Alice has returned to the farm, after being away for the first half of January in Honduras, on a service trip with the Dubuque Franciscans, and then in Dubuque at a Catholic Worker craft retreat. Here are some pictures and reflections from the trip. However, there were a lot of other folks there, and a number of them have already written about it, and so I'm going to cut and paste some of their thoughts also.
Clean water is a huge deal. While we still haven't gotten our water situation totally sorted out at the farm, but we do have easy access to safe drinking water. It is easy for us to forget that water is a matter of life and death. The people in the 7 villages where we were working in Honduras knew how important clean drinking water for their families is, and they were willing to do extraordinary amounts of work in order to acquire it.

The sisters in Dubuque continue to do fundraising to support water projects in Tanzania and Honduras - if you want to know more about these projects - check this link out and go to the bottom of the page.
Sister Water Project

The work was hard. We would go out in the morning, after breakfast. We would get there around 9, and join the team of Hondurans that were already working. They would tell us they'd been there since 5 or 6, because they were hoping to go pick coffee when they finished their trench. We would intersperse our group down the line, sharing tools with the folks that were already there. There were always extra tools for us to use, but not enough tools for everyone, which was a bit of grace because it forced us to take turns and take breaks.
It felt excellent to be working so hard, in the warm air, in the sun, with green growing around, with such a good task. I felt like I feel in May. I'd never used a pick-axe so much before and that was a fun learning experience for me. My only concern is that we were such slow, unskilled workers that we might be slowing the Honduran men down by taking a turn with their tools. But they were good natured about it, and seemed glad for an excuse to take a break too, and I do think we were more of a help than a hindrance. If nothing else, we were an interesting diversion, and I hope that our company and our sincere care also gave some solidarity and encouragement. I was totally humbled by the strength, endurance, and skill of the workers in the trenches - often men, but sometimes women, and sometimes boy and girl children would jump in and join us. I was usually wiped out by 1pm.

We didn't work on Sunday. Instead, after church we had a little party for the community and played games with the kids (and even the adults joined in for some silly games and laughed a lot with us). Here Anna and Maria are teaching Red Light, Green Light to the kids (with Sr. Pat interpretting instructions.) Sr. Pat didn't know how to play, so that added a layer of confusion. Then I heard her ask the children, had they seen a street light? and nobody had. That struck me as a funny unexpected twist in learning this game, but it's still quite a fun game and was a hit with all the kids.

Anna Lucas wrote a really nice summary of the trip which i'm pasting below:
" Less than a week ago, I arrived home from a 10-day trip to Honduras. In only a week and a half, my life changed. I witnessed tragedy and beauty, hardships and triumphs, people coming together and then being separated again. I witnessed the spoken language barrier, and even more, I realized the nonverbal language breakthrough. I witnessed strangers become dear friends and people separated by borders, become family. I saw joy, love, and eloquence; all offset by the nearby pain, sadness, and heartache.
Our team of twenty left with the mission of water, but soon, we realized that our mission encompassed so much more. We spent our days working along Hondurans in the villages of Cocina and Catulaca. We spent nights in companionship with our team and our Honduran neighbors. Together, we cooked, played cards, soccer and dice, we danced, and even did yoga! Everywhere we voyaged we were greeted with open arms and were shown appreciation for our contribution to their project. In collaboration with Catholic Relief Services, this project will make clean water accessible to nearly 800 families, spanning the range of seven rural villages. All families who will benefit from this project have been equally responsible in their monetary and physical contributions. They are each required to give three-hundred U.S. dollars, in addition to the grueling labor they must provide in the trenches themselves.
The collaboration and organization of the Hondurans was inspiring to our team; as was the courage which was required in undertaking a project of this magnitude. Although, what was perhaps the most inspiring, was witnessing those who seemingly have very little, give an incredible lot. From our neighbors who left their doors open all night in case we needed to use the restroom, to the numerous meals that were given to us out of gratitude. We were shown generosity from the day we arrived, until the day we departed. This spirit of generosity is something that we all can carry with us. I witnessed first- hand on this trip that it isn’t what is given, but rather, how it is given.
The people of Honduras taught me to treasure companionship. They not only showed me a reality like I’ve never seen, but they invited to share it with me. They exemplified the beauty of family; in fact, they exemplified beauty in every sense of the word. They showed me what really matters, and what doesn’t matter at all. They made me feel appreciative for all I’ve been blessed with. Most of all, the people of Honduras showed me God. After all, God is love. "

Here's to simple pleasures like eating popsicles. And thanks to all the awesome kids that made me feel like speaking broken spanish is fun, who climbed trees with me, and the guys that let me play soccer with them.
and let me try to play the giant guitar.

here's a good blog about many social justice things in Honduras, including a Jan 7 entry about our trip:
John Donaghy's blog