Tuesday January 30, 2018 - Buena Vista
And we are off and running, each of the ladies will be making two dresses today. 

Here are my four amigos and one amiga. It's been a really eventful day! Chris, second to the left got stuck in gate and started screaming, no one moved so I went to see what was up.
He tried to squeeze out and couldn't get his head through. It was rather funny because he has done this several times in the past.  I wanted to get a picture but he was screaming so loud I thought asking him to smile would be out of the question.

The little guy on the right his name is Oliver. He tried to climb up the chain link fence and Chris started to pull on his leg, so the screaming starts once again, no one moves so I go check. The term "play nice" is not in their vocabulary. All the issues we go through in a days time can all be cured by a dulce (candy) or galleta (cookie) from Auntie Linda . The bribe was really big in order to get them all to sit still for this picture. 

 The ladies completed their shorts on Thursday. 
that was the day I got rained out so we are a little behind with pictures

Their work is showing great improvement and I am so
proud of them They are working really hard.
They are beginning to understand that it is important to match lines and prints if at all possible. It is something you can explain but until they see it used it means nothing. 

 

It is really nice to see things getting easier for them.
Four weeks worth of classes are paying off.
I expect to see a BIG improvement over the next four
weeks. 

                                                         
                                    
      Wednesday January 31, 2018   - Back to Los Tambos
We had a misty rain this morning on the way out.  It was cool and cloudy most of the day.  We had a meeting this morning for the ladies to begin working on the school uniforms. We are looking at making all the shirts and the skirts. The pants will still be purchased in Guatemala.  

We put together the rules for having the privilege to use a sewing machine. The girls made up the rules and I am proud of them for taking the responsibility for the equipment. They are learning how
important it is to have the machines in good running condition. If you don't take care of the machine you loose your privilege to keep one. They are also learning that the commitments made by the group are important. It means that EVERYONE helps out with the projects. That is also part of the privilege to have a machine. The machine repairs are paid by Threads of Hope so all they have to do is show up to class with a machine that is in good running order. 

After our meeting the girls began to cut squares for their next project which will be a quilted market bag. 

It amazes me how far they have come in four weeks. I only wish
that I could convey the gratitude they have for our church family and friends who have made all of this possible for them. And of course God who has moved in so many lives to make this happen.

                       
                                 

Sunday January 28th was a day of rest. We spent an enjoyable afternoon with Ms. Lily and her parents. Such a sweet couple. They prepared a meal of rice and beans with salad and chicken. Excellent meal. Ms Lily gave us each a plate full. It would have fed a family of 4. At first I thought Joe and I were sharing it. Needless to say I 

didn't eat it all.

 The afternoon was spent walking around
Xunantunich ruins. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon nice to enjoy the beauty of Belize.

 Baby Howler Monkeys playing in the trees near the entrance.
It was fun to see them that close.

Absolutely spectacular view from the top of the grand palace.

Moving on to Monday January 30th, 2018 - Los Tambos
Only one thing to say about Los Tambos roads...............they have

gotten worse. I'm not sure how that is even possible but they are NASTY.

 Oh yes I forgot to tell you that it rained all Sunday night and all day Monday. The bridge is flooded this time to 6 ft and the ferry is still closed. The amazing thing is that through all of this wetness, sticky mud and flooding the people take it all in stride. Most happy that God has blessed them with another day. A lot of the people here in the village only travel a few miles a day if that.  On Saturday they take the bus to Cayo for Market. Their lives are very simple. 
On the up side for us our cistern is now full and I can do as much laundry as I want. 

Technical problems are over.
This page has been updated with photos.

Sewing on Monday through the rains. 

Oh yes, lets not forget lunch! 

Here we are with a lot of attitude because they finished their skirts. They have good reason to be proud.

Dorothy, you will probably remember these?
I believe this is the project you did when you were here in 2015?

This is a woman's size dress that Grandma's PJs makes for the children! AND in Vol colors but she doesn't know that.

Monday January 29th Los Tambos
Great day sewing! The ladies made two small dresses and finished their skirts. We had 8 ladies in class. We are still using the generator and it is still raining. It rained so hard yesterday that we had rain and geckos falling from the ceiling in the class.That was pretty funny.

We are currently experiencing technical difficulties so I hope to post some pictures later today.

We have been very blessed to have this opportunity. Friday will be 4 weeks and it seems like it is going fast. Through our everyday life we are constantly reminded who runs the show.

Thursday January 25th............a very wet day. 
This was on the wall at the lumber yard where I waited for Joe to pick me up.
I really liked this saying, very simple.

Friday January 26th...............rained all last night along with lightening, thunder and wind.
We had planned a trip to Belmopan to have our pass ports stamped. It was still raining when
we left the house. We were saying a little prayer that the bridge to Unitedville would not be flooded.
Well that didn't quite work out. The river crested at 5 feet above the bridge.

The road and bridge to Buena Vista

 The ferry shut down today too.
It only takes a day like this to remind you who is really in charge here.
AND who really has the plan.

This is where I was yesterday. The road in and out of Buena Vista. Glad I listened. 

Tuesday January 23rd was sewing day in Buena Vista.

It was one of those crazy busy days. We had 9 ladies sewing

which is really great and a few electrical problems.

It wasn't until the end of the day that I realized I hadn't taken one

 single picture. We spent the day making the decorative stitches and shorts.

On Thursday I will make sure I get a few pictures.
It is always so exciting to see them learning and really understanding!

Wednesday January  24th, Los Tambos. You just never know who or what will show up for class. The girls wanted see if we could make a pair of shorts for the chicken..............that didn't sound like a good idea to me. I'm not sure who they thought would make the pattern.
I did learn that the chicken likes to come into the cabana because there is food on the floor from lunch. That's a pretty smart bird.

The ladies finished shorts for their children. The girls are doing so much better on the details of their work. That is what we want. Next we will begin working on dresses. 

We still don't have electricity. They are saying we will have it hooked up next week.

Right now we are running on a generator and it is working well.  

We had a lighter turn out today because of the rain. Roads are clay and when they get wet they are VERY slippery and sticky. Most of the women have motor cycles so it makes it even more treacherous.  

Thursday January 25th, Buena Vista -  It rained off and on all night. We had to drive through the water to get in to town. It wasn't too bad but deep enough to make you pay attention. Joe dropped me off and left to go to LosTambos. Then the down pours started.

After an hour children were leaving school. I was informed that the water was rising fast and unless

I wanted to spend the next couple days there I had better make plans to leave right away.

So I did. Teachers were piling in their cars and I found a group that would take me back to the main highway where Joe could pick me up. I really wanted to get a picture as we parted the waters but as I recall I was too busy praying to use the camera.  Of course a big cheer when we got to the other side!!! Thank you Jesus!!!

We had a very ominous sky most of the day with periods of very heavy down pours.

It's time to go home and dry off and sew another day.

Tuesday was a great day!  We completed the concrete block base for the wall.  A little over 1,000 blocks... What kind of mortar mixture did we use?... New model called JOE-CARLOS-PEDRO. All hand mixed on the ground and carried in pails.  Glad that portion is complete.  Now we get started pouring the columns and setting the posts.  Next week should show good progress when we start hanging fence.  Lots of work but it seems every day there are guys from the village ready to help.

Mr Pedro is the general contractor on the job and he keeps things moving forward.  Everyone teases him about how hard he makes us work.  I told them "This is nothing - you should have worked for this Doc Collier guy who makes us work really hard on mission trips".

Earlier this week we had a little rain that made the gravel roads just damp enough for grading.  Grading upgraded the condition of the roads from "horrendous" to just "really bad".  Late yesterday afternoon it started raining and has continued all day today.  That much rain downgraded the roads to whatever is worse than horrendous.  Los Tambos is nothing but mud and ruts.

All the rain today has made a raging rapids out of the calm little brook next to the school.

 Saturday January 20th, a typical day at the Market.
 We bought our produce for the week and headed back out of town. Home to do laundry and clean house.

Sunday January 21st, once again back at St. Andrew's Anglican Church. Beautiful little church.
Today we had a special treat, the children of the congregation had a special lesson about how God is the Potter and we are the clay. They also sang several songs. They certainly were not shy! 

Sunday has also become our car wash day. The guys did such a fantastic job we decided to go back.

A black car and the Belizian mud and dust is not a very good combination. We had enough rain on Thursday to really make a mess. The guys earned their money. $15.00, cleans inside and out. That's $7.50 US.  

We walked to the Tortilla Factory while we waited on the car to be finished. Bought a supply of corn tortillas for the week. That's all they sell. No flour tortillas, just corn. It is interesting to stand by the window and watch them being made.

Not much excitement on Sunday. Relax and prepare for Monday classes.

In class on Monday January 22nd.  
We have a few to finish and we will wrap up the skirts on Wednesday.










They are all excited to be working on projects
 instead of the fundamentals. It's always nice
to see a project finished.

Friday January 19th. 
Sorry that we have been a little slow on some of our posts. We have been without internet off and on for two days.
So here we are on Friday. Laundry day and cleaning house.  It turned out to be beautiful with a little rain late this afternoon.

Tomorrow is Market day and get organized for next weeks classes. Joe has somethings to post about
the progress in Los Tambos. I have several photo pages to do too.
So God willing and the internet works we will have more for you tomorrow.

I think we are 100 percent settled in now.

Here we are Wednesday January 17th.  Back in Los Tambos for sewing classes. Still no electricity.
We borrowed the neighbors generator and we are in business. Today we have a selection of fabric for the ladies to make skirts or faldas in Spanish. Each lady chose a number which corresponded with a fabric and that was her fabric for her skirt. In the picture you see on the right Ms Magdalena. She is the instructor. She is showing the ladies how to make a skirt without a pattern. Believe me I was paying attention too. I've made a lot of things with out a pattern but nothing I would wear.

Flory is the new mother on the right, in that little tub is her baby. This makes the little one very portable. They are all so very creative on ways to bring their children to class.

We have 10 ladies in the sewing class.  Six of the ladies are the ones who made the school uniforms for this year so they are very familiar with the machines.
We have 4 ladies who have not sewn much at all. The experienced ladies are helping the others. NOW that's what it is all about. By the end of next week we will be well on our way to have our skirts finished. 

 Thursday January 18th, we are in Buena Vista. It was raining when we woke up and it rained all day. Good  day to stay inside and sew.

It was an exciting day for the girls. We have been working on the fundamentals of sewing which can be very boring. Practice sewing circles, straight lines, X in a box, reverse sewing and button holes. OVER and OVER again BORING, BORING. BORING.  Surprisingly enough they all came back after lunch. I did a demonstration on what fancy stitching sewing machine can do and they were amazed. They have all sorts of ideas now on how to use the stitches. To see the look on their faces as they watched the machine begin to make intricate patterns as they stepped on the peddle. That's another " what it's all about".  They were so giddy they didn't want to go home. I'm excited for them.







Next Tuesday we should have some good pictures of their creations.
God has given all of them a lot of talent they just don't realize that yet. I am                                          very blessed because I get to be a small part of all of this.
Thank you God!