Blog: Preds Staffers Serve with Soles4Souls in Honduras

Last week, a group of Preds staffers traveled to El Progreso, Honduras with Soles4Souls to distribute shoes to local communities. Check out some of their adventures!

Wednesday, August 23

The trip started with a 6:15 a.m. departure to Houston followed by a connecting flight to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Once we arrived in San Pedro Sula, we were greeted by our Soles4Souls guide Tiffany, our in-country guide Raul and our driver Maynor. We traveled 30 minutes to El Progreso where we stayed. We enjoyed lunch at a café across from our hotel then made our way to the in-country warehouse where we sorted our shoes we would need for the week.

After we pulled our shoes, we visited Raul’s gym that he owns, CrossGym, and took a class led by one of his students. It included intervals of cardio and strength training. The workout was hard and tiring, but we felt great after it was over. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a grocery store and stocked up on snacks for the week. Our personal favorites were the yuca chips, butter cookies and orange soda. Our last stop on day one was dinner at a local burger and wings restaurant. With full bellies, we went back to the hotel, sorted toys for the kids we were visiting and rested up for a busy week.

Thursday, August 24

For our first distribution of the trip, we traveled two hours to Siguatepeque. We stopped at a gas station to meet the mayor of Siguatepeque’s wife, who coordinated the distributions. After driving up some mountains, we arrived at our first distribution at a school. The kids were so excited when we arrived, waving to us and began to line up for shoes before we even got out of the van. We got set up, fitted and gave 70 kids a brand new pair of shoes. After each child received their shoes, we helped them decorate their new kicks. Horses, lions, dogs and cats were the most popular requests for the shoes. Additionally, we gave each kid toys that we had purchased (and Preds staff members donated) before the trip. One of the toys included a soccer ball and a game between the boys and girls took place. After about two hours, we said goodbye before heading to lunch.

We ate lunch at a local restaurant where most of our group tried Plato Tipico (the national dish of Honduras). The dish included grilled meat, fried plantains, rice, beans, avocado and cheese. It was delicious! While at lunch, we met the mayor of Siguatepeque. It was great to meet him and talk with him about the city he serves.

After lunch, we headed to our second distribution in Siguatepeque. It was another school and we gave out more than 100 shoes. We met so many great people during this day. On our way back to El Progreso, we stopped at a restaurant owned by Raul’s cousin. It was a family style restaurant and we enjoyed sausage, chicken, beef, rice, beans, plantains and more. The food in Honduras was incredible. After a long day, we went back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep.

Friday, August 25

On Friday we woke up, ate a leisurely breakfast at the sweet hotel café (next to a cage of beautiful red macaws) and then traveled an hour north to the Caribbean coast. In the town of Tela, we headed to a local school with smartly dressed children in white button-down shirts and navy skirts or pants. The children were lined up and ready when we arrived before we even had a chance to set up the shoes – they were excited! After we distributed shoes to about 100 kids, we were able to sit and spend time with the children. Some of us headed to the soccer field to play a soccer game and the rest of us sat in the shade and colored shoes. The requests for lions, rainbows, hearts, flowers and snakes were very popular and the kids were eager for their turn. After each coloring dozens of shoes we packed up and said goodbye to the sweet children.

We traveled a short distance to a local beach for lunch at Rosa Negra where massive plates of seafood, rice, beans and meat were passed around family style. After eating lunch, we all changed and headed to the beach for some sun, sand and salt water. The water temperature was perfect and we floated in the Caribbean Sea and walked down the beach. Locals brought freshly opened coconuts to drink and offered banana boat rides. To avoid traffic, we headed back to El Progreso and took an exciting detour through some rural streets to avoid the backup of trucks and cars that we encountered. After a little down time at the hotel, we loaded back up in the van and headed to a chicken restaurant frequented by locals. A woman built an amazing business out of her house and we really experienced a freshly cooked Honduran meal. After dinner some of the team headed out with Raul to his friend’s dance club and checked out the nightlife in El Progreso. Raul and Tiffany celebrated their 10-year anniversary working together. It was a sweet celebration.

Saturday, August 26

For our last full day in Honduras, we had one distribution. We began our day eating baleadas for breakfast made by Raul’s friend. Baleadas are a local dish that consists of a tortilla, eggs, avocado and beans. They were delicious and a great way to start our day. We traveled to our distribution in El Progreso at a local school. This group was a little smaller and we distributed about 30 pairs of shoes. A smaller group meant we could spend more time with the kids and get to know them. We decorated shoes together, played soccer, laughed together and more. After about two hours with the kids, it was time to leave. We headed back into the main part of the city to our hotel. Once we got back to the hotel, we enjoyed lunch at a restaurant attached to the hotel.

After some swim time, we freshened up and headed to the store Raul owns. It was filled with shoes, clothes and more. It was great to see Raul in action and learn about all he does in Honduras. He truly is a community hero! We then made our way to San Pedro Sula for our final dinner of the trip. We went to Angeli Gardens, a beautiful restaurant, event venue, brewery and garden. Our dinner was fantastic and we reflected on the week and all we got to do. We ended the night by celebrating the upcoming birthday of one of our coworkers, Milton. He was so surprised that we had gotten him a cake!

Sunday, August 27

With our flights leaving at noon on Sunday, we left the hotel by 9 a.m. Once we got to the airport, we bid farewell to our hosts Raul and Maynor. We will miss them and are grateful for all their help during the week. After some souvenir shopping, we boarded our flights for home.

It was an incredible week serving others and we are so grateful for this opportunity with Soles4Souls. Thanks for following along!