Honduras Day One- Discovering The Cycle

Sunday- July 3, 2011

(There are not a lot of pictures in this blog because we only went to the orphanage and were not allowed to take picture of the kids there)

There is something so incredible about being on an airplane. Over the clouds, out of reach. I look up at the clouds when I'm at home on a regular basis. Admiring the ever changing colors, I stand in awe of their vastness. Yet here I am hovering above the clouds peering through them to see what tiny towns hide underneath.  I forget how much bigger the world is than me. How much bigger my God is than me.

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Our first day in Honduras and we get to go visit the orphanage were going to be visiting all week. I was pretty surprised. I pictured the orphanage being in a big red brick building with no lights, damp, and reeking of urine. But when you walk in you see an open field enclosed with small colorful houses called casitas. They had a play ground, a gazebo, two broken sets of swing sets, and an overturned slide. It almost looked pleasant.

As soon as we walked in a little girl ran up to Morgan, a girl in our group, and swung her arms around her. Her face just lit up with excitement. That was the reaction of almost every single child. Unrestrained excitement and affection. They showered each one of us with their hugs and kisses.

We visited the older girl's casita first. We all tired our best to fit in the tiny house. I saw a girl laying on a mattress on the floor saying "I need candy for the baby" and she rubbed her stomach. Immediately I asked "How old are you?" she responded "seventeen." It was so weird to think we were the same age, in two completely different places in life.

Next was the little boy's casita. I walked in and what ensued was a huge tickle fight. The sound of soo many little boy's laughter was enough to make you heart explode outside your chest. Somehow I became the object of attack. Which was no bueno because I had to pee. It wasn't long till they were engaging us in their favorite hand game (and now ours) "Pikachu". Miguel, one of our translators warned me when one little boy approached me, "Be careful of that one he's really desperate for attention." I couldn't help but inquire "What do you mean?" Miguel sighed as he looked up trying to explain,"He'll pretend to kill himself, or find something sharp and try to cut himself with it." My heart stopped. These kids? The sweet boys that are laughing uncontrollably know how, or what killing yourself is and entail?! "Well bring him over here and let me love on him so he doesn't feel like he needs to do that!"

We soon came to the little girl's casita. Each girl wanted to be sure to hug and kiss each one of us. That and be held. They would run up to you with their arms open ride, waiting to be lifted up. Then they would kiss your cheek and reach out for the next person. Although I thought it was terribly sweet to be greeted with so much excitement I couldn't understand why they were so happy to see us. I was beginning to see they were so excited because they had no one else.

By this time all the children had left their casitas and were entering into the open area. One girl who seemed to be some sport of special needs emerged from the little girl's casita in torn pajamas. She seemed to be overwhelmed by all the people but Amber took it among herself to hug and love on her in order to warm her up. The older girls all gathered around the gazebo and I saw the face of the girl I had met earlier who was pregnant. As I looked around I realized they're were no boys older than twelve. So how on earth was this girl pregnant. Miguel began to tell me that once the boys turn twelve they are sent to an all boys orphanage. The girls get pregnant because they sneak out, which let me tell you cannot be an easy task when there is barbed wires around the fences, and sell themselves or get raped on the streets. They're babies are born inside the orphanage, and raised there. Miguel informed me that most of the babies inside of the orphanage are children of the girls who live/lived there. It seemed like an almost inescapable cycle. Children without parents breeding children without parents.

The girls were gathering around a radio. Once the music started they began grinding on each other. Look I haven't been living under a rock my whole life. I've seen girl's dance, I've seen girls grind. In America this site is no big deal, it's even common. But in Honduras the future implications are completely different, so much more dangerous. The site seriously terrified me. The girl with special needs found her way over and tried to join in. The girls started grinding on her as a joke pushing her back and forth until eventually they just pushed her away. I tried to turn away. I thought by ignoring them I wouldn't be encouraging them. I turned back around a few minutes later and spotted the special needs girl standing by the playground by herself, absent mindedly grinding the air.

It broke my heart. I could see it vividly on this girl, who had no control, no filter, no fake exterior the clear impact watching the older girls had. I knew this same thing was playing in the minds of the younger girls, who were either too shy, or too scared to act on it...yet. There is was, the vicious cycle consuming more and more innocent girls hearts and souls.

Someone asked me, why don't you give money, instead of spending money to go visit them. Wouldn't that make a bigger different than visiting them for a week and leaving. These kids, these girls they need so much more than money. Better facilities, better food is not the problem at the orphanage. They live in a dark cycle where they feel abandoned, hopeless, unimportant and unloved. They need God. They need us, they need people like us. They need our prayer.

Dear God, I pray the cycle would stop.

The irony is almost unbearable. People send their children there, or get their children taken away from them in order to protect them from abuse or to give them a better opportunity at life. But they end up trapped.

Yet Christ is all in all. So there is Hope.

"But I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

-John 14:18

More pictures from the first day.

Scott Shelton doubles as Tommy Pickle.

Bye Houston!

Hello Honduras!

Always cloud in Honduras

I thought it was funny it looked like extraneous

Crazy/Busy/Intense/Intimidating Airport.

Look at US!

First view of Honduras 

Me and Amber.

First Resturant

Crazy Faces



Street from resturant.

HONDURAS WE HAVE HOT SAUCE!