04/10/2015 Since my company left I have kind of been a homebody. I haven’t been running off here and there for a few reasons, mainly, we had to get my car in the shop for the electrical issue (exploded brand spanking new headlight bulb and the door dinger dinging without my key in the ignition.) My car was in the shop for 2 days and I finally got it back Wed. night. More on that situation later.
On Sunday Bill and I met Walter at Parrot Tree Plantation for lunch and some pool time. It was crowded when we got there but cleared out then got crowded again. The second crowd was enough to send us home!
I will admit that I slept a lot on Monday and Tuesday DURING THE DAY. I’m still hacking like I have major fur balls and I can’t make it stop. On Wednesday while my car was still in the shop Janice asked if I wanted to get some supplies for the kinder down in the valley below us. This is the kindergarten that I went to with Abraham and Nidia to deliver desks. I met Janice at the bottom of our driveway and rode with her to Coco View. We had to take a boat over to the bodega to get the stuff.
When my friends Cicily and Cheryl came they brought a bag of school supplies, pencils, crayons (the big box that was always my favorite) paints and brushes, a pencil sharpener and erasers. I bet these kids have never used a pencil sharpener before! My friend from high school who I haven’t seen since then also generously sent money to me to buy some supplies for the schools. We used some of the money to buy the materials and Bill built this white board. The teacher is a volunteer and currently she uses a notebook to write things on and holds it up to the class. Thank you so much Walt and Judy Kaiser, you two rock! I haven’t spent all of the $$ yet but will post photos when I do.
Nidia also was given a desk for this teacher at the kinder. Some day next week we will be delivering the goodies, along with cupcakes and balloons for the kids. They will also get NEW TOMS shoes!! We were going to do it Thursday but the TOMS shoes came in so we set off delivering them instead.
You would think that 5306 pairs of shoes would cover the kids on the island but it didn’t. Thursday I left the house at 6:45 to get to Sandy Bay @ 7:30. As soon as I got out of my car I smelled something electrical, like hot wires. Abraham looked at it and didn’t see smoke or anything at that point. Nancy and Addy and Brian, our friends from Canada were there helping so Nancy decided to ride with me. We left for the school in Mudhole, it was out first stop. When we got there my car smelled HOT. Abraham disconnected the one headlight but the high beam indicator was still on even though my lights were off. Not cool. I sure don’t want an electrical fire in my car, I have no insurance.
We were getting bitten by sand flies there so I was happy to move on! After there we went east to a school up on the hill in French Cay. I was familiar with this school because our architect used to live behind it.
From there we headed to a school I’ve driven by a zillion times and never noticed. There was not a road per se down into it but an abrupt drop off of the pavement. Thankful for my AWD car, even if the headlights are shit.
That school was a quickie and there was a lot of help. Nancy and I were in this classroom talking to 2 young boys who were very knowledgeable about the map of Honduras. They were giving us pronunciation tips; we were so engrossed that we missed the fact that our group was leaving!
From there we went to Santa Maria. We delivered food and toys there at Christmas time.
Our next stop was Isla Bonita. I had never heard of this school nor had a clue where it even was. The road to get down to it was very steep. Nidia asked me to look at it to see if I could go down it with my car. Yep, I sure can, no problem at all, just put it in low and go! This too was a very small school, we didn’t even take the boxes of shoes off of the truck.
Just a few more stops and the day would be over. Next was a big school in Spanish town. The school director was told to have the kids there at 1 but she reportedly told the students 2. We fit as many as were there and then waited. All but 20 some showed up.
Our last school was in Wild Cane. Nidia and Abraham and Because We Care delivered 10 desks to the school recently and now the kids were getting shoes.
The TOMS One for One program is alive and well. I had heard about it before and feel truly blessed to now be able to be a part of it. I have so much respect for Nidia Webster and what she does for this island, she really is an amazing woman who gives so much of her time and energy to help others less fortunate than she is.
When you go to these schools and see the children and the classrooms it really hits you hard. These kids are barely given a fighting chance to survive let alone successfully exist in the world to which they are born into. I am not insinuating that the kids parents don’t love them, I’m sure they do, but they absolutely can not afford to care for them in a normal manner. Many of the parents have no education, no work, no source of income and it is so very evident in the eyes of these kids.
I didn’t go with them today because of my car issues. Bill’s truck is in the shop too getting something with the clutch fixed. Tomorrow I am going with them to Helene to take desks and shoes to the kids there. This is the island that is part of Roatan but is separated and only accessible by boat. This should be a fabulous day!
On the home front, Bill is working on the upper cabinets for the kitchen. It will be nice to get them done and hung, it is much needed storage space.
The dogs are getting along fine. Frito Bean is FAT and HAPPY.
Frito somehow thinks she should be an inside dog and that it is her duty to guard Emmy’s food dish, plus she loves Em’s water fountain. Emmy would rather she be outside all day every day. I have been walking her every morning and this dog can RUN. I kick the dried Hog fruit seeds down the road and she takes off chasing them. It’s the only time I can get her to play. Lola loves to play ball but I can’t get Frito to grasp the concept. Lola is still a pisshead. I’m having Bill bring up the other dog crate and I’m going to start crating her. She will hate it but you know what, I hate dog urine on my porch every day! Lola and the boy next door have a “thing.” He is only 8 weeks old and he bites the living shit out of her. He has needle like teeth. She will take it for awhile and then she snaps.
I got another batch of dog biscuits made this morning, mess all cleaned up, think I’ll head outside to the sun for a little bit with the pack.
Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!
Mermaid on a Raft 
Yet another entertaining read, Deb! Kudos to Bill on that white board. I was going to reach out to Nidia today regarding how many kids are at that little school near you, as I may bring a batch of supplies down for them as well. If you have an estimate, plz drop me a note on FB.
Linda, I believe there are 8 students but I will confirm tomorrow when I see Nidia. Thank you!
Love this, as always, thank you!