BUNK BEDS ARE FINISHED! (from dan)

    well after two long weeks of working on them they are finally done! i feel like God has given me nothing but strength and encouragement through this time of the building process! when I first came here i though that we were going to slap a couple 2x4 together and BOOM you have yourself a bunk bed! but NO God chose someone truly dedicated to these beds. and he had a bit of a different plan.

these were the finished  product minus the bed boards.

These 4 beds took about two weeks of solid work with the last two days of work being 10 to 12 hour days!
Now i don't want you guys to freak out(Mom and Dad) but those last 3 or 4 days of work i was pretty sick with a really sore throat and chest and from all the sawdust hitting my eyes one of my eyes got a pretty irritated for a good 48 hours. because of that i had to miss one morning session, But throughout that whole process i felt fairly good and was able to keep working.
   Delivering the beds was an amazing feeling! not a feeling of accomplishment or being proud. more like a awestruck at the fact that for some of the families the beds took up a large portion of their home! It was not something that i was upset to see because that were all very happy and some even tearing up about it!  but for someone like to me to come from a very nice house and see that these families houses and the fact that it was a bed and possibly refrigerator was a little sad! but all in all this was an absolutely incredible experience and I would start all over again tomorrow if i had to! here are some more pictures of the families that we delivered to and the bunk bed making in general.

Transportation

All the kids behind me are just some the ones that will sleep in this bed. 

tight squeeze!

Miladies family missing some of her kids

The view we enjoyed while delivering the beds to the first two families.

Fanny's family and Victors Kids

me and my Buddy Jorge taking a picture with the old and new beds.

Third family A.K.A "Skinny Family"

fourth family (they have 15 kids!!!)

overwhelmed

this week has been hard. i have not felt this overwhelmed in such a long time.  yesterday we delivered all four bunk beds. and the beds look amazing.  this week has been nothing but working hard on the beds. literally so hard. 12 hour days of wood.  its hard and not just physically. it is so hard emotionally.  we are tired, hungry, thirsty, and it is hard to not be able to let it all out to family at home.  there has been no time to be in contact with anyone.  on top of all that last night was difficult for me- i think everyone else was excited.  there was so much excitement as the beds were being delivered. but something was going on with me.  i was in tears basically the entire time.  i kept thinking- allison you have seen this all before, you have seen poverty, stayed in poverty- you have done this all before.  but for some reason this really affected me. as we were arriving at the first two houses i started to feel overwhelmed. like what are we doing here giving them a bed.  i know that sounds bad- thats not what i mean.  i just leaned against their house and it was made out of bags and bamboo.  and at the second house the mom handed me her baby who had a terrible rash (the baby's body felt like sand paper).  one of the families we gave a bunk bed to are so skinny.  their stove is a pile of trash and they had been sleeping on rope tied to old wood- im serious.  on the way home there were gun shots and we all had to duck.  the gun wasnt pointed toward us or anything- but you just dont know. its so dangerous. and i dont know how to explain it.  i just felt like where do you start.  why are we giving them a bunk bed when they need so much more.  dont get me wrong- i am so so happy they have a bed and i am so thankful for everyone who had donated to this project.  but my heart was just breaking every second we were delivering the beds.  they lack so much.  they need so much.  the bunkbeds literally took up 75 percent of their houses and it was a miracle that they even fit through the 'doors'.  the families were so thankful- the kids thought it was so fun to be on the top bunk.  and that felt so good- but for some reason i was really affected last night.  God was making me think alot and i think the devil was trying to ruin some of the joy.
on top of all that emotion, the lady who is pregnant who we will help deliver her baby has been overwhelming as well.  she is in so much pain and when we were giving her her bunk bed yesterday she couldnt even be outside to say thank you because she was in so much pain.  she said that she was for sure that she was going to have her baby last night.  so we stayed up all night trying to get ready for the baby in addition to packing to leave for nicaragua (we were supposed to leave at 5 this morning- that didnt happen).  so anyways we were up all night- the baby didnt come.  so this morning katlyn, michelle, and i went to her house to see how she was feeling when the lady threw us a curve ball.  she thinks she is having twins.  long story short she refuses to go to a hospital, she refuses to get help.  she just wants us.  this morning in tears she told us that she is sorry that we cannot leave for our trip but that she needs us.  she kept saying, ' i am scared to be alone, i am scared to be alone'.  literally if we were to leave to travel she would be completely alone in a cardboard house on the floor delivering twins by herself.  this situation is awful- i am so scared to do this as i have never delivered a baby before.  seriously this is scary.  i am so tired- we all are.  so if you are reading this blog right now please pray for us and the lady who is pregnant (her name is milades).  love you all- sorry this post is a big depressing, i am just feeling overwhelmed.

Wood Wood Victor and Wood

     So this is one of the main reasons why i came here, to build the bunk beds for the families that Kate has really fell in love with and Allison and i have fallen in love too. I could not ask for a better family to help me with building these bunk beds either, Victor is a pastor here and also a wood worker who i believe can build anything... seriously, he is good! Victors Family always greets me with a warm smile and i have met 6 of his 7 kids and they are all amazing! the Bunk beds are hard work and way more wood than i expected but Victor has a plan at making these Bunk beds look Very cool! Allison and Katlyn have came after kinder and helped me work which is awesome because they keep my mind off of very repetitive tasks and make things a little better knowing that i am not the only one who speaks english. It is hard sometimes to find out what Victor wants me to do because he does not know any english except for "Right and Left" which i taught him(he was so stoked, he ran around to all of his kids and wife and would grab one hand saying," right!!!" and then would grab the other and proudly say, "LEFT!" what a beautiful family he has and they are all very strong in their faith and that is awesome to be around!

this is Victor with all of the wood for first Two Bunk beds. what a great/happy guy!

Ester and Ofer! they all get along so well!

Jeffery- he is a great help and an awesome very mature kid for 12

Jonathan 5- he is there to make us smile and to show us his building skills

just a little siesta for ally and I

Like i said making us smile! He is making tortillas there and doing an awesome job(you can tell by his face)

Oh Ally.... I love her

Katlyn doing her best work by sawing the edges all 300 hundred boards!!!!! give or take a few.

we have alot to say, but internet sucks.

Dan and I have so much to blog about.  But internet has been down for about 4 days so that is frustrating.  It has put me in a bad mood seriously.  That’s how important this blog is. Just kidding. But seriously. Here are some things that have been going on.

Kids Play Days/Mommy’s day out.

Besides kinder in the mornings, kate teaches English to some kids in town and we also have kinder play day on Wednesdays and mommy’s day out on Monday.  Both are just excuses to see the kids more often, lets be honest.  But I think mommy’s day out really does benefit the mom’s. it’s a chance to get some things done and just have a little time to themselves.  For both of these days we really just play. We find a big open field, a playground, or just a shady spot and hangout.  Its an amazing time, so tiring, but so worth it. Here are some pictures of us and the kids on play days.

this is julianna, the one dan was talking about in his last blog who is teething.

this is random, but hondurans have the best shoes, even babies.

so precious.

sweet little Julianna teething 

The Twins/Jason
Katlyn has been teaching English to these two awesome girls Alexandra and Andrea who are twins.   Their mom works in the States and hasn’t seen the girls since they were babies.  I have been going with Katlyn to teach them English and it is amazing how much they know. They are so fun, seriously.  I go, because it’s the most laughing I do in such a short period of time.  The awesome thing about the twins is their family.  Their grandma takes care of them and she is SO FUNNY. Seriously, so funny- and she feeds us. Also, they have a million cousins and sisters and brothers running around, one whose name is Jason.  Jason is their brother who was born in the states but is here in Honduras for the summer and will fly back home with Katlyn, Dan and I.  If anyone is ever having a bad day, I would seriously suggest talking to Jason.  His mom only speaks Spanish and some broken English so he learned Spanish first but since he lives in the states he also speaks English from playing with friends.  He is 5 years old.  He is so funny.  His grandma says no one ever understands what he is saying- apparently his Spanish is awful.  But the funny thing is is that his English is even worse.  He gets so confused. He has a Spanish accent when he speaks English but he also throws in some Spanish words. Spanglish at its best.  The other day he said “I like to look at the sun but sometimes it hurts my ojos.” And today he told Dan and I that “He has five years tambien”.  Poor kid. But seriously, how cute is this family.

the sweet twins

twins and their cousin Bessy

Jason

Dia De Los Indios.

Two days ago was the day of the Indians.  Something about their Indian hero Lempira.  I don’t know, all I know is that we had a parade today.  The kids dressed up in their best Indian costumes (most of which the volunteers and I made since we have the supplies and enough money to waste real corn on a costume).  They were perfect, seriously adorable.  Look at them.

our view on the way home- praise god.

In a nut shell, these past few days have been so incredible.  So filled.  The beds are so hard to make but dan will talk about that soon.  And the lady who I will help deliver her baby has not delivered yet- but we are prepared.  We have googled, boiled knives, prepared towels, got gloves from the clinic, and had sleepless nights thinking ‘tonight is definitely the night.’ But we are ready.  Dan and I were hoping to go to the islands this weekend but since the baby hasn't come we will stay and go some other time.  Our plans to travel to Nicaragua and Costa Rica are coming along and we are so excited- but sad our time in Honduras seems to be going too quickly.  Also i have been a bit sick the past 24 hours. the typical travelers throw up.  so pray for me with that because it has been difficult. love you all, and miss you!