Wednesday, September 1, 2010

It was the best of days, it was the worst of days.

I woke up really excited to be on my way to visit Karen and Dorian. Beautiful day, wonderful flights and Dorian was there at airport to meet me. He told me that Karen still had no idea I was coming. that was a really good day
Dorian and a minister from Ojojona and his wife were on their way to the the tegucigalpa dump where hundreds work digging through garbage for plastic bottles and other things to recycle. Some actually live at the dump. Oh and you see men, buzzards and cattle all fighting for scraps of food that have been thrown away and are rotting. To get to the dump was a lengthy process. The road that is usually taken is washed out due to all the rains. On the road up mountain to dump, there were numerous places where hillsides have slipped into the road. The trash seemed to be everywhere as the rain had washed all down to the bottom and it lie in ditches where some were setting it on fire to get rid of it. There were people everwhere working, trying to shore up the foundations of their home, their hillsides, etc. and mud everywhere.
We eventually reached the dump and the smell seemed much worse than ever before. There was two to three inches of mud that smelled like poop everywhere. Dorian had me take off my watch and leave camera so it would not be taken from me. As soon as we pulled in the crowds started coming to the vehicles. I was privileged to be allowed to place tortillas on top of bowl of rice and beans and insert a plastic spoon and hand to those gathered there. Dorian was also passing out water. they kept coming, mostly men but lots of boys and women also wanting some food. There seemed to be so much more trash there, and oh the stench. Dorian had brought me his boots to wear to keep me somewhat clean. The food was all gone and I found myself really sad that just this morning I was in a society where we throw away everything and at noon, I was amongst seemingly "throw a way people" I simply cannot fathom what it would take for me to rummage through rotting garbage, trash and dead animals to find plastic bottles that I could turn in for a few pennies. And if it was a good day, maybe find some lunch amongst the debris? There was a lady with a baby there and another one who is very pregnant. There are little boys that should be in school and having hugs and kisses from loving parents that instead jockey for position amongst the men. We left and made our way slowly back down the mountain. It was the worst of days..........
Then Dorian and I finally made it to Santa Ana and he took me over to the clinic and walked in the back way and hid in their apartment. He then went back out and entered the other way and called karen (who was with the children) to tell her he needed something from their apartment asap. Well I was standing in their bedroom when she came through the dcor and I scared the poor girl half to death. It was priceless as I hung onto her and hugged and hugged. It was the best of days.............
OH and Karen said if i hear anything during the night it is just these little lizard like things crawling around eating mosquitos and such. Welcome to Honduras!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am soooo glad we were finally able to pull on over on Karen! :) Have an awesome week and hug on those kids for me and Karen and Dorian! God bless! Shar