Torsalo

The week is, I think, winding down. The Vice-Minister of Education had her assistant send me an email at 11.30 p.m. last night asking if she could visit today. Fortunately, I check my emails as I eat breakfast (a litre of milk tea - African habit and green porridge - Moringa powder added) at 6.00 a.m. The Minister was leaving Copan in the morning so we had a few hours to get things ready.

Finally, after nearly three years of asking, we have had a visit. That is exciting. The Vice-Minister has been most helpful and receptive to our ideas. She talked to students who were studying and Yeni and the staff gave her a lovely sales pitch. After we had looked at the program for some time, we looked at the development booklets we are creating and had a quick plant tour. The Vice-Minister went home with Chaya, Moringa and Stevia.

 

Carol reading a story with her mom. Her mom has already taught her to read, write and do simple sums. Her mom is getting a chance to study with us.

Keysi and her baby pay us a visit

The head of Cortes region and entourage

On Wednesday, we had another important visitor. The Head of education for the Cortes region (which includes a huge area), came to see our school and to go visit the container school in Las Delicias. She was scheduled to come at 8.00 a.m. We waited until 3.00 p.m. for her to finally come. Edel, had a contact with the group of people she was with so was able to track her progress - sort of like following Santa on Christmas Eve.

The trip to Las Delicias went well and after showing them to the highway, we waved them on their way. Hopefully there will be some positive results from all our efforts this week.

Now for the gory story hour. Manuel has had a pain in the neck for a few weeks (besides me). The last three days it has started oozing a bit. I was worried it was a boil and told him to treat it with hot compresses of water and vinegar. Well, yesterday morning I sent him to the doctor. The doctor examined him and found that he had three Torsalo larvae growing on his neck. The doctor offered to remove them surgically. As near as I can figure, that was too much of a decision and Manuel came rushing back to the school. The doctor accosted me last evening and asked where he had gone and why he had left without paying the consulting fee. We straightened that out and now I await news of how things are going on the larvae removal front.

Tomorrow is the start of the annual fair. Preparations are feverish in the town centre. The new central park is only a couple days away from being complete. It is looking great. I will try and get a schedule of the week's events before the week is over. That is a novel idea I know but ... one that I am actually pursuing with diligence this year.

 

Elia Del Cid, the Vice Minister of Education for Honduras talks about Hay Basket cooking - with help from Yeni and Edel

The major focus this week has been filling out the needed paper work for registration and school permits. What a huge hassle that is. However, we are nearly done and the staff has done a sterling job sorting it all out.

That is about it.

TTYL

BB

Back in Town

Three weeks in Canada flew by. Fortunately, I was able to drive in at least three days of snow and blizzard so that I got my winter "heroic" quota filled. I confess that shovelling sunshine is much more to my liking.

A highlight of the trip (aside from Oh Henry, Brie and peas) was an opportunity to speak at the Alberta Agronomists convention in Banff. It was an honour to be asked and it afforded me a chance to spend hours hearing other speakers as well. A wonderful opportunity to learn and to meet new people. The coming changes in climate make our work with alternative food sources even more critical.

This week is the first week of hot weather. It is definitely warm. Yesterday it was 39' C in my house during the afternoon. Fortunately, the temperature drops in the evenings and by morning, I shut off the fan and enjoy a couple of hours of quiet sleep.

Last night, my "bats-in-the-belfry" system kicked in again. Two young men were coming over to talk to me about their church. I went outside to welcome them in and the door slammed shut behind me. Keys and everything locked inside. In the evenings, I generally wear a sarong, a habit I picked up in East Africa where it goes by the name of kikoi (Swahili) and mauis (Somali). A sarong is, however, not a recognizable item of attire in Honduras. In fact, it must seem totally bizarre. Needless to say, I wasn't planning on a walk to town centre wearing that.

Security being what it is here in Honduras, all the windows are covered with bars so there is no chance of breaking in. Considered taking out the small bathroom window but I would have had to find a very small person to fit through that space.

Fortunately, after some general worry and preparation to spend the night outside, I remembered that I had, unusually for me, left my phone on a bag by a window I was able to push a corner of the screen out and reach in and grab the phone. Phew.

One of my staff, Edel, was, fortunately, still in Santa Cruz. He very graciously agreed to take a taxi to Julia's house and get her set of keys. Julia's phone is in La Ceiba but a text message was answered and I was able to find the number of her daughter and alert her to my need. What a great feeling to send a text in Spanish and have it achieve the desired results. Magic I say.

Within an hour, I was back in my house. Needless to say, another set of keys was cut today and is hidden outside the house for the next attack of silliness.

The major topic of conversation in the town this week is another kidnapping. The victim, this time, is part of our landlord's family. No ransom has been asked for yet which is causing a great deal of worry. A ransom is a fairly good guarantee that the victim is alive.

Those of us from middle and upper middle class often have the idea that we can control our fate. We buy insurance, we plan for the future, we work, we save ... we take a pill. We close our eyes to the uncertainty that is ahead of us. For the poor, this illusion is not available. All too often, the shadows of the unknown and terror blow hard against their tiny candles.

For those of you interested, read the book Fat Chance by Dr. Robert Lustig. It certainly gives a rather bleak picture of what is ahead for the health of the world. But, it explains and affirms the concerns I have been having seeing the assault on traditional diet and nutrition being waged by food companies here in Honduras and Africa. Teaching people to grow and consume a nutritious diet is more and more critical each day.

That is about all for now.

TTYL

BB