Honduras was many things to me: Beautiful, hot, mountainous, intriguing. But none of those words can describe the joy and privilege I got to help in La Providencia. La Providencia is an ex-orphan and widow program that takes in orphans and widows to creates a normal life for them. They are given a family on the property and are raised with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. to keep them in a community of safety and normality while the widows become grandparents. On 100 acres of land they have a hospital, a school, chicken coops, houses, and much more to come. My team and I got to sleep in the hospital the entire month we were there. Our life style for the month was helping the “orphanage” become closer to self sustainability. Most of our days we were on a hillside chopping up trees while moving them off so they can plant over a thousand coffee plants. On other days we were watering and picking green beans that provides food for the kids who go to school.
One of the most interesting things about our month in Honduras was doing Owana with the local children and kids from La Providencia. Here we were able to play games and in general goof off with the children while showing them the love and joy of God. Toward the end of the month when we had to leave I don’t think I had truly grasped how much we impacted the people and children there. I later learned that one of the little girls that we had grown attached to as a team had cried when we left, because she wanted to spend more time with us. When we left I looked back at the places we had been and lived for the month and it had truly felt like home. If someone who has lived there for only 1 month can feel like they’re leaving a home, a safe haven as you will. Then, that truly shows how amazing the dream of La Providencia being a new home for many orphans and widows to come.
