This was the first full day of work. We arrived at MF early in the morning to sort through the donations that everyone brought down. Then the items we were taking to El Barranco were loaded onto the trucks along with beds and mattresses that were donated by the Lutes family.
The main road that goes from Panajachel to El Barranco is closed due to the rain causing so many problems with the roads. There are land slides everywhere and many roads are closed so we had to go the back way that is about an hr. longer. The conditions of that road are barely passable and not for the faint of heart. This is one of those trips that separates the men from the boys.
We were not to be stopped since there was celebrating to be done. Beth and I along with Sue who was with us in spirit wanted to celebrate the new preschool that we have all participated in supporting. There were tamales for the kids and cake. Hunger is such a huge part of everyday life so this was a big day for the kids. I watched as one little girl picked every grain of rice off of the banana leaf they were cooked in.
Beth and I were presented with beautiful hand woven table clothes and received many hugs which of course made us a bit teary. On top of all that they had a birthday celebration for me and I received even more hugs. Couldn't have been a better birthday.
We handed out donations, had an eye glass clinic that Gladys and Joyce head up so that women who do close work like hand stitching and beadwork could continue to earn a living, installed two stoves and did two home visits of sponsored students. The return trip to Pana was adventurous to say the least. Not only had it rained all day and deteriorated the road even more it was foggy on top of all that. We freshened up and had dinner at El Bistro where there was a lot of shopping going on since some of our favorite street vendors came in to show there wares.