by Jane Donald & Gil Ward

How are you? We arrived in Honduras about 10 days ago after completing 6 weeks of language study in Antigua, Guatemala. Our time in Guatemala was great. I was dreading language study but found I really enjoyed it and continue to learn a lot. We went to a great school and really enjoyed the family home we lived in.

Now we are living in a home with a Honduran family who we like very much. The home is close to the school where I am working in the mornings and it is the launching place for Gil’s health education and community outreach.

In fact, right now (Saturday) he is meeting with a group of women whom he is hoping will become health mentors. He and the Honduran social worker are teaching women basic health education, disease prevention and control. This empowers the women, and the plan is that they will continue to work in their neighborhood in the future.

I am working at the school in the mornings and the Children's Home in the afternoons, running support groups for children and doing individual counseling. Most of these children and teenagers have been affected by abuse, alcoholism and parental abandonment. Staff have also asked me to do some talks with parent groups about child development and positive strategies for discipline in the home. These kids are great and so are the staff.

Our neighborhood is another story. It is wracked by crime and two murders occurred in the past month. Poverty, lack of education, alcohol abuse and domestic violence are prevalent. The roads have deep ruts in them which the city does not bother to repair due to corruption. All this can be a tiny bit disconcerting at times. However, we feel God’s peace here.

We would appreciate your continued prayer and would love to hear the latest happenings with you!

Love, Jane and Gil