When we entered the abandoned building our first week in Honduras we often were asking ourselves, “Where do we begin?”  Six weeks later we are still asking the same question, even after much progress.  The first two weeks we scrubbed all the mud and bat feces off the floor and started clearing the area where we planned to construct the shower.  As soon as we began to make some progress, the rain came unrelentess for four straight days.  Finally, the rain stopped and we returned to the building to find all of our work ruined.  The house flooded with water, there was a mini landslide behind the building, which piled up on the area we had previous cleared for the shower.  But we didn’t let the bad luck hold us back.  The next day we started working on our composting toilet, which has been an object of oddity to those helping us, and at moments, to us as well.  But we hope that once it is complete it can be used as a model in the community as a sustainable latrine option for human waste management and a way to improve water quality in the River Valley.  

Obtaining electricity has been another challenge in this rather remote location.  But after many obstacles, we are excited to report that today a transformer is being installed that will be able to power the Un Mundo building and the surrounding homes of our neighbors. 

We have been making a lot of progress so far, but we’ve had a lot of set backs as well, although, this gives us all the more reason to celebrate our small successes, such as the steps to the back door, a wash basin, and the kitchen sink, which were recently completed and even more noteworthy, have running water. 

We hope to be able to be in the building full-time by the first week in April.  In the meantime, we are enjoying camping out a few times a week and getting closely acquainted with the current residents, the bats and scorpions.  

Upon arriving in El Pital, Rob and Elly were pleasantly surprised to find the first phase of the high school project almost complete. 

Two new classrooms and a new office for the administration only required minor details before completion.  The new classrooms are much larger, with lots of natural light and high ceilings to provide the much-needed ventilation with all the heat. 

Mid-March Elly and Rob had two important meetings to evaluate the high school project, one with the high school transparency committee and another with the larger community of El Pital.  Both meetings were incredibly informative and generated new ideas to improve the current process and better involve and inform the community. 

The community meeting was also an exciting opportunity for Elly and Rob to introduce themselves to the community and facilitate more open communication between the director and the larger community.  They look forward to collaboratively implementing the ideas generated by the community throughout the second phase.  The second Phase will be breaking ground within the first few weeks of April.

After six months of planning, we (Rob and Elly) finally arrived in Honduras.  The minute we stepped off the plane we’ve had a plethora of resources being offered to us from many like-minded individuals working in the River Valley.  This has made our transition much easier. 

While getting our feet wet, we decided to rent a small room in the nearby city of La Ceiba.  We are sharing an apartment with a young Honduran couple that just welcomed their first child into the world.  We also have two university scholarship recepients living with us whom are from Las Mangas, a neighboring town of El Pital.

Anxious to complete the Un Mundo building, we spent the first few weeks running around the city going from one hardware store to the next looking for the best prices for all the materials needed.  La Ceiba has very few street signs or addresses so finding specific stores also turned into an orienteering mission, but it was a good way to be acquinted with the city.

Amongst the chaos of being in transition, we have still managed to find a little down time to take a swim in the river and make friends in El Pital or go to the mall and watch a movie while in La Ceiba. 

It’s been almost a year and the time is quickly approaching for the big move down to Honduras. Elly and Rob have been working hard over the months preparing for Un Mundo’s reinstatement in the Cuenca.  It all started back in January 2007 with an email from Tim.  Over the months, one thing led to another and in June we flew down to Honduras to meet Ken and the community of El Pital for the first time.  Since then, we’ve been busy gathering information, talking with past volunteers, coordinating fundraising events, cultivating partnerships, and planning for Un Mundo’s future. 

Our first real dose of Un Mundo work came in October when we attended Project Honduras’ Conference in the beautiful town of Copan Ruinas, near the Guatemalan boarder. While we were there, we began to expand Un Mundo’s network and gathered tons of resources.  A panel of Honduran professionals introduced us to some of the most pressing issues facing rural communities today, particularly the impacts on the youth, which was the main theme of the conference.  We met other individuals and organizations working to combat different challenges throughout various regions of the country.  We intend to deepen the relationships formed at the conference in hopes to forge lasting partnerships, particularly those working and living near the Cangrejal River Valley. 

Recently, we’ve been working with an organization called WorldCamp which is based out of North Carolina. We’re trying to collaborate with World Camp to bring college students to Honduras during the summer and work in the public schools to educate students on issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.  We are also researching the possibility of conducting a community needs assessment in El Pital this coming year.  If implemented, this assessment will be a collective project to gather information about their needs, existing conditions, demographics, etc.   We are hoping to generate support from local and international universities, using professors and students to assist with the assessment.  We’re excited about all the work that lies ahead.

 Rob & Elly