Since the wifi tends to be spotty in my locations, I have had major issues uploading photos through my blog. I was able to get a few on here before it completely stopped working, so I again apologize for not being able to show you more of what I am discussing here. However, I am able to post all of my photos on Facebook with no problem and keep it updated regularly with all the pictures I am taking. So, if you are interested in seeing more photos, please check out my Facebook.
Country: Honduras
City: Juticalpa
Language: Spanish
Time difference: 1 hour behind EST (due to the recent time change in the States)
Local meal recently eaten: Pupusas. These are thick, handmade corn tortillas filled with a combo of fillings (such as seasoned beans, cooked pork and a mixture of cheese) that are cooked on a skillet or griddle. I also tried Jamaica “juice,” which is a a tea made with Jamaica Hibiscus flowers.
This is a pupusa
Ministry site: We are staying at a volunteer house set up for us by Olancho Aid, the foundation we are partnering with this month. In Honduras, poverty often forces the majority of children to work in order to support their families, rather than attend school. Olancho Aid is a Catholic organization that is working to help end the cycle of poverty through education in Honduras.
One of the ways they do this is by providing scholarships and connecting sponsors to different low-income children in the area who otherwise would not be able to attend school. Scholarship recipients come from impoverished families who do not have the means to pay for education, including transportation, shoes and/or uniforms. I have met several of the kids attending school on a scholarship this week and they are some of my favorite. They also tend to truly value the opportunity they have been given. If you are interested in finding out more about how this works or in sponsoring a child yourself, just click here: Sponsor a child.
Ministry Host: Oscar Fuentes, who works for Olancho Aid, is our host this month. He grew up here in Juticalpa, but speaks fluent English (spent several months in the States). We all immediately connected with him and love his personality and sense of humor. He is very laid back and has extremely kind to us, taking us around town to get us oriented on everything.
My team ministries: Olancho Aid has placed us in one of their nearby bilingual schools, Santa Clara, to assist the teachers, volunteers and other staff there. We board the bus with the kids around 6:10am and our day starts once we arrive, typically around 7:00am, and ends at 3:00pm when we take the bus back with them.
Santa Clara’s Main Entrance
Our school covers pre-K through 6th grade and the six girls on my team have each been assigned a different teacher and class to work with, acting as a teaching assistant of sorts. Because of my background as a dietitian, I was given other assignments to work on during my time here including:
- Developing a nutrition workshop which I will be teaching to all classes within the 1st-6th grades.
- Working alongside the school nurse to help educate the parents of the pre-K and kindergarten students to discuss nutrition, health and hygiene.
- Leading a stress management class for the teachers.
When I’m not working on the above projects, they have me working with the librarian, Orchid (whom you will hear more about later), to set up, organize and decorate the new library. I’ll be honest, I was quite overwhelmed when I first heard all of my assignments. This was not simply because of the timeline and work involved, but moreso because of the audience. I love teaching and discussing health/nutrition, but my background is in educating adults and I have very little experience (and even more honestly, desire) in teaching children. It is definitely outside of my comfort zone and I knew this month’s ministry would pose a different kind of challenge for me. I just wrapped up my first full week at the school, which was one of the more difficult weeks on the Race for me, and I can already see how God is using the discomfort to teach me more still about His heart, and my own.
The Sculptor’s Seven team on our first day of school. (Left to right: Hannah, me, Stephanie, Rachel, Casie, Abi and Brooke)
Living conditions: This month is our sweetest set up yet! We are staying at a volunteer house/hostel specifically created to house different teams coming in and working with Olancho Aid. As such, it is pretty large with a big kitchen and dining area downstairs, and bathrooms and bedrooms upstairs. We even have a balcony area on the roof where we can sit and relax…I can be found there at all times when we are at the house.
The volunteer house we are staying at
Our balcony hangout
Second part to our balcony
View from our balcony….so gorgeous!
Our volunteer house is right beside an orphanage (several of the kids going to Santa Clara through scholarships/sponsors live here) and a nursing home, which we will be visiting during our free time.
The gym (left) and orphanage (right) beside our house
We have 4 toilets and 4 showers (cold water, which should go without saying) for the 7 of us!!!! Coming from roughly 1-3 toilets and 4-8 showers for 36+ of us last month, this place feels like a mansion. We were all overjoyed with the amount of space we have and are super grateful for such nice accommodations. There 2-3 of us to a room with our own bottom bunk and dresser to share. You would not think having drawers to put your clothes and items into it would be such a big deal, but it is. It is the first time that I’m not living out of my backpack on the Race and it just makes you feel “at home.”
Each bedroom is named after a fruit of the spirit, with my room being joy.
The other major difference this month is that it is the first time my team and I are completely on our own. We have shared our ministries/sites with other teams the first few months and as much as we enjoyed it, it is very refreshing to be alone as a group for a change. It creates a more intimate atmosphere and more space, which is often quite needed on the Race.
With that said, we do have different people coming in and sharing the house with us throughout the month. Our first “guest” has been a new employee for one of the schools who is staying here until her own volunteer home is ready for her. On Sunday, we will have three other people who oversee the schools joining us here for a few days. Then, next weekend, we will have a group of 8-10 Americans sharing the house while they serve here in different capacities.
Weather: The Central American heat continues to make its presence known. Though the high is often just in the upper 80’s (this is their winter season), the humidity is anywhere from 70-80%. This can definitely be felt during the middle of the day, especially in the open air school, but it feels somewhat less hot than Nicaragua, which is nice.
Interesting fact: Juticalpa is the capital of the Olancho department (our equivalent of a state), which is one of the largest departments in Central America. Juticalpa’s economy is primarily agricultural and commercial. Many citizens here run small stores called pulperías, where they sell household items and foods to neighbors to support themselves. Unemployement is very high.
While not exactly something I wish to dwell on, Honduras is the murder capital of the world! Even our Nicaraguan bus driver insisted on being out of Tegucigalpa (the capital where we first stayed overnight) before dark. Violence has increased in recent years as Mexican drug cartels have expanded into the country, enlisting local street gangs and using the coastline as a pit stop for US-bound cocaine.
This problem has been exacerbated by poverty in the area, with about 60% of the population living below the poverty line. Much of the violence and murder here goes unpunished, largely due to undertraining and corruption of law enforcement. It is estimated that 50% of the Honduran police force have been corrupted by drug gangs.
What surprised me: I was taken aback by just how beautiful the mountains and landscapes are here! There are so many mountains, all covered with trees and greenery. It makes for some amazing views.
I honestly have not spent much time out and about in the city. We work fairly long days at school and by the time we get back, shower and start dinner, it is dark. We are not really supposed to go out after dark, so most of our days are spent are school and the house.
With that said, the only real surprising thing for me thus far has been the disrespectfulness of the children at school. I know that sounds horrible, but it was something that we all immediately noticed going into the school. There is not a real firm disciplinary process in place at the moment and as a result, the kids run a bit wild. They are constantly talking/yelling, getting up out of their seat and even leaving the room while the teacher is talking. They can be quieted down for a minute or two, but then go right back to it without any consequence. There is no real detention, suspension, recess taken away, etc. It is honestly very tiring and is growing us all in the realm of patience.
We have talked with different teachers and staff regarding this and they said it is something that is slowly being addressed though it may take years to fully establish a real process for this. One thing that makes this school different is the fact that it is a private school, so parents pay to have their children attend. This is a luxury that not everyone is afforded and parents might not react very well if their child is being punished, so to speak, since they are paying for it. It sounds like a mixture of issues involved ranging from culture and politics to lack of permanent staff. This is one reason some of the heads are coming into town this next week, to start evaluating what can be done.
Off day opportunities: While not exactly a tourist destination, there are always things to discover where we go. We ventured out for the first time today to the Talgua caves with three of the local teachers we met through school. It is called the Cave of the Glowing Skulls because of the way that light reflects off of the calcite deposits found on the 200+ skeletal remains found there, most of which date back before Christ! Unfortunately, we were not able to go up into that portion of the caves, but it was still a cool experience.
I would love to see some of the Mayan ruins in Honduras, but due to our location, it would likely be a 7 or 8 hour trip one way. There is also a huge soccer stadium where national games are played just minutes from our house (you can see it from the balcony here), so if there is another home game during our stay, we will attend. The first Sunday we were here there was a game there and you could hear cheers and horns going off for hours! It seems like it is a huge deal here with lots of energy.
I had a few people ask me previously of unique ways they could love on me and show support outside of donations alone since I can’t exactly receive packages. It may sound weird, but Itunes and/or Apple gift cards would be gladly welcomed! Music is one of the few comforts from home that I have been able to bring with me, but listening to the same songs over and over again can get old. Having new music, and a few games, is especially helpful during long travel days.
Lastly, my final fundraising deadline is fast approaching! I still need to raise $2,523 before December 31st in order to continue on my World Race journey. If you wish to donate to my trip, or know someone else who might be interested, please send them here. Thank you for continuing to follow and support me!
