Honduras Day 5: 100 Wheelbarrows of Dirt

The day started at the new facility, continuing the work project from yesterday. I think I personally filled more than 100 wheelbarrow loads of dirt for the courtyard. We were incredibly grateful that God saw fit to let some clouds roll in...it was about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. Of course, that didn't stop the sweat from coursing down our bodies. There were several nationals working with us who, we're sure, were thinking, "Don't give up your day job!"

When we finished, we stopped by a local bakery run by Paquita, an elderly woman who learned to make bread from her mother and aunt. Her family bakes bread in an old style oven. Shaped like the top half of an orange, they begin at 4 am each day by building a fire to heat up the oven. For ingredients they go through 200 pounds of flour and 720 eggs. After the wood has burned to coals, they clean out the ash and coals and then cook the bread throughout the day. She gave us a sample of one of the sweet breads and it was delicious. A woman of faith, she clearly allows the Lord to lead her life. She is content. Happy that she is able to leave her family a legacy.

After lunch we returned to the orphanage. Homework kept us from getting started right away on our activities. Finally, we took a walk to a local pay-to-play soccer field where we spent an hour and a half running, playing, giggling, and yes, crying. The kids had a ball (pardon the pun), and the adults wore out way too quickly...all except Sister Edith. She had as much fun as the kids. She even broke Douglas' sunglasses when she kicked a soccer ball to his head! Maybe she should be on the national soccer team.

We trudged back to the orphanage and shared Douglas' last lesson and art project with the kids. By the end, all of us, including the children were clearly done with activities. We said our goodbyes, shed some tears and headed home for the evening.

What a great day. Tomorrow we head back to Tegucigalpa.