By reh on 12/15/2007

Saturday, December 15, 2007

5:30AM Drinking a cup of coffee and making some notes for my 5 minutes at the Lutheran Church this afternoon. An aside: The restaurant, patio, and (just beyond) pool area faces the back of the hotel and one floor below the lobby. Along one hallway from the elevators is the obligatory shoeshine station with one of the traditional elevated mahogany chares with the Kiwi Shoe Polish logo. The shoeshine boy is the same boy that has been there since I started coming here. He really does an excellent and I always make a point of getting my street shoes polished. He charges $1, I give him $1.50 or $2.00. I never figured out if this is the standard price or the gringo price (he has to pay rent for the space so must charge much more than the boys on the street). He always tells me how he is studying English; he has a text book and he listens to an English station one hour every day. He wants to learn English ... Read More »

By reh on 12/14/2007

Friday, December 14, 2007

5:00AM Didn’t sleep well, decided to get up and take some notes. Kind of an administrative morning, laundry, pre-packing, and stuff.
10:30AM Call from Jessica. She just talked to Fernando. Our Honduras Registration Application has been successfully submitted. Fernando is canvassing everyone involved to plan our next step. Will let you know when I know.
4:00PM Fernando brought a copy of the official petition for registration and the attached acknowledgment of receipt by the Secretaria de Gobernacion y Justicia. The all important Application number is PJ-13122007-1851 and the date of receipt is 13/12/2007 (December 13, 2007 for you gringos). Fernando tells me that the bureau has 50 days to act on the petition.
Fernando has already made one round of calls to all interested parties, marshaling the troops to use any available influence to push the petition through. ... Read More »

By reh on 12/13/2007

Thursday, December 13, 2007

6:30AM Drove to Teguci with Fernando and Jessica to meet with Sigfredo.
9:00AM Met with Sigfredo, Fernando, Jessica in a quiet corner of the hotel lobby. I introduced Fernando as our new General Manager and explained that he will be responsible for receiving, disbursing, and recording all money transactions in Honduras for the L4L program. I explained that I understand that Sigfredo started by reviewing ’06 books and he still has some concerns about them. I explained that we understand these concerns but we have what we have. The Exec. Committee closed out the ’06 books and submitted the necessary federal reporting forms. I explained that I am authorizing Sigfredo to file the ’06 accounting material without further comment and turn his attention to the ’07 records.
I explained that the US office knows exactly how many dollars were delivered to the Honduras office. The num ... Read More »

By reh on 12/12/2007

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

8:00AM Fernando and I drove out to look at the progress of the first school kitchen. Fernando prefers to finish this one before resuming work on the second. I think I mentioned that this kitchen is under budget so decided , with Fernando, to have the kitchen painted the same color as the school. The First coat on the front is complete. The structure looks so much better and so much more like it belongs now that it is the same color as the school, rather than the drab gray of concrete blocks. A couple hundred dollars well spent.

Another day to mark time. Sixth grade graduation is 5:00PM this evening. Jessica will come to Nacaomi this afternoon so I will have a translator.
5:00PM Graduation. For me, because of my involvement from before L4L till present, there are so many subthemes, sidebars, asides woven through this evening that I am sure no one will read t ... Read More »

By reh on 12/11/2007

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Left Fernando to get everything ready for Sigfredo. Walked through the marcado (open market) in Nacaomi.
4:00PM Fernando came by. I asked if he wanted to go to El Amatillo for Chinese. He said that was ok but there is a Chinese restaurant in Nacaomi (who knew?). On the way we got distracted.
On the north side of CA 1, northwest of Nacaomi in a field with nothing but a few shade trees and weeds, there is simple and crude structure. It is made of sawmill lumber culls. Two rows of 2x4 boards are in the ground every 12 feet with 20 feet between. This framing goes on for 120 feet. The boards are framed in with other lumber scraps and a tin roof is attached crossways and tilted so any rain water would run to the west. Along the length of both sides of this structure are booths of lesser construction. Tops covered with plastic scraps. To the back (far north) is an area surrounded ... Read More »

By reh on 12/10/2007

Monday, December 10, 2007

10:00AM Had everything packed and ready to leave when the Avis Rental Car arrived. I want to be sure Fernando is getting the year to date information together so we are ready to meet with Sigfredo before week end.
1:30PM After some discussion, Fernando recommended that we go to the bank and open a Fernando/L4L account. Drove to the bank in San Lorenzo. Of course the checks weren’t there and all lines were out to the door. We went to the bank Fernando and his family deal with in Nacaomi. Had the account opened and money deposited in 20 minutes. They know Fernando and I actually believe the checks will be back in 4 business days.
3:30PM Left Fernando to his work and ended the day.

By reh on 12/9/2007

Sunday, December 9, 2007

11:00AM Massage. I’m not a frivolous pay-for-a-massage kind of guy but my right shoulder blade area has been hurting for quite a while. When I inadvertently swing it back or to the side the deep dull pane rages into an all consuming pain that slowly fades away. The Dr. gave me some anti-inflammation pills. They helped some while I took them but things went back to hurting when I quit. I quit working out till I go to a specialist and figure it out. Traveling keeps the pain at a noticeable lever. The Hotel Maya has a masseuse on staff at $20 for half hour. I’ll give it a try.

The masseuse is a big boned (Central American) Indian woman carrying sufficient weight on the substantial frame. Her demeanor is no-nonsense and she had nothing to say. First she ran over me with a VW Beetle, then back and forth with a full size SUV, then loaded Mack gravel trucks. The only difference bet ... Read More »

By reh on 12/8/2007

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Nothing to do till 3:00 this afternoon. A few observations/thoughts during the past week that I have not had time to record.

Item #1 Anyone who ever lived on a dirt road know that, when a vehicle crosses a bridge the vehicle tire drops from the hard bridge surface to the less rigid dirt surface and a pothole develops. The size of the pothole depends primarily on the amount of maintenance the road receives. In Honduras, many roads receive no maintenance; potholes can quickly make the road impassable. Usually a couple of children, sometimes an older man, will station themselves at the bridge exit with a shovel and throw dirt into the pothole. As vehicles pass, some will give the kids one or two lamps (5 to 10 cents). Es una costumbre (it’s a custom). The kids are usually 6, 7, 8, or 9 years old and the shovel is far too big for them to use effic ... Read More »

By reh on 12/7/2007

Friday, December 07, 2007

8:00AM Yesterday, Jessica spent a good part of the day setting up a meeting at the hotel in Teguci. while I worked with Fernando/Roxana in Valle District. Fernando and Jessica showed up. Took a few minutes to find someone that knew what we were talking about, but the meeting room is set up. Interesting aside: The room is $200 if one chooses to eat in the dining room. Room and a choice of three pre-arranged catered meals is $200. Jessica set up for the latter: we got the meals for free! Meeting scheduled for 9:00
9:30AM Both lawyers here so we went to the room to cover problem with the submittal and see if the two lawyers can overcome the obstacle. It turns out that Pastor’s lawyer is a nephew of the President; he can get a letter from the President and he thinks that will help.
10:00AM Pr. Schemechel, Mayor Valesquez, showed up so we started the meeting. I started out with ... Read More »

By reh on 12/6/2007

Thursday, December 06, 2007

9:00AM Went to Fernando’s house. He needs a few more hours finish and recheck all entries. Accountants, God bless em. Fernando expects to be done with the books by 12:00. We’ll go out to Roxana’s to talk with her.
1:30PM Fernando finished his accounts of money spent. I brought a list of times and amounts of dollars put in the Honduras account.
2:30PM On my way to Teguci. for my meeting with lawyers, mayors, et al tomorrow. The more I come here the more I have an aversion to driving at night. Just south of Teguci. by 4:00PM. An accident ahead snarled traffic so badly, I got to the airport (to drop the car off) at 6:30PM. The Avis desk was closed and there was no secure place to leave the car so I drove to the hotel. I hate to sound paranoid, but a gringo driving through Teguci. after dark is not my idea of fun. Settled into the motel by 7:00
7:00PM End of day ... Read More »

By reh on 12/5/2007

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

7:30AM Fernando arrived. He and Roxana got most of the year done. Roxana’s uncle fell and hurt his arm last night and she has to take him to the Dr.’s this morning.
8:30AM I suggested that we ride out to look at the second school kitchen. If you recall, we approved to go halves on each of two schools with a maximum of $1,200 per school, or $2,400 total. Quite a while back, I put a halt to our involvement in the second school until I could see how the first school worked out. Progress on the second school stopped at that time. The foundation footers are poured and the walls are half up. I reminded Fernando that L4L will provide ½ of the cost of each of 2 schools up to $2,400 total; we really don’t care if the cost is $1,200/$1,200 or $1,500/$900 or $2,400/0 as long as there are two kitchens completed at the end of the project. We will reinforce this deal with the mayor this Friday ... Read More »

By reh on 12/4/2007

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

7:30AM Fernando arrived. With Jessica translating, we spent time going over the present status of accounting. I started by expressing our relief as his Monthly Reports started arriving and encouraged him to continue with the same level of detail. I explained that one of my main purposes for coming to Honduras is to resolve how we handle the accounting from Jan, ’07 through June, ’07. Since Fernando’s arrival, records have improved and with the exception of a few small gaps, the records are good. I explained that he is going to have to work with Roxana to build the records. I don’t care how many hours or days it takes but you must keep at it till dollars out from Jan through June equal dollars in. We spent a lot of time on this. I explained that this is not the tightest accounting procedure but it is what we have to work with; everybody understands Roxana doesn’t understand the books and they will give ... Read More »

By reh on 12/3/2007

Monday December 3, 2007

7:00AM Jessica reached Pr. Schemechel the evening before; he and his lawyer can attend a Friday meeting.
7:30AM Fernando arrived on time. We had breakfast and caught up on “stuff”. We called Jessica and told her we are going to drive out and look at the kitchen and suggested we all get together at 10:30. Roxana said that was a good idea.
8:30AM Drove to the school. The dirt road really is amazingly bad. Even in a high center 4X4 the road is hard to navigate. During the drive, Fernando called Lawyer Ochoa and Alcalde (Mayor) Vasquez. Both can attend the Friday meeting.
Refer to pictures of the school. The kitchen is a 20x15 foot concrete block building with a widow in one side and a door. The window and door are of sheet metal. The roof rafters are metal. The school provided roof tiles the community had salvaged from some other building. Fernando decided that the ... Read More »

By reh on 12/2/2007

Sunday, December 2, 2007

5:45AM Through customs. Waiting to board.
6:30AM Montgomery; boarded plane. Houston on time. Houston; boarded plane on time. Tegucigalpa on time. Slow line through customs. All bags arrived.
1:10PM Met Pr. Schemechel and Jessica after clearing customs. Set up for a rental car. Found a quiet place in the terminal. Went over my concerns about the status of our permitting program with Pr. Schemechel and the importance of his presence at our meeting. He can meet on Friday. He tried several times to contact his lawyer to confirm that he can attend. At a small restaurant and, over a snack, I explained to Jessica what we would go over with Roxana. She understands the situation and believes Roxana will understand my rational. Drove on to Nacaomi. 

An aside: Three years ago there were 3 sixth graders at Andrea Gonzalez, this year there were 13. Thr ... Read More »