Our journey from Africa to Europe was one from extreme heat (40+ degrees) to extreme cold (-10 degrees) that happened across a single travel day. Having been in Europe as it transitioned from winter into spring I had hoped that we could ease into Central America without too much discomfort from the change in climate. Arriving into Guatemala City was warmer but seemed to be ok and we headed to Antigua where it remained a comfortable temperature of around 20 degrees throughout our stay.
However, this was a lie. Antigua is at a higher elevation than our ministry location – Puerto Barrios – which is right by the coast. As our minibus arrived to pick us up for the journey I asked our driver “¿Está mas caliente en Puerto Barrios que aquí?” (It’s hotter in Puerto Barrios than here?). “Sí” was his reply, “está cuarenta o cuarenta y cinco grados” (Yes, it’s 40 or 45 degrees). Great.
As we made our journey from there to here we slowly switched from wide open windows to cool us as we drove, to closed windows and full blown air conditioning. Now when we stepped out of the bus, rather than being like stepping into the shade, it was like stepping into an oven… I’ve missed this :-p
Two days in and I’m still sweating buckets whilst sat indoors but we’re slowly adjusting and it’s funny how much I’d forgotten this was like. It’s all good though. One other thing is that Central America is much more colourful than Eastern Europe was. I know we were there for winter but there is a lot more here (in terms of plants, buildings, etc.) that has such vibrant colour, a lot like Africa did, and that is something else I seemed to have forgotten. The initial drive from the airport was beautiful and the longer drive here (5 hours) showed us a lot of the landscape too.
We are about ten minutes’ drive from the beach (we’ve not been) and we’re told there is a pool nearby if we need to cool off (although ‘cold’ is the only tap available in the shower so there’s always that). We are based in Casa Verde, the only remaining mission currently active in Puerto Barrios (www.shofar-ministries.com), run by Paul (who is from the US) and his wife Hilda (who is from Honduras). Along with a number of staff (who are all volunteers) they are involved in a number of projects in the city. These include:
- Running a Christian radio station that broadcasts online (www.radiofelove.com) as well as being played in local outlets;
- A sports ministry to young people at a local park including basketball, football and breakdance;
- Visiting a local orphanage, a children’s hospital and a nursing home and meeting with those who live there;
- Developing a feeding project for the community that exists in the city dump – people who literally live in and scour through the city’s rubbish to stay alive;
- And visiting churches to work with them and encourage unity between them.
We will be involved in each of these ministries in some capacity or other during our time here and so I will be letting you know about them all as we go 🙂
