Now she is doing a school ministry in Los Pinos, which basically means she is trying to keep kids in school by offering tutoring, school supplies and accountability. Many parents don't care if their kids attend school. They don't bother to enroll them or buy any supplies. Molly gets them signed up and then drops by the house and the schools to make sure they are attending. She's crazy smart, so she is able to provide tutoring too.
When she wanted to celebrate her fourth anniversary I was all for it. For me, the anniversary of the day I arrived in Honduras is more significant than my birthday. I celebrate my anniversary every year with good friends so I wanted make her anniversary special too. However, that's not so easy while I'm on bedrest.
Initially she was going to cook something and bring it over. Then she asked if I thought I could walk enough to go out to lunch if she picked me up in her car. I told her sure.
She chose a cute little restaurant with traditional Honduran cuisine. The food was excellent and the server very attentive, which is unusual in Honduras. The place itself had so many cute details! Check out the way they served us our fresh juice. (below) It's called a guacal and comes from a tree called jicaro. I'm told people from the pueblos used to drink from these, but they are not common anymore.
We stopped at the grocery store to get Ana's medicine and two notebooks for Ana's boys. Most Honduran supermarket chains have a bank and a pharmacy inside. It's pretty convenient since you can't pay bills online. However, the pharmacy which used to occupy this grocery store was suddenly gone. It was empty with boards across the service window.
We didn't have any luck with notebooks either. Honduran kids have very specific notebooks for each grade level and class subject. They come in various sizes with different numbers of pages. I never knew so many different notebooks existed! The store had everything except the type of notebooks we needed.
Luckily, the store where Molly buys all of her school supplies is really close. The lady gave us a discount because we're buying supplies for others. They had excellent prices on backpacks. I got one for Jired. It's totally his style. The zipper and material seem sturdy. That still leaves David with no backpack, but we are hoping he'll get one through Impacto Juvenil next week.
(Shout out to friends in the US who are helping with school expenses for Ana's kids - thank you! We appreciate your help! At this point, whatever they don't get from Impacto Juvenil will be up to us.)
Finally we went to the pharmacy. We both gasped at the price of the medicine the doctor prescribed for Ana. Molly asked if I was still going to buy it. I said yes. In our most recent conversation Ana told me that she can't go to the bathroom because she can't sit or stand. She also said she thought she was "going to die" coming down the steps. She needs the medicine.
At first I planned to hide the receipt so she wouldn't feel bad for how much I spent. But later I thought about how people aren't always great about taking their meds. If she knew how much it cost, she might be better about taking it. I left the receipt in the bag.
We dropped everything off. Jired was psyched about his backpack. I knew he would be. You know how it feels when you find the perfect gift for someone? That's how I felt giving it to him.
When I got home my (uninjured) right ankle was killing me. Nine months ago I got Chikungunya. The pain flares up now and then, sometimes stronger than others. It's been aching for a couple of weeks but last night it hurt a lot.
At that point something clicked. All the symptoms Ana was describing were Chikungunya symptoms - not being able to sit on the toilet, not being able to lift up her arms, feeling like she was going to die walking down the stairs, the pain in her neck and back. It all finally made sense.
I called Ana to share my new theory - that she and I are both suffering from a flare up of Chikungunya. She agreed. In fact, many of her friends who had Chikungunya a year or two ago (Ana had it 2 years ago) are going through the same thing. I think she was relieved to put a label on all of the pain, although she may return to the doctor if she doesn't feel better soon.
Thank God I don't have as many symptoms as Ana. So far I only have pain in my right ankle and right elbow. She says hers has been getting progressively worse for about a month. Yesterday she was able to lift her arms over her head, so maybe that was a turning point and she is on the mend. The expensive medicine helps a lot with stress, she said. She feels much more relaxed. That was good to hear.
We talked about the things she's been praying about lately. She feels like she and her family are invisible. Sometimes she believes that nobody sees the needs they have, or even the positive things they do. I've never known Ana to be down like this. I'm praying for her emotional recovery as well as the physical.
Last week she was offered a job working on a political campaign for this years' elections. She wanted to take the position but wasn't able to because of an upcoming surgery. She had to decide between a necessary surgery and a job that will bring in $150/month for full time work. It was a tough choice. She's hoping the opportunity will present itself again after surgery. I assured her she made the right choice. She said I couldn't imagine how tough that decision was. She's right. I can't imagine.
