Señas de Amor

We had the amazing opportunity the last couple of days to spend time with a group called Señas de Amor. they are a group of mostly deaf hondurans who travel around (mostly in the northern part of honduras, but once a year they come to puerto lempira--that´s how amazing it was that we were here at the same time...definitely the hand of God) to find rural deaf people and teach them sign language. since they came out of that background of being hidden away and neglected, unable to communicate, they really have a heart for the deaf people in honduras who have no language and are not cared for. they are a christian group and they really love these people so much.

we were able to drive around town with them (precariously perched on the back of a pick-up truck, bumping over all the dirt roads) to find two deaf children they knew of. since there are no addresses or street names here, it can be difficult...it´s really a matter of asking around, which can be hard when so many deaf children are practically hidden away. we were able to find two children, though, and we brought them back to the house of hope, where señas de amor held a class/workshop with them and the other children here. it was really neat to see them working with the kids, and they did a drama at the end of basically the whole story of the bible...creation, sin, redemption. it was beautiful.

one of the greatest things about them being here is that we were really able to see LESHO first-hand. this is honduran sign language, and although it´s very similar to ASL, it is evolving as its own language and in some ways is very different. so we really got a very intensive "crash course" in lesho. they were very eager and willing and patient to teach us and give us all the information they could in such a short time. we learned so much! we feel so much more able to work with jose.

he is definitely making progress. he´s coming out of his shell much more, and comprehending much more. it´s slow going because he is so low language, but he´s a quick learner once he understands, and it´s awesome to see him communicating with the other kids. we have class with him in the morning, and then a little later we have class with all the kids, which they love. then later we have class with katrina and jose. it´s so amazing to see how everyone at the house really is interested in learning, and even ricardo, an older man who works here and whose hands are stiff so signing is difficult, is so happy and eager to learn at least simple things--and he does a great job of communicating by gestures and expressions. really all the kids do, and since kids are so expressive, they pick up signing really well.

well we´d better get back, but there you have a little taste of what we´ve been up to. there is soo much more we are doing and experiencing--so many new things. God is blessing us and please continue to keep us in your prayers.

here are a couple pictures. we visited an orphanage down the road, and while we were there we taught the kids some signs. enjoy!