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Summary
The
Mission
Team
flew
from
Reagan
International
through
Miami
on
American
Airlines
on
Saturday,
September
23,
2000
and
arrived
in
Tegucigalpa,
the
capital
city
of
Honduras.
We
arrived
at
11:30
am
Honduran
time
and
were
met
by
Miriam
and
some
of
the
Honduran
staff
at
the
airport.
Miriam
shepherded
us
through
customs
and
baggage
claim,
arranged
to
have
our
luggage
loaded
into
the
ranch
pickup
and
whisked
us
off
in
the
ranch
van.
We
drove
as
far
as
Juticalpa,
the
halfway
point,
which
is
about
a
three-hour
drive.
We
spent
the
night
there
at
the
Hotel
Honduras
and
enjoyed
exploring
that
town
for
a
bit.
We
left
for
the
Ranch
after
breakfast
the
next
day,
a
drive
of
about
two
to
three
hours
through
some
gorgeous
mountain
ranges
and
valleys.
Sunday
was
a
day
of
introduction
to
the
Ranch
and
an
afternoon
of
rest.
During
the
week,
we
had
the
following
schedule:
breakfast
is
when
the
bell
rings,
usually
at
seven,
and
we
left
for
our
village,
El
Quebrachal
around
eight.
It
is
about
an
hour’s
drive.
Once
at
the
village,
we
broke
up
into
work
teams
and
worked
on
4
latrines,
3
roofs,
and
a
cement
floor.
We
stopped
around
noon
for
a
hot
lunch
break
and
then
returned
to
work
until
mid-afternoon.
Evening
activities
included
a
high
school
dance
troupe
demonstrating
native
dances
and
a
farewell
party
our
last
night
there.
Friday
morning,
we
left
the
ranch
and
drove
to
Tegucigalpa
for
an
over-night
stay.
We
had
time
for
some
shopping,
a
farewell
dinner,
and
departure
from
Tegus
airport
around
1
p.m.
on
Saturday.
A
Brief
Report
From
the
Grace-Honduras
Mission
Team:
Our
trip
began
early
Saturday
morning
at
Reagan
National
Airport.
We
flew
to
Miami
and
then
to
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras.
Unfortunately,
our
Wisconsin
team
member,
Ross
Fugill
did
not
make
the
Miami
connection.
Miriam
Diaz,
our
Honduran
HOI
guide,
met
us
at
the
airport
in
'Tegus'.
She
would
remain
with
us
as
part
of
our
team
for
the
rest
of
the
week.
We
loaded
into
a
van
with
our
luggage
piled
in
a
separate
pickup
truck
and
headed
to
Juticalpa,
the
capital
of
the
Olancho
district.
We
dispensed
with
our
first
Western
luxury
-
air
conditioning
and
drove
with
the
windows
open
and
the
breeze
in
our
faces!
By
the
time
we
got
to
Juticalpa,
we
were
hot,
dusty
and
tired!
We
pulled
up
to
a
tiny
hotel
on
a
narrow
street
and
wearily
went
inside
to
claim
our
rooms.
All
were
on
the
3rd
floor
with
no
elevator,
but
found
to
our
delight
that
we
all
had
an
air-conditioning
unit
in
each
room!
And
showers!
And
our
luggage
had
arrived
with
us!
We
rested,
showered,
and
explored
until
dinnertime.
We
even
had
time
for
a
little
shopping!
Juticalpa
is
a
town
of
narrow
streets
and
few
sidewalks.
Pedestrians
share
the
road
with
the
cars
and
trucks.
There
are
no
stoplights
or
stop
signs.
Drivers
just
honk
when
they
get
to
the
intersection
to
tell
other
drivers
and
pedestrians
to
watch
out!
Our
hotel
was
just
a
short
walk
from
the
town
plaza
-
a
park
filled
with
benches,
walks
and
exotic
(to
our
eyes)
plantings.
What
we
took
to
be
a
picnic
shelter,
turned
out
the
next
morning
to
be
a
brick
trellis
for
a
huge
Bougainvillea
Tree!
A
cathedral,
government
buildings,
banks
and
restaurants
surround
the
plaza.
Sunday
morning,
after
a
hearty
breakfast
of
eggs,
beans,
meat,
tortillas,
white
cheese,
fried
plantains
and
fresh
fruit,
we
piled
back
into
the
van
for
the
trip
to
the
ranch.
A
short
distance
from
Juticalpa,
we
turned
on
to
a
wide
dirt
road
and
headed
up
the
mountains.
The
views
were
awesome!
On
the
way
and
for
the
rest
of
the
week,
we
redefined
the
terms
'good
road'
and
'nice
house
',
among
others!
At
last,
we
turned
into
the
road
leading
to
the
ranch
and
were
there.
The
missionaries’
dormitory
is
an
L-
shaped
building
with
men's
and
women's
sleeping
rooms
on
each
end
and
a
large
meeting
room
between.
There
are
bathrooms
with
hot
and
cold
running
water,
toilets,
and
showers.
A
screened
in
porch
along
the
back
of
the
rooms
provides
a
place
to
wash
out
clothes
and
a
clothesline.
Along
the
front
is
a
wide
porch
with
rocking
chairs
and
hammocks,
which
becomes
a
favorite
meeting
place.
We
chose
our
beds
and
settled
in.
Miriam
gave
us
a
tour
of
the
ranch
property
and
then
we
had
the
rest
of
the
afternoon
to
rest
and
explore
before
dinner.
All
the
ranch
staff,
ranch
hands,
and
missionaries
eat
together
in
the
big
communal
dining
hall.
Three
hot
meals
a
day
are
provided
to
all.
That
first
night,
we
woke
up
to
every
sound
of
cow
mooing
and
cock
crowing
all
through
the
night,
but
that
was
the
only
night!
Monday,
we
loaded
into
the
van
and
headed
out
to
our
village.
The
first
stop
was
to
load
up
concrete
blocks
for
the
latrines.
While
we
waited
for
the
big
truck
to
arrive,
we
peered
down
over
the
side
of
the
bridge
to
watch
the
concrete
blocks
being
made
at
the
riverside.
We
were
beginning
to
learn
that
most
things
are
low-tech
here!
At
first,
we
were
somewhat
dismayed
to
be
presented
with
a
huge
pile
of
blocks
and
be
told
we
were
going
to
load
them.
We
were
relieved
to
find
out
we
only
had
to
load
the
200
that
Miriam
had
purchased!
Once
the
blocks
were
loaded,
Stan
went
in
the
truck
to
practice
his
Spanish
on
the
driver
and
the
rest
of
us
piled
back
into
the
van.
The
farther
we
went
into
the
countryside,
the
narrower
the
dirt
road
became!
Finally,
we
came
to
a
river
ford.
The
big
truck
took
it
just
fine
but
the
van
hit
a
rock
and
promptly
got
stuck
in
the
sand!
We
all
climbed
out
into
the
river
and
after
much
discussion,
pushing,
pulling,
and
advice
from
helpful,
friendly
locals,
an
HOI
pickup
with
our
roof
panels
showed
up.
We
finally
got
the
van
pulled
out
of
the
river
and
it
turned
around
and
went
back
to
the
ranch.
We
waded
across
the
river
and
piled
into
the
back
of
the
pickup
and
headed
up
the
hill
to
the
village.
A
welcoming
committee
of
the
village
liaison,
Renan
Carias,
the
heads
of
the
families
we
would
be
working
with,
and
the
school
children
awaited
us.
We
split
up
into
two
working
groups
-
one
to
work
on
the
latrines
and
one
to
work
on
the
roofs.
We
learned
how
to
mix
cement
on
the
ground
and
how
to
line
up
corrugated
tin
sheets
on
log
frames.
We
took
a
break
around
noon
and
were
surprised
to
find
a
hot
meal
from
the
ranch
waiting
for
us!
We
were
invited
to
use
the
Carais
home,
the
largest
and
most
modern
home
in
the
village,
for
our
meal.
After
a
short
break
and
a
trip
to
el
banyo
(the
bathroom
-
which
was
actually
a
fancy
latrine,
complete
with
porcelain
toilet
bowl),
we
headed
back
to
work.
Around
3
or
4
o'clock,
we
piled
back
into
the
trucks
and
headed
back
to
the
ranch.
This
was
the
pattern
for
the
next
two
days
of
working
at
the
village.
In
all,
we
lined
one
latrine
hole
with
the
concrete
blocks
and
finished
it
with
a
preformed
concrete
slab
with
hole
and
pedestal,
poured
three
more
slabs,
completed
3
tin
roofs
and
started
one
more,
and
helped
with
the
mudding
of
the
walls
of
one
of
the
homes.
Topher
enchanted
the
children
of
the
village
with
some
bubbles
that
Jeannie
brought
and
he
was
soon
the
Pied
Piper
of
the
village
kids.
Stan,
Topher,
and
Sarah
were
pressed
into
service
as
interpreters.
On
Wednesday,
we
had
accomplished
all
our
tasks
and
more.
We
presented
the
teacher
with
the
hygiene
kits
and
the
toys
that
were
sent.
Since
school
is
almost
over
for
the
year,
we
left
the
school
supplies
at
the
ranch
to
be
delivered
when
the
new
school
year
starts
in
February.
We
presented
Spanish
bibles
to
the
families
with
whom
we
had
worked
and
gave
all
the
children
(and
some
of
the
adults)
their
own
small
bottle
of
bubbles!
Those
were
a
great
hit!
Most
had
never
seen
anything
like
it
before.
On
Thursday,
we
split
again
and
looked
at
the
different
facets
of
the
ranch'
s
ongoing
programs.
The
thrust
of
the
efforts
of
Honduran
Outreach
International
is
to
improve
the
quality
of
life
in
the
Algata
valley
with
emphasis
on
health
related
issues
such
as
health
services,
housing,
sanitation,
and
education.
With
that
in
mind,
we
looked
at
the
ranch
operations,
agriculture
and
animal
husbandry
schools,
and
toured
some
of
the
local
model
village
schools
as
well
as
the
Rancho
El
Paraiso
kindergarten.
Stan
shared
the
cards
and
drawings
from
the
Grace
children
with
the
kindergarten
children
and
they
drew
pictures
for
us
to
bring
back
to
Grace.
Unfortunately,
the
sewing
class
did
not
meet
but
Carmen,
the
director
of
the
sewing
and
handcraft
program,
was
delighted
to
receive
the
sewing
supplies!
She
determined
that
with
what
she
had
on
hand
and
with
what
we
brought,
each
lady
in
her
current
class
would
have
a
packet
to
take
home
at
the
end
of
their
classes.
Charlie
and
Jeannie
had
the
opportunity
to
go
to
the
medical
clinic
at
Ensenada,
an
HOI
Model
Village.
They
really
redefined
'bad
road'
and
'remote'
on
the
way
to
the
village.
On
returning
to
the
ranch,
they
toured
the
main
clinic
under
the
direction
of
Dr.
German
Jiminez.
We
had
different
activities
in
the
evenings.
Monday
night,
we
were
greeted
with
the
glad
news
that
Ross
had
made
it
after
all
and
was
in
route
to
the
ranch!
That
night,
we
were
too
tired
to
do
much
more
than
the
evening
devotion
and
go
to
bed!
However,
Tuesday
evening,
we
met
with
the
ranch
staff
and
had
an
opportunity
to
ask
questions
about
programs,
goals
and
vision
of
the
staff
members.
Wednesday
evening,
a
local
high
school
dance
troupe,
featuring
native
Honduran
costumes
and
dances
was
the
special
event
and
Thursday
night,
we
had
a
farewell
party,
complete
with
cake,
singing,
dancing
and
gift
giving
on
our
part.
Friday
morning,
we
were
sad
to
leave
but
glad
to
be
heading
home.
We
drove
to
Tegucigalpa
with
a
lunch
stop
at
a
restaurant
run
by
Mennonites
from
Illinois
who
settled
in
Honduras
30
years
ago.
After
an
interesting
experience
in
a
Honduran
traffic
jam
(we
will
never
look
at
traffic
the
same
way),
we
arrived
safe
and
sound
at
the
Honduran
Mayan
Hotel
and
back
to
Western
civilization!
We
opted
for
the
fancier
restaurant
and
had
a
fine
meal
with
Miriam
and
our
drivers.
Saturday
morning,
we
were
back
at
Tegus
airport
and
after
some
delay,
headed
home.
We
missed
our
connection
in
Miami,
due
to
the
late
departure
and
flying
around
Hurricane
Keith,
but
we
did
make
it
back
to
Washington
all
in
one
piece
and
with
all
our
luggage
intact!
It
is
not
easy
to
put
into
words
our
experiences
of
this
trip.
We
each
have
our
own
story
to
tell
of
what
we
saw,
what
we
learned
and
how
we
grew
in
spirit.
It
will
take
us
a
while
to
even
begin
to
sort
all
that
out!
On
Sunday,
Oct.
29th,
after
the
10:45
worship
service,
the
team
will
give
a
slide
presentation
of
our
trip.
We
hope
that
you
will
take
this
opportunity
to
share
our
Honduran
experience
and
our
excitement
about
making
this
an
ongoing
Grace
mission
opportunity.
Conoly
Barker
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