Honduras Blog - Blog #1

May 21, 2009

We just finished Day 5 of our Honduran adventure and our team has been working incredibly hard for long hours each day in our race to complete our playground system at the Nueva Esperanza orphanage. 

There are 105 orphaned children (ages 0 to 13) living in this harsh environment they call home.  The conditions here are rough and with only a few staff here at any given time the children do not have a lot of structured time or activities.  The nursery now has 31 babies in cribs with 2 workers.  And most of the children just hang out with little to do to pass the time.  So that's why we are here.  Our team is building a state of the art playground system that we believe will really transform this home by bringing a wonderfully fun and exciting activity to these special children.  

On Sunday our guys got started on the bare concrete slab by spending the day laying out the artificial grass rolls and seaming them together.  After work we headed to the Casitas Adolescentes home to throw a pizza and banana split party for the 85 teenage girls who live there.  This is the home that our 100X team spend a week at in August of 2008 (see San Pedro Sula August 2008 trip page to read all about that wonderful trip).  Because of Red Dot's committment to this home we wanted our team to meet these girls and see the dorm rooms we had previously remodeled.  

The girls were very excited that we were there and had prepared a few dance routines for us before we headed out to the soccer court for a friendly American vs. Honduras futbol match.  Later we served pizza to our new friends and then formed a banana split assembly line as we made around 100 banana splits.  The girls and our guys had a very fun and memorable time that afternoon and our team was touched when as we left the girls shouted, "We love you! We love you!"  

For the last 3 days we have been spending long, long (and very hot and humid) hours back at the Esperanza home tackling this huge and complex playground project.   On Monday we realized that the manufacturer had in error sent us 8 sixteen foot poles without base plates so we had to transport them over to a metal shop to have the poles cut down and have plates welded on.  That delayed us quite a bit. This problem has also caused us more difficulty in having bolt holes not line up as we attached the platforms, slides, etc.  For a couple of days it seemed that every hour our team was being confronted with a new problem.  But our guys are great problem solvers and we are getting very close to completion.  Wednesday was a pivotal day so we worked almost non stop for 12 hours and our team really accomplished a lot yesterday.  We should have the playground system completed by tonight. 

The excitement is growing for the Esperanza kids as they watch their outdoor area transform before their eyes.  We will open the playground at the Tu Eres Especial carnival we will throw for all the kids on Friday afternoon.  Honduran government officials will be in attendance and the event is scheduled to have media coverage.  We have been told that this kind of playground project at a government orphanage is a first in Honduras.  

Thank you to all back home who make this kind of event a reality for these orphaned children.  Everyone at Red Dot contributes to what is given to these chidlren on our mission trips.  Everyone at Red Dot helps our 100X program bring love and joy to these orphanages.  And this trip is no different.  Lives are being touched.  So thank you for making a difference and impacting the lives of these precious Honduran children.  

Tod Bush
Director of Red Dot 100X