Decatur Team Report for July 26- August 4, 2007

Wow, this made me smile. Didn't we learn to appreciate small things
Some of us don't even eat PB & J, two of us are diabetics (think about it!!), and
once the medical team found out that Todd and the worm team weren't sending
new diagnoses back on the History and Physical slips, boy did we laugh!
Sometimes at ourselves! We decided that laughter was good medicine.
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From: tillman256@aol.com
Subject: Honduras- July 26- August 4, 2007

Hey Team Members,

I keep a travel diary and I thought you might like to be reminded of where
we went and what we did on each day of our trip. Please feel free to add or
change any of the following:

We met in the early morning hours in the Grant Street parking lot at CUMC.
There were no lights on so we begin this journey in the dark with the help
of the good people who came to help us(and our luggage) get to the
airport. Also, someone brought bottles of water, snacks, and Marsha
Sanders brought bags of delicious homemade cookies. After this great send
off from the Church, we left Huntsville Airport late. After a 9:30 AM
arrival in Atlanta, we boarded the 11:09 flight for San Pedro Sula and
arrived at 12:30. God was watching over our luggage and black boxes. They
all arrived!
After a comedy of errors with our transportation from the airport, we
started on our way 3 hours later.
Our destination was Olanchito via La Ceiba (about a 5-hour drive). After
driving through torrential rain, winds, and downed trees on the highway, we
finally arrived in La Ceiba. Our drivers were extremely skilled but in our
Nissan van we were sitting on the edge of our seats as we hurtled down the
dark highway dodging trees and potholes. After going by the mission compound
to see Sister Eleanor and pick up items from the warehouse, we stopped at
the La Ceiba Mall for a snack and then on to Olanchito. The end of our
first day came, after unloading the luggage/black boxes, buckets and
checking into the hotel, at approximately 11:30 PM. The one hotel employee
on duty spoke no English but we were saved by Andrea and Marlene, our
interpreters.

The next morning (Saturday) we met at 7 am by the pool for devotion, then
breakfast (which is another story), and then on to the Church in Olanchito.
This first day we worked from about 9:30 to 5:30 while taking a few minutes
to eat PBJ or ham/cheese sandwiches. We had a large number of people who
came to be seen by Dr. Katherine, to be fitted with eyeglasses, have lab
work performed, pick up medicines from Jane, our pharmacist, and take
advantage of our supply of worm medicine and vitamins. The rains came late
in the afternoon which we learned later would mean we would take a muddy
shower that night. But it was wet and a little cold but after the hot day in
a concrete building it felt great. We all agreed that we are very blessed
to have this opportunity to try and help these people who are just trying to
survive. But by the grace of God we could have been in their places. Our
dinner was always scheduled for 7 PM (after placing our order before leaving
each morning) and most of us were served by 8 PM.

Sunday, July 29, we attended the Church service in San Jose which is a
little village several miles from Olanchito. Marlene delivered a moving
message. A little about the village; Some of the houses, as well as the
Church, had grass and flowers in the yard. This was something we had not
seen in Olanchito. The church in San Jose is very small with concrete
floors. After our lunch of PBJ sandwiches, we saw a fairly large number of
people (eye glasses tested about 150 patients). Tonight I sent the team
message after some assistance from Todd.

Monday we traveled to the school at El Carril. This facility has 600
children and I think they were all there. Eye glasses wasn't as busy due to
the age of the potential patients. Medical, worms, and vitamins had a busy
day. The weather was very hot and the streets were dusty roads but spirits
were high among our team members and the children. As Yvonne remarked, "we
are the only circus in town". Many town people appeared to be there just to
watch.

Tuesday, July 31, we traveled back to San Jose to work at the school. The
schools we have visited so far have fences with locked gates. There are
armed security guards. Some of us met a lady who came to the clinic with a
2 1/2 year-old child. The little girl was sick with a temperature and upset
stomach. The woman with her told us, through the interpreter, that the
child's mother left her with her when the child was a newborn. The
mother never came back. She went on to say that she didn't always have
money for milk for the child. Her name was Ms. Lazono. Please put her on
your prayer list. I'm sure most or all of you have names or faces
engrained in your mind and heart that need our prayers.

Wednesday, August 1, we worked at the school in Olanchito which appeared to
be the poorest we had seen. They have no electricity and we met under the
trees as it was very hot. We truly were the only circus in town as we had
people of all ages, donkeys, pigs, chickens, and sheep coming by to see us.
Adjoining this acreage of poor-looking homes and a school with no
electricity, was a tract of land where new condos and patio homes are being
built. Our eye glass team was able to fit a 98-year old woman with eye
glasses. Her name was Juana and she gave many of us hugs and kisses before
walking down the dusty road to her home wearing her new glasses. Please
remember to put her on your prayer list. Our doctor, pharmacist, and
worm/vitamin people were very busy here as was Jeri, our lab tech. After
leaving the school we left Olanchito for La Ceiba arriving at 5:30 PM. We
had dinner with our drivers, interpreters and Sister Eleanor at a small
cafe.

Thursday, August 2, we ate breakfast at Burger King (a few of us went to
Dunkin Donuts!!) and then drove to the City dump. The living conditions are
as bad as I am able to imagine. The people were friendly and had smiles on
their faces. We did not have as many patients there as we've had in other
locations. Katherine says this is due to so many Church groups from the
States going there on a regular basis. We left there by 2 PM. After eating
Pizza Hut pizza at the hotel, we were taken on a shopping trip by Sister
Eleanor's son, Sean. After buying out two stores, we decided it was time to
go back to the La Quinta Hotel.

Friday, August 3, we had devotion (which we had each morning and night) and
then on to breakfast at Burger King or Dunkin Donuts. We left the City and
drove to the Cloud Forest which had beautiful scenery. We stopped at a
swinging bridge, which spanned a beautiful creek or river, and made photos.
Most of us walked across the bridge (I think the cost was 15 Lemps). We
drove further into the rainforest which took us into Pico Bonito National
Park or Forest (not sure which). We happened to take a very narrow road (all
of which were graveled and dusty) and came upon the Adventure Company & Eco
Jungle Lodge. The setting was magnificent. The jungle was lush with many
different types of flowers, bushes, and fruit trees. We saw coconut,
orange, and banana trees to name a few. They had a large outdoor shower made
from beautiful stones. The cabins for rent were built over a stream and
were screened in. Hammocks also dotted the stream, reaching from one side
to the other. The juice bar and outdoor cafe was built on the creek's edge. The Owner is from
Germany and he told us about many of the plants. The place was very
tranquil. After leaving the rainforest we made our way to San Pedro
Sula and arrived at about 7 PM. Oh, I almost forgot, my Honduran purse faded
on on my skin and clothing. My new name was Pinky but it did come off in
the shower. The Apart/Hotel Vila Nuria where we had reservations did not
have rooms for us. After many phone calls by Ray and the Hotel staff, we
were sent to the Executive Hotel which was a pleasant surprise as the rooms
were nice. We at dinner at Applebee's where we met a couple from Red Bay,
AL, who are in Honduras to start a school for the deaf/mute. Small world.
We were in bed by midnight.

Saturday, August 4, is the day we came home. We had devotion at 8 am,
breakfast at the hotel, and left for the airport. After a delay in Atlanta
we arrived in Huntsville at about 10 PM. By that time we had learned the
phrase "Lo Que Sea". We were very thankful to be back in the States and I'm
sure you are thinking as I am, we are so blessed. Please remember our
Honduran friends when you pray. Also we are so grateful to our drivers,
Elmer, Mario, and Giavanni (ms); interpreters, Gianne, Brittania, Jenita,
and Patti (did I leave someone out ) and of course Marlene and Harriet who
helped us with many things.

I miss all of you and hope we meet again soon. Please share your pictures
with Ray as I think he's going to put them all on disc for us .

Moment to remember: Martha and her cuckaracha (did I spell that right )

Linda