Hosanna House--Belize

Bob, Darlene and Nelson enjoying our Thanksgiving Dinner.

YUMMY Pumpkin Pie! Thanks Darlene.......I know my belly was happy!!

Shanny trying the Pumpin Pie.

Almost gone!

Thanks to our resident photograper, Octavio, we managed a group
picture at Thanksgiving Dinner.
L to R - Bob, Darlene, Wendy and Nelson

Thursday, November 22, 2007, was Thanksgiving Day!!! And, boy, does Hosanna House have LOTS to thank God for! A shorter container, 20 feet long, is now being packed with items for future use. I'm rather confident that the supplies will last for the next year or so!

I'm sure Bob and Nelson would agree with me. I am so Very thankful for Darlene's cooking this week! Today, Thanksgiving Day, was spent away from our "usual" loved ones and with "new" loved ones. Miss Darlene cooked us up a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving meal! She certainly made our holiday away easier. Darlene supplied us with a big baked chicken (hopefully turkey leftovers are awaiting our arrival home!), stuffing, mashed potatoes, baked corn (MY fave), cranberry sauce (which we didn't have to share with Bob, who apparently has bad taste) and [DrumRoll please.....] TWO tasty pumpkin pies!! YUM! Thanks Darlene!

After dinner, we shared our feast with a few of the children. Some liked our dinner. Ingrid claims to not like any of it but the chicken (hold the gravy). But, there was a 100% consensus that the pumpkin pie was a winner. :) All of the children liked the pie, of course.

Shakira, Darlene, Ashante, and Joan.

Off the truck/container.......

and heading up to the house.

The piano was carefully moved off of the shovel and toward the door.

It eventually made it to the living room!

Above is Joan, playing the new piano for the first time. What a joy to hear such beautiful music throughout the house!

And More Sorting.....

Look! Nelson is on a John Deere! :)

Wendy and Darlene, dressed for success! The girls did our hair and makeup,
then dressed us up in TP dresses. We all had a great time!!

Darlene, Ingrid and Christine at the Pajama Party.

Pajama Party participants - Shanny, Margaret, Sheldine, Christine & Victoria.

Ingrid, Victoria and Christine enjoying all the junk food. YUM!

Just about all of the clothing is out of the room used by most workteams' men. (which is currently Nelson's bedroom!)



Thursday night was also Nelson's first night of sleep in which he is not surrounded by mountains of clothing and boxes of donations. This will most likely be is best night of sleep, even if all of the dogs start howling again. :)


A few different jobs kept Nelson busy today. After I (Wendy) sorted clothing into boxes for storage, Nelson transported the boxes to Darlene's storage container. This was no light task! I needed help lifting the heavy ones out to the table where they waited for Nelson.



Mr. Dice claims to have "relaxed" while mowing the grass. A great deal was accomplished while relaxing!

He also built a step stool for little Nelson. :) Poor little guy couldn't get up on or down off of the toilet! That makes life hard for a guy who's finally ready to use the potty.

The container finally arrived today, Tuesday, November 14, 2007. It came around noon. When the kids got home from school today at 3, they helped us finish up.

The main purpose of the next two weeks is to empty, organize, and distribute the contents of a 40 foot sea container. Most items are for staff and childrens' use at Hosanna House. Other things will be distributed throughout the community. Also on the container are the School Packets put together by many in the Maryland/Pennsylvania area and some from Indiana as well.

Our group, this trip, includes Bob & Darlene Eberly, Nelson Dice, and Wendy Burkett. We met early in the morning, Saturday, Nov. 10, at about 3:30 am. Our drivers, Charlie Burkett and Gene Wintermoyer, got us to the airport with time to spare.

Our flight into Charlotte was smooth, with "No Problem" at all. The flight out of Charlotte, to Belize City, was overbooked by 3 people. The airline offered to give free flights to those who chose to go thru American instead of US Air, the one that was overbooked. We would have all gladly accepted the offer, but there were only 3 spots. It was decided that Bob and Darlene should accept and receive the incentive offered. That meant they would go to Miami from Charlotte, then to Belize city.... AND take 3 hrs longer. The van was parked in the airport lot in Belize City the night before so we didn't have anyone waiting for us. At least there was no rushing for Nelson and me. It all worked out well.

So Nelson and I went to Belize City first and found all the luggage. After we loaded our bags into the van, we went to pay the parking fee and find security to get the boot off the van. We were told it would be "No Problem", and it wasn't. :) Nelson and I then walked around the airport since we had another 2 hours until Bob & Darlene's flight arrived. First thing we did was get a drink. I had to have an Orange Fanta. We window shopped a little and tried to keep awake when we'd sit occasionally. :) That was hard to do. Every time I'd sit for a few minutes, my eyes would shut. At any rate, it was nice to not have to rush.

Before we left Charlotte, Bob had told us to find a bald guy at the airport that was a porter and have him help us get the luggage in the van. Heh! We found one alright. The wrong one. Nothing odd happened, but it was just funny. Some other guy kept trying to get me to let him help with my stuff. I kept telling him he had too much hair! I finally gave up and said to go talk to Nelson since he had the MONEY. HA!! He left real fast then! I'd have laughed hard if I wasn't so tired. Oh, and customs in Belize didn't even look in my luggage. They rifled all thru Nelson's bags, which he didn't pack. Aside from a personal items, had no idea what was in his luggage. They asked me a million questions, but didn't look.

Once Bob & Darlene arrived, it was easy to find their luggage since it came in on the original flight and was on a cart waiting for them. After clearing customs and loading up their luggage by the Correct Bald Porter, we headed out.

We drove to another Children's home, Belize Christian Efforts - Children Outreach, run by a gentleman named Nelson, who is from New York City and married Millie who is Belizean. Bob wanted discuss his experiences while getting the container approved for entry into the country. Nelson and Millie have decided to raise tilapia and give it to the other children's homes in Belize. This would be Very advantageous for the other children's homes, but he needs a volunteer to transport and deliver it for him.

After the visit, we finally arrived at Cheers for supper. Either I was starved, or it was some excellent food. We finally got to Hosanna House at about 9 or 10 pm. I know we were all very tired and glad to see a bed.