Roatan, Honduras...

I have to be honest when I say that I am finding some of this very difficult. In Cuba, then in Mexico, we saw poverty, but the poverty in parts of Roatan Honduras left us feeling very sad...  Over the last two days, Shelley and I rented a small car and took advantage of a fellow cruiser's partner, Denix, who speaks perfect English and fluent Spanish, and chose three schools out of perhaps 20 or more on the island.

Our first day was spent exploring the west end of the is land which by any standard is quite affluent.  We were beginning the wonder if there were any kids on this island who might benefit from our ministry.

We then learned that the island was divided into two sections, and the east end was known as the "non-tourist" area.  We set out this morning and discovered why.

The first school we arrived at has over 300 children. The school has only one toilet and no running water.  We decided we would give crayons and notebooks to the children in grade one and two, and find a way to raise the $500 they need to buy three more toilets and a tanaka (water tank) to create the running water needed to flush the toilets.  We hope before we leave to be able to do something about that.

Denix and I handing out Crayons, and Notebooks

Happy Kids!

 We had quite a discussion with the director.  We hope that we can help with the toilets...

The senior classes

The open sewer that runs beside the school

The neighborhood.... The mud in the foreground, is their playground

The second school looked like a fortress!  Or maybe even a prison?  complete with curly barbed wire and a security guard....  With Denix's help we were able to meet the director (principal) and we left 50 pencil cases filled with colour pencils, regular pencils, and pens, plus about 100 notebooks.  There were close to 400 children in this school, so the meager supplies we brought wouldn't go far if we just gave them directly to the children.  The director will use them to go to each classroom that needs them as they need them, so all the kids can benefit,,,

Note the curly barbed wire....

The last school was about 50 steps up the side of  hill along the highway.  We found these kids playing on the hill beside an open pit...  The director was thrilled with the 50 pencil cases, paper, scissors, and rulers we left...

The "playground"

The open pit!

The STAIRS!

A view from the road

Now how do we get the supplies up ALL those steps!

The REASON we climbed all those steps!

We are learning so much as we visit places far from the beaten tourist path....  And again, we give thanks for the many incredible blessing we, and our children have, and pray that we NEVER take our good fortune for granted...

We are almost our of supplies again, and hope to get re-supplied when we get to Panama.  We never intended to come to Honduras, but now better understand that our plan isn't always God's plan...

More soon!