sábado, 24 de noviembre de 2007
viernes, 23 de noviembre de 2007
Another Update from a busy two weeks
Alot has been going on the past couple of weeks. I now have a chance to let all of yall know about it. Some parts have been exciting and some have been sad and all have been really, really muddy. We are in the middle of the wet season here in Honduras and that means that it rains everyday about 70% of the day. It has been very difficult to make concrete filters in the rain but God has provided me different times during the day when the rain would stop and the sun would come out for just enough time for me to get the concrete in the molds and cover them up. Then it would start raining again. Its been great.
A week ago I made my first trip alone to the village of Joconalis to carry the filters so we could install all of them the next time. In my journey down the curvey muddy road I car that was coming towards me skidded around a turn and was fixin to hit me. When I saw this I swerved, and in doing this, the rope that was holding the filters in place broke and three out of the four filters broke. This was the sad part. It is not about the money (because the money is still coming in to help with this project...thanks you) but the time to make and let cure three filters is a little over a week. I was disouraged because I knew that my time is running out. I turned around and went back to the place where I make the filters and for the next three days I worked and worked on trying to repair them. After three days I had completed repairing the broked filters and they were ready to go to the villages. In this time I had also made two more. (That is 5 in 3 days, not just 3 in a week...God is good.) I went the next day to take the filters to Joconalis again. This time everything went smoothe as smooth can be.
Wednesday of this week I made another trip to Manguito carrying four filters as well. Manguito is much more difficult to get to because many parts of the road are washed out leaving us to pray that we will not slide down the mountain. Also in Manguito, there are only two main roads that cars can travel on. The other roads are only for horses and walking. The filters each weigh around 250-300 pounds a piece so they are a little heavy and are not shaped very well to carry. In Manguito we had to tie the filters to two large logs and carry them with four people (most of the time its four people unless there is a gringo and then there are 2 people and a gringo). We started out carrying the filter up a mountain in mud up to your knees stoping every now and then to look for our boots that got stuck in the mud. We finally made it the house where we installed the filter. Everything worked great. It took us about 1 1/2 hours carrying the filter for each house. We were only able to install one because the rain started to pour harder than before. We plan to go back to Manguito to finish up there sometime later next week. Please keep praying for the people of Manguito. Oh yea!!! I have a good story to tell. In Manguito there has not been running water for the past 10 days. This means that there was no way for the people to use the filters with the faucet we intalled for them. The people that have the filters listed to what we told them and have been filling up big jugs full of the clean, filtered water. During the past 10 days they have been able to drink, as well as share with others the pure water that they have saved before the water got cut off. Isnt that exciting. Also there are many streams that run through the village or Manguito where the people bring water and pour through the filters to purify that water. Its a great feeling when you hear something like this.
We made another trip to Joconalis on Thursday of this week to finish installing all the filters. We made in there safe and without any problems. We installed four of the 8 filters we had to install and then something neat happened. The pastor and the men that were helping us install the previous 12 told us this. They said that they would like to be a part of this project too and if we didnt mind, they want to install the last four and explain everything themself. The selfish part of me thought...no this is my project...but that didnt last but a second. I saw the joy, confidence, and desire to help there people and to be a part of something bigger then themselves. I told them that I didnt mind at all and if they had any questions they could call me. They were so excited when I told them this thats all they talked about for an hour or so. It fills good to install a filter and see the people drinking pure water from the filter, but it feels even better when then people want to help, and want to be a part of something like this. One of the Hondurans that goes with me to install the filters said that these people in Joconalis never wanted to help him or do anything with the chicken houses or garden projects that he has provided. This project that you have brought, he told me, has really changed their hearts. That was more fulfilling and more rewarding than the purest water that any of them could ever drink.
Men change peoples minds but only God can change a persons heart. Knowing that peoples health is getting better is one thing, but knowing that God is touching and changing the hearts of men through this project we are all a part of is something much more special.
I have added three picture links...the first is the broke filters that I repaired. the second is of Manguito and the third of Joconalis. Thanks again for all your prayers and everything that you have contributed to this project.
A week ago I made my first trip alone to the village of Joconalis to carry the filters so we could install all of them the next time. In my journey down the curvey muddy road I car that was coming towards me skidded around a turn and was fixin to hit me. When I saw this I swerved, and in doing this, the rope that was holding the filters in place broke and three out of the four filters broke. This was the sad part. It is not about the money (because the money is still coming in to help with this project...thanks you) but the time to make and let cure three filters is a little over a week. I was disouraged because I knew that my time is running out. I turned around and went back to the place where I make the filters and for the next three days I worked and worked on trying to repair them. After three days I had completed repairing the broked filters and they were ready to go to the villages. In this time I had also made two more. (That is 5 in 3 days, not just 3 in a week...God is good.) I went the next day to take the filters to Joconalis again. This time everything went smoothe as smooth can be.
Wednesday of this week I made another trip to Manguito carrying four filters as well. Manguito is much more difficult to get to because many parts of the road are washed out leaving us to pray that we will not slide down the mountain. Also in Manguito, there are only two main roads that cars can travel on. The other roads are only for horses and walking. The filters each weigh around 250-300 pounds a piece so they are a little heavy and are not shaped very well to carry. In Manguito we had to tie the filters to two large logs and carry them with four people (most of the time its four people unless there is a gringo and then there are 2 people and a gringo). We started out carrying the filter up a mountain in mud up to your knees stoping every now and then to look for our boots that got stuck in the mud. We finally made it the house where we installed the filter. Everything worked great. It took us about 1 1/2 hours carrying the filter for each house. We were only able to install one because the rain started to pour harder than before. We plan to go back to Manguito to finish up there sometime later next week. Please keep praying for the people of Manguito. Oh yea!!! I have a good story to tell. In Manguito there has not been running water for the past 10 days. This means that there was no way for the people to use the filters with the faucet we intalled for them. The people that have the filters listed to what we told them and have been filling up big jugs full of the clean, filtered water. During the past 10 days they have been able to drink, as well as share with others the pure water that they have saved before the water got cut off. Isnt that exciting. Also there are many streams that run through the village or Manguito where the people bring water and pour through the filters to purify that water. Its a great feeling when you hear something like this.
We made another trip to Joconalis on Thursday of this week to finish installing all the filters. We made in there safe and without any problems. We installed four of the 8 filters we had to install and then something neat happened. The pastor and the men that were helping us install the previous 12 told us this. They said that they would like to be a part of this project too and if we didnt mind, they want to install the last four and explain everything themself. The selfish part of me thought...no this is my project...but that didnt last but a second. I saw the joy, confidence, and desire to help there people and to be a part of something bigger then themselves. I told them that I didnt mind at all and if they had any questions they could call me. They were so excited when I told them this thats all they talked about for an hour or so. It fills good to install a filter and see the people drinking pure water from the filter, but it feels even better when then people want to help, and want to be a part of something like this. One of the Hondurans that goes with me to install the filters said that these people in Joconalis never wanted to help him or do anything with the chicken houses or garden projects that he has provided. This project that you have brought, he told me, has really changed their hearts. That was more fulfilling and more rewarding than the purest water that any of them could ever drink.
Men change peoples minds but only God can change a persons heart. Knowing that peoples health is getting better is one thing, but knowing that God is touching and changing the hearts of men through this project we are all a part of is something much more special.
I have added three picture links...the first is the broke filters that I repaired. the second is of Manguito and the third of Joconalis. Thanks again for all your prayers and everything that you have contributed to this project.
sábado, 3 de noviembre de 2007
Email Me
Im thinking about starting a type of newsletter type thing. I havent really decided how often I would send one out, but I am thinking about maybe once a month. This would not take the place of this blog but only be something else with maybe more information, needs that I might have, ways you could help, or random stuff. I am just thinking that some people might like to have a hard copy of things that are going on down here. I know alot of adresses and I could look in a phone book for those who I dont have, but if you would like to receive a newsletter then please send me your adress. My email is Bigred_30@yahoo.com. It would be best for me to receive adresses by emails and not on the comment page. Also if you know someone who might be interested in what I am doing or does not have internet, then you could send me their adress as well. I do not know when the first newsletter will go out but probably sometime in the next couple of months. Thanks
Joconalis Round 3.....ding!
Im not really good at picking titles for my blog but here is the latest news...In my
third trip to Joconalis could possibly have been the most exciting trip that we have been on. Before this trip we have not seen any of the filters working/filtering water. I have received phone calls from the people there and they told me how grateful they were to have the filters, that they were drinking the water and it tasted wonderful, and when I was going to come back to install some more. This trip i finally got to see and taste the water that has been filtered by my filrs. It was looked clean and tasted wonderful. I dont know if it was because I was thirsty or excited about the water or what, but it was probably the best water i have ever tasted. I walked around the town to visit all of the homes with filters to make sure all of them were working correctly and they were. The nurses at the medical clinic were almost crying they were so happy about the filters. Not only do they use the water to drink but also to clean wounds and medical equipment because they said they believe there is power in the water. How exciting is that!!! When we went we also installed 4 more filters; One at another pastor´s home two at different houses and one at a school(the school has over 350 kids that will drink from this filter.) It is exciting to see the progress and all of the hard work that has been put into this project pay off. I have added a few more pictures for yall to look at and hope to have more in the days to come. I will be making filters for the next week to take to both Joconalis and Manguito so I will update yall with whats going on sometime next week if there is electricity/Internet/something to say. Thanks again for all that each of you have done for this project. I could not do what I am doing alone.
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