Free Wheeling for Honduras Orphanage by Carl Gallo

Michelle and Sarahé with Carl
Michelle, Paola,
Dania and Julani
 with Rachel
from our group.
Click on image
for full size.

Free Wheeling  for Honduras Orphanage

by Carl Gallo

I was greeted with temperatures around 109 degrees in Telgucegapita, Honduras (weather).

We had no running water, and certainly no air conditioning, but I was also greeted with smiles and hugs from little girls such as Michelle and Sarahé with me in picture.

We ate rice, tortillas and refried beans every day, but we had the privilege of having food and breaking bread with those same children.

We sat on the floor and ran in the yard and went swimming in a river that we in the States would snub our noses at, but sitting, running and swimming was never so much fun as it was with those little, giddy girls.

In the picture to the right (click on thumbnail) notice the barbed wire at the top of the concrete fence that boarders the home in the background – along with a guard dog, that is their protection against intruders.  For more information on crime in Honduras.

This was my first trip getting down and dirty to a country such as this, and I hope it is  not my last.

Dania facing the camera, with my wife, Kathi in the background

I have been thinking long and hard about how I can help…what can I do to make a difference every time I re-visit Honduras and the orphanages?

Besides bringing supplies and clothing and offering financial assistance, I want to start a bicycle ministry.  Free bikes, with multiple seats, where both the father and mother could pedal. Tike bikes, tires and repair services.  Doesn’t that sound great?  Todo para la Gloria a Dios!

I don’t know how to go about doing such a thing, but you could bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be making some phone calls to find out.  I’ve had a couple of chats with a Christian bike enthusiast who has great experience in manufacturing and has connections with bike part importers.  Carlos Byrne – fluent in Spanish and English and he wants to help.  On the surface, our game plan is to set up an assembly operation in Honduras and train the older boys at the orphanage to put them together.  We’d order the bike parts from China and have them sent to Honduras.  Simple, cruiser bikes – just 2 styles…unisex adult and child.  No gears, one speed, fat, knobby tires for the rough terrain, fat, cushioned seats, all the same color.

I’ll keep you posted.

Salud,

Carl L. Gallo

For more about the Honduras orphanages they are under one headship:

There are actually two orphanages with whom we are associated – the first is a small group of only 10 to 15 girls. http://eternalfamilyproject.org/.  The second is about 90 children, both boys and girls – http://wwh2h.org/

The Gallo family:

Carl and Kathi Gallo have six children of their own, and one granddaughter 6 months old.  Their four oldest children are adults, leaving them with two high school students at home.  Kathi does a wonderful job hosting and feeding Mission teams of 4 to 14 at a time from around the world at their home, 4 to six times each year. They are constantly looking for opportunities to leave this world a better place.

How fortunate am I?

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around, does it make a sound?

I have been bowed over in anguish over a job lost; I have placed my hands over my face and head, elbows to my knees gasping for breath; I have barricaded myself behind closed doors.

So, I have often wondered, does a job lost make a sound?

If you have asked our government, technically the answer to both questions is , “No.”

I would have to agree.  Neither seen nor heard, you’re  on your own.

I have experienced both, the latter being much more traumatic, although both are deeply disturbing, I would have to say the tree was less personal and the lesser of two evils.

Symbolic in a fashion, like our government, the tree had been leaning.  It’s weight no longer sustainable, it roots no longer able to bear its growth.

I was deeply affected by the sight of the fallen tree in its magnitude.  It’s beauty and majesty held me in awe.  I often crossed it’s path, never imagining it’s demise.

Falling across a sidewalk, in a city park, the tree was swept away in a day; a series of sawing, grinding and chipping away.  At times the noise was deafening.  And then it was gone.

I, too, had moved on.  Picked myself back up.  Started a new venture.  Today I am rooted strongly, my business supported by faith, family and my business.  Supported by partners, fellow employees, suppliers and customers.

How fortunate for me, I am not a tree.

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