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
No comments:
Post a Comment