Class Pet and Science Project

So, this week we were having math class outside for a little "change of scenery." While we were out there, Kevin saw a really cool looking caterpillar. Then, Julio suggested that we keep him. I decided it was a good idea and we might as well see if we can keep him through the whole "cocoon" process and everything. It turned out to be a fun addition to our classroom. We made a little habitat for him and spent our science period looking up caterpillars on the internet trying to figure out what kind he is. After we got him all set up in his jar, fixing the screen on top, and making sure he had everything he needed. Julio and I enjoyed going around the school showing it to other classes. OH...and my kids decided to give him a name. Guess what they decided on?!

Our caterpillar is now also named Julio. I think it was Kevin's idea, and Julio (my student) LOVES that something is named after him. He thinks it's pretty much the coolest thing ever. Here are some pictures of our new friend Julio.

This is his new habitat.

This is Julio!

We came to school on Wednesday and he had made a cocoon! I'll keep you updated on how he's doing. My kids are loving checking on him everyday and can't wait until he emerges as a moth.

Here's a recent picture of my class:

Spiritual Emphasis Week and Semana Santa

Last week was spiritual emphasis week. The older kids had some really great chapel sessions every morning led by a guest speaker. The younger kids also had chapel every morning led by two of our teachers. The theme for the week for our elementary kids was salvation. The kids learned about how salvation is a free gift, God transforms our life, what it cost Jesus, and how it is permanent. Each morning we had chapel in a new location and included a fun activity for the kids to help them remember. Although I don’t know if any decisions were made, we could definitely tell some of the kids were affected by the messages and were starting to at least think about. Please continue to pray with us for the seeds were planted during this week.

This week we’ve had off of school for Semana Santa (or Holy Week). It has been a much needed and relaxing week. Eleven of us spent last weekend and the beginning of the week in La Ceiba, a beach on the north coast about 6 hours away. It was a fun and relaxing time of rest and fellowship. We got a really good deal on the hotel, too which is always nice. We got back home to the ranch on Tuesday night. The rest of the week has been spent watching a few movies, having a pedicure night, and just getting a lot of stuff done that I haven’t had time to do with school and everything else going on.



I’m excited about this upcoming week as well! I’ll be teaching Monday and Tuesday and then will be returning to the states Wednesday for my friend Allison’s wedding!! I can’t wait to be there for this special occasion! I’m very excited and happy for her. It will be a really quick trip to the states, so I probably won’t get to see most of you. I just wanted to let you know what’s going on. I’m arriving in Dallas late Wednesday night, doing some errands and seeing family on Thursday, driving with my parents to Arkansas for the wedding on Friday, coming back late Saturday night, and flying back to Honduras early Monday morning. Please pray for safe travel and that my time in the states will be fun and not to rushed.

I'm still alive :)

Here at the ranch we grow our own coffee and then sell it to the teams that come through to work. We have lots of coffee bushes down by the school. We have many workers come and pick the coffee from the plants. It is then shelled, dryed, roasted, and then dried again I think. I'm not sure of all the details, but the process is something like that. We have drying tables lined up in front of the school. After the beans are picked and shelled, they pour bags of them onto the tables to dry. Today I had the chance to measure the moisture content in the beans. It was fun! you just put them in this little contraption, turn the little knob, and it tells you the moisture content. When they have 12% or less moisture content, they are dry enough to move to the next step. The ones I measured were right at 12%. Actually seeing the coffee and the process it goes through before it is ready to sell is really interesting, but as I'm writing about it, I'm realizing that it sounds kind of boring just to read about it. It' more fun to actually see it happening. Anyways, here's a picture of the coffee beans drying outside the school.

We had a spelling bee last week for grades 2-6. It was fun to see them applying what they've learned in class. Elli, my 4th grader got in 2nd place! I was very proud!

In a couple of weeks we have "semana santa" or "Holy Week" the week before easter. It's a week off of school, so a lot of the teachers are going up to the north coast to La Ceiba for a few days. We got a really good deal on a hotel up there. I hear the beaches there are really pretty. It will be nice to have a little break from school.

Some of you may have heard that I was sick a few weeks ago. There were about 5 of us teachers that had the flu. We think one of the people that came on the construction team brought it to us. I'm slowly recovering. I was out of school for a week. This is my 2nd week back at school after being out for a week. It's been fun to be back, but I still don't have all my energy back yet. I've also been coughing a lot still...coughing so much that it has caused between my ribs to swell a little, making it painful to cough. Thankfully, I can tell I'm getting a little better everyday. I'm not coughing as much, and it doesn't hurt as much when I do. I would appreciate prayers for a full recovery and to have all my strength back. There are a couple of teachers who are still feeling bad. Please pray that they will feel better soon too!

Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Back in Honduras

So, I've been back in Honduras for about 2 weeks now, so I decided it was about time for another blog update.

First of all, I want to tell you about my time in the states. I had a wonderful time seeing my family and friends. I spent my first 2 weeks at home in the Dallas area, spent a week visiting my friend in New Orleans, and then spent the last couple of weeks at home again. I was glad I was able to be home for the holidays. I enjoyed getting to see a lot of you while I was at home. I apologize if I didn't get to see you. I was busier than I thought I was going to be.

I have enjoyed my first 2 weeks of school. It kind of seems like I never left, but that's a good thing. This is a fun month at school. We made January "Color Month," so all the teachers decorated their doors with their classes. Here's ours:

This is also a fun month in that each Friday is a fun dress day. Last week was pajama day and this week was backwards day. The next couple of weeks will be Crazy hat/hair day and Twin Day. Here's a picture of me and my kids on pajama day:

We also celebrated Julio's birthday on pajama day:

That's about it for now. I'll keep you updated. Thanks so much for the prayers and support!

A tiny little taste...

This video is just a tiny little taste of what I do in Honduras. Enjoy!

Fall Newsletter

Literacy Program in the Community

Our ministry has started a new program in the community on Wednesday afternoons. We have a literacy program where our older kids are able to teach adults in the community how to read and write in Spanish. While the adults are in their classes, we have a program for their kids. I have been helping with it. A typical day consists of singing songs, telling a Bible story through a skit, puppet show, etc, praying, and learning a Bible verse. The goal of these ministries is to get the kids here at the ranch involved with reaching out to the community and sharing Christ with them. There are several teachers and one of the Honduran house parents that are helping to plan everything and the WGO youth is slowly taking on more and more responsibility. So far we have taught about the parable of the Lost Sheep, the Prodigal Son, and the Parable of the Sower. For the month of October we had the theme of “Trusting God” and told the stories of Job, Joseph, and the centurion in Matt. 8, and Joseph. For the story of Joseph, the kids enjoyed making tie-dye t-shirts. I have enjoyed this opportunity to work alongside the youth to minister to the kids in the community.

Concrete Floor

On September 29th, many of the teachers, families, and other missionaries from the ranch had the opportunity to help put a concrete floor in the house of one of our house assistants, Betulia. She is an assistant in one of our houses of boys we have here at the ranch. The house has six boys, ages 1-17. Although she works at the ranch, she lives about 10 minutes down the road. It’s hard to judge distances because the roads are bad and it sometimes takes a long time to go a relatively short distance down the mountain. Many of the houses in the community only have dirt floors. Their walls are made of mud bricks, and are easily washed away when there is lots of rain. We were able to mix and pour the concrete floor for her house, and work in her yard. We made a new flower bed for her and cleaned out a lot of weeds and things that were beside her house. When all the work was completed, we had the opportunity to pray for Betulia and her family. This was a fun day to work with some people at the ranch that we don’t usually have the chance to interact with while helping Betulia, who has been a huge blessing to the ranch.

Celebrations at School

Honduran Festival

Honduran Independence Day was in the middle of September so we had a “Honduran Festival” at school. One Thursday afternoon the Honduran teachers and some of the kids prepared a program for the rest of the ranch to teach about the history of the country, some of the national symbols, and different regions of Honduras. A few of the house parents also prepared Honduran food for us to try. A lot of their food includes plantains, yucca root, beans, tortillas and rice. Most of it was pretty good, and all of it was definitely different! I enjoyed this time to learn more about Honduras and try some of the food.

Day of the Child

Another celebration we had at school was “Day of the Child.” This is basically like a Father’s Day or Mother’s Day would be in the states, but this one is for kids. They get all kinds of candy and toys. One morning at school, each of the primary grade teachers came up with a game for the kids to play. We spent the morning playing games and then ended the morning with the kids hunting for bags of candy that we had hidden outside the school. It reminded me of an Easter Egg hunt. The kids (and teachers) enjoyed this fun little break from the routine of a normal school day.

Home for the Holidays

I’ll be back in the states from November 23rd-January 2nd! I’m looking forward to this time at home to see my friends and family. I will miss everyone that I’ve developed some great friendships with, teachers and students, over these past four months. After spending pretty much all day everyday with them, it will be weird to not be around them for several weeks. I would love to see you while I’m in the states! Email me or call me so we can work something out. I’ll be in New Orleans for several days in December, but I should be in the Dallas area for the rest of the time.

2008-2009 School Year

After a lot of prayer and thought, I have decided to extend my initial 1 year commitment for another year. So, I’ll be here for next school year too! I’m very excited about this because I love being here and feel like it’s where God wants me right now. Thanks to everyone who was praying with me about this! You should be receiving an email over the next couple of weeks regarding additional financial support needed, so please be praying about that. I look forward to going home for the holidays so I can talk about it with some of you in person.

Cute Quotes

“Miss Hannah, why do I have to multiply my choices?” –One of my students after seeing a multiple choice section on a test… and again the other day, “Why do I have multiplication choices?”


“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! I really want to say God’s name in vain right now, but I can’t!”- One of my students after hearing that a container filled with shipped from the states with personal belongings had finally arrived at the ranch.

Contact Information

I have enjoyed getting emails and a few cards from people! Please continue to send them my way! They are good reminders that I have people praying for me at home and I love hearing about what’s going on while I’m gone. I promise I’ll reply to emails and return letters…it just may take awhile. It takes about 3-4 weeks at least for me to get letters and cards and I have to wait until there is a team here to send them back with. There’s not a reliable mail service here, so when we want to mail things to the states, we ask a team to mail them for us when they get back.
The best address to mail things (letters and cards only please) to is in Miami:

Hannah Dakel
World Gospel Outreach
TGU 144
P.O. Box 02-5387
Miami, FL 33102-5387

(If you would like to send a package, please contact me for the best place to send it.)
My email address is Hannah.dakel@gmail.com.
You can read WGO’s most current newsletter online at http://www.wgoreach.org/.

Prayer Requests:
· Pray for the kids, that they would have a great attitude about school and be ready to learn new academic and spiritual things each day.
· Pray for wisdom when answering spiritual questions my students have.
· Pray that I would continue to develop strong relationships with the youth here at the ranch.
· Pray for unity and healthy relationships between all the teachers and other missionaries here.
· Pray for a safe and refreshing time back in the states for the holidays.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

It's been a while..

I'm still alive! Our internet hasn't been working for a while, so I haven't been able to write anything.

Everything here is still going well! We only have a week and a half left of school in the semester! I can't believe time has gone by so fast! We have graduation on the 21st for our 6th graders. The Honduran school calendar ends in November. Two or three of our kids who are in the spanish curriculum will be graduating on that day! It should be a fun day. Many of the teachers are planning things for their students to do for graduation...it will be kind of like a talent show/program kind of thing. I'm not doing anything with my kids b/c they are already doing things with several of the other teachers....music, spanish, etc.

The community program with the kids has been going really well too. This past week, they made tie-dye t-shirts after talking about the story of Joseph and trusting in God. The kids loved it and the shirts turned out really cute! Here's a picture:

In other news, I'm coming home in a couple of weeks! I'm excited about it, but it will be sad being away from here for about 6 weeks. I'll be in the Dallas area for most of the time and in New Orleans for about a week. I'd love to see you if you're around!!

And about my newsletter.... my fall newsletter will be coming by the end of the month. I apologize for the lack of updates. I've been really busy and like I said before, the internet hasn't been the best, but I hope to see you soon and then I can update you in person!!

As always, thanks for the prayers and support!