Todd Baptista Is A Man For All Seasons

If St. Cecilia is the saint watching over musicians, then Todd Baptista is the patron saint of Doo Wop artists. Nationally recognized as an award winning author and producer, Todd's passion to help preserve the classic American art form called Doo Wop pales in importance to what he does with his wonderful wife, Kristen and one of their two sons, Devon, helping the destitute and poor living in challenging conditions in the mountains of Honduras! For the next few weeks, I'll be posting Todd's emails from his mission site, to keep you in touch with all he does to alleviate suffering and promote good health in these hard working people! Let's start at the very beginning.

Our journey began on Sunday morning 3/1/15 at 2 AM with our departure from Westport to Boston- then Atlanta and then to Tegucigalpa and finally Juticalpa, Olancho by Sunday evening. It took just under 17 hours to travel the approximate 2,510 miles from St. John The Baptist Church in Westport,
Massachusetts to the casa de voluntarios in Juticalpa, Olancho, Honduras but we are all here- safe and in good health.
13 of us boarded the bus to Logan Airport (thank you Brian Beaulieu) just before 2 AM for a drive of just over an hour.
Five others joined at the airport and another met at our Atlanta connection. The skies were clear and the moon shone down brightly on two feet of snow cover.
It's been a long, cold winter in New England and this morning- 8 degrees F was no exception.
Some folks chatted on the way up, others tried dozing, others still seemed to stare off into the darkness pondering what path they will follow in the days to come.
For some, like Richard L. and Jocelyn V. and my 11 year old son, Devin, it's a new adventure-
one they've only experienced through the words and the photos of those who have traveled here before.
For Kristen and I and a number of others, it's the seventh straight March that we've come to this special place.
Day 1 is all about pacing. It's a long journey and - in race terms- don't give your all in the first 25 laps of a 500 lap event. When we arrived in Tegucigalpa,
we were met by old friends Rolando, our bus driver, and Oscar Fuentes, the volunteer group coordinator.
The three plus hour drive covering the 83 miles to the city of Juticalpa was long, as always, but included a couple of stops for ice cream, home made breads to
bring to the casa, and fried plantains and banana chips. A few luxuries!
Rick M. was awaiting our arrival at the casa as was Bonita, who cooks our evening meals, and after bringing all the luggage in- 20 large suitcases, 20 carry-ons of
personal items and backpacks, we sat down to our first meal of chicken and rice. Poor Kristen, Jeanette and Djenny- hot dogs had been cut and added to the dish
so peanut butter sandwiches and mac and cheese for the three of them. Oh well, there was fresh pineapple and watermelon.
A brilliant rainbow greeted us on the final leg of our journey up here, accompanied later by some brief downpours which felt nice, as sunny skies and temperatures
on the 80s are the norm-but none of us are complaining. The cold water shower wasn't as unwelcome as one might have thought tonight.
It's been a long time since I've seen a rainbow with such a large vivid purple color.
Just as we noticed the rainbow, the girls riding in the back of the bus yelled stop. The wind had taken two of our carry-on bags off the top of our bus and
onto the highway- actually a two lane "mostly" paved road.
We were able to retrieve the bags without incident and started going through a few of our bags tonight after dinner. The med room is going to be a big task tomorrow.
Basically, we're building our medical and pharmacy supplies from scratch and there are boxes of everything imaginable to sort through tomorrow to prepare for
Tuesday's first medical clinic in San Felipe, a remote village about an hour away, accessible only by a very bumpy dirt road. Last time we were there, the village had three
generators at different homes but that was it for electricity. We have friends here, and it will be good to see them again.
Devin seems to be doing just fine thus far. Happy, enthusiastic, and helpful. It's a lot to ask of a little boy. He was born with very little, grew up with very
little and, having entered our life through adoption in 2012, now has more than he could have ever imagined. Our lessons to him this week are simple.
This is how we celebrate Lent in our Catholic faith. It's a sacrifice we make willingly to come here.
God has blessed us with various talents and gifts and we share them with others.
Third, more of the world lives like this- not like we do at home. You need to see this.
And fourth, children without the latest and greatest survive and, indeed thrive.
They do so with something called "our daily bread". It's in the words we pray daily, but do we really know what our daily bread is? That's part of Devin's mission
and our journey once again. There are sad stories, of course, but it's not dismal and depressing. It's a beautiful place an we are excited and thankful to be back.
Sleep is calling. Be well. We are exactly where we are supposed to be.
Peace from Juticalpa, Olancho.
Todd Baptista with Kristen and Devin