Mike's Response

The trip to Honduras this summer was a great experience. It was my first time out of the United States (not including Canada) and it was a great way to begin my international travel adventures. I had always wanted to go on a mission trip outside of the United States, and it was a lot of fun to do it through the Habitat for Humanity program and with my classmates at Lourdes. It was eye-opening to see the poverty that many Hondurans live in. I was surprised at how happy they were even though they don't have many of the benefits that we take for granted here in America, like running water, electricity, and education.

I really enjoyed the interactions with the local Honduran people. They were very welcoming and willing to talk with us, even though our Spanish was not quite at their level. It was fun to play soccer with the little kids and to ask them about their life. One of the most memorable moments was when I gave my soccer ball to the two boys who would hang out at our work site. They can't afford to buy one, and they were so excited to finally have their own soccer ball to play with.

Overall, the trip was amazing and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Please look back at all of the blog posts from me and the others to read in detail what we did. I also set up a photo album with more pictures from our trip so you can see many of the things that we talked about in this blog. Thanks for all of your help and support and have a great last few weeks of summer!

- Mike

Tucker's Response

Jaime and Ale formed perhaps the core of our mission trip. These two boys, perhaps 10 or 11, came by our work site every day. They epitomized what we were truly there for: a cross-cultural experience.

It is true that we were there to work-but more importantly, we were there to make connections, to build bridges. If all we had wanted to do was build a house, we could have just donated the money and allowed Habitat to take care of the rest. But we were there for yet more-and these two, with their insatiable curiosity, provided the opportunity to REALLY delve into another way of life.

Nearly every day the two came by (it is to be admitted that this was, in part, because we always offered them food) to find out what the "gringos" were doing today. It never varied much-we would talk with them, share food, and occasionally take fun pictures-but these experiences provided everyone with a necessary connection into the world of those we were helping. They were curious to no end-they would attempt to converse with any of us who came over get a drink or reapply sunscreen, though our meager Spanish was no match for their native tongues. Over the course of the journey, we came to know and love the two very much. Our crew is even staying in contact with them via mail.

It was particularly touching when they would offer to help (them, help us! and we needed it, too). Jaime especially was occasionally found helping to mortar a block or fetching water for a parched worker.

What struck me most about the two, however, was that curiosity--they kept coming back. We were quite possibly the first "gringos" they had ever seen, and while we were generally a staring point, they made overtures of friendship, exactly what we were there for as well. They wanted to know us as much as we wished to know them, and by the end of the trip we had become fast friends. Perhaps one of our best pictures was taken in parting-we left them a football, which they loved. The sheer joy on their faces more than made the trip, already worthwhile, an extraordinary experience. We built a house, it is true, and that is something we accomplished-but more importantly, we made great friends with two of Honduras' most curious, open, and loving little boys. THAT is what we set out to accomplish, at least in my mind. A job well done, Crew.

Emily's Response

My experience in Honduras greatly changed my outlook on life; it made me focus more on personality and character over outside appearance of people and situations. I am very honored to have been given the chance to go on this great mission trip. I recommend it to other students as we plan to continue helping Habitat in the future!

Tim's Response

Now that we are home from what I would call a very successful trip to Honduras, I’ve had a bit of time to reflect on my experience. As an outsider, not familiar with the kids, I didn’t have any history on any of the participants so every student stood on their own merit. Let me just say first of all that I was terribly impressed with every one of those kids. When I’ve shared my experience with others, they always ask about the kids and how they did. I honestly tell them that I’ve never been more impressed by a bunch of young people as I was while in Honduras. Parents, friends and sponsors, you should be proud. Every one of the students worked hard. The conditions were not always favorable but they worked and did so happily. Daytime temperatures reached 105 with about 80% humidity. Blocks had to be carried, cement needed to be mixed using shovels, dirt had to be hauled out and walls had to go up. Through it all, the kids stuck with it, put forth their best efforts and in the end we had something that resembled a house. As a teacher, I was especially appreciative of the relationships they forged with the local children. It was fun to see them trying to communicate, learning new words and teaching them to speak English. This is a remarkable group of students that have participated in a remarkable service project that will benefit a family for years to come. I would like to thank the parents, the students and Mr. Clapp for allowing me to tag along. I wish all the students the best of luck and I hope you each will allow your Honduras experience impact your lives forever.

Tim Girdner (aka. Timbo)

Molly's Response

The Habitat for Humanity Honduras trip was a great experience. Seeing how other people had to live opened my eyes to how lucky I really am. It was great meeting the family and knowing how much we helped them. This trip was a once in a lifetime experience, especially the waterfall excursion.

Mr. Clapp's Response

For me, the Honduras experience brought back memories of my childhood in Uruguay. I was 9 years of age when my parents moved there to work with a mission agency. Several things soon began to impact me and brought back memories of experiences I had while growing up; the acceptance of hopelessness in their eyes and the search for understanding in our differences. You see it in their eyes, their countenance tells a story without words; the story of a lifetime of struggle to survive, little hope for the future, numbness to the conditions that surround them. It seems a condition that all too often has a tragic ending. Girls who end up staying home to work instead of going to school and then end up on the streets to survive, boys quit school to work to help support the family, children less than 12 years old that work in limestone quarries in their bare feet. I struggled with my own emotions when a child asked questions about whether we would come back while hugging you tightly and not wanting to let go and the letter of a girl that asked us for help to go back to school because her family could not afford to buy her the school uniform or books.

And yet, I am struck by their simple and humble way that they approach their lives; a humble acceptance. It is a true testimony to me when I consider my own life. All too often, I take for granted what I have and I am disappointed in how discontent I can be even though I am rich compared to them. It has renewed my commitment to be grateful and to continue to share the love of God through our service to those who are less fortunate. I am truly blessed.

I know the family we built the house for will be forever grateful for the time and resources spent on their behalf. For us it is but a drop in the bucket of what life has gifted us. May God be with them!

I am also very proud of the work done by the young men and women from our school. I saw them work very hard and long in very hot weather without complaining. They took only very necessary breaks and went back to work without anyone telling them. I know some had some difficulty in adjusting to the culture and food but all in all you guys did a great job!!!!!!!!!

Agata's Response

I think this trip was one of the best opportunities that anyone could ever have. I learned so much about a different culture and about different people. Everyone there was so warm and inviting and it made all of us feel very welcome. This experience also made me appreciate all that I have. Coming back home, I realized that we have so many things that we do not necessarily need when other people have so little. I really admired the family that we were building for and the kids that came to watch because no matter what, they were always happy. Our time down there seemed to fly by really fast, but we accomplished much more than I had expected. I'm very lucky to have had such a great chance to experience something completely new, and I'm already looking forward to the next trip!

Angie's Response

When I first heard about the mission trip to Honduras, I was interested because it sounded like a fun experience that was different from anything I've ever done before. After coming home, I realize that I got much more out of it than I ever expected. One of the things that was most meaningful to me was the presence of the family on the work site. It really put a face on what we were doing and who we were helping.

This trip really changed my perspective of different cultures and how we can all live so differently but still share one world. I know that sounds cheesy, but I really saw the truth behind it while we were there. The people were very hospitable to us, and the fact that not every house had a computer and TV like in the U.S. were a few obvious cultural differences. It made me realize how many things I take for granted every day. Ironically, one of the things that struck me most when I got home was the fact that I didn't have to worry about the water coming out of the faucet. An everyday thing like brushing my teeth made me appreciate how lucky and blessed I really am. I feel very fortunate that I got to experience all of the things we did on this trip, and I now have a lot of great memories that I'll never forget!

Josh's Response

Well, now that I have been back in the U.S. for a week and am finally adjusted to 'normal' summer life again, I can really look back at everything that has gone on and see it all in a whole new sense. While on the trip I was constantly bombarded with new things from all around me, and it was a lot to take in and absorb at once. It wasn't just the country and the native people, but also everyone on the trip. I learned a lot of new things on the trip, especially how everything was done in Honduras, and about the people I was with on the trip.

Needless to say I had an awesome time. I enjoyed the culture, the scenery, the food (not hard for me), the people and everything. We put in many days of hard work, and it ended up going really fast and not seem as long as it really was. The R&R days were a blast and a good way to relax after working for days in 100+ degree heat. It really was a great experience down there, everything seemed to fall together just perfectly making it seem like there were few if any bumps along the road. Honestly, I can't wait until next year to do this again.

Lizzy's Response

Our mission tip to Honduras was one of the best experiences of my life. I know it’s corny to say, but it really did teach me a lot. I not only learned a lot about the world beyond Rochester, but I learned a lot about myself as well. This trip really made me realize how lucky I am to have a safe house to come home to, with food in the refrigerator and clean water to drink. Before this trip, I took all of that for granted, now I know how fortunate I am, how fortunate we all are.

At first, even though I was really excited, I admit I had some worries. For 10 days I was going to have to be away from the comforts of home, eat food I’d never tried before, and live with 11 other people, which let’s face it, can be somewhat difficult. Plus, I was going to be without my computer, television, and even my phone for a week and a half!

However, my worries all subsided very quickly. None of that seemed at all important when we began our work. Though the days got kind of long, and the sun was pretty hot, our group worked hard and had a good time doing so. Sure, there were times when we needed a break, but I never felt overwhelmed or that I couldn’t do something. Everyone worked very well together and I’m very proud of what we accomplished. I’m looking forward to next year’s mission trip!

Safely Home

I just wanted to let everyone know that we made it safely home. We left Honduras at 1 am this morning, and we made it into Rochester about 5:15 pm. Keep checking back for posts from the others and for more pictures!

Mike

Final Days in Honduras

This will be my last blog post while in Honduras, since we leave tomorrow evening. We have to be at the airport in San Pedro at 9 pm to check in, but our flight doesn´t leave til 1 in the morning :( We will be arriving in Rochester around 5 pm on Thursday I think.

Our last two days here have been full of a lot of different activities. Yesterday, we had our last day of work at the work site. We finished putting up all of the wall bricks on the house, and we also starting adding the row of roof bricks that need to get put on. At the end of our day, we had a farewell ceremony at the work site. The family - Juan, Zoila, and Cristian were there, along with Señor Gonzalo, the mason at the site, and other Habitat workers. They expressed their thanks to us for the work that we did on the house, and we also told them how much this experience has meant to us.

We all signed a Bible to give to the family that will be in their new house. The family was also presented with a tree sapling from Habitat that will be planted somewhere near the house. After the ceremony, we ate tamales and said our goodbyes to all the people that we had met this past week. We also donated some of our equipment to Habitat - our work gloves, some pairs of shoes, and we gave a soccer ball to Jaime and Ale. Emily and Kellen wrote letters to the boys, and Jaime wrote one back thanking us for spending time with him this week. They plan to keep in touch with Jaime still through letters.

Our last meal at the hotel was a little exciting. I would post pictures of it, but I don´t have Mr. Clapp´s camera with me right now. It consisted of the typical vegetables, fried plantains, and then an entire fried fish, complete with eyes and fins. It was pretty entertaining to see the looks on some of the girls´ faces when the waitress laid the fish down in front of them.

Today, we traveled to Copan to spend the next day and a half sightseeing. We visited the Mayan ruins before lunch where we learned how to count in Mayan and learned the names of the sixteen Mayan kings. The highlight of our day was in the afternoon when we went on the canopy zipline. We were driven up a winding gravel road to the top of the Copan valley bluffs. From the top, we went on 16 different ziplines, winding our way above the rainforest with a spectacular view of the valley below. Two of the ziplines were 1 kilometer long, and a couple of them were over 350 feet off the ground!

Tomorrow, we plan to spend the day in Copan sightseeing and shopping. We have a 2 hour drive to San Pedro in the evening, and then we will get on the airplane to head home :( Don´t stop checking the blog now, because when we get back, all of us will post an individual reflection about our experience and also put up some more photos of our trip.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support as we went on this trip, and we look forward to seeing all of you in a couple of days!

Mike

Getting Drenched

Today was our first full free day and we went to a waterfall park where the waterfall was 139
feet tall. We got a guide to take us underneath the waterfall. We were told we were going to get wet so everyone left their passports (besides Mr. Clapp). We started going up a path when suddenly it cuts off and below us is a pool of water. The guide said to jump down into the pool, which surprised Lizzy a little bit. Thankfully there were three 10 year olds ready to fish us out. To get under the water fall we had to crawl through rocks and some pretty strong currents so we made a chain through the water holding hands. Coming back we got a chance to jump off a 20 ft cliff into the water, which Mr. Clapp did with his passport.

After the waterfalls we drove to a restaurant (which wasn´t on the way to anything so we basically drove about 40 minutes to eat because Hector thought it would be a good place). After eating lunch we went to tour a cave. It was about a 300 meter walk through the cave, which was full of bats, stalagtites, stalagmites, and other cool formations. We had to use our imaginations to figure out what the rock formations looked like. At the tallest part of the cave it was about 20 meters and it was 50 meters under ground.

On our way back we stopped at a fruit stand again to get some fresh pineapple and coconut. We ate dinner at the hotel, and now we are at an Internet cafe about 10 miles away where I am writing this post.

In case you didn´t notice that this post is a lot worse than all the other posts, it´s because Mike isn´t writing it - Agata (me) did. Mike wanted a break from writing, and I was making fun of him about it, so he made me write this post. Hopefully tomorrow, Mike will return to writing, but I think Kellen might want a turn, so keep your fingers crossed.

Cya later,

Agata

Almost Done!

Today we just worked on the house for a half day and now we are going to walk around Santa Cruz. Later, we are going to go back to our hotel to hang out by the lake. We might rent some canoes or kayaks to paddle around. We only have one full day of work left on Monday, because the Hondurans don´t work on Sundays, and we basically have the walls completely up.

Yesterday, we spent a full day at the work site and got a lot done. We needed to put up scaffolding to reach the walls we were working on, and by the end of the day, we had to raise the height of our platforms. According to Tim´s thermometer, it reached 105 degrees. A lot of us got a little sunburned on our necks and shoulders, but nothing too bad.

We also had to dig a trench for a sewage pipe that will run from the house to a pit about 10 yards away. There is a team of a son and father working on the pit, and they started working about the same time we did. It is 12 feet deep now, and they still have another 3 or 4 feet to go. They always seem to be joking and having a good time, despite doing the most work of anyone on the work site.

Sometimes it seems like we have been teaching the locals more English than we are learning Spanish. The girls taught Ale and Jaime to say ¨hi,¨¨thank you¨and ¨good bye.¨The construction
foreman has learned to say ¨hammer¨to ask for the hammer, and also has learned many of our names. We still get weird looks when we drive down the streets in our big white van, because we are the only white people in town, but the locals are all very friendly and inviting and always say hi to us.

We are all looking forward to a break this weekend, but it´s hard to believe that we are almost done with work on the house. Tomorrow, we are going to go hiking to some caves and waterfalls, and I think there´s also a zipline that we can go on. We are all enjoying the nice weather here - so far it hasn´t rained during the day yet - and don´t miss the weather in Minnesota at all :)

Have a good weekend,

Mike

Work + A Multicultural Experience

Today we worked on the Habitat house some more from about 9 am to 2 pm and then had a cultural experience for a couple of hours. We have made a lot of progress on the house - the walls are now high enough where we don´t have to bend over to lay blocks. We have started to put in the windows of the house, which you can see in the pictures. We finally have the floors low enough inside, so we don´t have to dig anymore dirt out to level the floor. We are all excited to hear Señor Gonzalez tell us ¨Esta bien¨ (It is good) instead of ¨un poco mas¨´(a little more).

We had more of the locals come visit us at the work site. Jaime and Ale came back to say hi, and we gave them our leftover food from lunch. Both Jaime and Ale have to go to school from 1 to 5, so they had to leave us after lunch. We met the little baby boy of the family who will be living in the house that we are building. His name is Cristian and likes to play in the water that we use to mix the cement.

After we finished for the day, we went to a home in a rural community where we learned how to make maize tortillas. One of the women there was 70 years old and has lived in that house for 50 years! They told us that some of the poorest people in the town only live on these tortillas and salt. After making the tortillas, which we topped with frijoles (beans) and queso (cheese), and enjoying some fresh mango, we watched a dance presentation by the local school. The kids ranged from about 9 to 15. After watching the dance presentation, they pulled some of us out from the crowd and made us embarrass ourselves in front of everyone. We shared some of the tortillas with them, and also played some soccer with a couple of them. Some of the girls talked to Angelica, a ten year old girl, and she gave them flowers to put in their hair and told them that she wanted to be just like them.

To finish up my post, I will answer some of the questions that you posted...

Mrs. Walter - I´m not exactly sure what their exact situation is with water, but all of the water we drink is bottled. At the work site, we bring the big jugs of water like you see on top of the Culligan water coolers, and we pour them into a cooler. The locals just drink the tap water and don´t seem to be affected by it, but we can´t drink it because we aren´t used to it. We have a hose at the site, so there is some sort of water supply even in the rural areas, but I don´t think any of it gets purified.

Mrs. Wildt - So far it has only rained one day, and that was in the evening on Tuesday. We were just eating supper so it wasn´t a big deal, and the work site had dried by the next morning. Typically, it is sunny for most of the day until around 4, and then the clouds move in... right when we want to go swimming. As far as the floor of the house goes, I think we are keeping one of the rooms with a dirt floor, and then the other two rooms will have cement floors.

Thanks for all of your comments! We appreciate hearing from all of you back in Minnesota. Keep posting comments with any questions, and I will try to answer them when I can.

Adios,

Mike, and the girls standing behind me reading this and commenting on it as I type :)

First Day of Work

Our first full day of work went really well and we made a lot of progress. We hauled more dirt out of the house to level the floors, and we added a couple of rows to the walls of the house. The weather is pretty hot and humid - around 85 to 90 degrees - and the worst time to work is in the afternoon around 1 to 3. In the morning, our work site is mostly in the shade so that helps a lot. No one has complained about any problems due to the heat, and we are taking a lot of breaks and drinking a lot of water.

So far the food is definitely bearable, and Emily approved of the peanut butter that Hector brought us for a snack. Today, on the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a fruit stand alongside of the road. There was a series of fruit stands all in a row that took up about 100 yards and was a very impressive sight. Hector treated us to fresh pineapple (which is safe to eat because it has a rind) and we also tried some fresh coconut. The pineapple was the best that I have ever had. Tucker also bought some bananas, which came still on the stem of the tree and looked like a cotton candy stick. They were finger bananas, and we got about 4 dozen of them for 25 lempiras, which is about $1.25.

We have had a lot of fun talking to the local kids that come to say hi to us at the work site. At the end of the day, we went to a field with them and played soccer for a bit. Emily and Kellen are the two most talkative with the local kids, which is ironic because they also speak the least Spanish! It is very entertaining to see them try to communicate with them using the dozen Spanish words they know.

Hector has to drive back to San Pedro Sula tonight, so I have to go now. Feel free to post a comment with any questions, and I´ll try to answer them as I can. The comments don´t get published until I approve them, but I will post them when I see them and try to answer as many as I can.

Adios,

Mike

We Have Internet Access!

Hi Everyone,

In Santa Cruz de Yojoa, the town where we are working, there is an Internet cafe, so we can give you updates throughout our trip. Yesterday, we traveled all day and arrived in San Pedro de Sula around 12:30 am Honduras time (which is an hour behind Rochester time). We had a long layover in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (5 hours), but we passed the time playing Farkle and spoons with Gracie, a little Honduran girl. We spent the night at a hotel in San Pedro and then traveled about an hour and a half to Santa Cruz this morning.

When we arrived, we went to the Habitat for Humanity district office where we ate lunch and had a brief orientation. Lucas, our guide and interpreter for the first couple of days, talked about the beginnings of the Habitat program in Honduras and introduced some of the other people who work at the district office. They all were very excited and happy to have us here... We know enough Spanish to understand that :)

We then drove to the work site, which is about 10 minutes away from the office up a dirt road. We are building a three room cement block house for a family of 3 - a mom, dad, and one year old baby. Today, we dug dirt out of the rooms to level the floor and added a couple rows of blocks to the house. We won´t finish the house while we are here, but I´m sure we will make a lot of progress on it. At our orientation, they told us that our work would lead to the house being built in 4 weeks instead of 10 weeks.

Our hotel where we are staying is located about 20 minutes from Santa Cruz, so we are going to head there now. We will eat breakfast and dinner at the Hotel Agua Azul and then eat lunch at the work site. Apparently there is a pool at our hotel, so we are all pretty excited for that! Also, Hector, our driver for the duration of the trip, is going to introduce us to some high school students that we can play soccer with, so Emily and I are pumped to do that. I have to head out now, so I will write another update tomorrow.

Mike

They've arrived!

Here's the e-mail:

From: Joanna Pohl-Miszczyk
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 11:04 AM
Subject: Habitat Honduras

Hello to all parents,I was asked to pass good news to all of you (it looks like only Agata'sphone works for now). Our group arrived safely and is doing well." The food is good and there is already 96 degree outside (9:30 am)" I will also start phone tree in case somebody did not receive this e-mail.

The Team Departs

More updates as they come in!!

Day of Departure

It is now officially the day of the departure, and I still need to finish packing! Everyone is really excited for the trip, and we are all ready to go (for the most part). I'm not sure if we will have Internet access while we are in Honduras, so Mrs. Michelle Weedman, one of our teachers at Lourdes, is going to update the blog for us. We will be able to call home, so we will give her updates over the phone for her to post to the blog. Hopefully, we will be able to post a couple updates during our trip to let you know how it is going. Once again, thanks for your support and keep us in your thoughts and prayers these next 10 days!

Mike

Fundraising Update - May 19

Tomorrow we receive all of the butterbraids we ordered, and we will be distributing them during the next few weeks. It will be a bit of a challenge keeping 536 butterbraids frozen! Thank you to everyone who ordered butterbraids during our fundraiser. With your help, we raised over $2,000.

If you didn't get a chance to order any butterbraids, we are selling Nick 'n' Willy's cards for $10 each. With each card, you get 10 Buy One, Get One Free punches for any size one-topping pizza. If you would like to order some, you can email our Group Leader, Mr. Shannon Clapp, at sclapp@rochestercatholic.k12.mn.us or can give him a call at Lourdes (507) 289-3991.

If you have any questions about our trip, feel free to send me (Mike) an email at mjresman@gmail.com. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Thanks again for your support, encouragement, and prayers. We are excited to have this opportunity, and without your help, it wouldn't be possible.

- Mike