a week in Nuevo Amanecer

Hi all. It's been pretty busy. This is my 4th time to the village. It's beginning to feel a little bit like home. each time there have been new faces and sadly some of those we knew before have aren't around any more. We hope that our being there provides some encouragement and continuity to those who have kept at it. We hope too that we are doing something to help the new people integrate into the community. One thing I've learned, farming is hard work,and building a community is even harder. I really like the new staff, the director Joel, the agronomist Saul, and the social worker Sandra. In an effort to connect with folks, we took pictures of all the families and made them into a photo mural which for a while will be posted in the community building. Later they can take them home. Some in our team worked with the kids, helping each one make a little booklet with their own stories and illustrated with their own drawings. We put their photos on the covers. By the end we had the names photos and artwork of almost everyone. that will help as we continue to pray for Nuevo Amanecer throughout the year.We participated in a lot of farming jobs all week long. Starting out with planting plantain the first day. We got into every facet of plantain cultivation, from pruning (the call it surgery), to harvesting, setting up new seedlings (corms),and learned a lot about pests and marketing the fruit too. The farmers have really developed the farm a lot. They built two reservoirs and a drip irrigation system. We worked in the communal garden fertilizing cabbage. We got to do other things too. One morning we went to the little town down the road and visted the school where most of our kids go. There are 2 teachers teaching 70 kids, 3 grades in each class. They're well organized into small groups with each child responsible for certain tasks including discipline, which they rotate every week. Not many books in the library so we're thinking that would be a good project that would help the larger community. They provide lunch for the children which makes a big difference in such a poor area. I had an opportunity to do my Dengue fever talk ( one farmer was recovering from the fever). Friday we cooked up lunch for the village - rice and beans and hotdogs with everything.Then there was cake. It was hard to say goodbye, some of us blinking back tears. I think I'll be able to come back a couple of times since I'll be only 3hours away in Tegucigalpa until September. I saw the former director of AGROS Honduras, Norma .She invited me to stop by when I'm back in town. Norma is working at the nearby Evangelical Hospital training Health Promoters. One of them, Gloria lives in our village . She was looking to put together a first aide kit for the neighborhood. We decided to leave our team kit with her. The next day was another hard one for me since I had to say goodbye to my homeward bound teammates. I'm so glad for e-mail.I'm feeling pretty comfortable in Spanish and more at home in Honduras. I'm missing Jane a lot. She's in Antigua, Guatemala studying with her old prof/tutor about 8 hours a day. I hope to join her and celebrate Easter there later. I'm off to Tegucigalpa where I'll be looking at where we'll be living and working at LAMB's Children's Home.I hope to keep writing like this. please give me some e-mail encouragement and suggestions and questions. Thanks. Gil.