Farm School Highlights: Part Three

Wednesday, July 1^st

(My apologies, but it is already very late, and I am already very tired, so these highlights will be brief.)

Wednesday was a day of travel. We spent the morning visiting the Technical Institute alongside a group from Alabama that's staying at El Hogar this week. This visit was a major highlight for the girls, since it was their first and only opportunity at WiFi for the entire wekk. The major difference in the visit this year, though, was that the institute's soccer team was ready for us. Someone had tipped them off that we had a ringer (Maddie), and they were still burning from our beating them last year, so this year they all skipped class early to go put on their uniforms and get warmed up. And it was obvious from the way they played that they had been practicing for the game and had come up with a strategy to beat us. Still, we held strong until the very end when they scored two goals in rapid succession to beat us 6-4. Maddie and I each scored a couple sweet goals; the Alabama team took photos and will hopefully find us on Facebook to share them.

After the soccer game and lunch, we had an opportunity to get to know four of the institute's students. Two of them were very shy, but the other two told us a lot about their lives. One was ready to graduate and move on because all his friends had already graduated, and the other was hoping to go to the United States after graduating from high school to be able to see his parents, who he hasn't seen in twelve years.

We spent the afternoon traveling to Valle de Angeles, doing the arbitrary touristy shopping thing, and then traveling back to the Agricultural School on bumpy dirt back roads.

Personal highlight of the day: finding a soccer ball with “Recommended for Ecuavolley” written on it.

Thursday, July 2^nd

Today being our last full day on the farm, the grils spent most of the day painting our Cathedral mural in the dining hall. It's not as big as Canada's mural, but then again, nothing in good taste could be (we'll post pictures as soon as possible). I spent the morning shoveling rocks for the chicken coops and doing some cleaning around the volunteer house to get ready for our big clean-up tomorrow morning. After lunch the girls went back to the mural, and I ended up playing FIFA on X-Box with one of the farm school teachers for about an hour. I was sent for, however, at 2pm to go with another teacher to get the pizza we were buying everyone for dinner. Why id we need to leave the school at 2pm to get pizza for dinner? Well, VERY long story short, five hours later, we arrived at the farm school with plenty of pizza for everyone.

After dinner the buys had a “Goodbye Program” planned for us that involved a representative of each class saying their thank-yous and goodbyes to the group, an opportunity for us to share with the students how much the week had meant to us, an game involving the popping of balloons, and a funny skit about trying to read a goodbye letter from the students to us volunteers.

Many of the students wrote letters to members of the team. Most of the letters were for Maddie, and quite a few of them were very fun to translate in front of the team during devotions.

In the morning we'll have a couple hours after breakfast to clean and pack, and then we'll be headed straight to the airport. We'll be at the airport for a long time before our flight leaves, and we have a considerable layover in Atlanta, so it will be a very long day. The rest of the group will take some time to write down their reflections from the week, and I'll hopefully be able to post both their reflections and some pictures from the trip on Saturday.

Thank you again for following along with our trip! See you all soon!

-Slocomb

Farm School Highlights: Part Two

Monday, June 29^th

Monday morning started early for Celeste and Maddie, who did end up accepting the 4am cow-milking challenge. However, none of the boys who issued the challenge ever showed up to milk cows! This has been the source of many jokes about the boys since then.

After breakfast, we spent the morning clearing out the chicken coops. The plan is to eventually lay a concrete floor in the coops to save money long-term, so everything inside had to be removed.

Since they didn't have the materials ready for us to put down in the coops, we spent the afternoon resting. And apparently the rest of the team really needed the rest, because each of them took five hour naps! Each of them will tell you that they deserved the nap because they had been working hard all week; I'll leave that open to interpretation. I spent the afternoon reading.

After dinner we had our usual activities, but most of us ended up tutoring the kids in math at some point or another.

Tuesday, June 30^th

The first highlight from Tuesday was something this team had been looking forward to for months: slaughtering chickens. No details in this post, but I will say that each member of the team participated to the full extent that they had originally intended to.

After slaughtering and cleaning the chickens, we were headed back to work in the chicken coops, but some of the, well, less orderly boys had accidentally run their truck into the coop and blown straight through the wall while trying to bring us the materials we needed. Needless to say, there wasn't much work for us to do, since most of the time was spent discussing how to fix the wall and punish the boys instead of getting our actual work done. Also, it has been requested that I mention that we rode in the bed of the truck from the chicken coops back to the dining hall. This, according to my team, is a highlight.

In the afternoon we went on our home visit. It's a good thing we brought Eduin along with us, the student whose home and family we were visiting, because they had been evicted two weeks ago and moved to a new house. Eduin's grandmother has moved in to take care of the kids while his single mother is at work.

In the evening we had the opportunity to watch the second half of the USA-Germany game, we tutored some of the kids in English, and attempted to play cornhole, but our makeshift bags only lasted for two rounds.

- Tomorrow evening we will post for today and tomorrow, and on Friday we'll be returning to Cincinnati.

Farm School Highlights: Part One

Hello Faith Partners!

Since we now have limited internet access, I'll be posting highlights from the week each night until we return home.  In this post, I'll cover our first three days in Honduras.

Friday, June 26th:
Upon arrival in Tegucigalpa and meeting up with an El Hogar staff member at the airport, we headed directly to the El Hogar Orphanage for our short visit/tour of the facility.  It was great to see all the familiar faces, especially since I (Slocomb) could tell them that I'll be back in August!  Arriving at the Farm School that afternoon and getting our bags put away, we were immediately ushered to the soccer field, where we were invited to watch a soccer game between two of the grades at the school.  Maddie actually played in the match, and when the boys figured out that she was better than most of them at soccer, well, I'll let Maddie explain how that's been for her this week.  Lastly, we had the opportunity to watch the second half of the USA-China match (Women's World Cup), which definitely qualifies as a highlight.

Saturday, June 27th:
One of our longer work days.  In the morning, some of us helped build a milk shed with bricks and concrete, while others helped in the kitchen with preparing the vegetables that we've been eating this week.  For the shed, we mixed the concrete/mortar, and helped the handyman lay bricks to finish the final wall of the shed.  This will be where they store and filter the milk that their cows produce, and eventually they will churn butter there as well.  In the afternoon, Maddie again played soccer with the boys while the rest of us took the opportunity to milk cows with the students whose turn it was to work during the weekend.  Everyone took at least two turns, so anyone in our group should now be able to explain to you how to milk a cow!  In the evening, among the other games we played with the kids, we got out the Uno cards and showed them what's up.  For the record, it is still a bad idea to sit next to Nia.

Sunday, June 28th:
With our trip to the local Episcopal Church scheduled for the afternoon, we spent the morning hanging out with the kids.  Early in the afternoon, a local soccer team came to the Farm School to play against the school's team in an exhibition match.  Since Maddie was invited to play with the team, we all went down to the field to support her and the boys.  Maddie played well, and the team came back from behind to win, but what made the game a highlight for me (still Slocomb) was that the fans who came to support the other team all ended up cheering for Maddie!  When I asked them why, they told me that it was because it was the first time they had ever seen a girl play organized soccer before.  And it didn't hurt that she was one of the best players on the field!  After the game, a few of the opposing team's fans asked for the opportunity to take pictures with Maddie.  Hopefully she will write about this experience when she gets the opportunity to later this week.
Our ride to the church never showed up, which is just as well, since Maddie ended up playing in a second soccer game and the rest of the team decided to go milk cows again.  In the evening, Celeste led the team in teaching the farm school boys how to play four square.  They loved it!  And at the end of the night, when the boys escorted our girls be to the volunteer house, they challenged Maddie and Celeste to milk cows again with them in the morning, but this time it would be at 4am.  I'll explain what actually happened at 4am when I post tomorrow about Monday's events.

I know this is only a brief synopsis of our activities, but it's the best we can do this week, and I hope you enjoy following along!  I hope to be able to write to you again tomorrow, and hopefully the rest of the team will be able to write to you on Thursday as well!

-Slocomb

Farm School Team Update

Hello Faith Partners!

Our Farm School Team arrived on campus Friday afternoon, only to discover that we wouldn't have (much) internet access all week.  Our only sources of internet access, in fact, are the WiFi hotspot coming from the 3G phone of one of the employees here, and a portable modem that the directors of the farm school keep for personal use.

So, while we won't e able to post every evening and we won't be able to upload any photos until we return to Cincinnati, I wanted to send you al a quick update while I had the opportunity!

Everyone is definitely enjoying life on the farm:  working through the mornings, relaxing through the afternoons and playing through the evenings.  I continue to be surprised by how much these girls want to experience farm life!  They've milked cows a couple times, and I hear a rumor that they'll be invited to slaughter chickens tomorrow.

But most importantly, each of us has found our niche with the students here.  We are all taking full advantage of every opportunity to spend time with the boys:  playing soccer, basketball, Uno, teaching them games like four square, watching the USA Women's National Soccer Team compete in the World Cup, tutoring them in math (through the language barrier!), sharing meals, and the list goes on.  We will have a lot of great stories to tell by the end of the week, and after we return to Cincinnati I'll post what our team has written about our time here.

Again, thank you for supporting us as faith partners!  We appreciate the opportunity to be here, and the part you've played in making this possible!

-Slocomb

El Hogar Farm School Team departs tomorrow!

Hello Faith Partners!

Our El Hogar Farm School team meets tomorrow morning (Fri. 6/26) at 5:30am for their flight to Tegucigalpa, Honduras!

It has been four years since I stayed at the Farm School, but back in 2011 the available internet was spotty-at-best. I am not certain that we will be able to post every evening, or we may only be able to post text without pictures, but we will still write and take pictures each day and they will eventually be shared on this blog.

Thank you again for following along with our journeys, for your prayers, and for the contributions that make these trips possible.  If you have not yet made your donation, checks can be made payable to "Christ Church Cathedral" with "faith partner" in the memo line.  Talk to you soon!

-Slocomb

For Friday, June 26th:  O God, our heavenly Father, whose glory fills the whole creation, and whose presence we find wherever we go:  Preserve those who travel; surround them with your loving care; protect them from every danger; and bring them in safety to their journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

PS:

Photos from this year's Mountain TOP trip are still being compiled and will be posted later this summer as soon as they are ready. We appreciate your patience!

Saturday, June 20th: Upon Return from Mountain TOP

Dear Faith Partners,

My name is Santino Jordan. I've been going to Christ Church Cathedral for almost 14 years now and I'm the person who likes to wear a pikachu hat and is usually seen with headphones. My favorite parts about going on the Mountain T.O.P. mission trip have involved helping the community. It was fun to go out to the county to help people in need. It was also fun exploring new cultures. I got to see the little details of local Tennessee. I also liked being able to hang out with friends throughout the week. I saw God in the community that Mountain T.O.P. was building. This year was Mountain T.O.P.'s 40-year anniversary and it was beautiful to see all the lives they had helped and changed. Thank you for being a faith partner and I hope you live happy days for an eternity.

To the Faith partners,

My name is Michael Pearce. I have been at Christ Church Cathedral for about a year. At the church I am known as they guy in the Steelers football gear because I am a huge Steelers fan. My favorite part of the Mountain T.O.P. trip was working within my YRG, which is the group that you work with to build/fix things for people. I have learned how to work the tools in the project and I know that I would not have known what I was doing without their past experiences in either building or fixing things or from the other activities on the Mountain T.O.P. trip. I saw God in this one project we did. We built this wheelchair ramp for this old man. As we were working on this person's ramp, the rest of the neighborhood were kind enough to give us some of their resources like a nail gun and a drill. It amazed me how this community was able to come together to help get this man a wheelchair ramp. We were able to get this project done in three days as a result of everyone's help and experience. I would love to thank the faith partners and I hope that you have a wonderful day.

(Please stay tuned for more photos from the week!  As soon as they are collected from the many people who took photos, we'll post some of the favorites.)

Friday, June 19th: Last Day on the Mountain (departing tomorrow morning)

Dear Faith Partners,

Hi my name is Gracie Shanklin and I started at Christ Church Cathedral in January. This week has been an amazing, powerful week full of lessons from God and great experiences. My YRG was really fun and we tore down a wheel chair ramp, painted a porch and moved plants, did yard work and rebuilt a fence. Along with that came talking and hearing people's stories. I recently haven't been feeling that connected to God and I have been feeling sidetracked at times. But this week I really felt God's love and He blessed me with some prayers I had and put some awesome people in my life. I really hope to come back next year and many more years and to keep spreading God's love. Mountain T.O.P has really helped and inspired me to be a better follower of God!

Hello y'all my name is Christina Mickey and I have been a part of Christ Church Cathedral for a year and a half. This whole week has changed me forever. The way the families were and everyone at the camp and everything that we have done for all of the families. What I have done in these few days is: cool-seal a roof, build a back porch for two days, yard work for a woman that could barely get around her house, and repair a fence. Throughout these days the stories that every family has told me compare nothing to what my everyday life consists of. These families have gone through so much together or alone. Seeing the faces of all of these people, they were faces that felt amazing after we did our projects. The way God has been with me this week has been great. We have been with these families and God sent us out here with so much this week and Mountain T.O.P. was the reason this happened. Thank you again for supporting me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
For Saturday:  O God, our heavenly Father, whose glory fills the whole creation, and whose presence we find wherever we go:  Preserve those who travel; surround them with your loving care; protect them from every danger; and bring them in safety to their journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.