Thoughts on Honduras

On Nov. 1 I began a five-day mission trip to Perlas Arribe, Honduras. I've been trying to process the experience since returning.

First of all, Honduras is a beautiful country. Unlike the dreary, black-and-white commercials that some relief organizations broadcast, Honduras is bright and colorful. The mountains are covered with green and the variety of flowers blooming was breathtaking.

The people are as colorful as the landscape. No gray rags and mournful faces here. The people love color and aren't afraid to wear it. Even the houses are colorful (my favorites were pink with dark rose trim). The smiles were contagious. These people are truly contented and joyful and pleasant to be around, even if you can't talk to them. The kindness in their eyes nearly brought me to tears. I think maybe they should be sending mission teams to the US.

Building the latrines was interesting. I was pretty useless but I did tie rebar together. The local men we worked with were very good working with cement and blocks and they were enjoying themselves as well. After a couple hours they decided it was time for a break so they knocked some coconuts off a tree. Then one of them climbed about 30' up a tree to bring down a bunch of coconuts. Watching those guys trim the coconuts with machetes was educating. I think I'll stick with paring knives.