Thoughts on Leaving

A few quiet minutes before final lists are gone over. Manuel is out and about translating for two people from Canada who are here looking at the project and some of the other things we have been working on. So, I can’t quite hand things over to Manuel until he returns.

My luggage is packed and waiting to head to San Pedro Sula tonight to catch the plane early tomorrow morning. I realized this week that my first flight to Houston is over seven hours long. There is a stop at San Salvador and another in Belize to pick up passengers. I don’t think we will get off and on so it will be a bit of a drag. Two extra chances for luggage to get lost. Whoopee.

The Board of CPI Honduras has begun serious lobbying efforts to get the project funded. Now that my six months is over, they are realizing how important the project is and how they are the ones who need to work to release the funding. It is very heartening to see their positive attitude and efforts. Hopefully, when the national budget is released later this month, our project will be among those listed.

I went to see the bees yesterday and they seem to have settled in very nicely. That is lovely to see. In fact, the one hive seems to be even more active since getting into better quarters. We checked on two others and they were still settling in but, for the most part busy with their work and not interested in folks who were watching them. That is a good sign. We took out a solar cooker and set it up so that Vincent and Barnabus could extract some honey that resulted from the transfer. It worked very quickly and did a good job. I introduced everyone to the tasty treat of honey coated bee larvae. Vincent had heard of people in one part of Honduras who take the comb, larvae and some honey, wrap it in a tortilla and eat with gusto.

Five of the Stevia cuttings look positively healthy. That would be marvellous if the continue to grow.

Saturday night was the last hurrah of the annual fiesta. Five band stands were set up around the town centre and were featuring various live bands. Lots of noise and colour. It rained for two hours before everyone could get into full party swing. The town streets were packed with people so it was a people watcher’s paradise. The cross dressers still took the prize for best dressed. Rosa told me later that one of the men had actually been married and had two children before beginning life out of the closet.

As I sat packing the last things, my neighbour came over with a bowl of soup. It was a speciality of Olancho area and featured beef, pork, sausage, plantains and cassava. Completely filling and totally delicious. A lovely gesture.

For all who followed my adventures, thank you. I am still somewhat hopeful that this project will get the needed funding to continue. The potential it offers to the region is enormous and the cost savings for the school system equally helpful.

Honduras continues to amaze me with its potential for wealth and progress. The incredible growth rate of agricultural products and the incredible markets that await anything produced is truly wonderful. Yet, despite this, the poverty of mind and pocket is often overwhelming. The corrupted power of the ruling elite continually cripples innovation and industry. Ironically, the rich live, themselves, in cages that, although shoddily gilded, bind them in equally damaging ways. Their corruption eats away at their hearts and denies them the very freedom they seek to protect.

To Sassy and Jerome. Please send me an email so I know who you are ... pretty please.

Peace,
Bryan