¡La Navidad en Utila!

The volunteers had a 2 week break from the Vacation Activities Program for the holidays, so 7 of us traveled to Utila for 5 days to celebrate Christmas and to go scuba diving. Here are some of the pictures from the non-traditional Christmas trip :):)

While the 5 girls were swimming in the ocean, a dog came to play with us. Her collar was green so I started calling her, Lucky <3

We could tell she wasn't a stray because she had a collar and looked healthy. She was super friendly, but tried to get a little too cuddly on our beach towels!

Downpour as we were leaving the beach to walk back to our hotel... at least we were already wet from swimming and my camera is waterproof!

A sunset view from our balcony.  It really looked like that...

When I was down here before, I got my PADI open water dive certification at Parrots Dive Center. Since 2 of my roommates wanted to get certified and I wanted to dive, we went back to the same place. The people are fun, it's a great location, and it's one of the cheaper dive shops that I had seen. I recommend it to anybody visiting Utila!!

My sister sent a Christmas gift with me when I flew to Honduras in October!! I kept with our tradition of opening a gift on Christmas Eve and it was a new dress complete with shoes and earrings :):) Thanks Tristen <3

With Jon and Lucy :) I met Jon on my first trip to Honduras and he now lives in Utila, working as a dive master at Alton's (another great dive center with an incredible 2 story dock with hammocks).  Lucy is his pup and she is awesome!

On Christmas day, we had the opportunity to travel to one of the small cay islands close to Utila. We went with a fisherman and he brought another small group as well. Along with that group, we were the only people on this uninhabited island. This is a picture of some of the cays on our way there.

It was beautiful  <3

Water Cay

We got to stay in this paradise for about 5 hours.

I enjoyed watching the pelicans :)

The water was gorgeous!

The island was so small, we could walk from one end to the other in about 5 minutes.

We had sunny weather for MOST of the day... you will see what I mean later.

Merry Christmas!

I got to skype with my parents later on that night and they sent me an email with a voicequilt--a string of voicemails from friends and family members wishing me a Merry Christmas along with words of encouragement. It was the best gift I could have asked for <3 Thanks everybody!

Herb the hermit crab!

"Every great journey begins with just a single step."

Water Cay from afar

We spent a few hours snorkeling :)

And testing out my underwater camera...

"If you have it [Love], you don't need to have anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have."

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

It's crazy to see how many fish are around your feet and you don't even know it!

Adam is a professional underwater model.

And the thunder rolls... In this setting, even a storm is beautiful.

You could actually see the rain!

It was beautiful from afar, but a bit different when it reached our island!! We were freezing with nowhere to take cover!

"Do what makes you happy, be with those who make you smile, and laugh as much as you breathe."

In the boat on our way back to the main island :)

Pre-diving shots from the dock

Still on the dock waiting to dive

I see less crabs on the beaches here than I do in my house, on the sidewalks, and in other random places (on the stairs to the dock).

Finally on the boat and ready to go diving on the morning of our last day there! Chris and Adam had finished (and passed!) their course and I got to go on the fun-dives with them :):)

Equipment? Check!

A little rough after diving, but the guys look good so we'll keep it!

The guys rented a deepwater camera and captured some great photos from the dives!

Shipwreck!

School of fish :)

That's me, can't you tell?

It is such a cool experience to breath underwater and to just become part of another world...

Spotted Eagle Ray

It was pretty big!

On the way out of the cave!

With Adam underwater. That's the "OK" sign for diving :):)

Green Moray Eel

Up close and personal...

We had a great time in Utila, but I missed my friends and family! Thanks again to everybody who left a message on my voicequilt and made me feel special on Christmas <3

Improving Homes for "The Future"

The start of a new year brings the start of a new project =)  Along with the other current volunteers, I have organized a construction project in which we will be working with families to make safety and sanitation improvements to their homes in El Porvenir (which translates to "the future").

**Please check out our website for more information on this project and to see how you can help!!

http://www.honduraschildren.org/construction-project/

One of the families we are working with lives in an impoverished area of El Porvenir and they don't even have windows or doors on their mud house.  We were connected with this family through Pastor Jorge Williams from the church that we use as one of our locations for VAP.  We had an extra bed in the volunteer houses and when we decided to donate it, he brought us to this family.  They have 6 children living in this small space and they were extremely appreciative to have another bed to share amongst them.

When we met this family, the baby girl was only 9 days old and she didn't have a name.  Upon Pastor Jorge's suggestion, they decided to name her Karly Elizabeth.  Elizabeth is both the mother's name and the name of one of the other volunteers.  She is now just over a month old and is absolutely precious <3

We also donated some toys and clothes to the family and they were thrilled :)

A big part of the Porvenir Construction Project will be building bathrooms... with actual walls though!

This is the style of toilet we will use because it requires very little maintenance and will benefit the families for a long period of time.  The hardest work will probably be digging the huge hole that lies beneath it!

We will also potentially build pilas (large sinks/tubs full of clean water for washing, etc.), pour concrete flours, or build furniture--all based on the needs of the families.

At another site, we will be building a couple of bathrooms for several families to share.

This special project is completely funded and organized by the volunteers, but the families will work with us to do the actual construction. We are also getting other community members involved! One of the men in our adult English classes is in charge of the current road construction in El Porvenir and he has offered to volunteer his spare time to work on these projects.

 Our goal is to address some of the underlying factors that contribute to health and safety issues, in hopes of improving the lives of our students and their families. If you also feel inspired to help, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our website:

http://www.honduraschildren.org/construction-project/