While Scott rested, I got in touch with Wally, a friend of Brian Kamstra, who has offered to show us around Comayagua. Specifically he offered to bring us out to La Canada, a community on the other side of Comayagua where Brian Kamstra works.
The community of La Canada began when the Canadian government set up 50 homes for victims of Hurricane Mitch. Since then, the people have formed a community. Brian has worked here for a number of years, building a church and most recently a school. We got involved around that time and helped with some financing for the building. Although Brian has done a great job keeping us informed on the progress of the work, it is still nothing compared to seeing it in person.
Wally was to pick us up in the lobby at 4:30 pm. He had to borrow a vehicle to get down the road to La Canada which has been severely damaged because of the recent rains. Potholes are horrendous and we were lucky to have a 4x4 vehicle. On our way, we stopped at the home of Pastor Jose who so graciously came along to give us the tour.
For years Pastor Jose mentored and worked with Pastor Marlin (of Del Nance) so we were in good company.
Besides bumpy, the drive to La Canada was pretty flat. It is on the opposite side of Comayagua as our center in Del Nance.
As we arrived, it was already getting dark but we were warmly welcomed by the local children who ran to give us hugs! It was very sweet to see them utilize the space around the church and school and know it was a blessing to them and their families.
Pastor Jose led us on a tour and showed us each of the classrooms and the apartment. The building is beautiful! I was very impressed with the craftsmanship as well as the site planning that went into place at this location.
They have a beautiful vision for the children of La Canada and hope to over a bilingual education to all which typically is only offered to higher-end private school students. Many people question the idea, but I agree when Pastor Jose says that these children (not from the city) have the same potential as their counterparts and a great way to change a community is through education.
After our tour, we took photos and Scott lifted kids in the air. It was cute how they all lined up to take a turn. Soon a little girl took me by the hand and started leading me away. I questioned her in my broken Spanish and I understood she wanted to play. It didn't take long to understand she wanted to play duck duck goose. So, we rounded up a crowd and started to play Pato, Pato, Ganso. Even I took a turn and had so much fun... we laughed together and again I realized that two things don't need translation... love and fun.
It was quite dark as we made our way back to Comayagua. We were getting very tired so we decided on a quick supper at Pizza Hut.
Wally needed to return the truck he had borrowed while we went in to order. Since Wally served as translator, we had to limp by with Pastor Jose's little English and my little Spanish. But we made it!
Wally arrived just as our food was being brought out. After dinner, we made plans for tomorrow and headed back to our hotel. It was a very rewarding visit. I'm so glad to have had the chance to see La Canada first hand.
