote were supposed to be announced. Long story short, the process of having the election results has taken much longer than expected and they still have not announced who the new president will be. The votes are taking so long to be processed because this is a third world country--the voting system is not electronic. Physical ballots had to be driven into the capital from every rural area across the country to be processed. There is increasing political unrest and chaos, which started mostly in areas near the capital and has continued to spread nation wide. Yesterday afternoon I made the last minute decision to fly out this morning November 30th just in case the riots did start spreading & blocking the highways I would need to drive on to reach the airport, so I could get home before this happened. It was incredibly emotional to be leaving the boys 5 days early especially since I woke up that morning thinking it was another normal day during my trip. Literally deciding to fly out of the country only 12 hours from then, I was a hot mess crying and quickly cleaning, packing everything, etc. That night I gave the boys some of the donations I was saving for a "goodbye gift", we enjoyed our unexpected last night together, and they prayed over me and my trip.

"Last night" with the boys!

After saying good night and attempting to take a decent group photo when everyone was exhausted from the day, we checked the news one more time before going to bed & saw that the political extremists got to the airport before I did. They were (and still are) burning tires, garbage, putting large trees across the road, etc. This means now there are rioters & burning tires blocking all roads leading to every airport in the country and all along the main highway--which for many areas is the only road connecting to another town or city. Now unable to leave the country the next day (today), I changed my ticket back to my original date for Tuesday in hopes that the military will be able to get the roads cleared of chaos and under control over the weekend.  

Below is a photo of the bridge leading to the La Ceiba airport. This is the airport I need to get to in order to fly into San Pedro Sula (larger airport) to fly out to Houston. 

Bridge to La Ceiba airport 

Only road accessing La Ceiba airport

I'm writing you this, because if this continues to escalate (especially after election results are announced hopefully tonight or tomorrow) this may go on for weeks. I am hoping and praying the police & military can get this under control as soon as possible, but locals are saying they expect increasing violence and potentially war to break out. At first I was hoping that was an exaggeration, but I just read an article interviewing someone in another part of the country that said the same thing & stating he is ready to go to war if Juan Orlando wins the election. So, I will not be leaving the country until the airports are accessible obviously, and wanted to reach out and keep you in the loop ahead of time and while we still have electricity & wifi, since some areas do not. Please do not worry about me, we are staying safe and hunkering down here until it's safe to be on the roads. What I DO need is LOTS of prayer that the government will swoop in and quickly control and dissolve the riots that have become violent and those that are blocking main roads & isolating people from getting to the bank, grocery stores, airports, etc. Rural areas like where we live will eventually run out of food if delivery trucks are unable to drive through to resupply the small stores out here for a few weeks.

Large tree blocking area of main throughfare in Honduras

Here is an example of a "calm" riot that's happening near us: Riot video

It's the worst in Honduras' capital--Tegucigalpa. Where we are at, currently the chaos is mostly on roads and bridges. Unfortunately, it is not that way for Tegus. Below is a picture of a historic building being burned down by rioters.

Historic building in Tegucigalpa

Although the boys are taking this seriously, they're also saying stuff like "Aww yay! I guess Marie can't leave now! hahaha Guess she'll have to stay here another month! Yay!!" Which, at this rate, could actually happen unless there are some major moves made by the police & military. Please pray over the weekend the country would be blanketed in peace and people in power would know how to navigate this "powder keg" of a situation. 

Also, in the midst of all this, Roatan (one of Honduras' islands) is flooding and the rain is starting to pick up more on the mainland too. It's no where near flooding here on the mainland, but praying that this weekend God would bring an insane amount of rain that would make it impossible for people to burn things and dissuade them from rioting in the streets as well. 

Praising God that we found out about the roads to La Ceiba before we tried to make the trip there. Trusting Him that He will make a way for me to get home soon. Thank you to everyone who is praying for us and has checked in on us. I will continue to keep you updated with any changes when possible. 

Graduation celebration!

Yesterday Kevin and Ebert graduated the 6th grade. This is different than it is in the States--here they have grade school from grades kindergarten through 6th, and then high school is 7th-12th. Depending on what the student wants to do as a profession, sometimes only 2 years of high school is required. For example, to go to nursing school you only need 3 years of high school & then you can go to nursing school. Here, if a child even attends school that is a success for the child and their family. But for a child to finish school through 6th grade is the same level of success & accomplishment as a student in the States graduating high school. So, needless to say, yesterday was a big deal and I am SO proud of these two young men!!! Kevin & Ebert will both continue in their studies by going on to high school later this winter when the school year starts up again.

Kevin & Ebert ready to graduate!

Although many graduate's parents come to the graduation ceremony, each student has to pick a madrina or padrino to be there to support and represent them as well. A madrina is kind of like a godparent, except it doesn't necessarily involve any guardianship if the parents were to die, etc. It's mostly someone the child & parents pick to be there for all major life events: graduations, weddings, baptisms, etc. Generally it's an aunt, uncle, cousin, or close family friend. Ebert asked me to be his madrina and it wasn't until later on when talking with Lisa about it more that I realized how much of an honor & privilege it was for me to be his madrina. I have known him since he was a tiny little 11 year old with a squeaky voice, and now he's growing up to be a young man who is fighting to succeed in school and honor God with his life. Although he was a little nervous to walk up in front of everyone (he had to go up twice because he also graduated with some of the best grades in his class) he looked so proud to be graduating! Lisa and myself and very proud of both Kevin & Ebert and excited for them to continue on to high school! 

Ebert picking a flower for me in 2013

Ebert graduating 6th grade 2017

To paint a picture of how the graduation ceremony went...we were told it started at 2pm. So, we showed up around 2:20 thinking no one shows up on time anyway. Well, even 2:20 was WAY too early with only one other student there. Around 3:30 or so everyone was there & the graduation finally started. Similar to the States, several teachers & school directors gave long winded speeches and kids and adults alike were already hot, tired, and wanting to go home! Haha. Pretty sure I've never met anyone that genuinely liked graduations. Celebrating graduation? Yes. The actual ceremony? No. Mind you, we are outside in the middle of the afternoon and it is HOT. Each graduate walks down the aisle and is seated in their section, then everyone stands for the national anthem which Ebert directed. Then, they pair up and do a dance to a traditional song, and then a few select students do a group dance to another song. More speeches are given. 

Traditional dance

Next, each graduate and their madrina/padrino were called up to accept their diploma with them. Then, the graduates and their madrina/padrino all went to the front and danced together. Of course Ebert was totally embarrassed to be dancing with me in front of everyone--but even though we were literally just stepping back and forth to the music, he did muscle up the courage to spin me at the very end of the song. :) After the ceremony, we picked up some coke to have with dinner and I gave them their graduation presents: a new Adidas soccer jersey & new soccer socks. Shout out to everyone who donated so I can make days like these special for them! Later this weekend or next week Lisa plans on taking us all out on an adventure to celebrate them graduating.

Kevin & his madrina, Fide

Familia

Now that graduation is over, it is a big thing checked off our list! This weekend is election weekend (which I'll write about in next post) and then the boys continue to be on vacation from school until February. Every day we continue to work on finishing the house, run errands, harvest & sell crops from the farm, etc and the list never ends. Please pray the rain will hold off (it started back up again this morning) and we can finish some of these major projects that are made much more difficult when it is raining and muddy. We are still in need of funding for the electricity project to be finished, along with a kitchen & laundry area to be built. Please pray for provision & if you want to donate check out bethesdahomeforboys.org or use their paypal directly at bethesdahomeforboys@gmail.com

2 little monkeys jumping on the bed...

My mom left yesterday morning at 4:30am to La Ceiba to start her long day of travel. After 22 hours of traveling, she made it safely back to Oregon! Thank you to everyone who prayed for her to get there safely. Her last night here mom and Melvin made 2 cakes for everyone to enjoy & then we went to bed early since we had an early morning the next day. Ps. YES we found a gluten free cake mix at a grocery store in La Ceiba last week!!!! So amazing.

Mom's last night!

Mom and Melvin making cakes

As you may notice, in the group picture we have two little ones here now too! Britani and Cindy are two little girls that live in a squatter community/garbage dump near La Ceiba. Lisa has been helping nurse Britani back to health since she was 2, and when she first met her she looked like a malnourished 9 month old. She was incredibly skinny, blonde hair falling out (yellow from malnutrition), and hadn't learned to talk or walk yet. Through the past year of taking her in whenever she was sick and helping her recover from various parasites, sicknesses, wounds, etc she's now 3 years old and a little chatter box who runs around to keep up with her older sister who is 5.

Cindy & Britani

These girls' mother is in her teens and has 3 girls all under the age of five. She is working in another part of the country for 2 weeks and could only take her youngest girl with her, along with her 6 year old sister she's raising because their mother abandoned her. This means Britani and sister Cindy were essentially left to take care of themselves. Technically their uncle was "taking care" of them, but that means he's off doing whatever for most of the day and the girls wander around one of the most dangerous parts of the city unsupervised. They are left alone, hungry, and very easy targets for several tragic things including: getting lost, kidnapped, sexually assaulted, or sold into sex slavery. I wish I was exaggerating with how dangerous it is for children to be left unattended. Unfortunately, this is very common for parents to have several young children and for them to essentially raise themselves. Many of these kids in extreme poverty situations survive & grow up...but their childhood is stunted and often full of various traumas, and the mindset of "survival" is perpetuated into the cycle of just living to make it to tomorrow. The mindset of surviving until tomorrow is dangerous and damaging because it often leads to doing whatever it takes for your own survival, and then thinking of your children's wellbeing. Although the stories are heartbreaking and the statistics overwhelming, Lisa and the boys (and myself included!) love to take care of these girls when we can. Even though it is quite an undertaking to have two small little girls in a house full of teenage boys, God uses them to bring a new type of joy and giggles into the home, while He uses us to provide them with a clean home & access to medical care while enjoying a safe, nurturing home even if just for a little while. These two cuties will be here for two weeks (and so will I!) and we would love your prayers for God to use us to the full capacity to enrich their lives while we have them under our roof.

I realized I didn't post much about all the various sports and games we played while my mom was here! During our afternoons at the beach we found coconuts, branches of trees, etc and the boys cut them with machetes to be used as baseball bats & balls. We also taught the boys kickball in the backyard, which of course, included a lot of mud and sliding everywhere.

Mom & Melvin playing baseball

We have been so blessed & spoiled with a few hot sunny days the past few days, which is very unusual during rainy season, and we have been making the most of them! We've been to the beach or river as much as possible in the afternoon after everyone's chores & work on the property is done. A few days ago we went to a river over in Lis Lis about 15 minutes away from the house. The river was much deeper than it has been in the past due to heavy rain fall this season, and the current very fast in some parts. The boys are used to swimming across the river to hike along the other side to the hot springs, but I completely forgot to warn my mom about having to cross the deep river!

Me and the boys crossing the river

Everyone did pretty good walking / swimming across the river & mom and I managed to not drop our phones in the water as we carried everything over our heads. But, if you read my mom's facebook post from that day, you know that our littlest boy gave us quite a scare. Cristian was crossing at the shallowest part of the river and was carrying two very full bags or oranges with him. He lost his footing and the current swept him away and he was struggling to keep his head above water, not letting go of the heavy bags of oranges either. Thankfully, I was not too far away and was able to toss my backpack off and jump in after him, grab him and the two bags he wasn't letting go of and swim all of us to shore. Even for me it would've been difficult swimming across the current by myself without trying to save him. A few seconds later and both him & I would've been in trouble. A little shook up from Cristian nearly drowning, we recovered and crossed the river at a different spot. When we found calmer water my mom gave Cristian a 30 minutes swim lesson. He is one of the fastest learners I have ever seen! Here's my mom's post from facebook: "Yesterday I witnessed my daughter save a life. My little bear cub decided to cross a swift and deep area in the river to play downstream where the older boys were. He was carrying 2 bags of oranges and various things. He lost his footing and the current started to sweep him away. Marie ran to the shore and jumped in and was able to struggle against the current and the bags he was refusing to let go of and save him. So, I decided to talk him into a swimming lesson in a calm area of the river by promising to show him how to swim like a frog. He has been my fastest learner so far. Within 30 minutes he learned to float, crawlstroke and modified breaststroke. He was very proud. So was I. Marie had a safety talk with them when we came home. I felt very emotional and very proud of Marie." 

We are thankful everyone was able to have fun at the river and enjoy it safely after the initial scare. It was also a great opportunity to remind the boys how dangerous the rivers and ocean can be, especially since many local people have died drowning here, both children and adults alike. Shout out to my mom for being an awesome swim instructor!

Mom and Cristian

Day at the river

Today two of the boys graduate the 6th grade! Graduating 6th grade here is the same level of importance as kids graduating high school in the States. Another blog post to come later this week about graduation!

Sun sun sun.

I have no idea how almost 2 weeks have already gone by!! My mom flies out tomorrow morning back to the States, which leaves me only 2 more weeks here once she's gone. It's incredible how fast time flies every time I come here. And especially when my mom is here--we're making more of an effort to go and do things since she's never been here, which means I'm exhausted, but so thankful for every day she gets to spend here with me and share in loving these boys & help raise them into young men.

Me and Jeremias

It's usually about the two week mark where it really starts to hit me that I have to go back to the States eventually. Which I always know every time I come here, and being a type of "mom" to these teenagers with Lisa is difficult, but worth it. Every day has its challenges: the power goes out, the roads are flooded and we can't go anywhere, one or several of the boys have a meltdown and may run away, someone gets hurt playing soccer or playing outside and has to go to the hospital, someone in the community dies, one of the boys' siblings is sick or in trouble...the list goes on. It's heartbreaking to know the stories of abuse & poverty these boys come from. But with that in mind, it's incredibly rewarding to help raise them in a home founded in learning about God, loving & forgiving others when all they've seen and learned is revenge and violence, and see them start taking care of each other, trying hard in school, and trying to break the cycle of violence & poverty.

Melvin lifting weights

Since starting to write this post and having come back to it a day later... I realized I have done more wound care on the boys than I do during a normal shift at work!! haha. Morro (young man in his 20's that is Lisa's right hand man/ Honduran son) hurt his leg in a soccer match last night and can't put any weight on it, and has limited mobility in his foot, swelling, etc. So last night we helped him to bed and then elevated it, put ice on it, gave him some ibuprofen, and then told him he's on strict bedrest until we can get an xray of it. From assessing it, I'm hoping it's just a severe muscle strain, but I'm worried it could be a muscle tear or stress fracture. Unfortunately, access to getting an xray done is extremely limited in Honduras in general, but especially when you live way out in essentially the middle of nowhere. Even though there is a nonprofit hospital down the road, the hours of when they're open and when we are able to drive there are very limited. So for now, he's on strict bedrest and controlling the pain & inflammation. Kevin has a head cold and I've been doing a neti pot for him twice a day for the past few days & giving him lots of zinc & vitamin C. Ebert has a chronic wound on his leg that has spread to other sites on his leg and is on antibiotics twice a day & wound care twice a day as well.  He also hurt his achilles tendon before I got here and has been on strict "no soccer for at least 2 weeks" since. The youngest boy, Cristian, scraped his knee on a rusty nail yesterday during a soccer game, but luckily he is recently up to date on his vaccines including tetanus. And while at the beach today both my mom and Kevin got stung by jellyfish, which luckily isn't that big of a deal besides that it really hurt. So, that leaves only two of the six boys in the house that don't have some type of injury or infection that I'm nursing back to health every day! Hah. It's common for at least one of the boys to have some type of injury / infection since they rough house so much and the soccer field is also a home for animals to poop in and garbage to be thrown.

Playing football with coconuts

Day at the river

Mama and me

Posting this as we're trying to get mom ready to leave at 4:30am tomorrow for the airport...Please pray for safe travels & that she will feel super rested & ready to travel even though she'll be getting only a few hours of sleep tonight. 

Vamos a la playa

If you read my last post, you know how much it's been raining here. Well today we woke up to a blue sky and SUNSHINE!!! So incredibly beautiful to have the fog clear and see all the mountains and jungle landscape on every side. After dragging everyone out of bed (they would sleep until 11am if I let them...) we grabbed our stuff (as in my sunglasses and bug spray) and started the trek down the mountainside. You can see the ocean from Lisa's house, but the water was so choppy we decided to go to a nicer beach over by where they used to live. This beach was about 3 miles away and we were hoping to catch a moto taxi but none passed us as we walked so we ended up walking all the way there through mostly muddy goop from the storm the night before.

Vamos a la playa

^Video of mom attempting to walk around the mud hahaha...^

Jeremias loves having his picture taken....

My mom & I treated the boys to cokes and chips, and by the time we got to the beach it started raining again...Bummed that we didn't get there in time to enjoy the beach in the sunshine, but naturally we ended up playing soccer at one of their favorite soccer fields on the way home. It's funny--we were at the beach where we could've played soccer but they wanted to leave because it was raining. On our way home walking in the rain though, the opportunity to play soccer in a muddy field was too good to pass up. I guess playing soccer in mud is more fun than in wet sand? Either way, the boys ended up being covered from head to toe in mud and sopping wet, oh! and my mom too.

Ebert's orange slice smile

Soccer in the mud with mom

Luckily a moto taxi passed us on our way home and gave us a lift. Since there weren't many taxis in sight, we all squished into the same one. Yes--somehow mom, myself, the 5 boys, and the taxi driver fit!

Moto taxi home

Yesterday, Lisa, my mom, myself and Jeremias went to La Ceiba (nearest city) to run some errands. Going to the city is a big undertaking because it takes about 2 hours to get there when the roads are bad during rainy season...and that is, if the roads don't collapse or bridges flood over. We went grocery shopping, Lisa ran some errands regarding the house, and most importantly...we ran into Jose. :) Jose's story is a complex one, but the short version is he is one of the original boys that Lisa first had in her home in the beginning of Bethesda Home for Boys. He comes from a very violent & abusive home, struggles with drug addiction, and also has a huge heart for God. A reminder that we are all a work in progress. Lisa's house rules are: you have to do your part (chores, helping around the house, etc), showing love & respect to others, no porn, no drugs, and overall trying to live in a godly way. Granted, no one is expected to be perfect. And Bethesda Home for Boys is based on a "prodigal son" type of principle...if you run away from home (as most boys do several times for a while when first living in the home) you're welcome to come back if you decide to live by the house rules. For Jose, he's currently living on the street / with his parents, but by choice. We drove by his usual hangout spot, where he happened to be, and invited him to come along with us to run errands & eat lunch. Even though he's not living in the house right now, it was so good to see him & spend the day with him!!! It still amazes me how much everyone has grown in just one year of being away from them. Jose will always have a special place in my heart, and I know God has big plans for his life--especially seeing all that he's already survived (literally) and overcome. Please continue to pray for him and his family!

Jeremias, Jose y yo

Jose y yo making bracelets

 

Hey, Mama.

I think this is my third time attempting to start a blog post for this trip. It's weird because although my life in Honduras is different in almost every way than in the States, once I get here it feels like I pick up right where I left off. The boys have grown taller and their voices deeper, but I'm still greeted with lots of hugs and laughter when they first see me at the airport, and it's like the long year of being apart has vanished.

But one thing for sure is different this trip--my mom is here with me!!! :) I've been visiting the boys for years, but always traveling alone. And I've always wanted my family to meet my "other family", not just via skype, and see a huge part of my life they've only heard stories about. So for this time here, I'm going to try to see & blog about things that are weird or interesting as if it were my first trip here, like it is for my mom.

First of all--we finally made it here!!! After traveling separately for most of the trip due to bad weather in both Redmond and San Francisco, I made it to Houston on time but my mom had to catch the next flight into San Pedro Sula the next day. So, we started traveling Wednesday night, planned on arriving Thursday afternoon, then delayed to Friday morning. Thankfully the airline allowed me to change my ticket to Friday morning too without any hassle or fees, so we stayed the night in Houston and flew out the next morning. Just as we were excited to finally be arriving in Honduras Friday, Lisa (our friend who started the non-profit Bethesda Home for Boys), warned us that the airport in La Ceiba was currently closed due to a severe rain storm and that we will need to spend the night in San Pedro or try to get a bus to La Ceiba and stay there for the night--either way not arriving to where we are staying until Saturday. Praying for the rain to stop, we flew out of Houston not sure what was going to happen until we arrived. Once we landed, we heard there had not been rain for a few hours and the airport opened back up (yes--it is THAT small that the La Ceiba airport was temporarily closed because of a bad rain storm). We flew into Ceiba without problems, but arrived pretty nauseous and thankful the plane could physically make the trip...I told my mom the plane was really small, but neglected to tell her that it had 14 seats and that you can see into the cockpit...where the pilots used equipment that looked about 20 years outdated and something on the floorboard labeled "emergencia" had broken off.

On our way to La Ceiba

To paint a picture of where Lisa & the boys live, Balfate in out in the jungle about a 2 hour drive from La Ceiba (nearest small city with an airport), and the first part of the drive is mostly paved but then the rest of it is a dirt road with potholes that are big enough to curl up & take a nap in. Needless to say, it's more of a video game of dodging potholes and the feeling is like riding the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland...except you're also dodging cows, dogs, small children, and other cars. I also may not have warned my mom enough about what the drive to Balfate was like...hahahaa.

Right now it's rainy season!! It's a refreshing relief from the very hot and muggy summer months, but this year the rain is especially severe. Rainy season starts in October and goes through February, and some days the rain literally never stops. Rain boots are a MUST this time of year, and putting laundry out to dry takes several days. Although the crazy tropical storms usually mean dangerous jungle mudslides, rivers overflowing past the bridges, etc the thunder & lightning is absolutely breathtaking and you feel the storm shake everything around you & inside you--like you're also part of the jungle.

Exploring the backyard

Unfortunately, rainy season is also the same time of year the boys have off from school. November, December and January they're on vacation & it's not the best weather for playing outside in all day. We definitely are outside a lot still, but on especially stormy days we do stuff around the house & play lots and lots of card games. With all of us being a little stir crazy, we tend to get just as competitive with card games as they do soccer games after a while.

Will post more when I have better wifi, but please leave any questions you have for me in the comments!! As always, your prayers and support are very very needed & appreciated. And I'll end this post with one of my favorite photos of the trip so far.

Me & Cristian, the youngest