Follow Up

Being home is very strange...after nine days of working down in Honduras it is strange to be back.  Not just because we can flush toilet paper and drink from the tap. 

I wanted to follow up with anything that we may have missed but looking back I am not sure we did miss anything.  The week was hard and tough and at times a struggle, but there was this over whelming drive to work and be able to provide a service to the people there so desperately need.  This drive is what pushed us through all the screaming children, the stress of setting up a mountain location and being told your in the wrong place, the transportation delays, and yes the delayed bags.  I can definitely say that I heard "the call" and feel that Honduras will be in James and I's lives for quite some time. 

Speaking of James he never did follow up with the day that we were not together.  Well Wednesday of last week James went up into the mountains.  They showed up at a school, where they were greeted like celebrities.  The team set up all their chairs and equipment prior to being told they were in the wrong location! Not the best start to the day.  Mountain team Wednesday did not get to the hotel till around 7pm that night and they were exhausted.  I was able to convince James to join the group for dinner.  That night we went out to a little restaurant on the edge of town.  They specialize in corn! Corn drinks, dessert, and main dishes.  It was all very good, but as some learned should be eaten in moderation. 

This brings me to the topic of food: we had some AMAZING food while we were there.  Our hotel hosts Carla and Byron were wonderful in making sure we all had something to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I had some of the best steak, pancakes, and bananas I have ever had.  Oh and don't even get me started on how good the coffee is there!

I think we have really covered most of out trip with the exception of the fact that MRC has made an impact on the orphanage Horizontas and will be continuing a presence there.  We will be spending the next year working with the staff there to figure out exactly what they need and the best way to get that to them.  We can't wait till next year to grow and create an even bigger library!

Also, I have to give a shout out to the dentists of Sonrisas Seimpre, this year was the first year that the team did more fillings then teeth pulled! This is HUGE  This just goes to show that having a regular dental presence down there is making a difference and we can only continue to go up from here.  I personally, as a Public Health Educator, am very excited to be apart of this organization and to aid in continuing the dental education there to hopefully have a year where we do all fillings as opposed to losing teeth! (I can dream right!)


I am attaching more pictures of the week that were on the camera that you may not have seen.  Please enjoy the pics and stay tuned in the future as we will be doing lots of fundraising and events to grow interest in this project.  And we will be traveling back to Honduras Jan. 24- Feb 1 2014 and plan to blog again.  We cannot wait to go back, I only wish it was closer.

This has been quite the journey, but this is only the beginning...

Houston

Well we are in Houston, today is another mixed emotion day. I'm excited to be back but sad to leave. We are about to board to head to Fort Wayne, everyone check in tomorrow night for all the pictures and stories that are on the camera.

On the way!

Library day

Today we brought the books to Horizontas. The director was so happy and thankful. We had such an emotional day but one of the best. We were able to do a formal presentation with the help of a wonderful translator and then got to just hang out for a few hours. We have all the contact info to continue and they know that today was just a start.

I'm going to leave you with a few pictures and then follow up with more from the camera when we get home Sunday. So keep checking!

Also our final book count is as follows:
30 books at the orphanage La Paz
100 books are up in the mountains somewhere
260 at Horizontas!!!!!

Take that.... Not that anyone doubted us

We will continue to decompress and go into more detail over the weekend.

PS: picture with the desks is the room Mike's in.

Internet is actually working

So tomorrow is the BIG day. We are trying to get a ride to go to Horizontas without the whole group first thing in the morning, However we are on Honduran time, which is more "go with the flow" than I would prefer but I am dealing, we really want tomorrow to go off without a hitch. But we will see and go with the flow.

Tomorrow is also our last full day here, I feel like the week has gone by fast and slow at the same time, not really sure if that's possible but I am saying it is.

The reality of this trip had still not yet set in, with 3 mountain days myself, and sharing this experience with my new husband i am more than humbled by what I have seen. There has been extreme poverty and yet still happiness and hope.
Today in the mountains we saw mostly 5-6 year olds who had walked there that morning, I cannot get over those who walk hours home after having teeth pulled, by themselves. They are a great people and I can't wait to join the group next year.

It is our goal to share in Sonrisas Seimpre and "smile always"!

- Marie and James

Catch up

Sorry but this has to be quick, our Internet has not been great the past few days. Yesterday James went up into the mountains, he had a rough day but helped a ton of ppl. I stayed at the clinic and helped the dentists. It was nice to see someone not pulling a tooth for a change!

Today James was at the clinic and was insanely busy, I went up into the mountains to another school. Have to admit I was a bit nervous after the school experience on Tuesday! I can still hear them. Anyway, it was not as loud but we only saw about 50 patients, but our surrounding was amazing. It looked like we were in a jungle and once the kids realized I was not actually a dentist they warmed up. Lots of books ended up walking further up the mountain with kids and parents. They were so happy I could not say no!
Oh and side note Tom Blake came to the mountains today which he has not done ever! So yea him!!!

Sorry this is quick, I just got Internet in a kareoke restaurant and apparently I have to go up soon, this is seriously one of my worst fears!

Tomorrow we are taking about 400 books to an orphanage called Horizontas for the actual building of a library. Mike you need to be there! It's an all boys place and they are amazing! James has been hanging with them today, they all love soccer and are so sweet and polite. Ps: they need socks!!!!

I'll post my pics with this post and I'll post some more with James phone next.

Big things tomorrow, and I just know this is where we are supposed to be an what we are supposed to be doing. Sorry Honduras but I kind of fell in love and so now you are stuck with me! :)

Can't wait to build a freaking library, finally!

Wish me luck with this singing stuff! Any one that knows me, you already know that I'm silently panicked.

Talk to you all tomorrow.