Elsie Normington, who organises events for the over-50s at Merkinch Community Centre recently went to Honduras at the invitation of a missionary friend
MEMBERS of Merkinch Friendship Club thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Elsie Normington’s Caribbean adventures at a recent lunch club. Elsie, who spent over three weeks in Honduras in June with her husband George, found her trip to this third-world country quite an eye-opener.
Honduras has a population just a little larger than Scotland, but 60 per cent live in rural areas and one million live in the capital Tegucigalpa. Altogether the Normingtons made various trips, visiting Christian groups in different parts of the country and preaching. At La Puerta she was invited to address a Women’s Conference.
Though the locations varied, everywhere they went was hot and humid. But, despite the extreme poverty of the people and their lack of what we would call basic facilities, they were given a warm, generous welcome.
Unfortunately for a good part of the trip Elsie suffered from a combination of a gippy tummy, fever and the unaccustomed diet, and she felt really poorly at times. But the kindness and care she was given, by total strangers who shared what little they had, was second to none. Before she left Scotland, Elsie had collected a couple of suitcases of little gifts to give away to the children they met. She assured Friendship Club members that these had gone down a treat with the youngsters, and sometimes their parents too, being fascinated for hours.
Elsie admitted that the visit had given her much food for thought and her experiences had made a deep impact on her which she was still mulling over some weeks after her return.