The Maternal Olympics: Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Earlier this week, I considered suspending Sundays In My City indefinitely. After nearly 100 posts, I couldn't imagine finding anything else interesting to publish. Then it happened. Today, I found a comical and extraordinary set of images while visiting the Villa Olympica, a sports complex in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

The Maternal Olympics is a satirical look at the Olympic Games, with each panel featuring a pregnant woman participating in various sports. The unborn babe is a key feature of each frame. Considering the fertility cult that prevailed in ancient Central America for thousands of years, the pregnant woman is a common theme in art in Honduras. However, I have never seen anything like these panels. Fortunately, there is little graffiti defacing the panels, although they could use a good wash.

I hope you enjoy this series of murals as much as I did while photographing these highly amusing and bizarre frames. As always, Sundays in My City is published in collaboration with Unknown Mami, who hosts our weekly photographic carnival of locales international.

Translation: The Maternal Olympics. A comic strip for the Honduran people. Art for all. 2004. Artist Monquia.

Mom overcoming hurdles. Baby seems happy, eh? 

Archer mom. Baby seems confused.

I don't think pregnant mothers should not attempt to imitate this frame. Baby looks nauseous.

Mom is bowling. Baby looks scared as she directs pin toward doctor and a blue dog nurse. 

Twins! Is mom pedaling to emergency room? 

Strength training is a good thing, I guess. Little man seems to be okay with it. 

Mom plays chess with unseated opponent, or is she playing against unborn babe?

I like basketball mom. She's got good form. 

I don't know what sport this frame represents. Baby looks a bit devilish. 

Tennis mom appears happy although the ball is on her head. Baby? Is babe looking for ball or something else? Not sure. 

Pregnant mom participating in equestrian sport seems risky.

Baseball mom was the only frame with graffiti. Baby flashes peace sign so I guess he's okay with the spray paint.

Friday Fragments at Half Past the Hour

Today's Friday Fragments are seriously late. I usually publish Friday's fragments on Thursday evening. It's half past three on Friday afternoon, and finally, I am ready to fling a fistful of fragments.

First, I want to acknowledge a fellow blogger and missionary in Honduras, Chad Baron. Chad and his family have lived in Tegucigalpa for three years. Honduras, especially in urban areas, is particularly insecure and dangerous for a  young family. They feel it's time to leave. To understand Chad's heart, read the post he wrote about the biggest mall in Central America. We will miss you, Chad and Trina.

Secondly, I don't know if I can write any more fragments today. I have not eaten hardly anything all day, but I have enjoyed several delicious cups of Honduran coffee. My mind is racing. Thoughts are tumbling. I don't know if the spin can stop long enough for words to be put down. Seriously, Honduran coffee is rica. Rica literally means rich, but it's used to say something tastes good. And rica it is! 

Okay. One more fragment. A friend of Honduras, Brad Pontius, is an amazing photographer. I love his latest batch of photographs from his last visit our way. This young girl is Milagro. That's her name. Miracle in English, or Milagro in Spanish. Isn't she crazy beautiful?

Brad's collections are on Picasa, a photo gallery sponsored by Google. Check out his May collection at May 13 Honduras Milk Project. Feel free to poke around his other public galleries featuring Honduras, Guatemala, and Ghana.


Well, folks, I am running low on caffeine and fragments. Time to find some comida (food.) I am thinking that chicken tacos, made Honduran style may be just the ticket for supper tonight. Don't these guys look good?

Well, folks. That's a wrap. Need more fragments? Head on over to Mrs4444 who heads our Fragmented Friday Hangout.

El Picacho: Sundays In My City

El Picacho National Park, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Be still and know I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 46

Today, a young man rests. A father's desperate quest to alleviate the son's pain from the final stages of pancreatic cancer is over. On Saturday, he traveled seven hours by bus to get to the capital. A cancer specialist was willing to see him on his day off. In just a few hours, he was back on the bus home, with narcotics to relief his son's suffering. Oh yes, one other thing. The doctor charged us nothing for his time or medications. He gave the man his cell phone to call when he needs more medications. 

I faced tremendous resistance over the past few days to attend to this man's simple plea for help. No one in southern Honduras or in neighboring El Salvador would help this poor father and son. Personally, I encountered vandalism to my car, as well as unimaginable delays at the immigration office. Those encounters cost us hours in finding help for this dying man. The Father doesn't intend for anyone to suffer, to be in torment, to cry out for relief in the night. Today, a son rests. 

Today, I will be still as I reflect on a God that desires to be exalted among the nations, among the poor, the forgotten, the sick.

Today's post is linked to Sunday's in My City, a regular feature from Unknown Mami.

Good news: Boy with cancer to receive medicine tomorrow

 I wrote in an earlier post today about a young man who is dying of pancreatic cancer. The hospital and clinics in the village and cities near him reported that they had no morphine or narcotics for his extreme suffering.

Tomorrow I will purchase oxycontin when the father gets here with his son's health card. I also have an emergency appointment with a cancer specialist who will meet us at his office in the morning. Hopefully, we will leave his office with morphine and instructions on how to inject the drug. This doctor is known for free help, as he has a fund for the poor.

Today, I encountered resistance to helping him. I was tied up in the office of immigration for hours, paid several fees, and left without my new visa. When I left, I noted my truck was vandalized. After a quick fix to my car that will be followed up another day, I purposed to find help for this suffering boy. Nothing would deter me.

Later, I found out the cook at our project cut her thumb so severely she could not work. We had 60 children to feed, and I was not there to supervise. A nurse from the nearby clinic cooked the food, and others volunteered to serve and teach the kids.

Hopefully, tomorrow we will have the medicine in hand for this suffering young man. The costs for the medicine will be in the hundreds of dollars, and I don't know if I can get help for all of it. If you want to help, please send a gift. PayPal is a convenient method. Make a note if you wish that the money is to buy pain medication for a dying and suffering young man.

No one should die in abject misery and pain. I believe that God wants us to be advocates for the suffering and hurting of this world. Prayer makes the difference despite the enemy of our souls who wants to discourage and stop the work of God which is to heal the sick, comfort the dying, and bring hope to the hopeless.


For everyone who has prayed, thank you very much.

Friday Fragments

Every Friday, I unleash odds and ends, bits and pieces, the floating fragments of my mind. There's actually an entire group of bloggers dedicated to Friday flotsam. Find us at Half-Past Kissin' Time.

This week's post will be quick. I need to find medication for a young man dying of pancreatic cancer. Apparently, the entire country of Honduras has no morphine or other narcotic medications for the dying. At least, if you are poor. Today, I am determined to fill a prescription for this young man even if I have to visit every pharmacy or drug warehouse in the capital. He is in extreme pain. All I want is for him to die with dignity.

My little family at risk is doing better every day. The older girl visited yesterday. For the first time since we met three years ago, she wasn't hungry. And, she had obviously had been to a hairdresser as she sported a stylish cut that definitely smelled of, gasp!, shampoo. Thank God for miracles.

In lighter news, I am faced with a dilemma regarding Iggy. My German shepherd is behaving badly. When I talk on the telephone, he barks loudly. Loud enough to shake things off the shelf or scare passersby. He is five years old, but really, I would think he's a three-old-human! What does a dog owner do in these situations?

In Honduras, it is quite possible that Mother's Day is the biggest holiday of the year, outside of religious days. It's a big deal in a culture based on fertility rites for centuries. Schools are closed, today. No surprise, really, as public schools close whenever they feel it, seemingly.

I like our new motto for Friday Fragments. I will try to recall this today while searching the city for medicine for a dying man.

Family at Risk: Update

Over the past several weeks, I contacted many friends to pray for a family at risk. Eight children were abandoned by their mother who was raising them alone.

Right now, I have good news. All of the children are now living with family members. For now, things are hopeful.

As I have recounted, the family was desperately poor: without running water, an outhouse, electricity, furniture, or means to cook. The mother left in February. She returned a few weeks ago and left again with the oldest who is 17, and the youngest, who is 3 years old. Six children remained at this point.

After talking to family members, ministry colleagues, and school leaders, a solution has been worked out. The father has been in town for several weeks. Ada and Cristian will live with their father, who seems to be taking good care of them. Ada is now 14; Cristian, 13.  Lorena and the three younger ones will live with the grandmother in Choluteca, a city in the south of Honduras. The father plans to sell the family home in Tegucigalpa and return to Comayagua, Honduras, where he has employment.

Your prayers made a difference.

Pray that the children will not leave their new homes to search for their mother. 

Pray that the children that are with the mother will be safe as her whereabouts are unknown. 

Shutterfly Photos: Sundays In My City

Click here to view this photo book larger

Every year, I use Shutterfly to make a photo book of the best photographs. This book was made as a a bonus, totally free aside from shipping. I chose to fill it with photographs of the Valle de Angeles and other small towns near Tegucigalpa, Honduras. 

Do you think there is enough interest in photographs from this blog for a calendar or small book to sell as a way to gain a small amount of revenue for missions? 

Shutterfly photo books are the new way to preserve your memories. Create your own today.

As always, Sundays in My City are linked to Unknown Mami, who sponsors our weekly meme.