Wow!

Busy day yesterday, started with a trip to see Felix, then down the road to Fransisco, he is the Foreman on the Sewing Center project. It turns out that Eric used some of the Sunrise funds for bricks and mortar for the wall of the well at his house. Fransisco has 17 kids and grandkids(?) but no protection over top of the well. I guess it is a Sunrise Water Project. You don't need to go very far out of town to experience extreme poverty, I'm sure the others will expand on this.

George

I'll expand on Felix. He is a young man that Eric is helping. He cut his leg while chopping bush in the jungle. Medical help is dicey where he lives. Long story shortened they got him to hospital and tried to fix his wound. In the process they tried to take a graft from his other foot. The leg ended up getting infected and then gangrenous and was amputated just below the knee. The foot was botched badly and as a result he has had problems with it since. For a long time he got around on his knees. Eric has been able to get(with the help of Eurica Rotary)a prosthetic for the amputated leg. The problem is that the foot has a gaping ulcer with what looks like bone showing through. He needs reconstructive surgery or we're all sure he will end up loosing his foot. We will be getting him some antibiotics today as a stop gap and see what we can do when we get home.We went to another barrio in the afternoon to deliver a few of the goods that we brought with us. I'll leave it to someone else to describe that.

Lisa

Yesterday was an awesome day. The trip to the barrio to visit Miriam and family. This is Rosio's mother. She lives about 150 meters up a hill above the bay. The view is fabulous but the conditions would make you cry. There are probaly 10 to 15 residensces in this area. They are attached to the side hill /ravine. Construction is scrap wood, a little concrete. flattened steel barrels, and parts of beached sailboats etc. Dirt floors, out house and shower out the back door. Looks like in the rain the outhouse probably runs down hill, most likely throught he house. We delivered back packs for kids to start shcool and skipping ropes, soccer ball and diapers with accessories. The looks on the little girls faces and the the little boy when he got the soccer ball were a lifetime memory. The extra clothes Lisa had brought were also a huge hit. Kris was very popular with Miriam although I think he only understoods half what she said the conversation was certtainly flowing. All in all a great visit.

Dennis

Busy day yesterday. The others have pretty well covered it. The kids here are amazing. So sweet, friendly and curious. It is unbelievable to experience the poverty they live in first hand. It is one thing to witness it on the news or in documentaries but when you spend an afternoon chatting with a women in her dirt floor kitchen it really hits home. Miriam described to me, as best as I could understand with my limited Spanish, the most pressing issues in her two room make shift house. Water was by far the biggest. Although there is a roughly held together pipe system to bring water to the top of the hill the pump doesn't work. In order to have any water they have to haul buckets up numerous broken concrete steps followed by steps dug into the side of the hill that eventually fade into a simple steep dirt trail that ends at there front gate. The whole home seems to be held together by old fishing line, plastic bags and lots of barbed wire. It was hard to say how many people were living in this one house but I counted at least 8, including 2 babies and there might have been another on the way. In the rainy season water is an even bigger issue, constantly running down the hill and right thru the house. It makes you thankful for the luck of being born Canadian. Can't wait to climb on a horse and head into the jungle tomorrow!

Kris