Easter break
Alike every year, the Easter holidays were long-awaited. In Honduras it is common for all people to go to the beach. Since our family is big and with so many children it is rather challenging to spend the holidays on an overcrowded beach, we have placed as an alternative 3 swimming pools on the football field. The children could swim all week.They really enjoyed it and had great fun. A surprise visit came from Cynthia Sieber, one of the last volunteers. When she entered our gate, the children immediately invited her to the swimming pool. They were allowed to tell her everything they had experienced last year. On the last day the children dedicated their time to the bikes and they turned the whole day rounds after rounds. From small to big, everyone was beaming with their smily faces. Since Edwing is a Catholic priest, we have not forgotten the right reason for the Easter week ... Therefore, from Thursday onwards, we also took part in church events. On Friday, the “Way of the Cross” was on the agenda. Togetherwe walked through the streets and the youths of the parish had played a short theater to honor the crossroads. We were on the road for 3 hours. On Saturday, we took part in the four-hour mass and were reminded of the real importance of Easter.
Waterpark ZIZIMA
After the busy times of Easter were over, Susanne Sorg (also one of the last volunteers) invited us to the water park ZIZIMA. Such days are always very special and all the children can let their energy loose. Unbelievable, they spend the whole day in the water and use one track after the other. Since this time not so many adults could join to help supervising, the older ones helped us with the younger ones. And that worked perfectly. I tis indescribably beautiful and enjoyable to see how affectionately the elderly take care of the youngest. Most children can swim now, so this time we have all met in the adults pool where we also did some swimming competition. And one thing I can assure, not a singly child is afraid of because everyone jumped into the deep pool.
Birthdays
The birthday is the only day of the year when everyone is individually celebrated as something very special. Unfortunately, we still do not know all the birthdays of the children. That is why we have randomly chosen a day for each child, considering though their characteristics. The younger ones do not really know thought that this is not their real day of birth, it is now their real day of celebration though. This month, three of the youngest ones celebrated theiry birthday and every time we sang the birthday song "Las Mañanitas", baked and ate a cake and drank lemonade. The children radiated full of joy and enjoyed their day with all their heart.
Visit of a hurricane combat aircraft
On the 25th of April, the Honduran Air Force invited our children's home to visit Armando Escalón Espinal of San Pedro Sula. For the children it was the first time that they were allowed to visit an air force base. The highlight was the visit of an American Hurricane Campaign aircraft. This aircraft flies directly into the eye of the tropical hurricanes and collects meteorological data on its behavior. These data is of crucial importance for the scientists. Thanks to the data they can calculate the exact time when the hurricanes come ashore. Furthermore, they can predict how strong the storms will be and provide information about their further course. At first they saw the hurricane fighter landing. Afterwards they showed videos with information about the last devastating hurricanes of Honduras. The Hurricane Fifi from 1974 and the Hurricane Mitch from 1998. Both of them have caused huge damage. Afterwards, we were allowed to visit the aircraft interior and the crew told us the exciting features of this aircraft. Because the air base is located next to the international airport of San Pedro Sula, our children also saw passenger airplanes taking off and landing for the first time in their lives. They all looked at the events with astonished and shining eyes. If a Hurricane approaches Honduras in the future, everyone will surely remember that they were allowed to enter the machine that collects all the data. An unforgettable experience!