Monday, May 30, 2011

Back in the USA

Saturday morning we went to Glenda's where we first spent some time on the zip lines -- a particularly fun set of 18 legs.  All of us decided to go and were glad for the experience.  Then we went to a natural hot spring where most of us had mud packs applied.  After a delightful dinner, we spent time in the many pools on the property.  On the way to the buses, we received certificates and t-shirts from the Central American Spanish Scool for our volunteer work.  We took our last group picture and hurried back to finish our packing to catch our 4:00 PM bus to the airport. 

Saturday night found us in San Pedro Sula for our final meeting -- a lovely affair where we named the gifts of each of our traveling companions.  Those of us who decided to sleep (as opposed to those who decided to spend the last night talking) found our beds immediately after the meeting for a short night indeed.

We arose at 3:30 AM so that we would arrive in plenty of time for our first flight and ended up with time to spare -- partly because our driver took advantage of the somewhat empty roads.  That first flight was  a bit bumpy, but relatively short since we just had to fly over the Carribean to get to Miami.  Customs came in Miami, where international travelers seem to walk all the way around the entire airport to find the customs desk.  They do not seem to have the most efficient system, but we all eventually found our way through in time for some lunch.  Many looked for "American" food, so we saw pizza or hot dogs as people ate. 

Our flight to JFK took off on time and landed a bit early and our bus driver, Frank, was right there to meet us.  We hit a bit of traffic on the way acoss Long Island, but since it was Sunday of a holiday weekend, we did to do too badly.  After a stop to drop off two of our members in New Paltz, we arrived back in Albany by 10ish, weary but glad to be back. 

Now starts the reentry with part of our hearts still with the people of Honduras.  Already some of us are making plans to return. 

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Dig, Dig, Paint, Paint

Today found us at the campesino digging a pit to provide a bathroom for the school.  We amazed one another with our ability to swing a pickaxe and carry out the extra dirt.  The deeper we got, with less and less breeze available, the hotter it got.  We were so glad for the extra water we picked up on the way and the suggestion that we bring rags to wrap our hands in the absense of work gloves. 

While some spent the day "in the hole" others of us painted the outside of the school and the chairs and tables that we had sanded the last time we were at the campesino.  It´s satisfying to see our work coming to fruition for these folks who have so litte. 

We find it almost impossible to think that tomorrow is our last full day here in La Ceiba.  On the other hand, we look forward to so many things that we miss about the US. 

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Beginning to say good-bye

Today was our last day at our ¨ordinary¨ assignments. Tomorrow and Friday we will be working to build a bathroom for a school that serves a very poor campesino (poor farming) community. So today we had to say goodbye to the children we have come to know and love in the schools, orphanages and daycare centers in which we have worked. It is always amazing to me how in just a few days these very poor children let us into their lives...and how much they penetrate ours. One little boy today, Hector, in the Special School cried and refused to let go as the school day ended. My promise to return next year  with other students from the College did not help until I told him he could keep my pencil until I saw him next year. That assured him and he finally stopped crying. How deeply we come to touch each others lives in such a short time. It is tough to say goodbye...

Fr. Chris

Our Last "Regular" Day

Though it seems impossible, today is our last day to go to our "regular" work places.  Actually "regular" hardly seems like the right term since we only had 2 days last week and 2 days this week to experience these work sites.  Amazingly, our hearts and minds bonded with the people, especially the children, so quickly.  We will find it hard to say that last good-bye at the schools, the day care center and the orphanage.  . 

We skipped our evening meeting last night -- everyone needed a free night to just rest and relax.  So, at least we started out this day with a little more energy -- but this heat certainly saps any extra vim for our northern bodies.  Too bad we can´t bottle a little of it and spread it over the cooler days we have this summer in the Northeast.

Tomorrow and Friday we go back to the campesino to complete our work there -- painting the desks we sanded last week and working on building the bathroom.  The contractor is there today getting the bathroom started.  So, we will see some improvements as we leave there on Friday.  That will be a nice completion to our work here. 

When we came and were getting used to Honduras, two-weeks seemed like a long time, but as we begin to look toward the end of our time here, two weeks seems to just fly by.  We will be home to you before we know. 

Monday, May 23, 2011

The Jungle School

This morning we visited the Jungle School sponsored by Helping Honduras Kids.  You can find pictures of the school at http://www.helpinghonduraskids.org/.  Helping Honduras Kids also sponsors the orphanage we visit each afternoon, so if was fun to see some of the children in another setting.  The Jungle School is one of a few free schools in this area.  While many public schools provide basic eduction, in order to attend, the students must purchase a uniform to wear to school, the school materials and pay what to us would be a small fee, but which, for the poor of Honduras is too much to imagine.  This school, on the other hand, provides everything for the students -- uniforms, shoes, books, backpacks and a hearty meal -- for some of the children their only regular meal each day. 

In addition to the 22 students who come from the orphanage, another 77 students come from the surrounding jungle, some of them walking for one and a half hours down the mountain and another two hours up the mountain in order to attend.  When the days are shorter in the winter, some of the students are late to school.  They cannot start out early enough to get to school because the jungle supports jaguar who hunt at night, so they have to wait for daylight to start out.  We wondered what children in the US could say, "I¨m sorry, I´m late because I had to avoid the jaguars!!"

At the school, meals are prepared on an open fire.  You cannot begin to imagine how hot it is in the kitchen area when you add that heat to the ambient air temperature. 

After a tour of the school, some of us took the opportunity to hike down to the river for a swim which proved very refreshing.  Others waited at the top of the hill enjoying the cooler jungle weather.  We returned to La Ceiba in time for lunch with our families (which is really the main meal here).  Since the school at the dump is closed today, we are all off to the orphanage this afternoon to visit the children, play with them, read to them and help them with their homework.

Beauty, beauty, beauty

Yesterday we acted just like tourists and visited Cayos Cuchinos, a beautiful national park made up of a small archipeligo of islands about 15 miles off shore, surrounded by an active reef.  We drove to a resort hotel about 40 minutes from La Ceiba where we boarded small, 20-person boats for the trip to the islands which took about 45 minutes.  First, we stopped at the welcome/orientation station where we learned about the park and were instructed that we could take anything from the park home with us BUT only in photographs!! 

We then reboarded the boats for our first island stop -- where we spent a lovely time peering through our goggles at the rich undersea life.  The fish have so many colors -- some of them look like clowns and others looked decked out of a night on the town.  The coral comes in every shape and color as well.  With our guide we swam out to where the reef ends and witnessed the azure blue ocean with just the light filtering through -- something you can probably only see in tropical seas. 

We next boated to another sandy beach which allowed us to take a short hike to see the pink boa constrictor -- native to only these islands.  We found one in the trees.  While our guide captured it to check for sickening fungus on the snake skin, some of the students had a chance to let the snake crawl on their arm or around their neck.  These are much smaller boas than you see on the nature channels on TV -- perhaps 5ft long and about 2 and a half inches in diameter.  Their skin does have a distinct pinkish cast.  After our hike we had time to enjoy the beach and the luxuriously warm ocean for a while before going to our final stop, a small corral island, the home of some Garifuna people.  There we went to a tiny restaurant to enjoy delicious local food -- fish drawn from the ocean specifically for our meal accompanied by rice and plantains.  What a treat that turned out to be, though some of us were surprised to find the entire fish, including head and tails on our plates.  Again we had some time to enjoy the beach before reboarding the boats for our trip home.  We returned to La Ceiba with our eyes full of beauty, our bodies tired from a day in the sun and surf and our spirits ready for another week  with the people of Honduras. 

In the evening, some of us gathered to celebrate mass.  Raphael is our contact here at the Spanish School.  His father-in-law died earlier this year, so Raphael´s wife and her siblings came as well.  We had an interesting time trying to combine some English and Spanish in our celebration.  At our meeting later, we reflected on the juxtaposition of the visiting the dump community one day and Cayos Cuchinos the next -- such contrasting experiences of the same reality. 

A note about the Garifuna people.  In the late 17 hundreds, a slave ship crashed somewhere in the Carribean.  Since the owners were unable to refloat the ship, they released the slaves, putttng them in small boats and set them afloat.  They landed all along the coasts of what is now Belize and Honduras and set up small communities which to this day retain their own language, culture, music and dancing.  We enjoyed our two experiences of interacting with them -- our dance on Saturday evening and our meal in their restaurant.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

From Dump to Fiesta

Saturday began with a trip to visit Susanna who is the unofficial mayor of the dump community.  She welcomed us into her home with open arms (litterally giving each of us a hug) and gave us an opportunity to see inside one of the "almost shacks" in which most of the people in the dump community live.  She told us that she has lived in the scavening community for about 40 years and was one of the first people who came to this dump.  The components of Susanna´s house have been scavenged as well.  In places it seems almost pasted together from various materials that she found around.  Her story is equally challenging.  The mother of 11 children, only 6 lived to adulthood.  In the space of just a few years, she lost her husband, father and several children.  But she said, "what can you do but carry on.  You must endure for the living." 

Matteo, a Mennonite missionary from Pennsylvania, also welcomed us.  He came to La Ceiba to work in a gang prevention mission, but soon found his way to the dump community.  Now, three years later, he asked for a four-year extension on his mission, has rented a home in the dump community and lives among the people he serves.  His mission includes finding employment, medical assistance, education and self'esteem for those in the community.  He is a wonderful example of living your values.

Later in the morning we shopped for souvenirs at a wonderful little shop in town, then walked home in the heat of the day.  Wow, was it hot!!  The afternoon found us at a beautiful and empty beach.  We just enjoyed being tourists for a few hours.

Last nigtht --FIESTA!!  After a delicious barbeque dinner, we experienced a group of Garifuna drummers and danders.  After the opening dance, the women pulled all of us individually into the dance.  Then, in the final dance, we were all on our feet.  What a fun evening.  And most of it is on tape, so you´ll be able to see who the really good dancers turn out to be.  

Today we get to be tourists again, visiting a beautiful island national park, snorkeling, swimming and eating wonderful fish prepared by the Garifuna people who live on a nearby island. 
 

Friday, May 20, 2011

At the Campesino

Last night the fiesta came to our neighborhood of El Sauce.  We had time to enjoy the music and get a little sense of the culture in the dancing.  It proves to be an interesting contrast to everyday life here.  If you were so inclined you could also find almost any "typical food" and lots of games of chance.  It is sort of like a North American street festival on steroids.  We didn´t stay too late, though, as the crowd tends to get a bit rowdy as the evening wears on.  It was easy to enjoy the music from the live bands throughout the neighborhood, however, and far into the night!!  

Since many of our work places closed today for the grand fiesta, we took the opportunity to visit a small pueblo in the country called, La Bomba, a funny name for a town as it means bomb in Spanish.  When we return next week, we should ask why it has that name.  About 35 families live in the community which was originally displaced by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.  About 4 or 5 years ago, the government finally gave the community some land on which to build their homes, but did not include land for farming, which had been their primary livelihood before the storm.  Now they try to eke out a living with such enterprises as making bread for the local towns, but find it difficult to make enough to even purchase new supplies let alone make a profit.  Some of the homes, built by a church community, consist of cinder block walls and a tin roof, while others are made of a sort of mud and wattle brick between wooden sticks with a tin or wooden roof.  I am not at all certain that I would want to be in one of those mud houses during the rainy season.  All the homes have earthen floors.

Someone also built them a school room and they sometimes have a teacher, but not always.  Our work today consisted of painting the walls of the school room and sanding down some second (or maybe fourth)-hand desks in preparation for painting when we return there next week.  It turned out to be hot-dusty work, but we stayed in good spirits, sometimes entertained by some of the sixty five children who live in the community.   The older children assisted us with our sanding. 

Tomorrow we will go to the dump to meet with a woman who serves as a sort of unofficial "mayor" of the dump community.  She will welcome us into her home, tell us a little of her life and answer any questions we have about the community.

After that we will have time to enjoy some of the delights of fiesta day, but nightfall will find us back at the school building for a fiesta party of our own -- complete with barbeque and dancing. 

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Thursday, May 19

It has been the hottest day so far in sunny Honduras. My guess is that it is over 100 degrees fahrenheit today but check the weather channel for the truth! Maybe it just feels that hot. Or maybe it is because all the HondureƱos have been complaining today about the heat.

All else is going very well. I am with a group of students teaching in the Emilia de Cuire school. This is a school for the mentally and physically handicapped. It is one of the very few special schools in Honduras. Usually those students are kept at home and  ignored by all but their immediate families. It is not that Hondurans are insensitive to the needs of these children it is just that the needs of all are so great here. One can only do so much.

I connected today with Sussanna Rosales, a very special women I have come  to know over the years. She lieves with her  family and about 300 other people on the dump in La Ceiba. She has once again invited us to her house for a conversation on Saturday morning. Once never leaves her presence without being changed immensely. I can't wait to introduce our students to her.

Know that all is well and we are all being chenged by this experience with the poor.

Fr. Chris 

Off to Work

Everyone had contrasts to describe when they returned from work yesterday.  We were struck by the poverty of the children whose families scavange on the dump for a living -- but were heartened by the children´s eagerness to learn.  While those who have been here before noticed that the school at the dump had new desks and a whole additional classroom, they saw, too, that few textbooks are available to the chldren.  While we were at the school this morning, however, the children delighted in a gift from the Natioanl Congress which gave each child in the school a gift which included 4 new notebooks, two pencis, a pen, an eraser and a pencil sharpener.

At the school for children with handicapping conditions, we found the children excited to be in school, but wished that they had more staff so that students could have the individualized instruction that would help them advance more quickly.

At the day care center, while most of us found no language barrier because the little ones were too young to speak in any language, we saw few of the safety precautions we would find at a day care in the US.

At the orphanage, we delighted in how the 22 children in the "collected" family treat each other with such kindness, but we were saddened by how many of them arrived in the orphanage because of physical and sexual abuse they experienced at home. 

So you can see that our experience leads us to see contrasts in each group we encounter.  In terms of work, tomorrow will be similar to these last two.  Tonight, however, the fiesta comes to our neighborhood of El Sauce, so we´ll take advantage of this carnival-like atmosphere which will pervade the area and be able to walk home easily. Don´t worry none of us will ever be alone at the carnival.  We will stay in groups!!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Day 2

Yesterday afternoon found us at the bank to exchange our dollars for lempira.  The folks at the bank responded graciously to our fumbling efforts to make our requests.  Then we went on to the grocerty store to stock up on water, gatoraide and snacks.  Finally, about 4.30, we were able to meet our host families.  Many of the usual host families have guests in town for the huge fiesta which takes place this week culminating with a parade and a huge party down town on Saturday.  It´s the feast of San Isidro (Saint Isador), the patron saint of farmers and the patron of La Ceiba.  We will participate in a smaller version of the fiesta which will take place tomorrow evening in our small neighborhood of El Sauce where we are all living.  On Saturday, we will go to the parade and then, because the downtown party starts to get a little rowdy, we will have our own fiesta at the school, complete good food, followed by a demonstration from local dancers. 

Since some of the host families are otherwise occupied, we are staying in a wide variety of homes, but all still in the same neighborhood.  One group is in what amounts to a mansion!!  Others not so much -- but all in comfortable homes with welcoming families.

Today we had our first opportunity to participate in our volunteer experiences.  We each had the opportunity to visit two different sites.  The four possibilities include the school for children with handicapping conditions, the school for the community that scavenges on the dump, a day-care center/nursery school and an orphanage.  Each place has its graces and challenges.  As we have more opportunities to interact, we will find even more ways to be of service.  Already we are learning an incredible amount about Honduras and especially the people who live here.  

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

We Arrived

After enduring a traffic jam on Long Island, we arrived at Kennedy in plenty of time to board our plane to Miami.  Fog, however, delayed all the departures, so we were a little late arriving in Miami.  Fortunately, we found our departure gate close to where we arrived so, with only a few minutes wait, we were off to San Pedro Sula, Honduras.  We arrived, cleared customs easily and found our driver after just a few minutes.  We were so excited to finally be here in Honduras after so many months of preparation.  Everything, including the trees, looked interesting to us.  Our hotel turned out to be a small, family-owned bed and breakfast where we were welcomed warmly.  Of course, since we had no time in Miami, most of us found ourselves quite hungry on arrival.  So, we merely dropped our bags and went to a small restaurant which served baliadas -- a wonderful confection made from a large tortilla-like bread filled with meat, cheese and beans.  We all enjoyed our meals, but were not sorry to see our bedrooms when we returned to the B&B. 

Today, we are off to La Ceiba to meet our host families.  We look forward to seeing some of the countryside as we travel from San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba.  This afternoon we will have our orientation, learning a little about the city, visiting the places we may volunteer, going to the bank to change money and other such preparatory activities.  Tonight we will meet to decide who will volunteer where and to share our first impressions of Honduras.  We look forward to actually starting our work tomorrow. 

Much more to come!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Getting Ready

Excitement mounts as we pack for our trip to Honduras -- each traveler allowed to take only 1 roll-abord and one other small item.  But we have a good parking list, so everything should fit.  Thirteen of us will leave by bus from Saint Rose on the morning of Monday, May 16 to travel via JFK to Miami and then on to Honduras, eventually finding ourselves in La Ceiba on the north coast of Honduras.
La Ceiba is named after the tree in the picture to the right which were plentiful in the area, though many fewer remian now. 

Honduras is a country of contrasts with breathtaking scenery, side by side with abject poverty.  During our two-week stay we hope to work both in the city at schools and a day-care center as well as in a rural area near Jutiapa. 

As we travel and learn more about the country, we will share our stories.