I feel that an update is in order...
Andrew and I just got back from a great trip to Tegucigalpa. We met with several organizations that we're hoping to place one-year SALT volunteers with next year, two of which will be new placements.

It has been relatively dry for a while after the heavy rains of a few weeks ago. Shortly after the worst of the rains and mudslides we traveled with some Menno. church leaders from western Honduras to see some of the damaged areas and also to visit several temporary shelters where families whose communities were destroyed by the hurricanes were staying. The churches from that area wanted to get an idea of how many families were affected and what their short and long term needs were, and also just be a visiting presence. They came up with a count of around 120 families living in shelters. We spent some time talking with them and it was very sobering to think about the losses that they'd sustained - staying in schools and churches with no idea how long they'd be receiving emergency relief, not enough blankets and sleeping mats to go around, no idea of what the future holds for them. And it was cold up there! Rainy and windy the entire time. I was inspired by the local pastors' desire to love and care for their neighbors in need. They decided that the immediate needs could be met with blankets, soap, towels, rice and beans and some other staple foods, all put in buckets that could serve several purposes. They requested money for these resources from Mennonite Central Committee, which we took back to our MCC representatives. Unable to sleep easy, I also sent a few emails to my parents and others asking if they thought they or their churches would want to help... my mom got super on the ball and raised a bunch of money from her church and siblings, which will all go to MCC for the emergency relief buckets.

The whole experience was another reminder of what it means to be a person of privilege in this world. It's always the poor who are most affected by turbulent times and climate. Every night I go to bed in a dry place with a full belly. Sometimes Andrew and I can get worked up worrying about global warming or the economic crisis (will we ever find jobs when we go back? What's going to happen if bark beetles eat up all the trees in the West? What happens if crazy people in Nevada keep building hotels with fountains?? And golf courses!) But I have never gone to sleep with the same kinds of worries or uncertainties that many people face daily. I passed a kid sleeping on the sidewalk by himself yesterday that couldn't have been older than 7 or 8. Then I got to the office and read about AIG executives spending gross amounts of money that was given to them by our government. Where's the justice?

Graffiti in Gracias

Some graffiti at a construction site in Gracias, Lempira: The ancient voices tell us that we are children of the earth, and that mother (earth) can be neither sold nor rented.

Still raining!

It's still raining! Last night the rain started again with intensity... MCC friends who live an hour away were coming in to the city and the normally 1.5 hour bus ride stretched to 2.5 hours - the bus had to go around the flooded river and cross at a different point. One major river south of San Pedro, Rio Ulua, has flooded. Schools have been canceled, and everyone is waiting to see if the river closest to San Pedro, Rio Chamelecon, will also flood it's banks. If it does flood many colonias on the outskirts of the city will be inundated with water. However frustrating it may be, it seems like the only thing to do is watch and wait to see what happens... people seem prepared for this as everyone has dealt with flooding before. You can follow this link to read about the damage to other parts of the country.

The newspapers are calling this rain "El fantasma de Mitch", or "the ghost of Mitch", the major hurricane that destroyed much of Honduras' infrastructure in 1998. Hondurans seem to go by a pre-Mitch and post-Mitch calendar, referring to major events or contruction according to whether something happened before or after the devastating hurricane. We feel very fortunate to live on the second floor of a strong cinderblock structure. How strange it feels to stand on the balcony overlooking the street filled with rushing water, imagining the people living along the banks of the rivers who are no doubt fearing for their homes and maybe where they will end up sleeping tonight.

On a personal note, the flooding delayed my first day of teaching English at the Kid's Land Preschool and School, run by La Liga de Lactacion Materna (yes, that is exactly what it sounds like). After several months of hoping to find an organization to volunteer with during weeks when we are not hosting groups or traveling, I found out about this bilingual school looking for a volunteer to help with English classes. It is quite flexible and will work with my schedule and so I'm pretty excited to get started. They are wrapping up their school year soon so, so I'll mainly be reviewing what grades 2 - 7 (I'll meet with each class for about 45 minutes) should have learned this year.

This country is soaked

Rain has fallen without ceasing in San Pedro Sula since early last night. According to many locals more rain has fallen this month than in Octobers past, though I can't verify this information. No matter what, the country is soaked and the land is falling. This is particularly frightening for those who live in the poorest communities in the country, as they are the most vulnerable to mud slides.

As if that were not enough, Tropical Depression 16 is making its way across the north coast, dropping loads of rain in its path. Tomorrow it is supposed to hit San Pedro, and will dump at least 2 inches of rain with winds of 45 mph. This may not sound so bad, but with the earth already saturated this could be disastrous for many communities. San Pedro will be fine; it's those in and near the mountains and those in low-lying areas that will have the problems. Many homes flood with less than one inch. We'll keep you updated.

Is that the air??

A week ago last Thursday Andrew and I flew back to San Pedro after spending over two weeks in the states visiting friends and family... we spent a short day and a half in Albuquerque before driving to Hesston, KS with my dad and his wife Brenda to celebrate my gram's 95th birthday. This was the main reason for our trip and was definitely worth the effort. During the three-day birthday bash we caught up with the Linds, ate a lot of my aunt Marilyn's good food and, along with all my relatives, bid on Gram's quilts and other homemade quilty things... we were all given baggies with 50 dried beans for the auction. Gram wanted to see her treasures doled out to loved ones and wanted to have some fun while she was at it. There were minimal tears and I think we're all still friends.

We took Amtrak from Newton to Goshen (in my opinion the train is THE WAY to travel) and spent a good bit of time there staying with Andrew's parents and remembering what it's like to have a really active social life. We even made it to the MCC relief sale in Goshen where I was able to get my fill of apple fritters, sausages, and egg rolls. I savoured biking everywhere I needed to go (even at night!!!) and still feeling safe. It was a really great trip.

On the flight back "home" to San Pedro I was thinking about things that struck me as odd or notable about being in the states for a while. I felt inundated by politics and the fear of economic disaster... I probably shouldn't have watched so much news. I also saw the towns I call home in a new light - the streets looked cleaner and wider for one thing. After being accustomed to being among a gringo minority among the generally mestizo Honduras, I was struck by the incredible diversity of Chicago during our 3 hour train layover downtown. And then struck by the whiteness of my Goshen community, especially at the MCC relief sale. Despite a good trip it did feel good to get back here. As we stood and stretched with the other passengers aboard our TACA airlines plane at the end of our flight, the back door of the plane was opened, letting in a wall of hot, humid air that engulfed us all. The loud woman behind us was coming to Honduras for the first time to visit her Honduran in-laws with her husband and kids exclaimed loudly, ¨What is that smell?? Is that the air??!! Oh [explitive]! We're going to sweat our [different explitive] off here!"
Home sweet home.

Some photos of the birthday lady and one of her (4) identical cakes:

Más fútbol

Honduras continues its march towards the World Cup, having beat both Canada and Jamaica this week. From my understanding, one more win will guarantee a spot in the next round of World Cup qualifying matches.  Ramon Nunez (jumping, screaming) has caught fire, scoring three of the last four goals for the catracho (that's what they call Honduras) team.

...and I say hello

(From left: Liz Goering, Michael "Shakazulu" Wiebe-Johnson, Rachel Reed)

MCC recently welcomed three new SALTers to the growing Honduras team. So far, Liz, Michael, and Rachel have settled in nicely, and after next week's team meeting will begin one year of service in their placements.

Liz will be working as a teacher near Tegucigalpa at the Montana de Luz orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS.

Michael will be in La Campa with the Mennonite Social Action Commission, working as an environmental educator/eco-tourism specialist.
Rachel will work in the Nueva Suyapa neighborhood of Tegucigalpa with Stewardship of Christian Ministries as a micro-loan specialist.