Handing Out Shoes in Nuevo Oriental

Buenos!

Today was a great day!  We all (when I say we, I mean Janet, Annie, Tim Maddie, and I - and Rick until he leaves tomorrow) were able to join one of the mission groups from Mississippi and hand out shoes to children in the Nuevo Oriental Village!  I'm not sure what I expected, and I don't think the mission group did either!  Their whole plan was to call out the names of families, and then have them go through the different school houses and do a craft, listen to a story and sing some songs while they waited to get their shoes.

What they weren't expecting was that everyone has four or five names, and many families have the same last name!  There were also many bottlenecks because not enough people spoke Spanish well enough, and each of the lists of names was different.  One of the main issues was that it was incredibly hot today, and all anyone was interested in was getting the shoes.  They definitely appreciated the singing and crafts, but they were afraid that if they got out of line, they wouldn't get shoes.

These are the houses on the mountain that some of the families live in.

The view from the mountain was beautiful!

The group had police standing on guard because they were afraid things might get a little rowdy if they weren't there.  Another reason why they had police was because the men who lived in the village were around today.  Typically groups like to go in and do work during the week, and leave before the men get home from work so it's not as dangerous.  There is also a gang that lives in this village, so anytime we walked outside of the school grounds, a policeman had to escort us.

A line of children patiently waiting to get their new shoes.

The families had to wait outside of the school gate until their name got called.  Then they could come in and wait in line.  This past week, the mission group went to the village and had anyone who wanted new shoes sign up and get their feet measured.  If their name wasn't on the list, the children wouldn't be able to get shoes today.  Needless to say, the list didn't work out too well...

Two boys hanging out and waiting for shoes.  Luckily, they both received a pair by the end of the day!

The line of people wrapped around all of the school houses.  People got there around 11am, and were still there after 3pm when we left.

This was one of the first boys to get new shoes!  He was so excited and couldn't stop smiling!

Many of the children wouldn't put their shoes on after they got them.  Probably because it was so hot, they were okay in their flippie floppies, but also because they didn't want to get them dirty.

This group of kids flagged me down and kept saying "foto? foto?"  Honduran kids LOVE getting their picture taken!

This is eight-year-old Jacey.  I found her crying hysterically by herself so I grabbed her and gave her a hug.  She latched on to my waist and wouldn't let go.  When she finally calmed down, and I had one of the interpreters ask her where her mom and dad were, and found out that her dad was at work, and that her mom was down at the bottom of the mountain where they lived.  She walked the whole way up the mountain in her pjs without any shoes on.  Unfortunately, because she didn't get her feet measured earlier in the week, she wasn't on the list and couldn't get shoes - which was why she was crying.

I took her to the craft room, and she made this cross with a bible verse on it.  She was very excited!  I wasn't satisfied with that though, so after talking with Janet, we both agreed that she needed shoes.  I sat Jacey down on a bench and told her to wait for me, and I went in the back way of the shoe area and grabbed a pair for her!

Jacey with her fancy new shoes!  Yay!  She stayed with me for the rest of the afternoon.  We all called her my shadow, and she rarely let go of my hand.  When it was time for her to go back home, she came running over to me, gave me a hug and a kiss and said thank you.  Such a sweetheart!

Two women who wanted their picture taken too.  Such cute babies!

Jacey and a few others who got new shoes!  The three little ones came running up to me, took my camera and handed it to Annie, and then sat on me ready to be in a foto!

It was great to see all the smiles on the kids faces, and all the mother's faces as well.  They were so grateful that we were there handing out shoes, and they kept thanking us.  It's sad that everyone there wasn't able to get shoes, and I know there were a lot of upset mothers at the end of the day.  Luckily, the mission group is doing a big shoe drive in the States, so they'll go back to the village again with even more shoes!

Because Janet has such a big house, she decided to have the mission group over for dinner tonight - about 60 people!  We're going to grill, get the fireplaces going, and enjoy the evening.  I'd better go see what I can do to help!

Buenos Noches amigos et familia! (I'm not sure if that's right, but you get the gist...)