The Nutrition Center, Pulhapanzak Falls and Lago de Yojoa

Today was a fairly easy day as far as work goes. Honduras days start at 6:30 or earlier; partly because we’re all so tired that we go to bed before 10:00, and partly because the roosters outside your windows make sleeping any later a futile effort.

Isabel, our amazing MAMA cook, made us a breakfast of baleadas – homemade tortillas with refried beans, eggs and cheese. The rest of the morning was spent working at the Nutrition Center, just up the hill. When I say, “Just up the hill,” I don’t want to give you the idea that it’s this gentle little slope. It’s only 100 yards away, but walking up the driveway to get up the thing will take down anyone less than an athlete.

There are currently several mothers and their children staying at the Center. Most of the children are very young – four years old or younger – and one little girl is ten years old. They are there because they were all found to have moderate to severe cases of malnutrition. We introduced ourselves to the ladies and children living there, then spent some time coloring and interacting with the kids.

When it was time to work, the men of our group headed down to work on construction of the wall that will eventually encase the Nutrition Center. There are two buildings currently empty, but waiting for use – a rabbit hutch, and a chicken coop. In the past, the center has kept both types of animals, both for food for the families while they are receiving care at the center, as well as to give to them when they leave to help them breed more animals for in the future. Because of some theft of the animals in the past, they had to stop keeping them temporarily. Eventually, the completion of the wall will provide some security and allow MAMA project to continue raising animals for the center.

While the men worked on the wall, some of the ladies counted out and packaged medicines. The medical brigades that go to each community keep a mobile pharmacy stocked with all kinds of medications that the doctors may prescribe; the morning was spent stocking that mobile pharmacy. The rest of the ladies worked on sorting out the many donations, including toys, gifts and Bibles, that will be given out at the communities. Work on stocking the pharmacy continued this evening.

After lunch, we spent an afternoon seeing some of the beauty of the Honduran landscape. We went to Pulhapanzak Falls first, then made a quick trip over to Lake Yojoa. We came home in time for dinner and devotions, and got our assignments for tomorrow, when we will go into our first community.

Every year, I force my father into an unwelcome self portrait with me. This year, he did not hide his exasperation. HA!

I will be working in the pharmacy tomorrow. I did it for two days last year and I really enjoyed it. Thank you all for your prayers, and if you are wondering how to pray for me and for my team, here is what I suggest:

1)      Pray that the people in each community will be served well and will be provided with what they need.

2)      Pray for physical health for the team, to be able to do our jobs, and for safety as we travel.

3)      Pray that the people that we serve will see the love of Christ in our words, our expressions and our actions.