about to be introduced to. As we got closer there was no question about where we were going. The smell of dust and exhaust smoke soon left and was replaced with a stench of reality. We had made it the Tegucigalpa dump and my eyes were open to a truth I wish I could of changed.
When you see something like this it is hard to fully explain in words the devastation you automatically assume without question. The smell of my surroundings was soon ignored by the many faces that stared right at me. We were only allowed to bring in a few cameras to capture the moment and it was my honor to depict the stories of the many people digging through what we saw as nothing. The mass of land was filled with people as far as the eye could see, but in the middle of all of lay cows, dogs, and buzzards fighting for the same scrap. I have never gone a day without a meal because I could not afford it and you call me blessed, but it sure does sound pathetic when you see these souls digging to find survival. Inside these bodies though were lives that we got to pray over, were smiles we got bring to light, and ultimately stories that we got to uncover.
Blessing was her name and she was a week away from having her third child. She was simply rummaging through the piles trying to find baby clothes for her soon-to-be boy. As we walked up and started communicating you could tell that she had excitement written over her face. In the process of overcoming the language barrier, we realized that she had a white baby cloth in her hand. White is not a color you see often on clothes because of the filth that lay in the in most all of the trash. She found a new baby cloth and it was going to be clean. As we shared in the excitement with her we also found out that she was 23 years of age. It was hard to sit there and try to fathom that age that she wore on her face, but realize that she was two years younger than me. This woman related to me in a way I don’t think anyone at this point in the trip can. I got to lay a hand on her stomach and just pray for so many things that for months and months I have been praying for myself. See, this month my sister is having a baby and even if it was for a second, I was able to live out this neat moment with someone that has never seen a caring heart. As I write these words right now I pray that that baby was born with the health only God could bless him with. I pray that this boy grows up to see a future founded by the roots of Christ, that he has a mother that will love him for all that he deserves, and that one day he grows up to serve that Father we call ours.
