I will try to summarize our trip to date.
Dea, Lori, and I left Thursday afternoon and flew through Houston to San Salvador. We had checked some baggage and the Customs officials confiscated part of it because of the medicines in it (there was no paperwork submitted for it).
We spent the night with Carmen Cruz at her home and met with the First Lady of the country the next morning. Her name is Vanda, and she is the leader of the Social Services in the country. We were with her for over an hour. She presented certificates of appreciation for the load of equipment and supplies that we sent to a state-operated nursing home back in January. She seemed to be genuinely grateful for the help it provided to the elderly.
She then presented an opportunity to help her and her country. There is a womens' prison not too far from the capital that has a problem. Women incarcerated there take any small children (under 4 years) with them. The children are not provided for, and they badly need beds, bedding, and some clothing. She asked us to visit the prison and we set up an appointment to do that on Thursday.
The photo shows Dea, Lori, Vanda, and Blanca (secretary).
After that visit we toured the nursing home that received the equipment and supplies. It was not as bad as we had anticipated, partly because of some recent construction. We then visited a physical rehabilitation facility and headed for La Palma. The second wave of missionaries arrived at the La Palma hotel after we did. They too were delayed in customs by a lack of paperwork for medicines.
There was a large group already at the hotel and some of the group had go up the hill to the new rooms just completed rather than stay in the lower, older rooms.