Honduras Trips

… hemos llegado a tierra plana.

This Spanish phrase translates as, “Thank God we have arrived at flat land,” and was purported to be said by the Spanish explorers when they reached the area that is now the city of Gracias in the western Honduran department (state) of Lempira.

Last week, Habitat Wake’s board chair, Rick Brajer and I travelled to Honduras to be a part of the festivities marking the completion of Habitat Honduras’ Villa Rosario project.  The final 11 of 32 homes were complete as well as a community center and playground/park.  The park is named, Parque Wake County, in honor of our commitment and funding of the work in the community.

…walk into a bar.  No, seriously.  Last Friday, we hosted the Triangle Business Journal’s (TBJ) annual 40 Under 40 leadership award winners.  I had the opportunity to work on our Apex build site with these young leaders from throughout the Triangle region.  My afternoon crew consisted of the aforementioned pair of lawyers, a marketing professional, and a pharmacist.

Last April, when I participated in a Habitat Wake work team to Honduras, I met a 13-year old boy named Junior.  Though we spoke different languages, I learned a fair amount about Junior and enjoyed the time we spent together on the work site.  Junior was the unofficial leader of all the kids who would come to visit our work site after school.

Here is a creative blog entry by Annette Homiller, member of Kirk of Kildaire in Cary and active participant in Women Build:  "I was reminded of these Bible verses as I reflected on the weeks' activities which we celebrated Friday afternoon:

"Yesterday I hit the wall. All the hard physical labor had finally taken its toll on my body. After a good night’s sleep, I felt revived. However, I was cautious about overdoing it. It turned out to be a blessing. Although I worked hard making adobe bricks all morning, I focused on people for the afternoon.

Today's blog from Honduras comes from Chris Dupre, one of our regular Saturday volunteers.