Volume 2

Why I haven't posted lately

2009-04-21T10:01:00.003-05:00

I've been spending a great deal of energy on planning an event for the Center for Justice & Sustainability at Jewell with Anthony & Andy. It finally went down Saturday night, and I could not be more pleased with it!

Rock Out Reach Out was a huge success! Many thanks to everyone who helped out and came out to support our hard work, and more importantly, the hard work of the justice & sustainability community of Kansas City.

Here are the results:

Five bands & artists performed to benefit the organizations present.
Seventeen bands donated songs for the album (which is still available for a limited time).
Fourteen organizations shared their messages of justice & sustainability.

Over 300 people came out to the event.
Over 100 people signed up with the organizations present.
Over $2000 was raised for these organizations.

We shared the vision of the Center for Justice & Sustainability with Kansas City.
Learn. Practice. Partner.

And we're not the only ones who feel this way either. Check out this glowing review at the Pitch's blog: http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2009/04/rock_out_reach_out_roundup.php

Yes, you read that right, it says RORO "could serve as a model for all benefit rock shows to come." I new we did a good job, but now I am in shock!

Our latest project!

2009-03-25T10:09:00.002-05:00

We have taken another step in our urban gardening project. Say hello to the new members of our family!

What really happened on inauguration day

2009-02-17T11:03:00.003-06:00

Check out this free Marvel digital comic for an entertaining look at Obama's inauguration.

Music for the thrifty

2009-02-16T10:07:00.003-06:00

For the last 6 months or so, Trinity and I have been working really hard at saving money (sadly, in order to pay off credit cards...), so I have been coming up with all kinds of ways to get my new music kicks without spending lots of money on iTunes. Here are some of the things I have discovered:

Pandora Radio - on this site you choose a band or a song that you like, and then the website creates a radio station with similar music. As each song plays you can check whether you like it or not to make the station more in tune to your tastes. You can skip songs if you dislike them, and there are no commercials! This has been getting a lot of play in my office lately.

Kansas City Public Library - of course, the library doesn't have the instant results of anything on the internet, but there are so many albums there to browse and check out. I have also found myself checking out a lot of music that I would not have been sure enough about to buy, so I can expand my interests and try some different bands and styles. The down side: due dates...

All Songs Considered - this NPR show features great music and with the wonders of podcasts you can download the shows and listen to them anytime. I particularly like their Live Concerts podcast.

Finally, a new source of good music that I am going to start checking out is KC Cafe Radio. We learned about this internet radio station last night when we reconnected with our old friends Mick & Debbie Byrd. You might remember Mick from our wedding - he played the music during the wedding, and was the headliner at our reception/concert afterwords. Mick was in KC playing at the Westport Flea Market Bar & Grill last night so we went and had a great time hearing some classic Mick and some new songs. He even pulled out "Greater than Pearls" in honor of Trinity and me. It was a fun night and I look forward to seeing Mick & Debbie again soon.

The website is live

2009-02-02T12:25:00.001-06:00

The official website for the Center is now up and running. If you're ever wanting to check it out and missing a link for it, you can find it at www.jewell.edu in the "Distinctives" drop down menu.

What I did at work today

2009-01-29T17:17:00.002-06:00

I am pleased to announce the beginning of a web presence for the Center for Justice and Sustainability at William Jewell College. We'll be adding to the presence soon, but this is a start.

What a week!

2009-01-22T09:19:00.002-06:00

Wow, this has been a busy week. In the last 7 days I spent a day wandering around Tela, Honduras, returned home, sorted through over 450 pictures, washed bed bugs out of my dirty laundry, celebrated MLK day at Jewell, rejoiced at the historic inauguration of our inspiring new President, prepared 2 syllabi for the semester that began yesterday, and relished 2 new episodes of Lost!

2009-01-15T13:23:00.003-06:00

Tono leading the community meeting.

Pinata!

Maximo's blessing

Fiesta!

2009-01-15T12:38:00.003-06:00

For our last visit to Embarcadero this trip we had an afternoon fiesta (party). We had gotten a lot of rain the night before, so the road to Embarcadero was definitely impassible this time. We hiked the mile in this time with our arms loaded with fiesta supplies: gallons and gallons of soda, a cooler full of ice, 3 cakes, and a whole lot of candy.

Lula and Christina made pinatas and little did we know they take pinatas mucho seriously here in Latin America. The men of the village spent more time setting it up just right than I have ever seen and here they turn it into a big game. All I ever remember doing is hanging it up, putting on a blindfold and going after it with a stick, but here one of the adults moves it up and down so it lasts a long time. After the pinata we had cake and soda and then began saying our goodbyes. Maximo, the father in one of the families we built the latrine for/with brought out his new Spanish study Bible that Cat gave to him and gave us a Pentecostal blessing. Then we made the long walk back through the mud to the van.

Today is a final day off, which we all really needed. We are in the small coastal town of Tela. We got breakfast at a hotel/reseraunt, and they said we could use the internet here as long as we want. So I am sitting at the beach right now blogging while in Honduras for the last time. I'll probably say more about the trip when we get home, and I may add some more pictures this afternoon, but other than that, I'll see you in the States. Adios!

Pictures from the day off

2009-01-14T17:49:00.005-06:00

Pico Bonito - where we tried to go

Our own little discovery

Lula making a bridge for everyone.

Honduras Dia Ocho, Tuesday

2009-01-14T11:48:00.001-06:00

Scott and I spent the morning in the hotel trying to feel better... The rest of the team went back out the the village to finish up the latrines. There was a community meeting scheduled for this afternoon to explain to the whole community what we had built and about the differences between this and other methods they are using in the village. Cappuccino came back to get Scott and I so we could be there for the community meeting.

Tono, Angel, and Dani are the friends from Guatemala that came to help us. Tono and Angel are Guatemalans, and Dani is an American nun working on the project in Guatemala. Tono made the presentation to the village, and Dani translated for us. He did a great job of engaging them, asking lots of questions, rather than just talking at them. He discussed the importance of water, and how high their water table is, and how important it is to keep that water table clean and safe. He talked about how water tables work and what their other methods of sewage are doing to the water table. And then he explained all about how the composting latrines work. It was a lot of fun to watch this community engage with each other and take in this new information. They are so open and hospitable, both to us and to new ideas. After the discussion we all went over to the latrines for a tour! We got to hear all kinds of gross but completely practical questions about what you do with these things when they get dirty, what if you have diarrhea, etc. We have broken down many walls between us and our friends of Embarcadero this week, both cultural and personal! (By the way, you might notice that I spelled the name of the village differently this time - Embarcadero. This is the proper name for the village we discovered this trip. I'll tell you more about the story of Embarcadero soon.)

We left soon after the meeting. On the way out of the village, the van got stuck in the mud, three times. So we got out to walk past the muddy parts. As we were walking, Lula slipped in the mud and fell in a big puddle, getting herself covered in mud. As we continued walking she was really worried about being muddy, so she asked if anyone had any extra shorts. No one did, but I jokingly said that I was wearing boxers under mine, so she said, "Tim, give me your shorts." So, I did! I walked a mile in the mud today in my boxer shorts so Lula would not be covered in mud!

Honduras Dia Siete, Monday

2009-01-14T11:45:00.001-06:00

Today was a day off, so we headed to the nearest city of La Ceiba, the third largest city in Honduras. We started off the day in traffic, then breakfast, a trip to the Bank to exchange some money, and a stop at a glasses shop to fix Cat's glasses. Christine had fixed them earlier with dental floss, but since we were in the city we thought we would upgrade the floss.

Then, we headed on what turned into a wild goose chase to find Pico Bonito (Beautiful View). I'm going to condense the 3 hour journey because its not worth telling you how many times we went back and forth to find this thing. Pico Bonito is the highest mountain in Honduras, just outside of La Ceiba. There are many entrances into the National Park at Pico Bonito. We found a few of them, but not the one that would have been best... One was the expensive tourist version where the movie stars stay - we heard that Michael Douglas has been there. We got our entrance fee back once we found out all the extras you had to pay for there. The other one was an equally expensive one, but it was of the take advantage of the foreigners kind. When we first arrived at this entrance, they wanted to charge us hundreds of Limpera each, and then we talked them down quite a bit, but it was still too much, so we told them never mind, they weren't going to get anything from us. Ironically, in the end the cost of these two was not so different! There are many ways to rip people off.

We did get to see a beautiful view at the park, but it was in a more unnoficial entrance than either of these. We got word from someone that if we drove down this road to a gate someone who lives right beside the park could show us to a waterfall, so we figured, what the heck! We had a beautiful hike through some woods and then came to a river that we could cross. I didn't make it without getting my feet wet, but we had a blast climbing the rocks and getting up close to the waterfall.

After all of this we decided to go to the beach for a while, so Cappuccino took us to a Garifano village on the beach near La Ceiba. Cappuccino is Garifano - these are people descended from American slaves that escaped to Central America generations ago. They have their own language and culture, so when we were in the Garifano village it was like being in another country!

Then, we went to the mall in La Ceiba for dinner. The mall has all kinds of fast food places, and I think most of the group ended up getting Wendy's. A few of us have gotten sick in the last few days and some US food sounded good to us. I was in the middle of my own bout of not feeling well, so I hung out in the internet cafe at the mall while they enjoyed Wendy's. Finally, after all this excitement we came back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

2009-01-12T17:46:00.005-06:00

Tasting a fresh coconut... They like them under-ripe in the village

I am in fact helping - I had Donette take this just so you could see me working!

Preparing to lay the floor

Progress on the other one

Stairs on the one I've been working on

Our wonderful cooks!

Saturday & Sunday

2009-01-12T17:21:00.001-06:00

Saturday and Sunday have been more work days. Donette's friends from Guatemala arrived Friday night and have been a big help. They have made hundreds of these (I know because I asked them), so they are old pros at it. At this point we are almost finished with both of them, but we don't think we have enough time to get a third done, so we have decided to take a whole day off tomorrow instead of the half day we had planned.

Tonight we had plans of heading to a beach after working to have a moonlight cookout. As we were cleaning up the work sight it started sprinkling on us, but everyone said it would clear up by the time we got to the beach. Well, it did clear up during our ride, but then five minutes before we got there... Rain, and a lot more than a sprinkle. So we turned around and spent another 30 minutes driving back from the beach and had our our cookout food in the hotel kitchen. All in all, we spent more hours in the car yesterday than we did the first day when we drove here from the airport. We had fun hanging out last night though and talking and laughing and negotiating what we will do totday on our day off. I'm still not sure what we agreed on (maybe we didn't agree yet!) so we'll see what we end up doing. I'm voting for the mountains.

I thought I would tell you more about the latrines we are building. The bottom part that we built the first 2 days is split into two containers for the waste, and then of course we are building the covered part on top for where the person goes to use the latrine. The last step will be to seal the two containers so that there will be now way for the waste to get out and contaminate their water table. (As of now, all of their waste is doing just this...) Each time a person uses the latrine, there is a special mixture of bacteria that is sprinkled over it to continue the composting process. One side of the latrine will last one year, and then they will switch to the other side of the latrine. After some time the side that is not in use will be composted enough to be harmless, and in fact beneficial to the soil, and they will use it for their farming. In this way, the dangerous human waste is kept from harming their water, and then transformed into something good. I am thinking of putting one in my backyard. Do you think I can get away with it?

Honduras Dia Cuatro, Friday

2009-01-09T20:46:00.000-06:00

I'll make a quick update about today so we can be caught up. I hope you like the pictures too!

This morning we remembered to grab the tools that Scott brought with him to make our work better: a better level and 2 T-squares. When we took the T-square to check yesterdays work, the news was not all good (but it was not all bad either). The bad news is one of them was very off... So we knocked the walls down to rebuild. Donette spent the day checking and rechecking with the home owner and at days end it was back up and perfect. The good news is, the other one was perfect when we put the T-square up to it! We did have to make some adjustments to it yesterday, but after those, it was perfect. So on this one we started with a separate middle wall, and then we were able to seal it with a layer of concrete this afternoon. Someday you will be able to see pictures of what I am describing, but for now you'll have to use your imagination.

Also during this morning and yesterday, Nancy has been surverying the village about health conditions and figuring out what she will be able to do on a future nursing trip to Honduras that she is coming on this summer.

While they were working on the latrines this afternoon, Sam, Paula, Nancy and I walked around the town and made a log of all the families of the village, including pictures. There were a few people missing, so we have to take a few more pictures tomorrow, and we don't have a complete count yet, but we made a lot of progress on this project.

We are also learning more details about the story of the village, though we still do not have all the pieces. We keep learning a little bit at a time, so soon I will report on what we are learning about the people of Emvacadero.

Now, after a long day of work, a deeper night of group reflection, and an hour at the internet cafe, I am getting out of here and going to sleep to the quiet sounds of a rainy night! (The dogs, roosters, and fireworks are all hiding from the rain - Amen!)

What we are building:

2009-01-09T20:22:00.008-06:00

Let's try some pictures again...

2009-01-09T20:14:00.002-06:00

Success!! These are from our first day.

Nancy at lunch with our translator/driver/jokester Capuccino.

More lunch.

Our hotel "hallway." It is beautiful in person!

Honduras Dia Tres, Thursday

2009-01-09T20:00:00.001-06:00

So far, I know I've been a day behind on the blogging. I am trying to catch up, but our daily schedule doesn't match up too well with the hours at the Cafe Internet, so I am making due by writing the blog on the laptop the night before and then sending it a few minutes before the cafe closes on me (and sometimes even a few minutes after!).

Thursday has been a long day full of challenges. Breakfast was fine, then the drive to Emvacadero. We walked in to the village, like I have already told you about, this time carrying in a days worth of clean water, and then when we got there they told us we really should try to get the van through the water, so Cappucino went back to try it. The van made it fine, and although it saves our legs the work of walking, it is barely, and I mean barely, any faster than when we walked because the road is so deeply rutted.

As we started looking at the plans and getting to work, we realized that the cement blocks we had were not the size specified in the plans. So, Donette put a call in to friends in Guatemala about whether these blocks would work, and then we waited for their reply. These friends are coming in from Guatemala to help us later this week, so you will hear more about them then. Finally we found out that we could in fact proceed.

We dug a shallow trench for the foundation of our latrines, and then built 5 layers of cement block for 2 latrines. After 4 or 5 hours of work we realized one simple but fatal mistake we made throughout our building. We had been thoroughly and diligently using the level on each block, so we were very close to our mark, but, as the day wore on one wall on each of the 2 latrines was getting a bit off track. We did not realize this until we were finished with this step one, so we had to backtrack quite a few blocks to get the walls square with each other again. After a long hot day of building and rebuilding we got to see step one finished and it was muy bonita.

Throughout the process we are working with the people of Emvacadero, not just for them. We are side by side at every step of the way, learning together the best ways to interpret the United Nations plans that we are using, which as we all know, plans on paper don't usually work out in real life without some improvising and flexibility. Add in a language barrier and the long day of hard physical work has a whole new dimension! I think we all, on both sides of this language barrier, are going to bed tonight fulfilled by a good days work. When we leave, not only will the people of Emvacadero have two (maybe more depending on how the work keeps going) composting latrines, they will also know how to follow these plans and build more latrines for other families in the community. This is what we are hoping is making this partnership between Jewell and Emvacadero different - we are trying to establish lasting changes that will make real differences in the life of this community, not just come down and offer manual labor and supplies. At the same time of course, our students are learning invaluable lessons about grassroots international relations, Honduran culture and real world application of their liberal arts education. All in a days work.

Honduras Dia Dos, Wednesday

2009-01-08T20:04:00.000-06:00

A scene from our hotel: As I am sitting here typing this, our armed guard is lounging in an Adirondack rocking chair, watching one of the Pierce Brosnan James Bond movies dubbed in Spanish of course, and he has just fallen fast asleep!

We woke up this morning to the sound of roosters crowing. Many times... Finally, it became time to get up with the rooster instead of roll back over for more sleep. I decided the first night that I would rather go to sleep early and get up closer to the sunrise so I could take advantage of being in Honduras. This morning when we got up was when Sam and I set out to find more answers about the Internet Cafe. All we knew at this point was that it was closed last night when we were looking for it. So, Sam and I took off up the street this morning at a little after 7. As we walked we got to watch the town San Juan Pueblo coming to life. People were walking, riding bikes, motorcycles and cars, and catching the bus for the morning commute to work in the larger metropolitan areas. The shops and businesses of San Juan Pueblo were lifting their security shutters and setting out their wears for another day of business. We also saw a pack of dogs surrounding the open air carniceria, drooling over the days fresh meat for sale.

We stopped three different times to ask about the Cafe de Internet, just to make sure we were getting the same information, and to practice muddling through our forgotten Spanish (Sam & I both took Spanish before, but have not used it in a long time) without a large audience. We found out it did not open until nueve, and no one knew exactly when it closed. So, we strolled back to the hotel and waited for breakfast.

Breakfast and dinner are here at the hotel. We ate wonderful fruit and pancakes, more fruit and good strong cafe this morning and then we went to visit David and Dialas, the missionaries here who Jewell has gone to work with in years past. We saw their orphanage and church, and then we split into three groups. Nancy and Cappuccino (our translator and driver) went to make some contacts for a medical trip she will be bringing nursing students on this coming May. Sam, Paula, Christina, Elizabeth, Lula, and Cat went to David and Dialas's school to clean and help them prepare for the spring semester (they are still on winter break, as we are). David took Donette, Scott and me to visit Emvacadero. We got most of the way there to find that the river we were supposed to be able to drive through was impassible by our van, so we walked about a mile into the village - and we will be doing this every morning for our commute. Apparently when the grande truck that recently delivered our materials took quite a toll on the road to Emvacadero.

We were greeted by the leaders of the community and they showed us latrines that they have been working on themselves, a "septic system" they have arranged, and one of the 7 wells from which they get their water. All of this is in very close proximity, which of course is not safe. Donette worked out with them which houses we are going to build the latrines at, and arranged with one of the women about making lunch for us tomorrow, and then we made the hike back to the van.

After lunch we met back up with the other groups and helped them finish cleaning up at the school. Sam played a rousing game of futbol with a mob of boys, and though he's not sure how accurate and reliable the boys score keeping was he thinks that his team ended up losing by one.

After this, we headed back to San Juan Pueblo, finally visited the Cafe Internet, walked the long trek back to the hotel and had dinner. Then we had reflection and now we are all winding down in our own way. I am unwinding by watching our guard! And soon I am heading to bed. Buenas Noches.

Honduras Dia Uno

2009-01-07T16:59:00.003-06:00

Hola from Honduras! We arrived safe and sound after a long day of travel yesterday. You've seen the itinerary of how we got here so I won't retell that story. It all went pretty much as planned, with typical travel delays here and there. We stopped for lunch during the three hour ride to the hotel, and we got to the hotel before dark, which we were shooting for. After we had a brief meeting and reflection to get settled we set out to get the lay of our adopted hometown, San Juan Pueblo. We asked around and were told that there was an internet cafe next to a pizza place, and since we were hungry again we went there for a later dinner. Well, the internet cafe was closed - we learned that they open at 9, but they don't really have a close time, they just close when business is slow... So, we were out of luck for the internet last night. So, we just got pizza and enjoyed the evening. As we were looking at the menu we decided on one special with meat and one cheese pizza. The server looked at us like we were ridiculous, "Solo queso!" he said. "Only cheese, you only want cheese?" So, he shamed us, playfully of course, into ordering a vegetarian pizza for our other selection.

After pizza we walked back to the hotel and headed for our rooms. The rest of the night was uneventful and restful.

As I was laying in bed last night drifting off to sleep, I was struck by how similar in fact it felt to lounging in bed at my own house some nights in the Old NE. There was loud music blaring, firecrackers being shot off and dogs barking back and forth. Just like home! There were also some different things: in addition to the dogs there were also roosters crowing (all night...), we have an armed guard at our hotel, and we have air conditioning in the rooms! (Yes, this is different than at our house, though you might not believe it).

Uploading pictures is causing me trouble right now, so I will have to try again later.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the internet cafe is quite a long walk from the hotel, so we better get going soon to make it in time for dinner. Hasta Luego!

Itinerary

2009-01-04T14:35:00.002-06:00

Tuesday, Jan. 6 - Travel Day
Meet at Jewell at 4AM
Flight from KC to Houston 6-8AM
Flight from Houston to San Pedro 9-noon
3 hour drive to hotel

Wednesday, Jan. 7 - Getting Acclimated

Thursday, Jan. 8 to Wednesday, Jan. 14 - Work Days

Thursday, Jan. 15 - Free Day

Friday, Jan. 16 - Travel Day
3 hour drive to San Pedro
Flight from San Pedro to Houston 1-4PM
Flight from Houston to KC 5:30-7:30PM

Winter break

2009-01-04T14:15:00.002-06:00

Winter break has both flown by and been a long one for me. I have enjoyed the time off, spending lots of time with family, getting to do some of the slow-cooking that I don't always have time for, rewatching my favorite show LOST, spending extra time with Trinity. These are the good things that have made the break fly by. But, I've also been feeling pretty down lately too. I don't know what it is, but these moments have made the break kind of a drag. It just comes out of nowhere and hits me sometimes... I have definitely become a creature of routine in the last few years and I have to admit I am looking forward to going back to work. I think getting back to my routine will help me feel more like myself.

I can't believe it! I never thought I would say such a thing. Looking forward to getting back to work! Now I know I'm getting old. Tomorrow won't exactly be back to work as usual, but I will be back to campus to take care of a few things before we leave for Honduras, and then finishing up whatever I don't get packed tonight. We leave in less than 48 hours!

Reminder

2008-12-23T09:52:00.003-06:00

Anyone going on the Jewell teams to Honduras or Kenya, remember to begin taking your malaria pill soon. I am going to take my first one today.

If you've never gone on a trip like this, here's some information about malaria & prevention. This comes from the World Health Organization:

"Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells.

Symptoms of malaria include fever, headache, and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. In many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines."

There are different forms of malaria prevention. The pill I will be taking is one of them. This particular pill you take once a week for a few weeks before you go, then during your trip, and then a few more weeks after you return.

The other forms of malaria prevention are the same kinds of things we do around here to avoid mosquitoes. Only, in this case the stakes are potentially a little higher, I could end up with more than just a few nights of miserable itching! So, I'll be poisoning myself, oh I mean, the bugs, with lots of DEET and covering my skin with loose clothing.

(As a side note, let's compare symptoms: malaria symptoms may include fever, chills, sweats, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting, fatigue; DEET poisoning symptoms may include vomiting, rashes, drowsiness, headache, and seizures. So, it looks like I'll be picking my poison...)

The good news for us is it is not the rainy season right now, so the mosquito population should be low. Also according to the World Health Organization, malaria is both preventable and curable. This makes the more than one million malaria deaths around the world a quite appalling reality. But, since we have the access to this cheap prevention and cure if needed, we'll all be fine.

All that is to say, take your malaria pill! I also remember from my previous experiences with these pills they give me very vivid & unusual dreams, so maybe I'll have some exciting dreams to report soon.

Honduras Facts

2008-12-18T10:38:00.004-06:00

Here’s some interesting information about Honduras, from a combination of the CIA website & Jeff, our campus minister who has been there a few times. (US info. is in the parentheses for comparison.)

Population 7.6 million (303.8 million)
Median Age 20 years (36.7 years)
Infant Mortality Rate 25 deaths/1,000 births (6 deaths/1,000 births)
Life Expectancy 69 years (78 years)
Literacy rate 80% (99%)
Gross Domestic Product per capita $4,300 ($45,800)
Unemployment Rate 28% (4.6%)
Electricity Consumption 4 billion kWh (4 trillion kWh)
Exchange rate 18.9 Lempiras to 1 US Dollar
Internet users 344,100 (223 million)

In Honduras,
The average working man works for about $5 USD a day.
No one wears a watch.
Smiles are always returned on any street in Honduras.
There is no waste management system (i.e. Trash, recycling, etc).
Soda pop is more accessible than clean water.
A personal pizza at Pizza Hut in Honduras costs 27 Lmps. (~$1.40US)
About 80% of villagers have parasites/worms from drinking water.
97% of the people are Roman Catholic, 3% Protestant.

Women in Honduras love to wear high-heeled shoes.
Honduras is the second largest country in Central America.
In 1969 a fight broke out at a soccer match between EL Salvador & Honduras; it escalated to an actual war.
The primary language is Spanish.
Honduras is about the same size as the state of Tennessee.
Capital City – Tegucigalpa
Agriculture: bananas, coffee, citrus; beef; timber; shrimp, tilapia, lobster; corn, African palm (the village we will be working with is based around palm farming)
Industry: Sugar, Coffee, Textiles, Clothing, Wood Products
Nickname: The Banana Republic
Honduras often experiences hurricanes and earthquakes.
Christopher Columbus Landed there in 1502.

testing 123

2008-12-17T13:38:00.001-06:00

I am just testing out a different way of posting to see how it works. I'm not sure what my web access will look like in Honduras, so I am covering my bases. And now, I'll add a picture to see if it comes through.

Sometimes this is all you can do...

2008-12-17T12:00:00.000-06:00

Right leg
Left leg
One leg at a time
I keep on walkin'
I keep on walkin'

-My Morning Jacket, "Sec Walkin'"

National Recycling Coalition Conversionator

2008-12-16T11:44:00.003-06:00

I was doing some research for the Center today and discovered this creative little web site. http://www.nrc-recycle.org/theconversionator/shell.html

I definitely learned some things about recycling I didn't know yet. For example, glass can be recycled an indefinite number of times and never wears out.

Honduras Trip Info.

2008-12-15T14:42:00.005-06:00

I am learning about the details of the Honduras trip as we get closer. We are having a meeting with the whole group tomorrow. Here are some things I know so far.

Our campus is uniting across academic departments to partner with a small agricultural village in Honduras. This is the first trip of a three or four year project to this particular village, Emvacadero, Honduras. Jewell has taken groups to Honduras for a few years now and this partnership is the result of meetings they had with community leaders where they listened to their needs to determine how, as a college, we can best partner with them to raise the standard of living in their village. One of our goals for this project is to be sure that our partnership is one of true reciprocity. We will be very intentional about learning from the people we work with in the village, specifically in the area of how they have come to build such strong sense of unity within their group. We also hope to learn about how they work together as a small, independent group to sustain their village.

During the three to four year commitment, some ways this project will engage various departments on campus include: The nursing department will assess and improve the health conditions. The business department may administer micro-loans to improve the local economy. The science departments are teaming up to offer water purification and possibly wind or solar energy. The art department and the education departments are looking at ways to learn and share improved teaching methods in their one school room setting. The student ministries team will work with the local church to offer activities for the children and families. All groups provide labor for hands-on projects such as laying concrete floors or building composting latrines.

This first trip will be focused on building latrines and researching for future trips. I should find out more tomorrow.

Can you find me in this video?

2008-12-10T17:30:00.000-06:00

Breaking news

2008-12-05T07:54:00.004-06:00

I am going to Honduras in January with Jewell! We'll be building latrines in a small village that has none, and doing some water testing and medical evaluations. I'll write more about the trip later - now I'm off to work and then we're headed to Atlanta for the weekend.

Mystery revealed

2008-11-24T21:48:00.004-06:00

I admit, I'm the one who put the coffee in the Dr. Pepper bottle.

Moving furniture

2008-11-18T08:41:00.003-06:00

There is no furnace vent in our kitchen. There is duct work in the basement leading to somewhere underneath our kitchen, but there is no vent in the kitchen. Sometime in the last 120 years the kitchen vent got covered up, and I had always worriedly assumed that it would take a major excavation in our kitchen to find it. Between this fact and the gaping cracks around our two poorly hung kitchen outside doors, last winter was pretty miserable in the kitchen - I don't think it got above 55 degrees in there all winter! This is why I spent a long part of last weekend winterizing the kitchen doors. The gaping cracks are no longer. But the kitchen is still heat-less...

We've never been completely satisfied with the set-up in a couple of our rooms (having a lot to do with furniture that has been bought to fit in other places), so Saturday we got the rearranging bug. As we moved things around, we thought we would see if a certain item might fit in our kitchen, so, since we have an electric stove with a bit of leeway as to where it fits, we pulled it away from the wall to try it in a different position. As we moved it, Trinity noticed the stove felt warm, but neither of us had used the oven or the stove that morning. This took a moment to sink in, but then we began feeling along the wall and noticed a warm spot right behind where the stove had been.

So, what did I do you might ask? I went and got a hammer and started busting holes in the wall to FIND THAT HEAT! Here is what I found:

It might not look like it, but what you see is a heat duct coming out right behind where our stove used to sit. Now our kitchen doesn't feel like a screened in porch anymore! I can't wait to see our heating bills this winter. Here's a bonus picture - Benton likes the new vent too:

Dr. Chance told me yesterday at lunch, "That'll preach." So, I guess I shouldn't let such a good opportunity pass without at least a little preachin'.

We need to move the furniture of our lives around every once in a while to see what might be hiding behind it. Many times we figure out something that seems to work for us, but as we grow and change something else might work better, if only we have the courage to try a different arrangement. There are so many ways in which our spiritual lives can be like old houses filled with furniture and covered with the hack-jobs of lazy contractors. How many layers of drywall do we have up in our lives, covering up the things that are designed to keep us safe and healthy?

And sometimes it's not even courage that we need in order to move things around, it's just plain old time. We have been living in this house for almost a year, but we never took the time to deal with the furniture that seemed out of place. Once we devoted some time to it, look what we found. We all have busy lives, yes; but maybe taking time to rearrange our furniture and examine the walls in our lives is worth giving some attention, or even more, is vital to our spiritual health and our relationship to God.

I am not content to live with the furniture arrangement of when I was seven, or sixteen, or twenty-two. I know that it might be nice if when you come to visit me my furniture was in the same place it was last time you were here, but I am just trying to uncover what's behind my walls. I hope you are too.

Weekend update

2008-11-10T19:13:00.004-06:00

Winterizing the house (I've been putting this off for, oh, 10 months now... 110 years of "settling" has made this a pretty overwhelming task)
I spent way too long trying to seal up our three external doors, but they are finally draft free. Of course, you have to body slam them to get 'em closed now...

Feeling bad about not finishing the shed that is half built
Actually, Chris offered to come over and help with the shed, so I dropped my weatherstripping for a few hours to add the roof. It is almost ready to become the motorcycle garage!

Experimenting with roasting my own coffee (I'll let you know how it goes)
Trinity picked up some green beans, or raw coffee beans, for me while she was running some errands Saturday. I roasted them up on the stove top Saturday night and had a FRESH cup, or I should say pot, of coffee Sunday morning! It was quite good, and even more fun. Though, there was a lot of smoke...

Why would I do this you might be asking. Well, first of all, just because this is the kind of thing I like to do. Come on, you know that one already! Second, green coffee is half the cost, and can store well for much longer than roasted coffee without getting stale. (I know some of my readers do not believe in coffee going stale. Give my Dad a pouch of ground black powder and he'll brew it up whether it smells like coffee or, well, just a pouch of ground black powder!) So, I can save a lot of money because of the lower price, plus the option to buy in bulk.

Now, when I have a cup of coffee I can say that I did everything but grow the bean itself! Believe me, I have researched whether I could do that too, but this is one thing that is impossible in Missouri. And then there's that other part about shipping it across the globe too. If I am going to drink coffee, it is going to have to travel far, so this is another global cost that buying in larger quantities would allow me to "spend less" on.

While reading about roasting your own coffee, I saw somewhere that until around the 1920s if you had coffee in the US you most likely roasted it yourself. It was not widely available in roasted form until then. As I was roasting it Saturday I was wondering how many pounds of coffee have been roasted before in this old house? And how long has it been since the last time? If you'd like to try roasting your own coffee, it is easier than it seems, and a lot of fun - let me know and I'll give you a lesson!

Oh yeah, here's some before and after pics:

2008-11-10T18:14:00.003-06:00

Last week we had a seminary fair for the students interested in ministry to check out some schools they might go to after they finish Jewell. I had a great time hanging out with some of the seminary representatives in the down time between student visits. I joined a few of them for lunch and we got to talking about all kinds of things. Usually I am more of a listener in conversations like this, but for some reason I had a lot to say that day! I ended up talking about my own seminary experience and our time at Druid Hills in Atlanta, and then about our garden and even my surgery last February.

Jackie from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas asked me if I was writing about any of this. My answer was "No, for now, but I do want to..."

I used to write a lot. Of course there were school papers for many years, then sermons for a while, and I have kept an extensive journal for a long time as well. I have also blogged before. Trinity and I have had a scrapbook/update kind of blog (The Honse Zoo) for a few years now, but I never saw that as a main creative outlet for my writing. For this kind of writing I had a journal/personal reflection blog for a few years during our time in Atlanta, which I called One's-Self I Sing, after a Walt Whitman poem. I retired that blog a while ago because I felt like it came from a certain chapter in my life that is closed now. But I have missed that kind of blogging ever since I ended One's-Self I Sing.

In fact I have hardly written anything at all for the past year or so, even in my private journal. I have gone through a lull; in more ways than one. I have not felt like myself. Trinity and I were in a constant state of transition and stress there for a while, and it took a serious toll on me. We moved across the country, switched jobs, bought a house, took in a few more animals (see the Zoo for more on this), I had pituitary surgery (that's basically brain surgery for those who don't know)!, my sister moved in with us and then out again, I switched jobs again...

I am sure I have forgotten something in there, but you get the point. I have stored up a lot in the last year-plus, and I am ready to share, to sort, to get back to the some good old reflection. I have been assigning a lot of "reflection papers" to my students at Jewell, but I am rusty at it myself. For them, it is still school-work. For me, it is life-giving, and my life has been lacking without my own "reflection papers." So, welcome to Volume 2. Thanks for listening (well, reading that is).

Let's try this again...

2008-11-07T15:55:00.000-06:00

I have had a lot on my mind lately that in another life made great material for a blog. (At least I thought so anyway.) Of course, now I have spent today's blogging creative energy on setting this thing up and making it look cool... Hopefully the blog-muse will come again soon and there will be something for you to read. In the meantime, please participate in the survey to your right.

Weekend plans

2008-11-07T15:26:00.003-06:00

Here are some of the things I hope to work on this weekend:

Winterizing the house (I've been putting this off for, oh, 10 months now... 110 years of "settling" has made this a pretty overwhelming task)
Experimenting with roasting my own coffee (I'll let you know how it goes)
Changing the spark plug & air filter on my new baby (more on this soon)
Sunday dinner (see sidebar for more on this)
Feeling bad about not finishing the shed that is half built

Looks like its going to be a busy one!