Things have been going well here, time is flying this second month! We are paired up with another team, and it’s been wonderful. Nice to see new faces, and they are hilarious! We have gotten to do a lot of our cooking this month, so spending time in the kitchen making meals reminds me a little of home, which is nice. We are staying at our contacts soon-to-be retreat center. It’s kinda dormitory style and we’re helping paint and prepare it so others can come and do retreats here. We are out in the country, up in the mountains and there are so many beautiful wildflowers and horses and cows. So relaxing. The living room has lots of big windows that look out on a valley, and it is a great place to sit in the mornings. Another sad reality of Honduras is the addictions with paint thinner. Driving in to the town, we pass many children, some as young as 10 years old, holding rags up to their mouths. The other day, a boy came up to me asking for money. I smelled the paint thinner on him before I saw him. Apparently the thinner helps numb the hunger, pain and realities of life. Traci mentioned she saw two women walking with recyclables from the dump with rags in their shirts and straws going from their shirt to their nose. This way they were able to be high while walking back home. I can’t imagine life this way, or having a mother who lives high on paint thinner. The boys we work most closely with are headed over to the farm tonight.. or at least the ones who went to school everyday this week and did not do thinner. Unfortunately Josue will not be here because Tuesday and Wednesday he had done thinner.
We’ve seen so much more poverty this month. Even the little town we live within has families living out of shacks. They’ve been fairly welcoming allowing us into thier homes. And I’ve gotten a lot of practice with my Spanish as well! We are teaching English lessons at the local school, so I’ve gotten to get familiar with the faces of the children. We’re having lots of events up at the “Farm,” which is what we call the place that we are living. So far we’ve done a carnival, scavenger hunt, and we plan on doing a culture night where we do a potluck and have a night of dancing and games. It’s great getting to get to know the families. So strange to see women here younger than me with multiple children. Really changes your perspective on life. I was told that here, women feel their main purpose is to have children, so it is expected. A good friend of ours here, Pamela, is 19 and expecting her baby anytime now. And she’s one of the older ones with a baby!
Pamela cooking lunch for us!
Other members on my team are working in another community called Los Pinos. Los Pinos is unbelievably poor, even by local Hondurian standards. We brought one of the girls from our neighborhood to Los Pinos with us one day, and she was blown away by how different the communities are. Families live in homes assembled by tarps, tin and wood slats. The children are filthy and smelly because they are not able to shower and have very few clothes. I actually felt really awful because it took me awhile to get comfortable getting close with the children because of their smells and fear of catching lice. As I have gotten to know the kids better, it’s irresistible not to hug them and cuddle with them… the boys and a few of the other children we work with in Los Pinos, have no parents to hug them and love on them.
Three of the boys: Carlos, Josue and Luis
The boys and Tony watching a movie on their night over at La Finca.
Our other big goal for this month, regarding the community surrounding the Farm, is to begin community dialogue to see what needs this community needs to become a successful, employed town. Currently, the town is unemployed except for a few men who work on Tony’s farm and a few who run a local Pulperia, or small store. Ginger, a member on the team we are paired up with, went to Grad School to specifically help 3rd world countries become agriculturally sustainable. She has amazing visions and contacts that can help this actually become a possibility! Although we will not get to see the benefits while we are here, it is exciting to be a part of the beginning. Friday we are meeting with the community leaders to hear more about the history of this town and what specific skills are of the locals. We are desiring to find out local hopes and skills and bring about successful business opportunities. I am helping out with this as well working in El Horno in teaching English lessons, helping with VBS and creating relationships with the women in the town. We meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays to get to know one another through activities like cooking Hondurian foods, painting nails, learning dances, and laughing together. SO thankful I took a “refresher” Spanish course this past year.. it’s come in very useful!
I am learning so much about my faith, about this culture, and am enjoying getting to know fellow World Racers. Thank you so much for your support and prayers back home. I think of you often!
