Siguatepeque

Siguatepeque is the name of a small city of perhaps 65,000 people in Honduras. For me, however, it will probably always be the site of a special school and the culmination of a truly remarkable story. An abbreviated version of that saga follows.

Until January 20th I had never heard of Siguatepeque. It was our sixth day in Honduras, and Al Wigood announced to the World Accord build team that we were going on a field trip. In part, this was to help load a truck with some scaffolding we needed to complete our work, plus a variety of other supplies. More to the point, however, the trip was to show us a special school for the handicapped in that city. While the school was all new to me, its existence was known to many of the Western Canada members of our team.

Ready to Head Out on the Highway!

Consequently, we piled into the back of Al’s pickup and headed off at full speed down the highway. While this is not something we are used to in Canada, it seems to be one of the most common means of travel in Honduras.

To start at the beginning, the Canadian connection to this school really begins with Magdalene Marie Ungstad from Edmonton, better known to everyone as Mag.

Mag Ungstad in 2010

In the 1960s, Mag adopted a child from South Korea, a little girl whose name was Me Ai. Me Ai had a physical disability resulting from Polio and a childhood dislocated hip that caused her to walk with a limp. She was Mag’s pride and joy.

Me Ai grew up and married, providing Mag with three beautiful grandchildren. Then in 1992, Me Ai and two of the children, seven year old Kristi and two year old Tyler, were killed when their van was hit by a train. Me Ai’s nine year old son Matthew was seriously injured but managed to survive.

In the years following this tragedy, the desire grew in Mag to do something significant in memory of Me Ai, Kristi and Tyler. A strong supporter of World Accord, Mag met Terry Fielder at Hills of Peace Camp one summer and discussed the plight of children in the world and a suitable opportunity for her support.

Meanwhile, in Siguatepeque, a group of parents had formed an organization seeking to create a special school for disadvantaged children. This was only the third such organization in all of Honduras where social support for such children and their families is not common. These children have a variety of challenges including Downs Syndrome, Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, and Brain Damage caused by Convulsions. In conjunction with World Accord, the group managed to build the first phase of the school; three classrooms and unfurnished washrooms, however the school remained incomplete. Phase two of the school was needed before it could open.

The (now) Nearly Finished Siguatepeque School

I’m sure you can see where this is going. These two parts of the story came together like a marriage made in heaven. The fact that this is a school for children with handicaps was a wonderful fit with Mag’s dream because of Me Ai’s disability, and she decided to see the school completed.

Al Wigood with the Commemorative Plaque which Reads (in Spanish):
This School Was Constructed in Memory of Kristi, Tyler, and MeAi Harder.

When our team arrived at the site on January 20th, we were met by some of the parents and members of the board.

Family and Board Members with the World Accord Team

The school construction was nearly complete: the walls were up, the roof was on, the floors were installed, and the windows had been purchased. The obvious question was, when would the school open? To our surprise, the answer was, "We don't know!" It turns out that at least one more hurdle remained to be overcome. The problem was that there was no sidewalk, and the children, some of whom are in wheel chairs or use walkers, could not get from the street to the school without one. Oh...well, how much would that cost? The answer was about $800.00 for the necessary cement, sand and gravel; not a huge sum in Canada but well beyond the reach of most people in Honduras.

The View of the School from the Street, with No Sidewalk

Upon returning home, the problem of the missing sidewalk continued to percolate in the minds of the Western members of our team, most of whom are acquainted with Mag personally. While we in Canada East were raising money for a new Casa for Reyna and Pablo, the folks from Canada West were raising money for a sidewalk. They went to work, and in a matter of days, the necessary funds were available. Consequently in the heat of March, Al, Jens, Freddy and their team will build a sidewalk so a group of children in Siguatepeque, Honduras can go to school. It is the end of the beginning of a wonderful story.

Isn’t it amazing how easily the lives and stories of people around the world can come together when we open the eyes of our hearts and catch a glimpse of what God’s Spirit would like to see happen?

Special thanks to Stephen Thompson and Mag Ungstad for clarifying some details of this story.

Posted by Carman

Inspiring

I once read about a very small congregation where all the members were seniors. There were no active children or youth, young adults or even middle aged folks, but there were a handful of older members who wanted to do something. They felt God was calling them to some kind of ministry, but what? What could they do?

As I recall the story, their church was right across the street from a local public school. One of the members apparently had a conversation with a teacher or the principal, and became aware of a problem, which they translated to mean an opportunity. It seems that many of the children who attended the school were having trouble with their school work. Their parents were working, and there was no one to help them with their homework. Some were falling behind. Consequently, this group of seniors decided to start a homework club as an after school program. Every day when school got out, students who were approved by the school would come across the street and get help with their homework for an hour or two before they went home.

It is a story I still find inspiring. Here was a dedicated group of people that might have thought they had done their part. They could have felt justified had they simply decided to stay home and watch TV. Being disciples, however, they sensed the call of the Spirit to do something more, so they did. Awesome!

I thought of that story again this week after I read of another congregation that is attempting something different; a congregation that has few children and hasn’t held a Vacation Bible School for twenty-five years! Having discovered there are “hundreds of kids living right next door” to the church, they have decided to try something new. Praise God!

You can read all about it at Peace Camp. I hope you are inspired.

By the way, this is the latest entry from the Peace Blog, which we introduced you to a few days ago with a lovely post called Is God Real? You might want to subscribe to the Peace Blog and follow it yourself. These guys are trying to do great stuff!

Posted by Carman