Cayos

Lisa and I had been trying to figure out a little get-a-way with the boys for quite some time now. Between juggling finding somewhere affordable, getting someone to stay at the house, and making sure the dogs were taken care of, didn’t make this task easy. Finally the plans were set and we were going to Cayos Cochinos which are beautiful islands off the north cost of Honduras.

We got up early and took the short hour boat ride, where we had hired a private boat from a local fisherman, to take us over. I enjoyed the ride as I looked at the blue water that sparkled like diamonds as the sun rays danced with the waves.

It was sweet to watch one of the older boys, Jelsing, putting his arm around the his younger brother, Isaias, in a loving and comforting gesture as they watched the waves together and searched beyond the blue sea for the islands ahead.  Another one of the boys, Jeremias, was sitting close to Lisa, as he was a bit afraid of the water after a near downing experience as a young child. The last of the four, Ever, was sitting independently and I’m not quite sure what was going through his mind.  We were starting our adventure, the wind blowing through our hair, the taste of saltwater in the air, and the anticipation of a fun time to come.

When we arrived at one of the islands I couldn’t stop smiling or staring at the beautiful water. It was so turquoise and clear that you could see the ocean floor. I felt like I was in a surreal world. It was like I had dived into the pages of a National Geographic magazine. The boys were just as excited. Cayos is made up of 13 islands and we stopped at one of them where we had to sign in and watch a short video on respecting the environment. After that we dropped our bags at the cabin we were staying at and took another small boat to explore a snorkeling spot. 

After some awesome snorkeling we were our way to another island for lunch, when our boat driver spotted some dolphins and we headed toward them. It was an unreal experience as the dolphins were swimming alongside our small boat (about the length of 2 dolphins, and shallow enough that you could put your hand down and touch the water). There they were jumping out of the water, playfully and carefree. There must have been at least 6 or more of them. We all smiled and giggled in delight as we had stumbled upon this rare and majestic experience.

We  had  two wonderful days of snorkeling, swimming, swinging in hammocks, watching sunsets, hunting for seashells and sea glass, and eating local food. It passed all to quickly and before we knew it we were back on the same boat that had taken us over, going home. This time the twin Jeremias who had been afraid of the boat ride just a few days earlier was bolding sitting by himself at the front of the boat. The waves were much more rough coming back and with the choppy water I thought for sure he would be afraid. The boat driver slowed down at one point and asked him “Papi (an endearing term), quieres ir aqui con nosotros?” “Do you want to come back here with us?” He turned around as much as he could with his restricting life vest. His  hair was windblown and he had slashes of water on his face but he was grinning ear to ear shook his head no. 

Yes, yes indeed, it had been a good trip. Not only had we lived in a fairytale land for two days but this boy had also conquered a very real fear  and was the bravest of us all.

Mancho

It was dump day. Lisa and I were going into town to run some errands and visit the dump. The first thing that we did when we got into town was to pick up Mancho. He is a 14 year old boy who lives in the dump and is part of a gang. There are different levels of gangs here. Some are bad, others worse and others horrible. Thankfully the one he  is in only qualifies as bad, but none the less its a gang. He is a really good kid, but has been hanging around the wrong people. 

Today Mancho was going to have a change of scenery by hanging out with us :) He went where we went and helped us with our errands. We didn’t do anything special, but we got to show him love by just hanging with him. The thing I remember the most about that day is going to the grocery store with him. He helped me push the cart around and showed me which rice was the best and I showed him which toothpaste I liked. I was impressed by his gentle spirit and curiosity to learn. Something that I have noticed about the culture here, especially in poverty stricken areas, is that people don’t speak with kindness when asking for something. At the dump people say “Give me this, or that”. There usually is no please or thank you. Mancho never once asked me to buy him anything at the grocery store and when I offered to get him a few things he was genuinely thankful. 

Because of Mancho's life circumstances, he doesn't have much of an opportunity to succeed. But, with his big heart there is hope that he can not only survive but thrive. It will not be an easy journey as he has put himself in some bad situations. But, you can tell there is something in his heart that is rare and bold that he himself has not yet fully discovered.  If his character is nurtured into the man God has created him to be, he will be unstoppable.

Thank you

One day I was sitting in the rocking chair outside talking to some of the boys and enjoying the beautiful weather when Lisa handed me her cell phone and said someone wanted to talk to me. I had heard her talking in spanish to this person just moments before and I wondered who it was. “Hola.” I said, praying my spanish wouldn’t fail me now. The answer on the other line was that of a young man. He was calling to apologize to me for stealing my things. He was sorry and asked me to forgive him. I couldn’t believe it, my things had gotten stolen about a month and a half ago. The conversation almost brought tears to my eyes and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I said of course I forgave him and went on to ask how he was doing. I admire the young man and his boldness and courage to step out of his comfort zone. I knew he was ashamed of what he had done yet he didn’t let that stop him from doing what was right. 

Rewind

Here are three stories from events that happened a few weeks ago but I didn’t get around to writing.

El hoyo

They call it "el hoyo" which means "the hole". It's the place to go to get your drugs. The drug of choice here is crack or "piedra" which means rock. They say its better here, bigger, stronger than you can get in neighboring towns. "El hoyo" is a deep, depressing and dangerous place and once you have fallen in, its like trying to get out from a 100 foot hole with no footholds or places to grab. Even if you can see the light from where you are standing it is almost impossible to reach it or feel its warmth again. The police won't do anything. Their station is literally  next to where "the hole" is.  Its an oxymoron of co-existence. Your only hope is a miracle.

This is where one of the boys, Pablo* (12 years old), who was living with Lisa, choose to return after almost a year of living the life a child should have. They say that it can take up to three years for a street kid to start to begin to come around and that it is normal for them to run. They also say finding a street kid once they are back on the streets is very difficult and nearly impossible if they are in "el hoyo". The reason for this is they sleep during the day when its safer and are awake at night.

One day while Lisa and I were in town, which is about an hour from where we live, we decided to drive through "el hoyo" just to see if by some chance we would see him. Fist we met Juan*, a 14 year old street kid whose face looks like that of and old man because of the drug. Juan is "a looker". He takes the people who want to buy drugs to the drug dealers. Lisa was talking to him to see if we could find out where Pablo was.

During this time I was waiting in the car trying to take everything in. I was watching the faces of the people who passed by. Some were high, some were wondering what these white girls were doing in this part of town, some were police men with there large guns and expressionless faces - all seemed hopeless.

Then I hear Lisa yell, "Pablo, venga" she called. He ran down an alley. She decided to talk Juan some more and bought him some lunch. As we were driving away Juan waves us over. We round the corner and there is Pablo with Juan holding him so he wouldn't run away. Lisa jumped out of the car and ran to embrace him. She held him tight and they talk for a little while.

 I can still see the picture of them talking clearly in my head. This once healthy looking boy looked nothing like he did when he was with us just 5 weeks ago. It was like the life had been sucked out of him. He was scrawny, with murky eyes, wild hair, and tattered clothes.

Lisa returned to the car with tears strolling down her cheeks. She told me he said didn't want help, he said he was fine where he was. Trying to process the hurt and the pain, we drove away.

*Names of kids have been changed.

Laundry in every country

Clothes get dirty. You can wash them by hand and hang them up to dry or put them in a washer and dryer, but either way you have to do something to get them clean again.

During the two weeks that I was in charge of the boys I realized that with 4 of them, there was always laundry to do. I could not escape it. Inevitably boys get dirty with all their playing outside.  If I didn't do any laundry they would run out of clothes to wear and that just wasn't an option.

Laundry has reminded me of a very important lesson. There are some things in life that I have to do that are not always fun but are necessary. The difference isn't how I do them but what my attitude is towards doing them.

I like to argue with God. "God, I know I said I wanted to come here to serve you, but I wanted to make a difference and do something great. This isn't exciting and cutting edge like I hoped it would be. This is normal everyday life."

I can see His gentle smile as he looks me in the eyes and reminds me, "Yes my child, you did come to serve. You came to serve me. You find your worth not in the things that you do, but in your faithfulness to do what I have chosen for you. Keep your eyes on me and remember, there is laundry in every country".

Movies and a hospital bed

Jeremias needed to spend the night at the hospital which frazzled me a little bit. I thought they were just going to drain some junk out of his chin and we would be on our way (I know...you like my technical term). How was I suppose to be two places at once? How could I watch the boys at home and be at the hospital at the same time?

I emailed Lisa and we figured it out. One of the workers, Argentina, who has been helping me out, would spend the night with Jeremias and I would be with the boys. It meant more work for me in the morning but that would be ok.

From the hospital I drove to pick up the rest of the boys then drove to pick up Argentina, then drove home. We ate dinner, piled all the boys back into the car with Argentina and went back to hospital, then drove home for the night. Good thing it's only a 10 minute drive to the hospital. The only challenge is trying to dodge ALL the holes in the dirt road along the way! I am also thankful that I learned to drive stick when I first started driving or this situation would have been a lot more difficult.

I got the boys ready and off to school the next morning, went the hospital  to pick up Argentina, went to pick up Fidel, who is another worker, drove them back home then drove back to the hospital to be with Jeremias. By now I was becoming a pro at dodging the holes,  cows and dogs on my way to and from.

When I finally got back to the hospital Jeremias wanted me to watch movies with him. It wasn't enough that we were in the same room, we had to be doing the same thing. He would tell me what was going to happen next in the movie or asked me if I liked a certain part. I didn't know I would be continuing to learn my Spanish through kids movies, but it works for me!

Later that day, I found out the doctor wanted to keep him one more night because they don't have a fancy machine (I think its called an EKG) to check to make sure everything was still looking good.



God is teaching me serving comes in all kinds of ways. It can be as simple as snuggling with one of His kids in a hospital bed while watching movies in Spanish and if I get to do it two days in a row, it's a blessing!

Wait..no..I don't do vomit

One of the boys, named Jeremias, had a growing lump under his chin for about a week. It wasn't getting any better so the doctors decided that they would cut into it to see if they could get anything out and to try to figure out what was going on.

They gave him a shot to put him to sleep and worked on his little body. I waited in the waiting room until they were finished with the procedure. Once it was over the doctor came out and asked me to wait with him as he was waking up. She said sometimes they are a little disoriented or sometimes they can be a little nauseous.

I conjured up my most motherly skills and went into the room. I rubbed his back and hummed him a song as he tried to orient himself and his surroundings. His eyes were dialated and hazy as he  looked at me half asleep.

Sometimes he would say, "Vamanos" or "y Isaisas? y Jelsing?". He wanted to leave and wanted to know where his brothers were. I told him we couldn't leave just yet and that his brothers were waiting for him. This was not a sufficient answer for him and he tried to sit up a little to show me that he was ready to go, but before he got to his feet he started to throw up. I had to leave the room! I don't have this motherly gifting yet! I think you get that when you have your own kids. My gag reflexes started to kick in and I too would have been right next to him throwing up if I hadn't left. I called for the doctor who was in the other room and said, "I'm so sorry I can't be with him right now...or we will have to clean up two peoples throw up." She laughed, saying my face was priceless as she went into the room to move him to a clean bed. After I took a few deep breaths I returned to try to comfort him. "Good thing that's over," I thought, "He doesn't have anything left in his  tummy i think I can manage it from here." It wasn't 5 minutes later that it started all over again. This time I was determined I would suck it up and be there for him. I tried telling him he was ok and rubbed his back. Holding my breath I moved the sheets from the previous bed that were still full of throw up, put down a new sheet and gave him a clean place to try to rest. When the doctor returned she congratulated me for making in through this time and I must admit that I was kind of proud of myself as well.

"Vamanos". He repeated over and over. I couldn't have agreed with him more but unfortunately he wouldn't be going home tonight.