A month full of surprises, visitors and activities
In Honduras Christmastime already starts in November and of course we joined the pleasant anticipation. We decorated the house, put up the tree and prepared the Christmas crib, so all children realized, that the special time of year was about to come.
New «temporary» kids
From necessity the three siblings Rixi (8 years), Alexi (11 years) and José (12 years) knocked on our door. During his daily work cutting and collecting wood, Alexi cut his finger with a bush knife very badly. Returning home after a long working day, Alexi’s mum was shocked and worried about the injury. As they are impecunious, the mum didn’t even have any painkillers to soothe her son’s agony. The next morning the three kids decided to come by «Yo quiero ser» to ask for help. Our doctor took care of Alexi and luckily saved his finger. For us this was a great opportunity to ask the siblings to stay with us. As Alexi, Rixi and José always had to work to support the family’s income, and therefore were very unconfident to act like children in the first couple of days. After a while they enjoyed playing with the other children, living at our house and of course all the different happenings during Christmas. It was the first time in their live, that they celebrated Christmas and received presents. When their mum took them back at the end of December, everyone said good bye with a heavy heart but full of great memories.
Happenings before Christmas
Different companies and friends were happy to create and sponsor some special moments for the kids. One day, everyone got invited to go to the cinema and watch Kung Fu Panda 3. An unforgettable afternoon for all of them. We were also welcomed to visit the children’s theater to get entertained by the play «Scrooge & Marley». The drama group «Marcados por Cristo» even came to our house to perform «The Grinch». As the show was especially performed and sang for our children, this was a very precocious experience for all of them.
Our first train ride
It is unbelievable – our children went on their first train ride. But this was not just a normal train ride. The train, that usually only runs a short distance between the city center and the bus terminal of San Pedro Sula, took an extra loop for our group. Already very excited about the 40 minute train journey, the kids were speechless, when they realized that Santa Claus joined the trip.
Children’s museum
The company Gildan invited us to visit the children’s museum. A very special and informative day for our kids. After learning about the rainforest and its inhabitants, the group received a lot of interesting and useful information about earthquakes. The children not only learned about how to behave in an emergency situation, they also experienced what it feels like when the earth shakes. Besides many other things, the kids learned how to generate and read an x-ray. Full of knowledge and exciting memories we returned back home.
Christmas Celebrations
Our children are very lucky to celebrate Christmas with our friends and visitors throughout the whole month of December. One of the highlights was spending the Sunday with our friends of the «Gran Commision», who organized team activities and different games for the children. At the end of an exciting day, everyone received a personal present.
We also had different university groups visiting us to entertain the children with games, Pinatas and some small gifts. We celebrated Christmas eve at our house and enjoyed a fantastic Christmas dinner with chicken, grilled ham, tamales and a fine desert. All kids dressed up in their most pretty dresses, polished their shoes and the girls put on make-up.
After visiting the Christmas Service and enjoying dinner, we spent the night celebrating, dancing and singing together.
Jonathan’s first communion
16 year old Jonathan decided to go for his first communion, aiming to become a ministrant to assist during mass. He studied a lot and was well prepared, but still a little nervous to receive this sacrament. Witnessing Jonathan’s important step, we are happy to realize that the older children are becoming mature grownups.
Staff Christmas Dinner
A big «thank you» goes to all the local helpers, who work with us throughout the year. We invited all of them for a great dinner in a nice hotel. As most of our workers have never seen a big hotel buffet, this evening will definitely remain unforgettable.