Young Adult Mission Trip
Mission Trip Update
Young Adult Mission Trip to Honduras - March 24-31, 2009
Update 3/24/09
Eighteen missionaries representing parishes from across the Diocese of Raleigh left today for San Juan Pueblo, Honduras. Upon their arrival, they will be working on the completion of a school for children with special needs.
In addition, they plan to serve several hundred patients in a medical clinic where they will distribute over a thousand pairs of eyeglasses and provide dental hygiene for as many children as possible.
Please pray for these disciples on mission and the Honduran people they will serve.
The members of the 2009 Mission Team:
- Sherilynn Black – Holy Cross, Durham
- Marcia Edge – Holy Cross, Durham
- Mariana Garcia – Sacred Heart Cathedral, Raleigh
- Sarah Guthery – St. Ann, Clayton
- Brent Heiser – Holy Infant, Durham
- Harriet Johnson – St. Luke, Raleigh
- Tom Konsler – UNC Newman Center, Chapel Hill
- Amanda Livermore – Church of the Resurrection, Orlando
- Don Lucas – Duke Newman Center, Durham
- Jaime McDuffie – Sacred Heart, Pinehurst
- Dennis Moya – St. Luke, Raleigh
- Sarah Pradka – DUKE Newman Center, Durham
- Dan Rearick – Sacred Heart Cathedral, Raleigh
- Bill Rearick – St. Michael, Cary
- Bill Rogers – UNC Newman Center, Chapel Hill
- Michelle Sapsara – Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Cary
- Lori Schweickert – UNC Newman Center, Chapel Hill
- Jessica Smith – St. Michael, Cary
Day 1
The day started with the mission team meeting at RDU airport at 4:15am!!! Each person was responsible for 2 crates of supplies for the mission and one personal carry-on bag.
I am still amazed that each person was able to pack for 8 days in a carry-on piece of luggage. The biggest challenge was packing every gel and liquid in a 3oz container….toothpaste, sunscreen, shampoo, hand sanitizer, etc.
We arrived in Miami at 8:00am with most of us still struggling to wake up, but our excitement and desire for food kept us moving. We had a 5-hour layover in the Miami airport. Yes, I did say 5 hours.
Since most of us were working on only a few hours of sleep, after eating, we were all looking forward to finding a space in the airport to take a nap, but Lori our trip leader had another plan…
When we came back from eating, she started to pass out stacks of note cards and invited us to replicate them with the following information:
Nombre/Edad: (Name/age)
Alergias: (allergies)
Medicinas que estas tomando: (medication that you are taking)
Condiciones médicos: (medical conditions)
Peso/Presion: (weight/pressure)
Azucar: (sugar---blood sugar level)
Simtomas: (symptoms)
Before we left the Miami airport, we had completed 700 note cards. The entire time reminding ourselves A.M.D.G. (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam). This is all for the greater glory of God!!!
We arrived in San Pedro Sula, Honduras at 3:00pm by U.S. time (which was actually 1:00pm Honduran time). We made it through customs smoothly, and then begin the task of gathering our 28 crates of supplies.
The real excitement began when we saw two of our team members that had come earlier in the week to prepare for our arrival, Padre Marcos our host, and some teachers from the school that we are helping to finish. We have not been to the school yet, but we hear that the floors are down and construction is moving along.
We then left for the 2.5-hour bus ride to San Juan Pueblo where we will spend the week. Our first stop was to the clinic to unload supplies. We were greeted there by local families with lots of smiling faces. The people here are very gracious. We then went back to the hotel to have dinner.
Day 2
Our second day in Honduras started at 6:00 am with a loud knock on our door from Brent. We had to get up, get dressed, have breakfast and get to the clinic to begin serving the people by 8:00 am. We recognized, on this beautiful morning, that it is the Solemnity of the Annunciation. What a perfect time to reflect on Mary’s fiat, her “Yes” when she was called out of her comfort zone as we all were today.
We arrived at the clinic to a line of people stretching around the stone building. The people were mostly women and children, because the men were working in the fields. I am sure we will be seeing them in the clinic when we open on Sunday. The people waited patiently as we got out of the van and organized ourselves in the clinic. It’s not like at home where doctors’ waiting rooms are full of impatient people on cell phones or showing their kids DVDs. Here were just hundreds of people, standing in the sun with their children by their sides…patiently waiting for us.
When we got into the clinic, the work started immediately. We each were given different jobs (glasses, pharmacy, dental, physicians) and started to set up our respective stations. As we did this, the nurses started the intake and took the information from each patient, writing on index cards. These cards eventually made their way to each of us when we saw patients.
I, myself, was in the dental room, and once the floodgates opened, it never stopped. Child after child came in. We were taught by Jaime how to brush their teeth (Lavar los dientes), and then they came to me for fluoride treatment. They would look at me with their loving brown eyes full of gratitude for what we were doing. In their little fists, they clutched their new toothbrushes like prized possessions and when they opened their mouths, I could see why. Even at 8 or 9 years old, their teeth were already rotting away. Many were missing a significant amount of permanent teeth, and the teeth they had left were discolored and loose. In the beginning, I continually reminded myself that I was not a dentist. Who am I to be doing fluoride treatments?
As I talked to other members of our team, they were having similar fears in their hearts. Many of us do not speak Spanish, or speak very little. Because it was the clinic’s first day, things were unorganized and chaotic as we began. Many of the infirmities we faced were over our heads or out of our leagues. Things were certainly not being run the way we would run them in the States. How can this be?
Tonight at Mass, we reflected on the Solemnity of the Annunciation and realized our closeness with Mary in this very sentiment. How can this be?
When the angel came to Mary, she was afraid and confused. She didn’t understand this plan that included a poor virgin conceiving the Savior of our World. The angel reassured her that she shouldn’t be afraid, because what she was conceiving was of the Holy Spirit. With simply that reassurance, Mary said, “Yes! Let it be done unto me.”
Much like Mary, we were called by God to a mission. Like Mary, we have had moments of fear and doubt. “How can this be?” And like Mary, we are trusting that everything is going to go according to God’s plan because the Spirit is in us. Although we, too, are unlikely candidates for the task, we are reassured that we have conceived Jesus in our hearts, and he is continuing to grow.
Day 3
Today we arrived at the clinic to a line of patients twice as long as yesterday’s. The people wrapped around the building, waiting their turn to be examined by the doctors. We felt at home today, as things were just as we had left them the day before. We each went back to our respective examining rooms, treatment rooms, and pharmacy and got right back to work.
The doctors more than doubled their patient caseload from yesterday, noting that each of them saw approximately 50 patients in 8 hours (well over 300 patients overall). They worked tirelessly to make sure every person received care. Symptoms varied from minor to severe, but the love the patients received from the doctors never wavered. People who were having trouble seeing went to visit Dan and Jessica and, after an eye exam, they walked away with a new pair of glasses. Many of them were touched at how this would change their lives.
The women running the pharmacy worked out a wonderful system, and they were moving together like a well-oiled machine. Not only did they efficiently distribute all the meds, they also had opportunities to interact with the people, which made them enjoy the experience that much more. In two days, the women have filled hundreds of prescriptions! What an act of love.
In the dental room, things were pretty intense. The women there were active participants in over 50 tooth extractions. It was particularly difficult because there is little to offer the people for their pain, and many were young children. This was not an experience any of us will ever forget. Jesus was present there, giving strength to patients and to doctors alike!
The men on the construction crew have been working tirelessly to get the wiring right at the old school. They spent a great deal of time today in a hot attic but had great spirits about it. They have done very well over the past several days working to keep the old school functioning, while setting up the resources needed to continue the work on the new school.
Tomorrow, we are all looking forward to being a part of the manual labor with them at the new school! We will also be getting an opportunity to meet the special needs children and participate in the school’s inauguration. We had many things donated for the new school (soccer balls, clothes, shoes, artwork), so we will be bringing all of that to them tomorrow as well.
Padre invited us to San Francisco (not the one in California) for Mass tonight, so we all joined him. The bus ride was about 45 minutes, and very welcome after a long days work. We arrived at a beautiful church with four Franciscan nuns waiting for us outside. We loved watching Padre celebrate Mass because he is so full of the Holy Spirit. He told us that during the consecration, he gets so overwhelmed with energy from the Holy Spirit it makes him cry. He is fully present in the Mass, and preaches spontaneously. It is such an incredible new way to appreciate Mass.
The people of the church community were so welcoming and appreciative of our presence as well. During the sign of peace, many of them came over and wanted to give each one of us “Paz de Cristo”. Father did not rush them and no one started singing the “Lamb of God” until everyone was finished extending the sign of peace. It was beautiful to be a part of their community in that way.
Tonight, during reflection, we were asked, “Where did you see Jesus today?” Without listing out everyone’s answers specifically, I can tell you with a full heart that each of us saw Jesus in countless beautiful ways. Jesus was in the eyes of children and adults, men and women, those serving and those being served, at the clinic and at the construction site, and of course, at Mass.
For all our loved ones, rest easy knowing that we are full of joy and peace. This experience has already been amazing and life changing for us, and we are grateful to all those who made it possible for us to be here. We are quickly becoming a family, joined together by the Holy Spirit, and we are touched by how strong of a group we are. Most of us were strangers to each other until recently, yet we are already bonded like brothers and sisters. Praise God for these amazing children of His which He chose to bring together.
I will close by telling you that I am going to go to bed, but there are roosters (at least 5 or 6) that are crowing with this guttural crow, directly outside our windows. They seem to be confused, because they crow ALL NIGHT LONG. This is not an exaggeration…These roosters start crowing when it gets dark and don’t stop until after the sun comes up. Thank the Lord for earplugs!
Day 4
The whole team spent the entire workday at the schools for the children. The wiring in the old school building is coming right along and the new school building is ready for paint, now that the concrete floors are in. We dug trenches, painted, ran wire, and several other things that needed to be done. It was hot; almost 100 degrees. It’s obvious that this close to the equator, the difference between being in the sun and being in the shade is much greater than in North Carolina.
At 2 PM, the work stopped and the celebration of the new school began. The children and their remarkable teachers invited us to celebrate their new environment. We even had cake made by one of the teachers. While it was clear that each of the children had special needs, what was even clearer was that each of the children was loved, treated with dignity and wanted to be there. After a few speeches, the children sang their national anthem for us and performed a cultural dance.
In typical teacher mode, the teachers then invited us home to teach us all how to make tortillas! We’ve had them for EVERY meal. Let it suffice to say it’s harder than it looks, but the teachers were quite patient.
I am struck by how “present” the Honduran people are—to each other and to us. In the clinic, at the Mass we celebrated with them, and at the school, people are focused, warm, and go out of their way to make us feel welcome. They are very patient and relaxed with each other, and the sense of community is unmistakable.
It’s hard for me to think about real presence without thinking about Jesus and the Eucharist. It’s not a stretch to see the connection between what we’ve experienced and the Eucharist. Tomorrow we’ll be having a Holy Hour, during which we’ll reflect on the Real Presence and our relationship to Christ and one other. (LAS)
The construction crew signs in:
Friday the 20th
The construction crew work started with the advanced crew of Harriet and Dennis, with Padre, scoping out the construction efforts. As soon as we arrived from the airport on Friday the 20th, we headed over to the temporary Special Needs School next to the church in Santa Ana – one of the electrical install locations. We had the wiring plan that was laid out by a local electrician. As we were walking through the building checking the plans, the electrician arrived and we discussed the design and some of the issues he found.
The electrician was also the person who had examined the solar panels from the Church in Santiago. We went to his house were we found that one of the panels was not producing any voltage whatsoever and the second panel of the pair had a bad solder joint. He also showed us a system where they use 12V DC lights hooked up directly to the solar panels through a small voltage regulator. While interesting, that method would not really support the type of load we had originally planned for the church.
We stopped by the new school to see how construction had progressed from our visit last year. Much progress was made since last year! The structure was now complete and they were laying down the cement floors with the funds Lori had just wired to Padre. Unfortunately, there is still not enough progress to begin electrical installation at this site.
Finally, we stopped by a couple of places looking for a tall ladder that could be used to seal off the rafters in the Church of Santa Ana. Turns out some pigeons have made the church their home and we need to keep them out. The walls are two stories high and tall ladders seem to be scarce.
Preparing for the crew:
Saturday the 21st
9am we started with hardware stores in search of wiring for the current school building. We made our way to Ceiba and priced monitors for the new computers. We stopped by the mall for two Claro phones for the team to use during the week. $8 for a phone with 100 limpiras of time. We bought an additional 150 limpiras card, which only cost 50 limpiras, for more time on the phone. Many of the electronic stores, or any store with expensive merchandise, come complete with an armed guard who decides whether you can come or go.
At the end of the mall was a supermarket where we picked up supplies. Coffee, filters, yucca snacks, limes, the basics. It took us quite some time to price and gather all the supplies in Ceiba. We left around 1:30pm. Padre was invited to have lunch at a parishioner’s house, so we went along with him for fish, bananas, and salad. The fish was fried with a batter and served in a soup with an incredibly good broth. We were quite full when dessert showed up, some fresh fruit. The pineapple juice was the best.
We went straight to Mass in Santiago when we left. Driving up the hill/mountain to the church, we picked up some people walking to church. So we weren’t the last people to get there! The Mass was inspiring, just listening to Padre’s excitement and seeing his expressions during the homily.
A few people came with us when we left to drive down the mountain. This family had plants for us to take into town for another parishioner. We loaded about 30 small trees, only inches tall, into the van and drove them into town. We delivered them to one of the families with a special needs child, Patty. We met Patty yesterday when Padre stopped by the house for some other reason. We’ll see Patty again.
In this area of Santa Ana there is a new church being built by a very poor community. It has taken them quite some time to acquire materials, as they have no money. They seem to be determined to build their church; it already has a foundation and 3 foot wall all around. They also have an electric meter, which seems to be incredibly difficult for us to get at the current school. It must take some amount of luck and a small amount of encouragement for the electric company to install these.
We stopped by Padre’s parent’s house to pick up the truck and look at his laptop and printer. Next door is where Lazaro, his brother, lives, and his children are here. Ricardo, the youngest, is just over one year old now. Harriet played with the children while the computer and printer are analyzed and loaded into the truck for later. The laptop just needs some cleanup, but the printer is not working. As it turns out, the printer has been sitting in the garage for a couple years with the ink already loaded, so the print heads are clogged.
Sunday the 22nd
We spend some time on Sunday trying to clean up the printer, but we’re only able to print a couple colors at the end of the day. For the most part this was a relaxing day working on the new laptop and the old laptop to make sure the new printer and old printer drivers are installed and working. There are also some applications to install and configure, cleanup, and test.
Lazaro picks us up at 6pm to go to Mass at 7pm. It is dark and rainy, and very difficult to see through the cracked, dirty windshield with old wipers, on the way to church. I just close my eyes and hope for the best. We arrive safely and enjoy meeting many people at church before and after mass. This church, in Santa Ana, is next to the current school. The parishioners are warm and welcoming, and the children are all excited to meet us and share with us. Dennis talked to the group about what we are doing this week. When we leave, we drop off the nun and one child that lives a few miles away and we stop by the pizza place for wings and garlic bread. This is becoming a habit. Same thing we had for lunch, because it is so close to the hotel.