Francisco and Luis

Francisco Javier Romero Ramos

Francisco comes from a family with seven sons. He is the third eldest.

Francisco’s father works for one of the large chicken farms that surround Santa Cruz. Often these farms are owned by multi-nationals which control the production of the feed, the hatchery, the processing plants and the stores that sell the products. Needless to say, they also influence the laws governing competition, health and safety and environmental requirements.

Since he was nine, Francisco has helped his father picking up the dead birds and cleaning feeders and waterers. Fortunately for Francisco, the director of Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad has spent more than a few hours doing the same tasks so he is in good stead to do well in the school.

The family has a two room block house which they live in. Even though the two oldest boys have left home, it still leaves seven people to compete for sleeping room.

Once Francisco realized he could go as fast as he wanted, he finished Grade Seven in less than five months. His parents and friends are giving him lots of encouragement so he is able to come to school regularly and with confidence. In fact, some of his friends who are in the regular school system wish they could join him in Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad. They will be even more interested when they find out that he is already in his second Grade of studies before the halfway point in the year.

Luis Enrique Castellanos Gomez

Luis is the oldest child in a family of four children living in El Ciprés. Because Luis’ family has no father, his mother makes money for the family by cooking and selling tamales. Tamales are made from ground maize, stuffed with various meats or vegetables, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. They make a nice snack or meal.

Luis was somewhat puzzled when we asked him if he helped make the tamales. We suggested that if he learned how, he would realize that he had a job skill which no other boys would have. But, of course, that would still mean he had to step into the kitchen.

Luis helps sell tamales or looks after the other children while his mother makes the trip to Santa Cruz (about six kilometres) to sell her wares. Two of the siblings are in primary school and the youngest is at home.

The family live in a small, one room, block house. When someone in Honduras refers to their house as small, it definitely is tiny.

Luis is very grateful for this opportunity to take schooling beyond Grade Six here in Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad. Without this school, he would be sitting at home with little or nothing constructive to do. We are excited because Luis is one of over fifteen students who are completing a Grade in less than five months. He has worked hard and is excited about finishing Grade 9 with us.

Graduation On The Horizon

On Monday, we had a meeting for the students who are graduating next Friday. We had more than ten students come to the meeting so that was encouraging. All of them were still one or two items short of completing the course so, in my pessimistic mind, it was still rather a tenuous number.

The major hurdle remaining was a community project that each student is to participate in. How were more than ten people supposed to have all that finished in one week? Fortunately, our Board Chairman, Chepe, met the mayor and talked with him about our program. The mayor suggested that the students come and spend a day planting trees in the tree nursery for later distribution in reforestation efforts. Hurrah! In one fell swoop, twelve students finished their projects. They were thoroughly drenched from heavy showers but we have the pictures to prove they did the job. Today, the reports of the project are being written up and, possibly, with days to spare, we will be over the magic number of ten graduates.

This week has been a continuous round of unexpected meetings and problems cropping up. My beginning-of-the-week list is still looking sadly full. However, many of the issues had positive outcomes. We heard that officials from Educatodos (the curriculum we are using) were in town for a meeting with the Mayor (our program being one of the things on the agenda). We detoured from the bank (another saga of trying to rescue funds sent from Canada) to visit with the officials. They were impressed with the numbers of students registered and graduating in such a short time (remember that, last year, the public school in Santa Cruz had two students finish Grade 7 over the course of the whole year – we will have six to eight in less than five months). Later in the afternoon, they came to see our school and were very impressed with the programming. Edel, our computer guru has worked with Reuben, a Canadian board member, to create a program that allows students access to their material but won’t allow them to wander elsewhere in the computer or modify (another word for tamper) with the integrity of the material. They even took pictures of the screens to show the folks in Tegucigulpa. That is good news for us. We have some important meetings coming up to finalize the relationship we will have with them over the next few years.

Lots of heavy rain this week so events move along in fits and starts between downpours. The rivers are bleeding brown and rising daily. The streets are also changing shape each day as new water tracks are carved into them.

The rain has also caused the internet connection to have conniptions. This has meant tenuous and frustrating communication with people in Canada.

Next week, we will also have the official opening for eleven new homes we have built for families in a neighbouring village. That will be exciting. Manuel and Chepe have been working overtime to ensure that the homes will be finished. The fuel efficient wood stoves are built but still waiting for the burner plate, the pilas (tanks for washing and water storage) are almost finished, electricity and running water are to be connected this week, septic tanks are being covered and windows are, hopefully, on the way. There are still other last minute things to be done but ... that is what the last minute is for, right?

We had a board meeting yesterday to decide the programs for each event. Hopefully we will have enough opportunities for all the important (and not-so-important) people to have their fifteen seconds of fame.

Saturday, I went out to see my man Muncho and check on progress on that project. He had a bag of seeds to show me. It was, it turns out, a type of local green. I have been inquiring about local varieties of greens with no luck for a long time. Once I asked about types of greens that are similar to Mostasa (the seed in question), the answers were quick and positive. Sigh. As is so often the case, if the question is not phrased correctly, the answer is incorrect. Now, I have a number of names to track down and find seeds. For me, it is frustrating to have to keep rephrasing the question and to waste days, weeks and months because of miscommunication.

A visitor from Canada is here to look at the property in Santa Rita and see what he can think of for utilizing it. He has lived in Peru and is a farmer so is offering some good perspectives. As well, he has enough Spanish that he can get along without my help. That is a plus this week with all that is going on.

A daughter of one of the music group delivered her first baby at twenty-four weeks. Fortunately the daughter is fine physically but the baby passed away after a few days of struggling. It is so difficult to express sorrow and condolence in my own culture and language. It is so much more difficult in another language and culture. The mother told us of the delivery and so forth last evening as we sat and waited for others to join us for a meeting.

The presence of the unknown is so much stronger here where there is no scientific answer or remedy to fix every problem. There is, for good and bad, a very real sense of the mystery of the Invisible which is encountered on a daily basis. That realization of the lack of control that we truly have over so many things is confronted regularly. Unfortunately, it is often exploited by religious leaders, charlatans and sellers of quack remedies. On the other hand, it gives people an appreciation of the Invisible and a willingness to allow life to happen without seeking control and without fear.

TTYL
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Nature and Education

This week, I watched an interesting video clip sent to me from my daughter’s school council. It was a six minute push to make sure that teachers utilized more electronic media in their classrooms to enhance the learning for students who, in fact, are doing all of their outside-of-the-classroom interactions with that same media.

What was disturbing to me was the observation that during that whole video, there was not one natural element shown. Not one single leaf, one glimpse of sky, one bird or animal. In fact, there was no single view of interaction between two people at the same time (and, certainly, not two people of different languages or cultures).

Nature continues to offer us glimpses of the unknown, the uncontrollable, the mysterious. Have we become so afraid of what we cannot understand within a sound bite minute that we are unable to dream of it being part of our learning or education process? We like to think that electronic media has widened our horizons but, in fact, that may not be the case. Certainly a half hour spent watching CNN will prove that.

As I walk around the two pieces of property that I am working on, I am struck by the incredible wealth of opportunity for study and discovery that await. As I become quiet both without and within, I begin to hear, first the loud noises of cicada like insect buzzes, harsh bird calls and echoes of human activity from surrounding hills. As I let that layer of sound become background the quieter sounds of leaves, tiny birds in thickets, and, if I am lucky, a bee foraging start to register. I wonder if there aren’t many more layers of sounds to be heard and, in a way felt. Do plants sprout and stretch silently? Are there harmonies of life that is growing which resonate with something in our bodies, our hearts and our spirits that can only mould our own melodies when we take the time to turn of the electronic and to get outside of the walls which imprison us in a false security?

How sad to see schools, churches, homes and long term care facilities built without windows, without even a modicum of opportunity to live, however briefly, outside our box but inside the embrace of a world.

Surely in a place where the Creator spends totally absurd efforts to form each snowflake, each leaf, each raindrop in unique fashion, there is room to look, learn and be in awe.

One of our board brought some organic material to fill up a composting bin that I have next to the worm bin (the idea being to compost things a bit and then give them to the worms. The “some” turned out to be over 1000 kg of rotting fruit and vegetables. We will see how that goes. Glad to have it. The bin is certainly well filled now.

A number of students are closing in on finishing their grade and that is exciting. We hope to have a small graduation ceremony in three weeks so the more the merrier. It will look good to visitors and to the government people who are checking things out.

The most exciting thing this week was having to challenge a fenceline that had been built allowing us access to one piece of property. We took the appropriate officials with us and, in twenty minutes, had an access that was the required four metres wide (as opposed to the one metre we had been given). Some quick work and we had a new line (drawn in the sand?) dug and some trees planted to help keep future attempts at bay. We were very happy that a number of neighbours stopped by to give a hand and, more importantly, give support. There are, unfortunately, often people in communities who are interested in lining their own pockets and destroying other people’s efforts. Slowly, we are working our way around these folks and getting on with things.

The neighbour’s dog is giving me some unpeaceful moments right now. Any suggestions? I am thinking a small bowl of water will help. He is, unfortunately, left without much opportunity to run around and gets rather bored. His way of addressing that is the old, “any attention is better than no attention at all” solution. Sigh. Fortunately, while I was having a nice Sunday nap in my hammock, he was silent so I have nothing to complain about.

Oh yes, almost forgot. Fanny, the thirteen year old girl who is living on our property, had her baby this week. A lovely little baby girl. She was, of course, only in the hospital for delivery and then sent home. She is at her mother’s house and was able to sit outside but was in great discomfort. I was so relieved that both baby and mother are even in reasonable shape. I do hope it stays that way. Her mother, thirty-one years old, is now a Grandmother but is still nursing her youngest. I may have to check out the cost of birth control shots.

TTYL
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Odds and Ends

The fair has been in full swing this last week. Friday night and Saturday night were dance and music nights in the central square. That meant stacks of huge speakers belting out music and noise till early hours of the morning. I was able to enjoy it at normal volume four blocks away inside my house. The Central Square was filled with a myriad of stalls selling trinkets, clothes, patent medicines, French fries, pizza, sausages, cotton candy and sweets. My major disappointment was the fact that the three cross dressing men were not around this year. One arrived but his wardrobe and presentation marks were way down. Last year they were spectacular and gave every Latina a huge ego hit. I had quite enjoyed watching them work in the crowd and watching the reactions of people.

Last night the stalls were being struck and, by tonight, the park should be emptied. The fireworks and festivities are over for another year. The highlight, for me, was the cardboard cross with fireworks that was put together to honour the day of the Holy Cross (Santa Cruz). After the evening mass, this contraption with pinwheels, a myriad of firecrackers and the outlined cross was hustled into the street beside the church. The crowd moved back a respectful distance (about 500 metres closer than allowed in Canada) and the fuses were lit. A few errant firecrackers made for some exciting crowd movement. No one hurt and, I am sure, everyone’s minds were duly enlightened with sacred thoughts.

Saturday, the music group was invited to sing at a M.S. fund raising event in San Pedro Sula. Such a long trip was exciting for all. I chatted with one member of the group and she tried to remember how many times she had been that far away in the last few years. It averaged out to one trip a year to the big city (60 km). The group was performing at one of the Malls. These Malls are glitzy and great tributes to the religion of consumerism. As they are air conditioned, they are also wonderful places to spend a few hours when outside temperatures are above 34’ C.

We arrived and hauled in the equipment through a service entrance and elevator. The stage was quite small and the number of microphones severely limited so I was able to watch the performance. As usual, the numbers that had been rehearsed were augmented with a number of unrehearsed ones so, thankfully, I was watching. The group did a great job and so I was happy to have been along.

Mother’s Day is a much bigger celebration here in Honduras. Schools have Mother’s Day programs and families travel to spend the day together. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily translate into Mom having a day out of the kitchen ... but, she does get a lot of attention. For the three mothers in my apartment, for two girls in the office and for three mothers in the music group, I outdid myself creatively and made a laminated place mat type card with a picture of a Madonna and an appropriate greeting (differing for those who are Catholic and for those who are ‘Evangelical’ – it wouldn’t do to have “Our Mother, Pray for Us” gracing the wall of and ‘Evangelical’ home). They were well received although I suspect that the accompanying package of chocolate “Kisses” may have been equally attractive.

Several projects are beginning to come together. We hope to have about 10 students graduating by the end of this month. That means that they will have finished a grade in less than six months. That is exciting. Getting everyone to help push things along will be a challenge as we are still three weeks away from the last minute.

The Arachis pintoi ground cover is finally taking off. We are trying different techniques to encourage it and to start new spots. It is a tough plant and, once it is well rooted, seems to expand rapidly. Considering the terrible condition of the soil here, it is exciting to see it begin to grow so well.

The Stevia concentrate is getting tested each day. It is hard to get the two people responsible excited about it but, gradually, they are getting the idea that it might be worthwhile. A visitor today was very impressed and took eight seedlings home with her. She also took a seed bag with a lemon grass cutting. How could I say no to someone who is going to do legal work for our students? Sigh.

This lawyer is going to help our students get a proper ID so that they can be registered and receive their certificates. We will have to track down whether they have any of the following: a baptismal certificate (great if your family is Catholic), a document from the midwife or doctor (great if you live in the main town), vaccination record (that may be possible – if they are filed correctly ... hmmm ... scratch that) and two witnesses (people from the community who themselves have proper documentation). Should be a breeze.

If you read one book in the next few months, make it “The Culture of Make Believe” by Derrick Jensen. Truly a remarkable book, well researched and, consequently, rather overwhelming.

I leave you with a quote from Eugen V. Debs, a Union organizer c. 1917, who was being sentenced to jail for suggesting that there was no need for young men to fight in a war which was simply for the benefit of wealthy industrialists.

“Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”

TTYL
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Belize – 300 Km in Two Days

Honduras has this very peculiar policy of requiring all “visiting” people to leave the country every 90 days to renew their visitor’s visa. It is not enough to go to the border, hop across and return. No, you must go to one country beyond. That makes Mexico or Belize the countries of choice for me.

This weekend was the time for me to get my 90 days renewed. Generally I combine a trip to Canada with the expiration of my visa but, as my daughter is graduating in June, it wasn’t going to work out so nicely. Thus, the trip to Belize.

Thursday, I began the trip. By 5:00 p.m. after 6 bus and rapidito rides, 7 waits, two short walks and one border crossing, I arrived in Puerto Barrios in Guatemala. I checked into a hotel and then set out to find the location of the boats for the next leg of the trip – Punta Gorda in Belize. Thirty minutes later I had a ticket and knew where the Immigration and dock were.

Friday morning, I checked out of the hotel, had my passport stamped and found a place for breakfast. Sitting on the edge of the ocean, water lapping at the pilings of the restaurant and watching boat traffic – big (container ships) and little (down to dug out canoes) was, in my humble opinion, a rather exotic way to spend an hour.

Breakfast finished (including fresh mango juice on ice) I headed to the boat heading to Belize. Well ... that was my thought. It was big, had lots of goods being loaded and had seats for 50 people on the deck. Makes sense right? I waited and watched. Twenty minutes before launch time (not a rocket by any means), a coffin arrived and was placed in the aisle between the seats. I was, rather effectively, blocked in for the trip.

So very fortunately, my name was on the manifest for the trip to Punta Gorda. I had picked the wrong boat and, rather foolishly and, uncharacteristically, had not double checked. In my defence, I was on the only boat being loaded. The man who sold me the ticket came and called my name and took me across the narrow dock to the small fourteen seater waiting with several passengers. Phew. Lucky for me.

We headed out across the blue-green tropical coloured waters. Very shortly into the trip, there was a sharp, gun shot like sound. Not good in my opinion. Nothing seemed to be amiss so we continued at full throttle, prow bouncing and banging over the small waves. Ten minutes later we were stopped, engine hatch up and tinkering with the engine (I use the term “we” in the very loose sense of – “I was in the boat when it happened” ... much as some might say, “we reshingled the roof this weekend”.) Five minutes we started again. Every five to ten minutes we stopped for further tinkering. But, we only took a little over an hour to make the trip.

Belize is an English speaking country. What a change in such a short distance and time. There is also a type of pigeon English which sounds so very much like many African English speaking dialects.

Punta Gorda was my kind of town. Small, sleepy and full of balloon tired bicycles – just like the one I ride in Canada ... and which my children deride about with great enthusiasm.

Friday night, as I was walking to supper, I met a marching band coming down the street – complete with white pants, lime green coats and white band type hats. What a surprise. It turned out that there was a sort of band demonstration event that evening in the football stadium. I attended. Two marching groups participated. One was a group of primary students who did choreography to several songs. They wore glittering costumes and partial costumes and were cute as buttons. The second group was the band which had several numbers – dance and music with a variety of costumes. The dancers were phenomenal. I don’t think that any Honduran school would have the same dedication to perfection that this group had.

The trip back was rather easy (generally speaking). The Sunday night section was crowded and slow. Five people are able to hang outside of a van at one time. I hadn’t realized that before (despite African experiences). The school bus trip was two and one half hours to cover sixty-five kilometres. For the majority of the trip there were at least sixty people standing in the aisle (not counting completely full seats). Babies and luggage was being handed around to those lucky enough to have seats. At over 37’ C, the temperature in the bus skyrocketed at each stop. The good spirits of the passengers were amazing to watch. Lots of smiles and banter, despite the crowding.

Here is my chart of travel times for Thursday’s travels. It didn't cut and paste well so forgive the wobbly lines (Pooh's spelling skills). Part of the fun.

TTYL

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                       Time        Total Time     Section Distance Total Distance Trip Average
Walking           15 min.          15 min.            1 km                1 km            4 km/hr.
Wait                30 min.          45 min.              0                   1 km          1.3 km/hr.
La Barca           25 min.  1 hr. 10 min.           15 km              16 km        13.6 km/hr.
Wait                35 min.  1 hr. 45 min.              0                  16 km         9.1 km/hr.
St. Rita            25 min.  2 hr. 10 min.          13 km               29 km       13.4 km/hr.
Wait                 5 min.   2 hr. 15 min.             0                                  12.9 km/hr.
Land                 5 min.   2 hr. 20 min.           3 km               32 km       13.7 km/hr.
Wait                 5 min.   2 hr. 25 min.             0                                  13.2 km/hr.
San Pedro Sula 75 min.   3 hr. 50 min.         60 km                92 km         24 km/hr.
Wait                 5 min.   3 hr. 55 min.             0                                 23.5 km/hr.
Puerto Cortes   85 min.    5 hr. 20 min.        65 km              157 km      29.4 km/hr.
Wait               35 min.   5 hr. 55 min.             0                                 26.5 km/hr.
Corinto           65 min.   7 hr. 0 min.          65 km               222 km      31.7 km/hr.
Walking          15 min.   7 hr. 15 min.         1 km                223 km     30.8 km/hr.
Wait               15 min.   7 hr. 30 min.            0                                  29.7 km/hr.
Puerto Barrios  75 min.   8 hr. 45 min.        49 km                263 km    30.0 km/hr.