Christmas comes early to Boca Del Monte!

Yesterday was a good day. No, it was a great day! A fun day! In the morning Ellen and I, along with her assistance Marel went to deliver toys and water melon to Boca del Monte and water melon to the school in La Laguna. I met them at 7:30am and we took off. We had to stop for gas which meant going past a police check point. Ellen and Marel went to throw their seat belts on. I was sitting in the middle but apparently I don’t need one. Not sure of that logic. The fine for not wearing your seatbelt is technically about 700 lempira ($35) but like most things here it is negotiable. They tell me that with good negotiation you can usually get it down to about 200 lempira depending on how the officer feels. After gas it was straigt to Boca del Monte. The road, is a dirt track with deep ruts and large stones. But Marel is used to them and we soon arrived in Boca. The kids ran out to greet us. They know Marel’s truck well. Project School Supplies has done a lot of work in this community and she and Marel are greeted like old friends. We had the kinder kids help bring in all the toys as I snapped pictures. It was so much fun to see them with the toys. I will let the pictures do the talking..........

Getting ready to go!

The kids come to greet us...

All the kinder children helped to carry in the toys and supplies.....

The kids go crazy for balloons, and everyone got one!! It may seem like a small thing, but when kids here often don't have anything for themselves it doesn't take much to make them happy and put a smile on thier face.....

Even the local dog came in to the class and got in on the action...

Then it was water melon time......

The Grade 1 and higher often have to share desks and table. This class is taken on the porch as the school isn't big enough for all the kids. Sometimes teachers have to teach up to 6 grades at the same time.....talk about juggling!!!!

We had to keep moving as we had two other stops to make before the children got out of school at 11am. First we stopped in the village of El Chilar. I visited this village last year and went to take a look at the chicken house. This was just being built last year, a joint project by PSS and "A Better World". The children care for the chickens, colect the eggs which they can sell or sometimes have as a snack and buy the feed. It teaches them a little about "business" at the ground level while providing them with a nutricious snack from time to time. It was great to see it up and running. Marel went to drop off milk at the kinde. They are one of the kinder's that receives milk from PSS for the kids in the morning thanks to a private donor.....

Then it was off to our final village....La Laguna...with more water melons and a little toy for all the kids in the school......

Everyone lined up and got a little whistle, ball or "yo yo"

Water pistols are a huge hit here and Ellen tried to protect herself as the kids turned on her....squirting her with water.....

The kinder at La Laguna needs supplies.....sadly this is the case with so many kinders. The reality is that there is only so much to go around. Hopefully PSS will be able to supply a few basic toys to brighten up the class room a little. PSS already installed a skylight as the class was so dark and depressing. At least now a little light gets in......

No toys!

It was a fabulous day, made possible by my amazing co-workers (and friends).....Sandy, Jodi and Holly...and to everyone who reads this that bought a ticket for our little raffle....a huge thank you! Over 300 kids got something today.....whether it was a room full of toys, a balloon, a whistle or a slice of water melon (everybody got water melon!!!!).....Gracias!

It was back home for an afternoon of class. Ellen has also been taking classes to improve her Spanish, so she and I, along with our two teachers, Dunia and Yarely sat for the first two hours in conversation talking about the day. What a great day!

After class, it was home. For those that think I do anything around the house, here you go......

Hand washing....A large pila of water is used to wet the clothes (by using a small bowl), then soap, in the form of a bar, is rubbed on the clothes. Next, you scrub against a metal, ridged washboard and then you rinse....easy!

Next, Tortilla making........Dunia is the expert.....

My tortilla......am I good or what???

so, just a couple days left in Honduras...then off to Guatemala.......Stay tuned for my last blog from Copan Ruinas, Honduras.....Hasta Luego.