December 2010

It's been a while since our last post and MUCH has happened. After the barge got stuck off the coast of St. Helene, we were discouraged, but certainly not defeated. It was certain we would not be able to get all materials shipped over in one big shipment, so many smaller shipments would need to be made. Thanks to the help and team work of many people, the first shipment of 500 cinder blocks took place on November 11th!!



A boat was loaded with what it would carry, get as close as possible to St. Helene, then the materials were manually off-loaded from the boat to a small barge. The barge was towed in by a small dory, and then manually off-loaded onto the only truck on the island. That truck then went up over the only 'road' on the island from the north side (where the water is deeper and allowed the boat to get closer to shore) to the south side and was manually off-loaded to the site of the new school. Phew! Talk about hard labor and persistence! And this process was repeated over and over again.

Here's a dory pulling the barge in to shore.




Here's the boat heading back to Roatan as some kids from St. Helene watch while standing next to the first shipment of blocks.







But now, after countless mini-trips, enough material was delivered that construction of the school has actually begun! These first photos were sent to us on December 9th.







A gas-powered cement mixer is used to prepare mortar for the blocks. Can you see one of the kids watching from up in the tree?







As of the day before this posting, this is the latest picture we have of the progress on the school. Weather permitting, it should be ready for the kids to start their new school year on February 1st! Everyone is very excited!




As 2010 draws to a close, we are energized by this and other positive things happening at ALF. Particularly, we are excited as we notice that the 3 individual branches within our foundation have started to inter-connect. At the request of the good people in Woodville, Texas, the Discovery's teen training is starting there in January. Two people we know from Roatan have attended our adult Discovery program in Austin, and now a school in Woodville has committed to becoming "pen pals" with the kids at the school in St. Helene to share culture and ideas. As people become aware of and help each other...it quickly becomes a small world and we learn how inter-connected our lives are.

November – Roatán

Since getting stuck on the sand bar (see September 2010 entry), we have been hard at work exploring alternatives for getting supplies to St. Helene. A possible solution was considered in October, but rainy season was in full swing and we decided to postpone a delivery attempt. Although we came on home, Kevin remained hard at work and on November, 11th, despite being a rainy day, the seas were calm and the FIRST DELIVERY OF MATERIALS TO ST. HELENE was made!! It was just the first 500 cinder blocks, but it’s a start! Shipments have been scheduled out (weather permitting) for the next 7-10 days: rebar, gravel, sand and cement. By then we will have all the materials necessary to start construction and our crew can get back to work. Many thanks to Kevin Wesley for making things happen, Wally Bodden from St. Helene for the use of his barge, and Kelcy Warren for the use of his ship!

Here is a picture of the ship that took the materials from Camp Bay (Eastern Roatán) to as close to St. Helene as possible.













After the ship came in as close as possible, the materials were transferred to this barge and then escorted in to shore.













The blocks now sit just off the beach, within 100 yard of the new school site.



The people of St. Helene are very excited to see verifiable activity that the school really is going to happen! Their school year is just coming to a close and the new year starts in February. Now that we know we can get materials delivered, barring any unforeseen problems, the kids should start their next year of school in a new school building!

Roatan - September 2010

This is a good news/bad news update:
David just returned from an extra trip he made to Roatan specifically to get the materials to St. Helene for the school. The GOOD NEWS is that construction on the school officially began on Monday, August 30th!! Luis, our General Contractor, and his team started digging trenches and laying forms for the foundation. The kids were so excited they helped dig, too! Now they just needed those materials… That’s where the bad news comes in…



The BAD NEWS is that, although David and Kevin did a LOT of hard work getting all the materials ready, and though the barge DID get loaded with ALL of the supplies, and even-though it actually DID depart early Saturday morning to make the delivery to St. Helene… in the end, the seas were just too rough and, after getting stuck twice along the way, the captain decided to turn around and head back to Roatan. You can see in this picture how close they were to being successful. That is St. Helene in the background. The barge got to within a couple hundred yards before getting stuck on the sandbars twice. Such a true experience of "So close, and yet so far!"

Of course we won’t give up and the materials will eventually make it there, but it has been one incredible obstacle after another getting these materials delivered. A huge “thank you”, however, to Edward Ake of Island Concrete and his team for their patience, understanding and a stellar job loading all the supplies onto the barge until well after midnight. We appreciate you more than we can say!


This project would not be happening at all without the tremendous amount of donated time and services of Kevin Wesley. Thank you, Kevin, for making this all possible!


If you would like to contribute to the building of this school project, go to the Donation tab on our website: www.abundantlifefoundation.net , click on Roatan and the Top S.H.E.L.F. project. For each donation of $100, the children at the school in St. Helene will paint your name on a cinder block to be a permanent part of the building. Here are two blocks ready to have names painted on them. Will one of them be yours?!

Roatan - August 2010

Another busy and productive trip to Roatan. The main emphasis of this trip was to get the school started in St. Helene. The temporary school has taken a beating with recent storms and the blue tarps that serve as ‘walls’ are shredded. We had hoped to actually transport materials to the island before leaving, but the roof and windows were still on order. We had a nice visit in St. Helene in preparation of the shipment and were thrilled to see the effort being made to clean up the community. Looking good!!

Because the shipment was not made to St. Helene before the end of this trip, David will be making an additional trip down to oversee the transport. Oh, David and Kevin were also able to lineup a General Contractor and 2 lead workers from Roatan to oversee the construction while we’re not there, and we will be hiring up to 8 men from St. Helene’s north-side community itself to provide the rest of the manual labor needed. Among other things, Lindon has been trying to get the plans approved through the municipality, which is another must before construction begins. Together we are all making it happen!

In the meantime, we have started a fund-raiser to help pay for the building called: “Put a Block on the S.H.E.L.F.!” (St. Helene Education and Litter-Free project). For a $100 tax-deductible donation, the children from the school in St. Helene will paint a cinder block with your name on it as a permanent part of the school and a reminder to them of all the people who value them and want them to receive a good education. Check out the Roatan section in the main website for details of how you can help!

Roatan - June 2010 - update

David just returned from a quick solo trip to move the school project forward on St. Helene. In order to get the school finished before rainy season, we should begin construction in early August, and there is a lot to do between now and then!

David was able to meet with the barge company and line out details about the transport of materials. Critical to the transport is finding a way to the island through their reef system. We think we have found a route, but it needs to be re-confirmed with the shipping company. Based on where we think the barge will land, we will need to make a road to get the supplies to the school site. As it turns out, this will cross private property, so approval is needed from the owners, and they have been hard to find! We are also still in the process of getting legal title of the property donated for the school setup in a community foundation so that noone can come back years from now to claim it for their own.

While David was visiting St. Helene for all the logistical details, he noticed that there had still not been any work done on cleaning up the area. It was reiterated that the school will not happen without the community upholding their end of the bargain, and that we would hold off transporting the supplies for the school until we see significant evidence of their efforts. By the end of his visit, he was informed that the community held a meeting and had devised a plan to start the cleanup effort. We donated $80 for them to buy rakes to help them get started. We’re excited to see how beautiful the north-side of St. Helene will be and how it will match the beauty of the people we have come to know and love!

David made it by the children’s home to say hello to the kids and was able to hand-deliver a birthday package to sweet Helen from her mentors - a group of girls in a girl’s club. They all got together and raised money to buy her a set of pink, monogrammed towels with her name on it. She loved it!

Roatan - June 2010

Last-minute trip to Roatan with the specific purpose of transporting the heavy material supplies to St. Helene while we had the generous offer of the free use of a barge through the end of the month. Unfortunately… or fortunately… (depending on how you look at it!) the barge owner decided it would cost him more to take his barge out of service for 3-4 days to do our job than paying to have another company do it, which is what he has committed to doing. This is a very generous donation and we are very grateful!! Also, this has now freed us up to wait until we are ready to begin the actual construction of the school before we transport the materials. This helps us in two ways. First, the materials will not be sitting on St. Helene for the next month or 2 at risk of being stolen or broken. Secondly, it allows us the opportunity to gather all the supplies we need, both large and small, and transport them together in one trip.

Since we had promised the north-shore community of St. Helene that we would be arriving that week with supplies, they seemed skeptical about us when we showed up empty-handed. We held a community meeting and explained the situation and that the project was actually going very well and is moving ahead nicely. The heavy materials that were to be transported that week do exist and are being stored safely in Roatan until time to build. Meanwhile, everything continues to move forward nicely. Everyone was satisfied with the progress.
We also talked at the meeting about how to clean up the community of trash and put processes in place to keep it ongoing. Their ideas centered around possibly finding a location for a dump site and using the dozer on the island to dig out a pit to use, but there is concern about the wind continuing to blow the trash around. A solution is still pending!


Also discussed was the idea that the donated land for the school be setup in a community foundation so that it can never be taken away in the future. They agreed, and the title work on the property has begun. At the end of the meeting they asked if we would close it in prayer, which we were glad to do.

Plenty of things to do to get the project completed before rainy season, but we are well on our way!

Roatan - May 2010

Latest news from Roatan… the school in St. Helene is moving full steam ahead! The land has now been cleared and is ready for a foundation to be laid. A wonderful architect from El Salvador who is in Roatan working on a development project donated his services free of charge and created an amazing school design for us! The challenges have been how to create a school with as much natural light as possible (as there is no electricity) and how to do the restrooms… with no running water on the island! We are receiving so much help from so many people on this project! There is a man on the island doing a job to expand the cruise ship dock. He has agreed to donate the time and use of his barge – for free – to transport the materials to the nearby island. The only problem is that his job in Roatan is done at the end of the month, so we have to get all the heavy materials transported before he leaves. Speaking of materials, two of the developers on the island have volunteered to donate – at cost – much of what we need including all the cinder block, cement, gravel and rebar. It has truly been amazing to see the incredible generosity of so many people towards making this school a reality! We couldn’t do it otherwise and we are truly humbled.

As for the people of St. Helene, they are wonderful! It was great to stop by and see the kids in the temporary structure taking their classes. We asked if they were ready for a real school and they responded with a resounding “Yes!!!” In working with Lindon, their head teacher, we identified the classes being taught without any books. Thanks to the generosity of Ted and Cam O’Brien from PIER, we were able to deliver enough books so that every student has their own for almost every course. Usually the teacher either has to spend their own money to photocopy the lessons, or they write it on the board while the kids copy it down. So this is quite nice for them!

We had a wonderful time with the children at the children’s home, too! The four that we are sponsoring to bilingual school are doing well and getting good grades. I was able to sit and tutor 3 of them after school and it’s been wonderful to see how they are flourishing with the higher standards required at the bilingual school. Many of the kids had cards, letters and little gifts from their Mentor to be delivered. Here, Patricio is having the letter from his mentor translated to him. It’s wonderful to see their faces light up when they hear from their ‘friends’ from so far away!

Speaking of mentors… there is a new girl that has come to live at the home since our last visit. Her name is Carla and she is 11 years old. She is a sweetheart and, although a bit shy, she has an infectious smile and bright eyes! We look forward to getting to know her better, and I hope we will be able to pair her up with a Mentor soon. She could use a little extra love and attention right now as it must be so hard to come into a home with so many other kids without knowing anyone.

Woodville - March 2010

We have our location!!!

A community meeting was held the first week of March to discuss the future of Woodville, which included a discussion about the LIFE Center. The meeting was well-attended and Scott Yosko was particularly thrilled to see so many youth present and taking an active interest in the future of their home-town. The big news is that the LIFE Center Committee, together with the Community Foundation, decided on a location for the building!! And Judge Blanchette, representing the Community Foundation, signed an Ernest Money Contract on the property. The location selected is a 7-acre lot just south of Wal-Mart on Cobb Mill Road and is called "Shepherd's Place". It is a beautiful piece of property with plenty of pine trees and a creek on one side. It is located close to town and as everyone shops at the Wal-Mart, is convenient to the entire community! There are also an additional 50+ acres adjacent to the property that could be considered in the future for expansion.

This is a huge step! And this step, along with the feasibility study that is still underway, shows we are definitely moving forward!!

Roatan - March 2010

We just got back from a 2-week stay in Roatan. Some good friends, Giovanni and Judd, spent the first week there with us and we all stayed very busy! Giovanni brought down children’s clothes, toothbrushes and toothpaste that we hand-delivered with the Schulers to members of their congregation who are the poorest of the poor. They were all so grateful for the gift, and we were humbled and enriched by meeting every single one of them. Time was spent tutoring many of the children after school, helping them with math and English in particular. After tutoring they love to play Uno, and Mrs. Schuler awards the winner with a piece of cake – so the kids take it very seriously!


Our friends also took it upon themselves to fix the 15 bikes at the home, all of which were broken! The kids loved it and we never found them inside the house the rest of our time there... they were always out playing on their bikes!

We went back by the Alfreida Brooks school that we had visited before and checked out the security bars ALF helped purchase so the rooms could be locked up at night with no risk of their desks, books or supplies getting stolen. While there, we spoke to Darla, the young teacher we had met last September from the island of St. Helene. She had mentioned that the people on the north side of the island didn't have a school and were trying to build one, similar to Elfrieda Brooks, as a community school. We were very interested in finding out more to see if we could help. She arranged to have her dad pick us up in his boat and take us to the island to meet the people and learn what was going on.

The place they had been holding school through last year was no longer available to them, so until a new building can be constructed, they are having classes in this temporary shelter they have built. After meeting several of the community members and the two teachers, we agreed that we would help them build a school, but that their buy-in" (as we don't give away money without the other party having some skin in the game) is to clean up their community of all the trash. As we've seen in most of Roatan (except the tourist areas), the land and natural resources are not being respected and almost always consist of trash lining the beaches and common areas that the locals live in. They agreed. And so we are well underway to getting all the resources and labor needed to construct a solid school building, with much of the materials being donated 'at cost', and much of the work being done 'pro bono'. Our goal is to have the building finished by the end of summer.


Here is a picture of several of the beautiful people of St. Helene on the site where the permanent school building will be located. The project name we've come up with for this is "Top S.H.E.L.F." with the SHELF acronym standing for "St. Helene Education and Litter-Free" project. Check back later for more updates on this and all the other activities taking place in Roatan!

Roatan - February 2010

Back from Roatan again! What a whirlwind! We enjoyed spending time with a variety of people discussing education on the island and how to join forces to improve it and add skills training to help people get jobs and make a decent living. More on that to come later!

We had a great time with the children at the home. This trip, I brought everything with me necessary to make chocolate chip cookies with the kids! They were excited about having home-baked cookies, but the funny thing was… as soon as I got everything out and was ready for them to start helping me cook, ALL of the boys were eager to help and were crowding around me, but ALL of the girls scattered like the wind! It was almost as if they were ‘afraid’ of cooking. So of course, we made them all take part and they learned that they actually could do it and it wasn’t scary! It could even be a little bit fun! In the end, everyone helped and the kids enjoyed 3 cookies each. For most of them, it was the first time they had ever had a chocolate chip cookie which, to me is unthinkable!!

While the cookies were baking, there was opportunity to have some quality time with several of the kids. We love them so! We were also able to deliver more letters to the children that have mentors, and collected letters from some of the kids back to their mentors. It’s beautiful to see their faces light up when they receive their cards and letters from their mentors, knowing that someone “far away” is thinking of them and remembers them. I pray that these relationships will be life-long and life-changing.

School started the Monday after we left, February 8th. For the four children who have been financially sponsored through ALF to go to the Methodist Bilingual School, the Schulers worked with all 4 of them through the Christmas break to prepare them for the higher demands that will be expected of them. Sibelis, in particular, was nervous about what to expect in her new school, but the Schulers said she was more than ready to take it on! I look forward to getting a full report on all of them on our next visit! Again, thank you to those of you who contributed to make it possible for these kids to go to the better bilingual school. It will make such a difference in their lives.

The Schulers invited to take us for a walk to meet some of the people they minister to in the area. It was like being in a National Geographic magazine. They introduced us to a 60 year-old man called “Pastor” who lives by himself back in the jungle about a 30-minute hike off the main road. I couldn’t imagine making that hike every day, in the dark, in the rain, etc. We kept criss-crossing a little creek, which of course he and the others who lived along the way, used for bathing and washing dishes and clothes. Other families we met along the way had very rudimentary shelters to live in, which served them well on a nice day, but I couldn’t imagine being “holed up” in them for the months of rainy season. The people we met had next to nothing materially, had no running water or electricity, yet were mostly quite happy, friendly and hospitable. “Pastor” invited us into his home and gave us some fresh bananas called “apple bananas” that I had never heard of before. I’m not a big banana fan, but these were delicious and tasted like a blend of banana and green apple. We were so glad to have had the opportunity to meet “Pastor” and the other families on this hike as it allowed us to see the “real” Roatan. This is how probably 80% of the islanders really live – if not more. And these are the people we hope to minister to and help.

Lastly, it looks like a new television program called Majesty Outdoors will be coming to film in Roatan! The founder and host of the show is a friend of ours and he has been following what we've been doing in Roatan, specifically with the children's home. He approached us with the idea of filming a couple of the teens there. This is exciting as their mission is to minister to fatherless teens! We discussed the idea with Pastor Glen Solomon at the home and he has agreed. We are excited at how this will bless some of the children at the home! To find out more about Majesty Outdoors, go to their website at http://www.majestyoutdoors.org/ We will keep you posted!

January 2010 - Roatan

Happy New Year! It’s already off to a great start here at ALF. We just got back from the island where we were able to let 4 children at the children's home know that they will be able to attend the “bilingual” (or ‘private’) school near the home that provides a better education than the public schools. They are very excited, although maybe a bit nervous, but they have great tutors helping them bridge the gap to get them prepared. Mark and Susan Schuler have a ministry of, among many other things, tutoring many of the children in the neighborhood for both their regular studies and English. They have been hard at work getting these 4 children ready. A BIG “¡Gracias!” to the donors who made this possible!

Also, we had the privilege of introducing 6 of the children to the new Mentors we found for them! Like an individual “sponsor” (but with no financial commitment required), these Mentors will be writing to their child on a regular basis and sending cards and small gift packages for their birthday and Christmas to let them know someone cares about them and that they are uniquely special. 5 of the 6 children have individuals who are Mentoring them, but one little girl was selected by a girls’ club, so she has lots of love heading her way on a regular basis!

On New Year’s Eve day, we went to the children’s home to pass out the very first cards, letters and gifts that these Mentors sent to begin their new relationship with the child they had selected. The kids’ eyes were wide with excitement and anticipation, and they poured over the letters they received. It was such a blessing to see their hearts filled up by receiving love from someone that most of them had not even met yet. We will continue to deliver letters and packages to these children on each trip that we, or an ALF representative, make in order to keep these relationships growing.

While there, we learned that some of the lights at the home had not been working for over a YEAR! With a quick trip to the hardware store the men with us were able to quickly get those lights working again, which I think some of the children were more thankful for than the other gifts they had just received! : )

As for the roof on the children’s home, we had some builders on the island take a look at it and it was decided that it does not need replaced, but only needs some minor repairs where the vents join the roof. That is good news as it won’t be too costly and should be easy to do. We still target our February trip to get this accomplished.