Ceder

For the past 2 Friday´s we´ve been working at an old folks home in Centro called Ceder. There are not very many ministries for old people. Most of the ministries are usually for homeless or poor children which makes this ministry kind of unique. A major problem they have in Honduras is that many older people are abandoned by their families when they can no longer make money for the family. They are left out on the street, homeless, and to fend for themselves. It is this group of people that the founders of Ceder have a heart for. Most of these people do not received visitors, not even from family members. Aside from finances, one of the major needs of this ministry is simply for people to come and visit to talk with the elderly. It makes me think about the nursing homes in the US and how often I and many other people neglect this generation of people.

Last Friday, Gina and Jenny helped to bathe and clothe the women who stay at the home. Since I worked at a nursing home before I wasn´t very intimidated (like Gina was) because I know that they can´t do it for themselves anymore. Some of the women were very greatful while others weren´t sure what we were doing or why we were doing it to them and they became defensive. One lady threatened to hit me with her cane and another kept spitting on Gina.

Shaun and Leo had the opportunity both Fridays to shave the faces of the men. For me, (Shaun) this was a very humbling experience. Us guys are very prideful and we like to do things for ourselves. Furthermore, we come from a culture where personal space is very important and the prospect of touching and shaving another man´s face was uncomfortable. However the men were very greatful and I had a wonderful time getting to know them.

We also tried to do a Bible story and a craft with them. During the Bible story, one of the women really wanted to watch TV and Kimberly reading the story alound was bother her so she kept turning the TV volume up louder than Kimberly´s voice which made it impossible for anyone to hear. For us it was quite amusing. Then we tried to do the craft which was decorating a paper plate with tissue paper. Some of them just loved getting a paper plate and didn´t want to decorate it. The others wanted us to decorate it for them so we ended up doing the craft while the old folks watched and told us how pretty it looked.

All in all, it was a great experience for all of us and a nice change of pace from working with mostly children. We had a great time just getting to know them.

Shaun with his new found friend, José.

Leo actually met this gentleman who had lived in the Bronx, NY.

They got along real well!

In this picture are the 2 ladies we told you about in the post. The one with the cane is the one who was threatening to hit us and the other one is the one who kept spitting on Gina.

Jenny with one of the sweetest ladies you´ll ever meet, María.