Quiero ser un parte!

Se parte de un cambio extremo!
This was the theme of the 5th annual encuentro de jovenes (youth rally) at Baxter this past weekend. It was amazing! Youth groups from all over central America- Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica- and others. Baxter, which normally has fewer than 200 people, grew to hundreds of hundreds of people. There were two main guest speakers: Roberto Moises Alvarez from Guatemala (Pinares del Notre) and Luis Fernando Rosas from Miami, Florida. Both are Baxter grads. The whole weekend was about being a part of an extreme change. There were classes throughout the three day rally as well as combined sessions. The youth were taught new songs to take back to share with their congregations. When we weren’t in class, the groups had a tournament of volleyball, played a lot of soccer, and skit night on Saturday. Nancy Moon Gonzalez and I sang for our “participation recognition.” On Sunday, after a combined church, everyone went to the Picacho park (for those of you who know Tegus, it is the part where the massive Jesus statue overlooks the city). The encuentro has become a family reunion of sorts. I got to see Allan from San Pedro Sula, Steve and crew from Costa Rica, Gary from Panama who works in Nicaragua, tons from Tegucigalpa, and so many more! I also was the “on-call” nurse. No real emergencies- just a few hypochondriacs. I learned another old wives’ tale here. On Saturday night, the girls were telling ghost stories, and some girls got scared. The chaperones from their group told them that they needed to wash the scare off. Evidently, when people are scared here they won’t feel better until they shower. The only thing I can figure with this is the wash the sweat off! Yet another to add to the books- along with holding a newborn upside down when they’re born to ward off any evil surrounding the baby. I spent the weekend on campus with nancy and manuel gonzalez in the Casa Blanca (White’s house). Oh, how could I forget? I went to the Damas de Baxter, Tegucigalpa Chapter, on Friday night. It was a fun evening. I have been to many events hosted by the Nashville chapter and it was nice to be a part of the Tegus chapter. I did have a problem coming home from the dinner. I drove a few of my friends to the dinner- Nancy, Karla, and Arely- and my brakes went out on the way home. That was one of the most scariest things I have ever been through. My heart was racing a 1000 mph! Luckily, I didn’t have to move my car the rest of the weekend since I was staying at Baxter.







Monday was the first day that we didn’t have a doctor at the clinic. Our normal doctor has gone to the states for 2 months on vacation. Last week, we had a visiting doc but we are looking for someone a little more permanent. Tuesday was a crazy day at the clinic celebrating Children’s day. Dia de los ninos is a huge thing down here. People can’t believe it when I say that we in the states don’t celebrate it (since everyday seems to be Children’s day). Anyway, everything went well. We are short on money in the clinic so we weren’t able to do everything we planned but I think what we did do was just perfect. We bought piñatas, candy, Chinese fried rice, cake, and goody bags for each kid in the nutritional program. Well, to be honest, I ended up buying the candy for the piñatas and goody bags, rice, and drinks. For all of you who know Baxter and the JMA clinic and are thinking about end of your contributions- this is a great cause. Or if you would like to sponsor a child, write me: keckley@hotmail.com. It’s $25/ month that changes the life of a child- and is tax deductible. Just some thoughts. Here are some pix from kids’ day. Love to all. Dios les bendiga!










A good time by all. The theme of the nutritional program is “Restoring smiles.” If you had seen the kids, mission completed!

14 de septiembre 2006

it´s been a long few weeks since i have written. sorry about that. my computer is being worked on right now. evidently, someone has been hacking in... a lot... it´s been a hard few weeks. well, where did i leave off? ohhh, so amber's house has been wonderful! i love living in a house and having a new experience. i love Baxter but think that i appreciate coming here more when i don't live there. her house is less than 10 minutes communte to the clinic, to church, and the mall. it's been such a blessing- although most nights all i do is go there and crash! last week was a hard week. there were lots of deaths that occured. the family i have lived with multiple times in the past has had the same lady working for them for 12 years. her name was mirna. she was 29 and married almost (minus 1 day) six months. she died due to complications with a ceasarean section. she developed a massive blodd clot in her leg and nothing was done. she become septic and nothing was done. her son, norman de jesus, will never know his kind, funny, full of life mother becuase of stupid medical errors. her death was completely preventable. she died last sunday. the custom here is a lot different than the states when someone dies. she was taken to the morgue for the cause of death certificate- the whole family and friends waited outside- until 11 pm. then everyone went to the funeral parlor and waited for the body- until 2am. then everyone goes with the body back to the house of the person where the wake is held all night. she lived in a part of town that no one should be from- one of the most dangerous parts of tegucigalpa. a colony where gangs are everywhere. a place a blonde headed gringa should not be - especially the hours i went. it may have stupid, but i knew God would protect me. the next day, we took the body (oh, to be blessed to have a truck) to where she grew up and her other two children live. the village is called sabona grande- about 1 1/2 hours from the city. the body was on display for the community in her mother's house for another night (mon night). there usually is not a funeral service. just everyone together. the family feeds everyone and you just sit and wait. the next morning, the village people carried her body miles to the burial site in the next town. it's a amazing site to see a village come together for one of their own. a problem arosed was that tons of people kept passing out. it was hot, emotional, and a long time where people didn't eat or drink. they were dropping like flies and of course, the nurse of the bunch attended to most. all i heard was: gringa venga, gringa, gringa, gringa! later that afternoon, when i was driving home, jeanne white called to tell me that her daughter lost her baby- she was six months pregnant. The baby's name was Ruby. well, that was tuesday. then next day, the whites went to be with their daughter. i so admire their family. also wednesday, i learned that another friend's mother died suddenly. so, last week was really hard. please pray for these families who lost loved ones. mirna's little girl rosebel's birthday was on saturday. i, along with marlen, her mother and her sister threw her a birthday party. she told me at her mother's burial that she wasn't really dead since her birthday was saturday and she always brings her a pinata. rosie had the time of her life. it was her first birthday party with friend and presents. she seemed so happy. i bought her a doll with a carring case and clothes, etc. but she was more excited about the soap i brought. why did spend so much on the candy for the pinata? i should have filled it with soap, toothpaste, pencils, etc. but seeing her smile, is more that i could ever try to describe. well,,,, about work.... i have been really busy with the nutritional program director writing the reports for the US sponsors. if anyone, anyone, would like to participate in sponsoring a malnutrished child, please let me know. it is breaking my heart. we enrolled a 2 1/2 year old girl today who weighed 14 pounds. a man from texas has been here filming a promotional video and took the reports back with him on tuesday. today is thurday and all the groups are starting to arrive for the encuentro- a youth rally. it's a highlight of the year here. youth groups from all over central america come for a long weekend to hear speakers, gather new ideas, songs, etc. it's magical. i love it! it's a huge family reunion. this school which normally has under 200 people expands to 6-7-800 people. i hope to be able to post pictures soon. well, love to all. take care. Dios le bendiga!