Thursday

Its our second to last night in Honduras. Or Hondo as Tim likes to call it. Today we went to see what's happening at the Agricultural School (Escuela Agricola). We toured the grounds and had lunch with the boys and Balbino, who runs the show there. As usual the graciousness and generosity of the welcome we got was overwhelming. The farm is an amazing place. The boys learn crop farming and animal husbandry - at lunch we ate meat and vegetables and eggs all produced on the farm. The school's program has attracted attention from US AID and the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund has given a grant to the school which is enabling the boys to go back into five local communities and teach the farming methods that they've learned there. Its a ripple effect that, along with everything El Hogar does, helps to break the cycle of poverty that grips this country. The ride to and from the farm is a visual reminder of the reality that most of the world lives not as we do in the United States - but in desperately poor circumstances. Now, more than ever, this has been a reminder that we all needed.

We pulled a lot of nails this afternoon after a couple of days of hauling wood for the new dormitory at El Hogar. Construction in Honduras moves with what we might consider a slow pace but with a steadiness that misses nothing. Every task is done by hand and no material is wasted. Rich told us yesterday that the entire campus at the Technical School was bought and built for $1.5 million. It is, simply put, a beautiful place, and the new chapel will serve the entire community around the school. Amazing.

As I write this post there is music coming from the auditorium where the children are practicing their dancing for a competition tomorrow morning. A joyful noise. El Hogar to me is the sound of joy. The sign above Tim and Julie's room in the volunteer house says "In everything, we give thanks". We give thanks for El Hogar tonight.

Alex Burke