Transformation 2017: Part 1/3

As I write this, my hands reek of white lithium grease - the only thing I could find in the house to get this filthy, asphalty-pitch roof patch stuff off my hands. As I schlorped it into a crack in the roof this weekend, apparently it glorpled down through said crack onto our pila.... where we wash our clothes. One crisis averted, another nearly created.

Roof asphalt hasn't been the only thing leaking through cracks around here. From what I have been able to measure, we have received about 4 feet of rain in the past month or so. Five of those storms have released 6 inches + of rain into our yard in a matter of a few hours - one dumped 10 inches overnight. We gauge our need for response on the sound of rain on the metal roof. The liquid soundtrack progresses from intermittent trickling to steady static to pounding waves to train in the living room to 747 landing in our bedroom. As the train approaches, we leap into action, jamming plastic bags under the front door with a spatula and setting up twisted-towel jetties to sop up and slow anything down that sneaks through.

Of course, during all of this, the girls sleep mildly on -- even during the night that taught us our defensive strategy. After the storm had passed on that cool June evening, Stacey stepped lightly out of bed to go feed Eliana... directly into three inches of standing water. The experience was identical in the girls room. Slipping around on hands and knees in our little indoor pool, we drug out suitcases from under the crib before sweeping out gallons of water and mopping it dry. All of this without once waking a baby. When we want the child to sleep - no power on heaven or earth seems to be able to knock her out... and now we know that the opposite is also true. In the end, some well-placed ditches seem to have the majority of the precipitation issues under control for now.

As we fight our own little skirmishes in water world at night, we have continued by day to stand beside our brothers and sisters of Honduras in their remarkable battles. Communities now find themselves far down the very same road that in the past they couldn't even agree needed traveling. Along that road, local leaders have gone from skittish, frightened bystanders to passionate, determined warriors that endure isolation, threats against life and livelihood, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

This week, we hope you'll check back in to read about a couple of these examples.