Day 3 - Monday March 21st

(Note from Libby:  I spoke with Doug briefly Tuesday morning.  He told me the lost crate arrived and that Pastor Nelson is picking it up from the airport today.  It has a 3rd water system in it and they are trying to decide if they have time to install a 3rd system.  Pray that they will hear God's voice in this matter.)

MONDAY

The air was cool and clean when we woke up. They told me we had a huge thunderstorm during the night.  I didn't hear a thing.  I had mentally prepared myself for uncomfortably hot weather this week so I was pleasantly surprised when the  temperature stayed below 75 degrees Fahrenheit all day.

We had a delicious breakfast of oatmeal, fresh fruit and toasted egg/cheese/ham sandwiches. The ice cold pineapple juice was my favorite part of the meal.

We finished packing up our supplies and loaded the van.  We arrived at the Casa de Diamante Aid church/school compound mid-morning and jumped right in.  Several of the church members were waiting with the pastor.

The young men carried the 290 gallon tank down from the second floor storeroom to place it in the kitchen area only to discover it would not go through the door!  So, we decided to place it in the courtyard area just outside the fellowship hall/dining room. Spencer went to work teaching the pastor, Hernan (think a shortened version of Hernando), Jonathan, Raul, Joshua, and Senora Ventura.

They eagerly followed his careful instructions and spent the rest of the day practicing the steps to setup, operate, clean and maintain the WaterStep M-100 chlorine generator.

Meanwhile, Kasey, Susana, and Doug pulled out teaching supplies. 

The crowd of curious children grew quickly when the games started.  We taught simple lessons on personal hygiene interspersed with skits and activities.

Some 40 children (it was difficult to count them all) between the ages of 2 and 14 learned about germs, bacteria, hand-washing, hookworms, and why flies are bad. 

Doug went into town with Pastor Nelson to purchase a battery, a battery charger, and lunch for the team.  A simple errand in a third-world country can take significantly longer than you might think. We sat in traffic for 90 minutes and were at the battery store for nearly 2 hours.  Lunch of pupusas, pork, fried green bananas and wings took the better part of another hour so the "quick" errand took almost 5 hours.

The chlorine generator worked flawlessly and rapidly generated enough chlorine gas to purify the full 290 gallons of water. While we waited the required 2 hours for the chlorine to work its magic, the Honduran volunteers all passed their final process examination under Spencer's watchful eye.

At 5:15 p.m. we gathered around the tank and had a little ceremony dedicating the system to God's glory. Small plastic cups were passed around and everyone drank the agua purificada (purified water) with no fear of getting sick.

Even though it rained off and on all day, it did not dampen our spirits. What a joy it was to see Pastor Hernan's excitement and the enthusiasm of the church members over the prospect of delivering safe drinking water to the poorest of the poor in their community. Many families cannot afford to purchase bottled water and so they suffer from ailments ranging from dysentery and diarrhea to dehydration and skin disorders.

It will be warmer tomorrow. We will return to the same location again to teach the children some more and make sure the new system is functioning perfectly.  If time permits, we may visit the site of our next installation.

Both the electricity and the water were on when we arrived back at Cofradia tonight. You learn to enjoy the small pleasures of modern conveniences here! We enjoyed another excellent meal prepared by Letsbi and her assistants.

It is time for sleep.