Honduras 2011//Wednesday

Wednesday was our travel day. Amy, Ashley, and I left here at about 2am and met Katie L and Andrea at the airport. Our flight left at 6. We landed in Tegucigalpa at 11:50 their time.

Tegucigalpa’s airport is the second most dangerous airport to land in the world. Mainly because you have to fly between two mountains in order to land on a very short runway which also runs parallel a few feet from a main road in the city.

I’ve never had a problem there. But this time…the wheels touched down smoothly but we felt like we were going awfully fast. Then we felt the pilot hit the brakes. Then we felt him hit them harder. And harder. Then he jerked the plane to the side (which you have to do in order to turn back to the airport). Turns out we only had a couple feet left of the runway to stop.

Other than that we had no problems (except Amy was sick traveling but turns out the doctor told her to take her malaria pills every day instead of once a week!)

We went back to the orphanage for a late lunch and as soon as we pulled in the gate, all the kids came running. They gave us all hugs and they remembered Amy and I from previous trips. Though they still couldn’t understand how we are sisters. They’d say “but you have blue eyes and she has brown.” It blows their mind!

As I was walking down to get lunch, the others had gone on ahead. One of the boys came up to me and asked if I remembered him. I told him his name and he got really excited. Then a couple other boys came up and started talking 90 miles an hour. It surprised me how much of my Spanish came back to me but I couldn’t understand everything they were saying. So I took the easy out and told them I had to go eat.

The orphanage has grown though. They now have a few chickens, two goats, and their dog had four puppies. Their favorite (and also the only one they named) is Princesa (Princess). The first thing they did was show us their eyes. They had blue eyes. Whenever the puppies drank milk from their mother, they would put Princesa up first and then let the others come.

Puppies (left) Bayron holding puppies (right)

Let me tell you a little bit about these kids. They are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. They have all been through so much and have had a rough past. Yet they ALL are genuinely happy and have overcome so much already. They don’t let their circumstances bring them down and they try to take advantage of every opportunity presented to them (even if they are few and far between compared to opportunities here).

They all have at least one parent but most do not have much to do with the kids yet they won’t give up their parental rights. There are 22 kids there and most of them have at least one sibling living there. The main thing these kids need is love. To be loved and know they are loved. That’s one reason I go back. To make sure they know they are not forgotten and they are important. (Plus they are like my other family). The director does such a great job with these kids. She really does the work of at least 5 people. Yet she is only one person. There are 22 kids. She gives as much love as she can but after splitting it between 22 kids, that’s not fair to them or her.

Our Group & Director (Left to Right: Amy, Ashley, Alicia, Andrea, Me, Katie L.)

So that was our mission for the week: to be love, to show love, and to love on these kids. And share God’s word with them. Each day (which was a miracle considering nothing ever goes as planned down there) we were able to do a short lesson, a craft/game, and sing some songs.

Read about more days in Honduras:
Wednesday: http://t.co/jzonJbQ   [this post]
Thursday: http://t.co/Vmpn4V9
Friday:http://t.co/mwPV13G
Saturday: http://t.co/7MdNCSo
Sunday: http://t.co/LBONaW9
Monday: http://t.co/pPn3NPs
Tuesday: http://t.co/FbbeEtO