First,
apologies for odd spacing on last blog—I tried to correct it several times without
success. The blog format has a mind of its own.
The
Trump administration seems to be winging it, throwing out different options
without a coherent though-out plan, seeing what garners support. Of course,
Steve Bannon may have a plan, but in Trump, he has an undependable partner. Why
is Trump always scowling in photos? Is he not having fun?
I wonder
if Barack Obama is writing another book out there on his island hideaway?”
Nicholas
Kristof’s column in the NY Times challenges Paul Ryan’s Christian
credentials: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/opinion/and-jesus-said-unto-paul-of-ryan.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
More
than 500 US cities have now declared themselves to be sanctuary cities, with
perhaps slightly different meanings in each, but opposition to cooperation with
the Trump administrations is clear. Trump has certainly given ISIS and Al-Qaeda
a great gift with his proposed travel ban, making it a big recruiting tool for
those groups and causing US-based Muslims to feel anxious and under attack.
Why the
Trump administration started out with replacing Obamacare, potentially hurting
some of Trump’s most ardent supporters, is beyond understanding, as the brunt,
if it passes, is likely to be felt before the mid-term elections, defeating
many Republicans. Trump would have done better to start with infrastructure
repair or tax relief, which would have been popular, though adding to the
deficit. Unfortunately, neither Trump nor his supporters understand much about
economics.
However,
Ivanka, despite boycotts of some of her products, is apparently not doing too
badly after all. Perhaps some buyers support her precisely because they support
her father, while others like what she has to offer and don’t hold her father
against her.
Having
children leads to slightly longer average life expectancy, according to a
Swedish study. If so, it may be that children look after aging parents. My
friend in rural area lives next door to her 102-year-old mother, who, no doubt,
would not do well without her daughter’s daily visits.
A Wall St. Journal article “Cuba Kills
Another Dissident (March 6, 2017)” reports the death in prison of 45-year-old
afro-Cuban dissident Hamell Santiago Mas Hernandez of a purported heart attack.
Such prison deaths of dissidents are often reported as “heart attacks.”
Now on to the Feb. trip to Honduras, then a brief stopover in Miami, where on Feb. 26, I appeared on a half-hour interview in Spanish on PBS Channel 17. That interview was about Peace Corps, my Amnesty International volunteer work, and Cuba. After I got back to DC, was also interviewed by a local Univision TV station, mostly about my volunteer work in Honduras, so I'm becoming a known quantity on the Spanish-language TV circuit.
Will show Honduras trip in photos, not necessarily in chronological order. Perhaps because simply of the ravages of time, I found this trip more tiring than previous ones.
Donations above, at bus station in Comayaguela, before taking them to their various destinations. I got them that far, so the final step in the distribution was next. Below, health center where suitcase of medical donations went. Doctor there is washing his own instruments; note below paper files at the health center.
Below, I am there in broiling El Triunfo riding a rapitido. Then shown with this year's wheelchair recipient, a village woman in her 60's with acute arthritis. Later, I bought food for her family, as they were short on food. The walker recipient, in another village, was 102 years old, with no teeth, so the granddaughter with whom he lived fed him a sort of gruel made mostly of corn from their own fields. Both recipients' families had 4 children, no electricity,no plumbing, and lived in remote areas.
I was scheduled to see this child below at the Triunfo health center. His mother
brought him, but became frightened that I might take him away, so she left.
Above, Triunfo health center, dengue sign and director Dra. Jeanette. Below once and future Triunfo librarian Pedro Joaquin and family.
Above, Neris and her children, El Triunfo
Below, Judge Gustavo at his Choluteca home with wife, me (below), and thier maid with her brother.
Below, new blind school sign and blind kids with song leader, Tegucigalpa
Below, adult blind center in Sta. Lucia, announcing massage demonstration in the park, my old pal (in Honduras book) Timoteo, blind braille instructor
Left and below, evangelical female pastors, La Esperanza, and Esperanza Catholic church
Above, deaf bus beggar, below underwear display, un-refrigerated eggs--not pre-washed
Shoe repair, left in La Esperanza, a mail slot far
below (even though snail mail is rare), and my former 2-time leg surgery patient Sandra, now age 16, displaying tumor-free leg. With her are her mother and older brother Elvir, whom I put through 2 years of what I thought was nursing school. Now he says it was only to become a nurse's aide and he wants to study the full nursing course. (I am not a bottomless pit!)
Above and below, Rivera family and teacher-wife Tonia's public school.
Sorry, it takes a while to move things around.
Now, if am lucky, Operation Smile. Below Brazilan surgeon and nurse
Below, San Felipe Hospital outpatient occupational therapy--man who fell in therapy session with daughter and brother
Below, sign to Jesus de Otoro, about 20 miles out of La Esperanza, where I visit annually and give a donation to the single mother of 2 sons with spina bifida. The older one has a recurrent pressure sore, but did go to the hospital in Teguc last June to treat it. However, as he says, it always comes back. The little girl sitting on the floor is a neighbor also with spina bifida, whose mother deposited her there and left her while I was observing the cat on top of the refrigerator. The boys' mother said the girl has no wheelchair so her mother carries her. A ride had come to pick me up, so I didn't get particulars on the girl, but I'd like to get her a child-sized wheelchair by next Feb.
Armed guard at Teguc pharmancy and copy of Mayan statue, Teguc
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