Don Chano

Fany's father in law who lives out in the country fell off a horse on Friday. He's in his 70's and not in the best of health to begin with. He wasn't supposed to be out taking care of the cows, but you know those people who refuse to slow down? That's Don Chano. I think working gives him a purpose.

His wife had quite a scare when a man known for trafficking narcotics came to her door. He told Doña Paola that he found Don Chano on the road but Don Chano refused to get in the car with him. Don Chano just asked the man to go to his house and send his son to get him.

Santos went and found his father, lying over his horse, unable to move. The horse had been spooked by a donkey and tossed Don Chano onto a pile of big rocks. He managed to pull himself onto the horse and get out to the road, but he couldn't go any further.

Santos (Fany's husband) has two vehicles. Each one is always on the verge of dying or dead. This week his big work truck is functioning. Santos didn't think his dad should ride in the work truck for over an hour to get to the city. The road is bumpy, and worse in that truck. It would be a rough ride for his father in that condition.

Fany asked if I could drive and pick up Don Chano to take him to the hospital. I said sure, although I knew it was a bad idea for my ankle. I mean, we couldn't let the man die there.

We tried to find other vehicles but nobody in the little village had a car. I said if he were that bad off, he probably shouldn't wait over an hour for me to get there and pick him up. So Santos headed for the hospital with his father in the big, bumpy truck.

Don Chano was in such pain and Santos was so nervous that he ended up driving to the nearest clinic and taking an ambulance the rest of the way. Santos thought his father was going to die on the car ride!

X rays showed no broken bones so they did an MRI which showed no organ damage. Fany told me they gave him an antibiotic (for bruised rib cage!) and pain medicine. I asked why in the world they would give an antibiotic for bruised ribs. She didn't know.

Santos brought his father home late Friday night. Since then poor Don Chano has been here, with Santos and Fany, in Laura's bed. He needs help to go to the bathroom. It has to be so hard for a man who needs to be working all of the time to sit in a pink bedroom for four days!

He really wanted to go back home and be with his wife. He was worried about her being home alone. He thought people might come and steal the stuff they keep outside the house if they realize there is no man there. But he can't sit up or move around on his own. His wife certainly can't lift him. So he had to stay here.

He asked for some remedies that country people use. Fany kind of laughed about it, but he was in so much pain she gave in. Yesterday Fany gave him a leaf wrap on his ribs where it hurt most. He told Fany he hasn't slept for days, but the leaf wrap helped.

Sunday Fany had him agreeing to get a second opinion, but by Monday he changed his mind. Today Fany called Santos and asked him to please come home from work. His father was pale and hurting. They went to a new health building a block away. I didn't even realize the place is open. Last I knew they were still putting up the walls, but I guess I haven't walked down there in over a month because of my own medical problems.

Fany said it is a really great medical center. It has an emergency room and specialists. And clean bathrooms with soft toilet paper. She told me about the soft toilet paper three times. Toilet paper in Honduras is thin and NOT soft. A place with clean bathrooms and soft toilet paper must be good.

The doctors said he didn't need the antibiotic. Shocker! Instead they gave him an IV of pain meds. They said the pain medicine he was given Friday is nowhere near strong enough. By the time he got home Don Chano was feeling great! He sat down for dinner at the dining room table for the first time. After dinner he relaxed in the living room, watching tv.

They gave him free pain meds to get through tonight and tomorrow with a prescription for more. They also gave him a medication that Fany said is usually really expensive, for free to protect his stomach and something else free to help him sleep. Fany was impressed with that place.

I told Fany to make sure he gets his meds before the eight hours passes so he doesn't have to suffer anymore. She is going to set an alarm so he gets his meds on time. She said her back is really sore from hauling Don Chano in and out of bed. She didn't know if she could do it much longer. But if he gets his meds tomorrow, he may be able to move around and he can home soon.

We both feel horrible that he had to suffer unnecessarily for so long. I don't understand why the doctors here give antibiotics for everything, even bruised ribs.

I'm going to Jamaica!

I was so excited to get back to work on Monday! Normally I can't stand it when they ask a bunch of adults to do hand gestures with songs. It's a very Honduran thing to do, for little kids and adults alike. Yesterday I was hand gesturing and singing away at our weekly devotional.

The topic was so interesting. Since we are a group who works for justice, the topic was about explaining things that aren't just. The co-founder of my organization did the best job I've ever heard explaining why God allows things that aren't fair to happen.

First he told us a story.

We were to imagine that we were about to have a baby. We had to decide between two fates for the child. In once case, the child would have no free will, but would always do the right thing. They would be respectful, loving, kind, helpful - everything good. In the other case the child would have free will. The question he posed was which life would we choose for our child.

All but two of the 150 people chose free will.

Then he talked about all of the unjust things that have happened to members of our organization lately. Sometimes even when they, themselves, made good choices and were fighting for what is just, they were killed as a result of someone else's bad choice (the choice to kill them).

We talked about how free will makes everything more significant. Making a good decision means so much more when you know it would have been easier to choose the "bad" option. Having your child choose to hug you and kiss you means more when they are not duty bound to do so. Hearing "I love you" means more when you know you fought hard for that love.

We talked about how Jesus had free will but still chose to die for our sins. Adam and Eve had free will and even they got messed up in a world much simpler than today's.

So, we can blame God for things we don't understand but in one way or another injustices can be traced back to free will. He even covered hurricanes and cancer. I'll have to ask a coworker about those because I forgot, but I did understand at the time.

After the devotional, as always, we divide into our individual projects. My boss talked about all of the new plans for Impacto Juvenil. Some of them are great! We are going to offer tutoring, build another library and have reading clubs in each library, offer classes up to sixth grade for kids who dropped out. Those things will all be great.

But there is another plan developed by people who sit behind desks and come up with ideas that sound great in theory or look good on paper. Those people don't understand the reality of our work. So, we'll do our best and see what happens. I understand why the office people think the kids will benefit from their plan, but I believe the reality is that people who were already drowning in work will now have a lot more work with few positive results. I hope I'm wrong.

We've been trying to celebrate Isa's birthday for two days. She was sick Sunday and Monday so her mother gave her antibiotics, of course. Today she went to the doctor and was diagnosed with "allergies to the weather". That's Honduran for "she caught the cold that is going around but we like to blame it on the weather because it's easier to blame it on allergies than to educate people about germs, how they are passed, and how to keep from getting sick." They gave her acetaminophen and anti-parasite medicine. Tomorrow her brothers go back to school but Friday is a holiday so we will celebrate Isa's birthday then.

My coworker and I had plans for tomorrow. We were going to schedule the clubs for the year to come. However, she just called to say that she and the psychologist are doing home visits instead. Since I can't do home visits yet I'll be resting tomorrow. It's still frustrating! I hate to feel like I am not able to contribute. But my ankle did hurt a lot today so I know it's best.

Tomorrow I am going to call for another doctor appointment. Everyone is telling me my ankle should look better than it does. I am going to ask if this is normal and get more specific instructions as to what I should and should not do. I can feel it healing. I think it just needs more time.

My friend won a trip to Jamaica for having the third highest sales at her job in the US. It's all expenses paid, plus resort credit and she can bring a guest. Guess what? She's bringing me! She said it was easiest because her other friends can't argue if she tells them she is bringing a missionary from Honduras who needs pampering. Hurray for free trips to Jamaica!!!!