I am so blessed and excited I have been given the opportunity to be a part of an International Samaritan trip to Honduras. Seven others and I have been in San Pedro Sula, Honduras for the past few days and have been serving a garbage dump community that is home to thousands of people. I cannot believe what I have seen and felt. Members of the community rely on this dump to provide shelter, food, and work. I met a man who works there to get about thirty dollars in U.S money for two weeks and that is what he does to get by. Parents bring their children into the garbage dump to help look for recycled materials of value and even food scraps. When they are too small, they hide them in boxes to keep wild pigs and massive vultures from harming them. Some people build shelters in the dump site and stay there to collect more items in hopes for more money.

International Samaritan helps this community, and others like it in the world. Some of the services they provide are nurseries for small children, children with education and schools, scholarships, adults with microloans, and even medical and dental care. International Samaritan gives hope for thousands of people who are ignored by the rest of society.

I want to continue to help them even after I have finished my trip. I believe I was called on this trip to be an advocate for those who are in need and do not have the resources to be able to speak out for themselves. It has broken my heart to see the people in the community go with out so much that they need but also brings joy that something as little as time spent with the kids or helping out with dishes after lunch time at the nurseries takes the weight off of someone else's shoulder for the moment. I have bonded with the children and hope that I am able to fill their hearts as much as they have mine this far. I am making it my goal to come back sometime in the future and visit the wonderful people I have met on this trip. These people are truly inspiring and motivate me to keep going when times get rough because I have so much to be thankful for and people should not take anything for granted.

–Frannie