The Muchos Manos Team is in Honduras!

Saturday-Sunday; March15 and 16

Saturday began very early for everyone, getting to three different airports around 5 am.  The amazing thing about Saturday was that all flights were on time and the travel day was mostly smooth.  Turbulence between Syracuse and Miami cause some lost cookies and an ill driver made the trip to the airport a little more expensive than expected.  That being said, fifteen people from three locations boarded flight 2125 from Miami to San Pedro Sula.  We landed on time!

A cute story unfolded during the flight.  Dr. Sharon found her seat mate to be a 9-year-old girl, flying unaccompanied.  She had been living with her father in the United States but was moving to Honduras to live with her mother.  Her name is Aruya and she did speak English.  Sharon talked with her, watched Moana with her, made her feel comfortable and found herself unable to nap.   It seems that each posed as an angle for the other. 

A little orientation upon arrival, dinner, devotion and the tired group hit the hay, most asleep by 8 or 9pm.  The time was two hours earlier so really in bed by 10 or 11pm home time.  That’s not bad for starting so early in the morning.

Hungry and rested we awoke to the chirping of Montezuma Oropendola birds and the smell of fresh Honduran coffee.  We had breakfast and were off to view a beautiful waterfall, Cataratas Pulhapanzak.  Eight of the group zipped over the waterfall in a harness connected to high wires.  What a beautiful time. The group seemed to get to know each other quickly and melded nicely into a working unit by the time it came to pill packing.

Packing pills, making the family “CVS in a bag” and computer training filled the remainder of the afternoon.  The group then prepared themselves for dinner and went to River House, a new local restaurant.  The food was great, and a good time was had by all.  Back to Alfredo’s House, planning for tomorrow’s clinic and devotion.  We each shared the blessing of the hands using a sweet cinnamon oil.  The scent lingered in the air like blessings from the father.

In just a few short hours, the group, traveling from various cities and towns, became a cohesive working team.  Excited, anxious and filled with anticipation the newly formed team headed to bed.  God’s speed for the coming day.

~Julia Hill and Dr Joe Stegman