A few histories

I don’t know what information to give as it changes by the hour. This morning we thought all international flights had been cancelled. And certainly it is impossible to fly out of the capital city. But the US Embassy sent an email saying Continental has not yet canceled flights out of San Pedro. American and Delta have. The former President, Zelaya, did try to return today. I think, though info is still coming in, that he was turned away the first time. And right now as I write, he is trying to land in the capital city but there are military obstacles on the runway. There is a group of Zelaya supporters outside the airport throwing things at the police. But we are waiting. We won’t know if we can fly out until the last minute. Pam and Chris had planned to stay a few extra days to do a canopy tour of the rain forest. So they are not supposed to be leaving with us. Meanwhile, we are still safe. The police checkpoints on the road to La Ceiba which are always there, used to regularly pull over the Jones family because they were American. They check registrations and license, etc. They must be instructed to look for something else because they always let us by without inspection and Jeanie said it used to be 99.9% of the time they would get pulled over for inspection.

So I thought I would share some of the histories of the kids who live here. They’ve told me the stories but in bits and pieces so I might mix up a few details. There is Xiomara, an 18-month old, Her young mother tried to abort her at five months, but failed. Xiomara survived, was born in a hospital and the mother ran away before any birth certificate could be issued. The Honduras agency that protects children, contacted the Jones and they added Xiomara to their family. She is blind because she wasn’t in the womb long enough for all the right nerves to connect. She is weak and not yet crawling, though they had a mini party when she started saying Mama and Papa.

There is Karen, a lovely 3- year-old with a charming smile.. When the orphanage was in the Valley of Angels in the mountains, her mother knocked on the door and handed Karen to Mama and Papa. She was 9-months old. She was a young mother with a free lifestlye. She’s had five kids and given away all but the boy. Of all the kids, Karen had the toughest time adjusting to the orphanage. She screamed constantly for almost 6 months. Then she turned mean and scared all the other kids. She is doing better now and I never would have guessed her history. Occasionally Mama and Papa have to take Karen to visitation with her mom. The last visit was tough for Karen and made her angry and mean for a time—her mom came with another baby.

There is Yeseyli. She is about 18-months old too. The Jones heard about an area in the mountains where abuse and rape were common. They tried to travel there but it involved a 4-hour car trip and then a 12-hour horse back ride. Mama wasn’t physically able to make the trip and Papa’s Spanish was good enough so they put out word that if anyone needed help, contact them. Months later, a young teenage mother contacted them. She begged them to come get her before the 60-year-old man who had raped her, killed the baby. Somehow, they connected and Yeseyli joined the family. She often wakes in the morning singing the words Pa-pa pa-pa-pa followed by a second verse of Da-da-da-da.

I am so thankful these kids have a loving home now.