¡An Exciting Month!

Here are links to two photo albums from this month!

Flood Relief
Our First Community

October has flown by in a whirl of project activity, adventures, heavy rain and corresponding emergency flood relief efforts! It seems as though its been ages since I've updated this blog, but I will try my best to keep it brief!! The month started off with an exciting trip to Copan where we attended a conference about partnerships among NGOs, missions and aid agencies within Honduras. It was really interesting to hear about all the great work that is going on around Honduras and also hear about the struggles that individual groups are having and in the same moment have people in the crowd offer their services to help another out! So great what can be accomplished through communication and relationships! We also had a chance to visit a VERY cool bird park and coffee farm, FLY through the canopies 150ft up on sketchy zip lines and visit the mysterious Mayan Ruins nearby!
Upon returning to San Pedro (on the crazy road!) we jump started our water project in Gavion and signed up 72 families on the first day! Throughout the week we held leader training sessions and were so pleased to have some awesome women and men step up to volunteer! The spirit and desire to improve the health of their community is very inspiring and I am pumped to keep working with them over the coming weeks! I have also made some new...and VERY cute little friends in the community. Most of the kids haven't been in school for most of the past two months, due to teacher strikes and rains and now the schools are closing until February! One little girl, Soyani, is 10 years old and is only still in first grade; another little boy is 7 and still can't tell the difference between blue and red. It is so sad to see them being held back from education, but it is nice to have them around as we do our sessions and meet with the adults each day!
Throughout the first half of the month we were hit with heavy rains across Honduras. Now when I say heavy, I mean the kind of rain that prevents conversation because its so loud! And it lasted ALL day for two weeks!! The state of the streets within the city was ridiculous; with raging rivers flowing down from our house, storm sewers that looked like geysers and rocks and garbage that flowed down from the mountain strewn everywhere! By October 17th, we were declared to be in a national state of emergency and by Monday many people outside the city were out of their homes due to extensive flooding. Samaritans Purse began responding with emergency flood relief shortly after and we started with tarps and water before moving on to hot meals and then full food and emergency supply packages. It was so interesting to learn how a relief effort is organized and how the people and supplies are all mobilized, packed and distributed. It was awesome to see SP staff use connections from past projects to get a hold of community leaders and find out the worst hit areas and let them know that supplies were on the way. Some of the communities were quite a challenge to get to as there are lots of bridges out or underwater and many roads impassable due to landslides, flooding and washouts. Luckily we are well-stocked with 4wd vehicles and I was able to live out some serious childhood dreams of intensive off-roading! My personal favourite vehicle is the "Batalla" (the 'Battle') Land Cruiser complete with a snorkel that looks like it jumped out of an Indiana Jones movie! With the Batalla as our stallion, we were able to make it through kilometer after kilometer of 4 ft deep water and extensive m ud and get to communites trap by the flood waters. SOOOO EXCITING!!

Seeing the devastation and the loss in people s eyes as they tried to keep the last of their belongings dry under tarps along the sides of the major roads was heartbreaking. Even moreso was the gorgeous kids still running around after soccer balls, seemingly unaware of the dire situation around them. It was hard to feel good about handing a bag of food and water to a family with nothing, but at least we are so blessed to be working with an organization that responds to immediate needs. I feel honoured to have been a part of the effort and it was an awesome opportunity to bond with other SP staff! Although we have now moved back to our water project, there are still staff here assessing to meet the needs in the affected communities and responding accordingly.
Eventhough the rains have been continuing (in slightly less force) to slow down our construction, we are still moving forward with our water project. We have focused on using this time to provide solid health and hygiene workshops for the beneficiaries and provide a parallel programming for the neighbourhood kids who are all out of school due to a teachers strike.
I am so thankful for all of my friends and family at home and for the s upport and love you have continued to show me through emails, skype, posts, and prayers! I feel so blessed to have so many quality people in my life! I can't wait to reconnect with you upon my return and share more about how our lives have been impacted over the past few months!
If you pray, I would really appreciate your prayer in a few areas:

• flood-impacted families who are attempting to rebuild their homes and continue on with life
• clear communication and unity within our project team
• the leaders in Gavion who are stepping up to a huge challenge, that they would be encouraged, have strength and would have the desire to sustain this program after we leave
• for Andrew's mom, Becky, and their family as she continues to courageously fight and gracefully live through intensive cancer treatment
  

¡Después de un mes!

After a month, life here in Honduras is starting to fall into a regular rhythm and even the heat is beginning to feel normal! Our Water Project Team has really come together over the last few weeks, as our project was officially given the go ahead from the Canadian office and the Latin American Director came to lead a week of training for the new Honduran team members. Since this is a start-up project, there have been plenty of opportunities for learning as we work together to analyze and enter needs assessment data, develop Health & Hygiene curriculum and resources, secure sources for filter construction materials, test flow rates to develop procedures for sand-washing and installation, meet with and develop relationships with pastors and leaders in the communities, establish locations for construction and H&H lessons within the community and develop our plan of attack for the next three years! Currently, two communities have been selected as appropriate and very needy candidates for our program, they are both slums within the city, referred to here as 'bordos'. This will be the very first time that SP has done a water project in an urban slum and we are very excited to be a part of this pilot venture! The main source of income and housing supplies in these communities come from garbage collecting and you often see little horse-drawn carts around the city with bordo inhabitants carrying their 'goods'. The time that we've spent in the communities, meeting the families and seeing the distended bellies of kids suffering from parasitic infections has deepened my enthusiasm and hope for this project as I have been reminded of the reality of living in extreme poverty. Although we have not yet commenced building filters in the community, we feel very fulfilled in the work we are doing now to prepare will help lay down a solid groundwork to enable this program be one of high integrity and sustainability.

Los Bordos
The 'Filtros de Vida' TeamAspects of the filter construction/sand testing processSifting the sand
Washing the sandDemolding the filterOutside of our project, we have continued to keep ourselves busy trying to get involved in the San Pedro Sula community and get to know this beautiful land! A few weekends back, I had a wonderful opportunity to help out at a camp near the mountains and be the resident "pyro", building huge fires for the 150 campers to cook on. The scene was perfect as we had to hike through the junglish woods for a kilometre and cross through a river to get to the fire sites, where we were met with the challenge of fire-starting with damp wood and no kindling! It was cool to see the Honduran alternatives to some of our Canadian trip favourites, as they made what we would call a 'tinfoil dinner', except here the food was wrapped in a banana leaf! Awesome! Another weekend, two friends from work and I traveled to Lago Yojoa in the interior of the country, apparently the nation's only real lake. It was a gorgeous spot in the shadow of the mountains and we had a fun time sleeping in our SP Canada-provided 'mosquito tents' at the base marina of the Independance Day sailing regatta! With our see-through netted walls, headlamps and guacamole we were quite a sight, but I think we provided some good entertainment for the locals..and the machine gun clad, military attire guards that passed back and forth all night :)

Lago Yojoa In the city, we've kept ourselves busy attending Honduran soccer games, visiting local markets and one early morning I got to hike up one of the surrounding mountains to get a beautiful view of the whole city. On the way up we had an exciting sighting of a REAL TOUCAN!! My new friend, with a well-tuned ear for tropical birds (?!), heard it calling and spotted it on a nearby branch. I was pretty much over the moon at the idea of seeing a toucan in its natural environment and was once again reminded of how lovely our surroundings here are! We have also been taking advantage of this tropical setting by making fruit a VERY regular part of our daily life...so basically, I'm in heaven :) This weekend we came upon the MOTHER of all papayas at the downtown market, 12 lbs of deliciousness! We have decided that any Halloween celebration we hold will need to include papaya carving!
Our Spanish classes at a local 'Academia' have recently ended and Anthea and I were sad to leave our slightly scatter-brained, yet incredibly sweet 'maestra', Arele. We enjoyed many a hot and sometimes stormy afternoon with her, working our way through an array of 'cosas de Español' and enjoying a regular 'cafecito'. Although my ability (or inability) to communicate still frustrates me somedays, I know that my understanding and comprehension has improved- which says a lot here, where muttering, slang and consonant-dropping is rampant!
The weeks ahead hold lots of promise for more adventures, challenges and deepened relationships, big steps in our project and as always, lots of opportunities to learn and have FUN! I am feeling God's blessing so richly during this time and am so thankful for all the support, prayer and kind words I have received from home!
The beautiful view of San Pedro from the mountain top.Kara and I at first Honduran 'futbol' game!My desk at Spanish SchoolMr. ENORMOUS papaya and his little fruit friends

¡Nosotros estamos en Honduras!

We’ve finally made it to Honduras and have now spend nearly a week getting to know our new country! Currently we are living in the city of San Pedro Sula on the North Coast of the country in a valley lined by big, green, lush mountains. Although, San Pedro is the industrial capital of the country, compared to other ‘industry towns’ I’ve seen, it is pretty nice! Surrounding the city is plantation after plantation of bananas, African palm (for palm oil) and coffee. As with most Latin American countries, the huge disparity among the rich and poor is visible everywhere, with small pockets of slums in the shadows of American chain restaurants and malls.
The Samaritans Purse office here is involved in a wide range of projects that reach out to the needs of both the urban and rural communities of Honduras. They range from HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment centres to school feeding programs to animal husbandry and agricultural development programs to our water, health, nutrition and sanitation program. It is very exciting to see all that’s going on and to meet the national and international staff. In an attempt to attain holistic development for the communities we work with, our water filter project is going to be combined with a health, hygiene and sanitation program. Earlier this week we were able to travel out to some of the possible communities and speak with the women about the struggles they face in their daily lives in order to understand their perspectives so that we can tailor our program to their needs. It was sooooo incredible to be able to speak with people and to know that our main objective over the next few months is to work WITH them to improve the situation! All that time in school studying about the science behind water quality, the diseases it can cause and the technologies and education to improve it and now we actually get to use that knowledge to help real people! So excited for the net few weeks as things start rolling!
As for our living situation, currently we are in a beautiful apartment near the office with two American interns, Krystal and Kara. The four of us are all around the same age and have similar interests like being active, getting to know the culture and people better and exploring this country! So far we have had a great time together! On Saturday, we spent the afternoon at a government ‘orphanage’ for girls that have suffered sexual abuse on the street or in their homes. The stories that some of the girls shared of their lives before, and since they’ve been in the home were heart wrenching. Some of the girls as young as thirteen already have children of their own that live there as well and we got to hold many a newborn baby. Together we played lots of games (some true competitors in the crowd ☺), made beaded necklaces, painted faces and just hung out. It was sad to meet face to face the victims of such abuse and tough circumstances, but so exciting and encouraging to see the tough spirit and joy still present in so many of those girls! Each day we learn of situations that make me realize how incredibly blessed I have been in my life!

Intern Life - Week One!

Hey Everyone!
What a change it has been to switch from canoe tripper to intern this week! I have never in my life had to 'look professional' on a daily basis...but luckily my feet are starting to adjust to the switch from flip-flops to heels! We've spent the week immersed in sessions, speakers and workshops about responsible development, participatory approaches, health and sanitation education programs, ethics and incarnational living...all topics that I find incredibly interesting! Next week we move into water filter construction and further water and sanitation training. On top of our daily schedule, we have a stack and I mean a STACK of supplementary readings to stay on top of. Its taking a little adjustment to move from the world of busy camp interactions to reading and reflection, but I am loving the opportunity to rethink my priorities, goals and outlooks.
The family that I am billeting with are incredibly friendly and generous and have let me sort of blend into their household, which is a great blessing! On Tuesday I got to hang out with Lauren Wells and watch her kick butt (as per usual) in her soccer league and hear about her sweet job at Alberta Children's Hospital! Then yesterday I had a fabulous time traveling to Johnson Canyon and Lake Louise with a group of the interns. I had never been to the Rockies and was blown away by the beauty of these Canadian monuments! At Lake Louise we were met with a monster thunder storm that was so cool to watch take place atop the mountains!
Over the last few days, as the Woodland Challenge 10-day canoe trips have returned to camp, I've been able to connect with Sara and Andrew and hear about all their adventures and stories! As selfish as it sounds, eventhough I am so excited and thankful for this opportunity it has definitely been really tough to have missed finishing WC and participating in the 10-day! I feel as though a part of me has been left at Pioneer...this might also be because half of my family and Andrew are there too :) BUT, I know you can't have it all and that there's a plan for the way things have played out! I am so pumped to live out what's ahead!
Pictures in 'order of appearance'
#1 Lauren and I, #2 Fellow intern ladies: Keren, Me, Kim and Anthea, #3 7 of 10 interns: Me, David, Andy, Evon, Kim, Karen & Anthea, #4 Upper Johnson Creek Falls, #5 Anthea and I (my Honduras partner!)

Off to Calgary?!

Hello from Alberta!
About a month ago I received word that I had been accepted as a Water Project Intern with CIDA and Samaritans Purse! At the time I was at camp in the midst of a busy transition between the roles of Tripping Coordinator and Woodland Challenge Assistant Director and the news came as a HUGE surprise. I also found out that due to time constraints placed by CIDA, the internship schedule had been pushed forward to commence August 5th rather than the end of the month, placing me in a very sticky situation!! Fortunately, I was blessed with a boss and fellow leaders that were willing to allow and help me to leave WC early and accept the internship position. The past few weeks have FLOWN by as our fabulous WC staff came together, campers arrived and high-energy programming flowed! As we prepped for the 10-day canoe trips I tried to wrap my mind around the idea that when they departed, so did I...for six months! After a bittersweet goodbye, both Sara and Andrew headed to the woods to lead WC canoe trips, Becky got ready to prepare for the rush of LIT canoe trips and I headed home. It was very hard to leave Woodland as we have had such great kids this summer and the program is close to my heart, but it was reassuring to know that Jeff and this summer's fun and talented team of staff will it all under control!
Over the past 3 days I have had a whirlwind weekend visiting friends and family and finishing up some medical paperwork with my doctor. Much needed packing didn't actually happen until about 6 hours before my flight and involved me taking a bit of everything, unsure of what I really need...yikes! I just arrived in Calgary, where I'll be for the next 3 weeks and am staying with a lovely Samaritan's Purse staff family. Tomorrow I start training and hopefully become enlightened as to the details of the next few months! So far I know that I will be working on Water Projects in the HONDURAS!! Ahhh! Sooo excited! I'm so sorry to have kept so many people out of the loop, but the past few weeks have been CRAZY and I am so pumped to be able to catch my breath here in Calgary and catch up on many long needed communication! I hope everyone is doing great, wherever you are!
xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo