My latest travels took me to Honduras. I've been an active member of Engineers without Borders for two years now, and became involved in a water system project in a small mountain town in Honduras. About a year ago, I took over as project leader, and so have been VERY intimately involved with gobs of my time spent organizing, planning, designing, coordinating, fund raising, and finally.........constructing!
We caught a 6 a.m. flight out of SLC, flew to Dallas, then to Miami, and then arrived in San Pedro Sula around 8 p.m. As promised, our Honduran liason was waiting outside the baggage claim with a sign in his hand reading "Welcome to Honduras Jennifer and Matt, Engineers without Borders USA".
We exited the airport with Jacinto, to find a cab and driver waiting for us, who then took us to a nearby hotel. We got a bite to eat while getting to know our gracious liason, Jacinto, and then went to bed.
In the morning we walked to the bus station with our bags in the rain, and headed out to La Habana where we would be sleeping in Jacinto's organizations' dorms. We met the whole crew that we'd be working with, ate some lunch, and dove right into business - figuring out a list of the many many materials we'd need to purchase from the hardware store the next day in Yoro.
It continued to rain as we hiked up the hill to get to the high mountain village, and the trail had turned to mud since we'd planned our trip during the rainy season, we knew that there was a good chance we'd be dealing with these conditions, but I don't think anyone was prepared for the never-ending steep tiny trail that led up to the village. After navigating our way up to the top, we met with the village to discuss all opinions regarding the project. Since it continued to rain and rain and rain, we decided to head back down the hill and to the City to get our materials.
I started feeling run down and sick by that afternoon and the four hours we spent in the City felt like an eternity. Luckily, my traveling partners worked with Jacinto to make sure that we had all (or at least most) of the materials on the list, and worked out delivery of the materials. The hour plus bus ride back to our dorms that night seemed especially difficult and long, but we finally made it and I crashed out for the entire next day.
We awoke at 5:30 am the next morning to head up to the village to start digging. We dug and dug and dug and dug... all day long.
Over the next several days we managed to dig a hole large enough to construct the spring box, meet with the mayor to ask for the municipality's donation, and begin to build the box. At that time, it was time for Matt to head back to the States, while Jeff and I stayed and worked to finish the project over the next two days, before we too had to head back.
On the most frustrating day of the work trip, when I was ready to call it quits and head back early, Jacinto had the best surprise of all waiting for me at home: sweet sweet Alejandra and Joselynn. From that day on, they waited outside our dorm every morning for us to step outside to use the bathrooms, and every night for us to return home. They always had a gift or two to give us, and best of all, lots of hugs and smiles! Sometimes they'd even bring along their brother, mother, or little cousin. Oh, how my heart misses them all!
On our last day, we explained everything left to be done, and then headed back to San Pedro Sula to grab a hotel and catch our flight the next morning. Although the trip was challenging both physically and mentally, I feel grateful to have gone. I will forever remember the beautiful friendships and the trust built in Honduras.
In the morning we walked to the bus station with our bags in the rain, and headed out to La Habana where we would be sleeping in Jacinto's organizations' dorms. We met the whole crew that we'd be working with, ate some lunch, and dove right into business - figuring out a list of the many many materials we'd need to purchase from the hardware store the next day in Yoro.
It continued to rain as we hiked up the hill to get to the high mountain village, and the trail had turned to mud since we'd planned our trip during the rainy season, we knew that there was a good chance we'd be dealing with these conditions, but I don't think anyone was prepared for the never-ending steep tiny trail that led up to the village. After navigating our way up to the top, we met with the village to discuss all opinions regarding the project. Since it continued to rain and rain and rain, we decided to head back down the hill and to the City to get our materials.
I started feeling run down and sick by that afternoon and the four hours we spent in the City felt like an eternity. Luckily, my traveling partners worked with Jacinto to make sure that we had all (or at least most) of the materials on the list, and worked out delivery of the materials. The hour plus bus ride back to our dorms that night seemed especially difficult and long, but we finally made it and I crashed out for the entire next day.
On our last day, we explained everything left to be done, and then headed back to San Pedro Sula to grab a hotel and catch our flight the next morning. Although the trip was challenging both physically and mentally, I feel grateful to have gone. I will forever remember the beautiful friendships and the trust built in Honduras.
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