A Visit to Nuevo Amanecer.

Hola Amigos, This last week we not only took the kids on a hike, we took their tutors out, too. The tutors here have a challenging job. they are responsible for 10-15 kids ranging from 2-5, 5-11, and 10-13. They take care of everything (getting kids up for school, serving meals, supervising clean up, helping with homework, encouraging and disciplining, being big sister/moms) apart from school hours. for 3-5 days at a stretch. They are mostly pretty young themselves (early 20's). We figured they needed a break. We hiked around the hills and then around the village. They introduced me to a lot of local folks and to some of the local iced treats "palitos" sweetened juice and milk frozen in a little bag and chocobananas(frozen bananas dipped in chocolate. I was also served "machucas" a kind of tamale served up with butter.

Our teenage girls dropped by for toast and tea before we lit out on the bus for church. We like having people over even if it is only a short visit. They're getting the route down , so we think they'll manage fine after we leave. Then we took off on a long distance bus for Siguatepeque (Central Honduras). There we met with Norma former director of AGROS Honduras, and Luis, former agronomist with Agros. Norma is now teaching LPNs the skills they'll need to work in rural communities where there are no doctors and Luis is studying for a master's in Agriculture at the Univ. of Arkansas, specializing in entymology. Luis was able to come with us when we left the next day for Nuevo Amanecer (see March Blog). We met with Agros director Joel, social worker Sandra, and agronomist Saul, and the whole community. There are 6 new families since March. We toured the farm, It's much greener now ( March was the dry season). The Plantain (think starchy bananas) we planted then is now 9 feet high! The next day we visited famiies, writing down everyone's name, and taking pictures. There are loads of kids now, mostly girls. A big plus with this community is that there are 2 schools nearby. We met Gloria, who is continuing her training as a volonteer health promoter. Even neighbors are seeking her help, the grandma of an expectant mom came looking for her that afternoon. We picked up some groceries and with the help of community cooks fixed up a lunch for the whole village. Afterwards Jane conducted a Bible study on Exodus 1.9-2.10. How God uses the powerless to show his power. Moses' life was saved by women who were slaves (except for Pharoah's daughter). Check out "Reading the Bible with the Damned" by Bob Eckblad . I finished up with a talk on preventing and stopping the spread of H1N1 flu. We were very encouraged that the community is learning self reliance and working towards self sufficiency as they pay off their loans.

Today I talked to Honduran missionary trainees about my experiences in Tunisia and ways to encourage dialogue between Muslims and Christians. One student is preparing to go to Morrocco and another to Pakistan ( she's already visited once).

We are looking ahead to our return to Seattle on Sept. 11th. Thanks to the internet we can do some job hunting ahead of time. If you have any leads please contact us. We're looking for openings for an RN/health educator and a psychotherapist. Til later, Gil.