The children were beautiful but looked weak. They did not have nutritional supplements in their diet.

El CHAQUITE, Honduras – We were up on Puca mountain—7,000 feet above sea level. Our vehicle could not go any farther because it was too steep, so we packed our gear and walked for about an hour. It was a tiring walk. I was breathing heavily and my legs and knees were hurting, but I wasn’t going to give up so easily. I was determined to see the projects that OB Honduras was doing.

At the top, the air smelled fresh and I was surrounded by a beautiful, green rain forest and the simplicity of life. I felt the richness of God’s creation as I stood and had a panoramic view of the mountain. I was soon greeted with beautiful smiles of young children who probably don’t often go anywhere except to school, which is a 45-minute walk from home.

When our OBI team first came to this village, the people were surprised to see visitors because no one had visited them before. The team spent five days in the village observing the families and learning about their lives.

Their children were beautiful but looked weak. They did not have nutritional supplements in their diet. The men and women worked hard in the fields but made very little money.

Only a few months after planting, the garden yielded fresh vegetables such as radishes, carrots, onions, beets and cabbages, which Daiman and his family use for food.

All suffered from poor health, living in homes where the living room also served as the kitchen. This causes breathing problems for the families because there is little ventilation for the smoke from the wood-burning fires. If they ever fell ill there was no medical care for miles. Serious sicknesses require a long journey to see a doctor, which often results in arriving too late for treatment.

The OB Honduras team decided to start working with Daiman, an elderly man with one daughter and four grandchildren that he supports. He has worked all of his life on a coffee plantation earning very little income. Now he is 70 years old and endures serious pain in his joints. He is not able to work as before, which means that he is earning very little income. His family’s daily diet comes from the wild vegetation that grows around his home.

The OBI team trained Daiman in family farming and gave him a variety of vegetable seeds. Within a few months, the plants yielded fresh vegetables such as radishes, carrots, onions, beets and cabbages, which Daiman and his family use for food. His harvest was so plentiful that he was even able to sell vegetables to his neighbors for income.

Daiman was very thankful to OBI’s team for coming so far from the city to provide him with an alternative food source for his family. Already, five families have benefited from this garden concept that the OBI team has put in place.

At the end of the day, going downhill was much easier. And over all, we had a fantastic day.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This microenterprise venture is one of many Operation Blessing projects touching lives around the world. You can be a part of improving the quality of life for impoverished communities by supporting these and other life-changing programs.

 

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