The group had dinner at a restaurant new to me, and I enjoyed it thoroughly as usual. This trip we aren't going to LUPE'S Restaurant as we did in March. Apparently something had happened that Pro Papa decided that it would be better for us to go to Donna Marie's instead. While I'm sitting there at the table, I could hear my name being yelled in from behind the tarp and the fence. The kids wanted me to stop eating and come out to play. Donna Marie finally asked Sister about what the kids were yelling and she explained that "Davee" is my name. She was happy to meet me.

Sister Laurinda walked with Jessica, Darlene and I back to our house. Sister and I had a serious talk about the choices I've made. In March, I signed up with the group because I felt like I was searching for something in my life. In September, again, I needed to come to Honduras as doing mission work gives me a wonderful feeling and is important to me. Its way past my bedtime and I'm rambling on... I'm heading to bed.

Saturday, September 17, 2005
It's now Saturday night and I've just finished taking a shower. We worked long and hard today at the clinic. This is how my day went:

I was in the shower at 5:30 a.m. Shortly thereafter, a few kids were outside the front gate. I brought out pens and tablets for them to draw and write in. I was trying to teach them how to share but it became more difficult as more kids were coming down to see us. It's much easier to have just four of five of them at a time so that I can spend special time with each of them. When there is a group, it becomes pretty hectic. As a few of the kids came from their homes on the hill, they would call my name and wave to me.

The group was ready, so we walked together to breakfast, which was coffee, freshly squeezed fruit juice (maybe a mixture of pineapple, oranges and bananas) and some French toast. I cut up a fresh banana to put on top of the French toast and smothered it all with syrup. No use eating it with a fork, I just rolled each one up and ate them with my fingers. Since Sister decided she didn't want the last one (might have had something to do with me touching it with my finger when I asked 'Hey Sister, you want this'?) I ate it…my fifth of the morning. They were really good! Our breakfast lasted only for about 25 or 30 minutes before it was time to head for our tools and the clinic.

As we walked to the work site, we had to leave the kids at the front gate that stands in front of the clinic. In March when I was here, we had kids working with us every minute of every day. But now, since the clinic is still seeing people even while we're painting, the kids had to stay out. I felt bad, but no doubt it's the right decision.

We gathered in the front of the building so that everyone could decide what job they wanted to do. I picked changing all of the lights on the front and side porches. We had brand-new lights with ceramic bases (the kind that are mounted in an unfinished basement at home) and the procedure was simple enough: we'd take the old one down and replace the wires the same way as we took them off, and then replace the old light with the new. I worked with Tom Ross, I tried to get an invitation from on the plane.

Tom and I used scaffolding made of three benches to change the outside lights: two benches on the bottom facing each other, and then setting one on top of those two to provide exactly the height we needed. On the side of the building where there were cathedral ceilings, we used the benches, plus a 5-gallon bucket turned upside down. (my feeling is that this is not OSHA approved!) Once all the lights were up it was time finish the job with new light bulbs.

Instead of moving all of the scaffolding back to each one, I placed Nelson Rodriguez, age 12, on my shoulders. He'd be talking to me in Spanish as I'd come to the next one and although I didn't know what he was saying, I knew to stop. He'd lean way up in order to reach the light and screw in the bulb. Once they were all in we hit the switch, only to find that one light refused to light. So we moved the scaffolding back over and took the light apart. I found that one of the wires 'popped' out. Once the wire was re-secured, it worked great. Tom and I were happy with how quickly we'd gotten all of the lights and bulbs changed.

I worked on the next task with Shirley, replacing outlets inside of the clinic. Pretty simple; replace the wires exactly how they were on the old outlet. It was amazing to see a perfectly good wire just 'stripped' and have a pigtail added that would run to the outlet. The pigtail would be taped with electrical tape, but some of it was peeling off and some of it no longer covered all of the bare wire.

On some outlets, I simply re-taped, but most of the time, I replaced the whole outlet and didn't have to worry about the ugly details of repairing them. Nelson was helping me with the electrical work. He was such a pleasure to work with, and always seemed to know what tools I needed, and when. Soon, he understood how to do them and so he would take the old ones out and I'd replace with a new outlet. In one of the rooms, he found a third outlet that was located behind the bed, and in his eagerness, he began removing the outlet without testing it to see if it was still 'hot'.

Needless to say, it was hot, and when the sparks went flying, Nelson leaped right into my arms. It scared the heck out of me as well. We double-checked all of the outlets from then on and Nelson gained the courage to help me work with the electrical wiring again. It was funny listening to him tell his story in Spanish until he got to the 'BOOM' part. Working with Nelson reminded me of when my boys were about his age and helped me remodel my home in Level Green.