St. Michael the Archangel Honduras Mission Project

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Monday was an action-packed day for the entire team! While we were anticipating the arrival of  Fr. Bill and Frank Franko, our team started completing a painting project in one of the dorms that houses girls 10-12.  This is not just as simple as selecting a new color –lots of prep work was completed prior to our arrival to repair the 50 year old adobe walls. Our team spent the morning cleaning and painting one portion of the room while local workers repaired the walls in another area. Meanwhile, Jodie Seitzer and Magda Snyder spent the morning at the Central American Medial Organization (CAMO) which provides medical care and supplies to the western part of the country. They were able to help procure much needed medical supplies for both houses that typically may be difficult for us to bring from home. This was also a great opportunity for Sister Dinora to meet and become familiar with CAMO as an ongoing resource for the orphanage.

Next the team headed out for a very special shopping trip with 6 of the girls to select  shoes for a quinceanera to be held on Tuesday evening. Each girl had an allowance and clearly had ideas about what kind of shoes they wanted. Shopping with teens here is similiar to the states —it’s a lesson in patience:) Prom-like attire is typically worn for this event so most girls would wear high heels but these young ladies wanted to buy shoes they could wear again –very practical and wise young souls! Part of the team continued shopping while the rest headed to a baby orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity. Each baby and toddler hesitated when we picked them up but would cry when we tried to put them back down. There were simply not enough hands to give the kind of contact the children clearly craved.

We regrouped later in the day to for a career day held at the orphanage for the older girls in the house. Dani Pollock and Joe Self organized this event by inviting three local professional women to speak about their careers, what education was needed for each as well as answer questions from the girls. The girls were highly attentive and asked excellent questions of the nurse, teacher and business professional presenting.  Pizza was provided by the team to give the older girls a chance to focus on the career fair and relieve them from their normal kitchen/cooking chores. The girls loved it! We loved it –pizza just may be the universal language. Our team met at the end of the day to share highlights —lots of gratitude for the opportunity to share in day-to-day life here!! Another lesson in humility..