Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Honduras...another home visit

80% of Hondurans live below the poverty level—

50% live in extreme poverty.

Unlike the homes in our earlier visits (extreme poverty), our final visit was to a family that lives in an area where most homes are constructed of cinder blocks and have cement floors.

This is the home of the family we visited.
I snapped this picture from the open window. This is the view of their neighbor's home.
The small house had two rooms. A small living room (with a small sofa and wooden bench for seating) and a bedroom which sleeps six (the parents and four children). The green wall is the bedroom wall.
This family has the luxury of an older television and stereo system.
The little girl of the family standing outside the bedroom door.
The mother and three of her four children. The father works at a produce market.
The home does not have indoor running water. There is a cement sink with water spicket outside the home.
We were able to get a glimpse into their daily lives and even had an opportunity to “help” prepare a meal. Of course for those who know me, know that I am not comfortable in a kitchen—any kitchen—so the extent of my help was husking a couple ears of corn. (I cannot even imagine what they must face preparing a meal during the rainy season!)
Food is cooked over an open fire.


The ever present fowl!
View from the backdoor.
Another view from the back door. The children were chasing chicks.
The kids were not only totally adorable, but also HILARIOUS!
For some reason they could not understand why I refused to hold their cute fuzzy chicks (no really—I barely escaped swine flu—do you really think I want to chance it with bird flu???)

or the little puppies (What? Get nipped by the angry mother and have to endure rabies protocol in Honduras????).
When we heard the universal sound of childhood summer happiness (the ice cream man), we treated all the kids in the neighborhood to a cone (at 5 lempiras each—approximately 25cents—it was well worth every penny to see their smiles). However, our refusal to eat this delectable treat made them question our sanity—what type of people were we? We disliked downy chicks, cuddly puppies, and ice cream on a sweltering day! (Our guide strongly suggested that we not eat the ice cream.)


He is smiling on the inside. :)

Buddies!


After ice cream some of the neighborhood kids gathered inside.
This little girl even sang a song for us.

It was time for us to head back to the project.
Beautiful flowers camouflage
A not so beautiful home.
I took this only because I could not believe the number of wires!

Once our eyes are opened, we cannot pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and He holds us responsible to ACT.

~~Unknown