New Things Are Happening!!

There is so much stuff happening in La Masica I don't know where to begin!

Maybe an explanation of the first project would be a good place to start..ya think??

We thought we would offer the villagers is a way for them to realize an immediate financial gain. Much of their corn crop is lost each year to insects, mold, and rot in storage. We decided to offer them a way to help store part of their crop in a more efficient manner. We have a design for a corn silo that will virtually eliminate this problem for very little investment on their part. We presented this opportunity to them and they jumped at the chance. There are 18 families in the village and 18 families decided they would like to borrow the money from us to build the silos...I'm not real good at math but I think that is about 100% participation!

As you can see in the first photo above Daniel is having them sign the contracts in a ceremony that was very meaningful to them. They are now committed to this project and the silos have now been built. We will be doing some training and education on the methods of storage and they will realize an immediate financial gain from this.
They can now use about 30% more of their crop and if they choose to sell the corn, they will be able to sell it at a higher price because they will have the option to hold the corn until after the peak harvest season when the prices will be higher. Cool stuff!!

Another thing going on as we speak is that a study of the water source has begun. We will be doing a water system, and the first step is to determine the amount of flow from the source. Then measure the distance from the source to village and begin the cost analysis. That is cookin' right now! We aren't gunna mess around here!

I've got about a half a billion other things to talk about but I'll wait for the next post. I wil really, really try to get back to a once a week posting...at least for a while. Really...I will...

Bendiciones!!!


tom

I'm Still Here!!

Hi There!

I bet you thought I'd decided to stop updating this, huh?? Well, that's not true. I've been incredibly busy with all the things going on in Honduras, Christmas, helping with finding a new pastor for the church, and all the other stuff that goes with making a living and having a family. But, I hope I'm back on track now.

Here is the latest video presentation about the Adult Vision Trip to Honduras. We had two teams go for a week each and we covered a lot of ground. We stopped in all 6 villages we are working in and everyone caught the malady I have. I call it Honduran Allergies. Many times when I'm talking with the people in the communities my eyes start to water, my nose starts to run, and I get all choked up. There is no doubt that we were more blessed than the people we are trying to help.

Take a look and I pledge that I will try to be more regular in the updates from now on...

Oh yeah. If you notice the map to the right you'll see that we've added another pin. We will be moving ahead and working in La Masica. We have tons of ideas I'll talk about in the next post.

Bendiciones!!
Tom

In Honduras Again!!

Hi Guys!!

Guess what?? I'm in Honduras aaaaa
gaaaa
annnnn. Yup, we had a workshop at Los Pinos for the representatives of the villages where we will be putting filters. The "Health Promoters" will go back to the villages and begin the process of promoting the concept of BioSand filters and we will be building them real soon in Santa Fe.

We also had some people from another organization called Pure Water for the World attend. They have been putting filters into use here for some time now and we have received a lot of help from them. They are more than willing to share their experience and so in return we invited them to participate in the training, and they sent 5 people. It's great to cooperate with other organizations that are after the same thing we are. Although they are a secular organization, their goals are very similar to ours.

The young lady who put on the training is from the Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) in Calgary Alberta Canada. You talk about a lady that has it together! Andrea Roach did an awesome job of presenting the material in a relevant and entertaining way. Everyone had a wonderful time and the fact that she is fully bilingual added very much to the value and ability of the villagers to understand the concepts presented. She is obviously passionate about the work she is engaged in and truly enjoys the people she is working with. She has an awesome story to tell about how she came to be working at CAWST and sometime soon I'll probably tell that story. Andrea is the one holding Yoda. Andrea, YOU ROCK!!!

I have other stories to tell about this trip but I have the feeling I will be presenting some things when I get back, and I don't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet.

We were used of God again today in a near miss. We were traveling from one of the villages back to Tegucigalpa for meetings on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and a pickup nearly hit us head on. He corrected at the last second over correcting and rolled the truck. A passenger and a young girl were trapped in the vehicle, and fortunately we were able to get them both out.

The driver and the passenger were unhurt but the young lady sustained cuts and bruises and Dr. Daniel Bell (our boots on the ground in Honduras) patched her up and stopped the bleeding until the ambulance could get there. As in all parts of the the world the highways are dangerous places.

I'll be returning home this Friday and I have all kinds of stories and pictures and news to tell 'yall about. Those of you who want to hear 'em will have the opportunity and those of you who don't want to hear 'em will have the opportunity to hear 'em too!


See ya later this week!!

Jalu!! (That's Salvadoran for aloha!! Thanks Andrea!)

-Tom

NOW HEAR THIS!! ADULT VISION TRIP!

Well the time has come to announce the plans for our adult VISION Trip to Honduras.

This Tuesday evening at 7:00PM in the Upper Room in Life University we will be collecting names of those interested in going as well as giving more information. Even if you just have a mild interest come and get the full story, ask your questions, and find out more about it.

Why do we call it a VISION Trip? Come on Tuesday and find out!!

See you there!!

--Tom

Holy Smoke-Or Not!!

Wow! One of the projects that I have neglected to talk about is the Fogones Mejorados. This is an improved stove that we will be helping the villagers put in each of their homes. One of the major problems in developing countries is that they cook with wood, and many times the stoves are inside the home or in an area directly outside the home. The family then breathes in the smoke all day and most of the night causing serious lung and respiratory problems.
These ladies are starting the process of building their stove. We have an experienced person from Project Global Village who is training the people to build them for themselves. This is an important point in our philosophy of how to do missions. When these folks build the stoves for themselves they will be able to repair them if necessary, will be able to help others build their stoves, and perhaps can help other villages put in the improved stoves as well, for a profit. This is one way of helping them to increase their income, teach them a skill, and help them develop pride and self confidence.

The design of the stove causes it to use 60% less firewood than the old design. This is huge because there will be less time spent collecting wood, and there will be less deforestation as a result as well. Each stove will have a chimney to allow the smoke to pass out of the cooking area reducing greatly the inhalation of smoke and all of the ill effects that go along with it.

As you can see this young lady is delighted to have a new stove to cook on. Oh, by the way, there is a type of oven built into the stove as well as a metal cooktop. I'm looking forward to some fresh home cooked tortillas the next time I'm in this village!

Be on the lookout for details about an upcoming adult trip to Honduras...details coming soon! Maybe you can have some tortillas too!!

--Tomas (my Spanish name ;-))

September '07 Honduars Update

Whew!! I'm back from Honduras. It was a whirlwind trip. We were checking on the projects, looking for a new village to adopt, meeting with a couple of organizations that we may be partnering with, and purchasing a new vehicle for Daniel to use while working on the projects.

I will update on the details of some of these activities later in the week but for now I'll post the video we showed in church this morning. It is a quick summary of the trip and maybe it'll give you a little bit of an idea of what went on during my stay.

The progress is just amazing. In Santa Fe, and San Antonio we feel that we are 2 years ahead of schedule. The people have been working their tails off. Take a look and if you feel the urge you can leave a comment. Just click on comment and type away.

Here ya go!!

Live and Direct from Honduras

Howdy Everyone!

I'm in Siguatepeque Honduras gathering information for the next update. Be patient and when I get back I really will post a full update.

As a little teaser, with the funds raised in this year's golf tournament, last year's golf tournament, and the money Jim Pogue raised with the Churro Machine, we came up with enough funds to purchase the pickup we so badly needed here. I learned last week when I got here that, unlike in the states, you don't just find the vehicle you want, pay for it and drive away with it. After you hand over the money there is a 3-4 day wait until they get all of the paperwork done. Then you have to take the vehicle to the insurance agency and they have to take photos of it. Then if all of the stars are aligned you can use your new vehicle.

We actually made the deal on the truck last Wednesday and with any kind of luck, tomorrow Monday September 17th, maybe we will be using it.

Keep your fingers crossed!!

More to come.....really, I mean it!!

--Tom