Gladys Suyapa and Jose Maria Pineda Hernández

Gladys and Jose are from a family living in one of the barrios (suburbs) of Santa Cruz. A former teacher told them of our program and they came to Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad to see what it was like. Happily, they found the program enjoyable and useful. Jose, especially, enjoys the chance to work on a computer in addition to learning the Grade Seven material. They are the first in their family to go beyond Grade Six.

Jose and Gladys are two of seven children. One of the older boys is working in the United States and three younger children are in primary school. They live in a one room house built of wooden planks.

At eighteen years of age, Gladys is fortunate to have this opportunity to continue studying. Other than coming to school, her day consists of helping her mother with the tasks of keeping the household running. Jose, fourteen, helps his father.

Their father makes a living by cutting and carrying firewood. He walks two hours to the area where he can cut a bundle of wood. He then returns to Santa Cruz where he sells the load for about $3.00. When Jose helps, they can nearly double their return load. Obviously, there is no money for further education which makes our program such a wonderful opportunity.

If they are able, they can now think of continuing schooling beyond Grade 9. We are fortunate to be able to offer these two children a chance to consider other alternatives for their lives.

Language Awareness

In the past several weeks I have had opportunity to converse with a young man electronically. What has struck me is the level of hatred that surfaces in every conversation. Further to that, I have been working my way through Derrick Jensen’s book, “The Culture of Make Believe”.

Over the years, I have been extremely fortunate to have encountered a number of people whose first or main language was one of love. For someone like me, who grew up in a culture of hate (both broadly and particularly) these encounters were life changing (or, at the least, certainly shattering challenges to my resident paradigms).

As Derrick Jensen posits, when something is stated or insinuated often enough and loudly enough, it becomes the status quo and the accepted measure. It is in this way that prejudices and hateful stereotypes become, firstly, tolerable, and, finally, the norm.

Even a very casual glance at the ways in which wars have been sold and justified, genocides ignored and even condoned, multinationals given wholesale access to pillage resources and impoverished people and religious leaders allowed to exploit and abuse with impunity would suggest that we live in a world where the language of hate is, at best, an unnoticed undercurrent to our daily lives.

The language of love speaks of the value of relationships, the value of every individual as they are, the value of creation and a willingness to encounter the Infinite in each part of the world around us. The language of love is spoken with open hands and open hearts.

Take notice of your hands when you are at rest. Are they open or closed? Which language does your body naturally resort to when you are not in conscious control?

I owe a great deal to so many who have given pause to my use of language. A chance comment by a young atheist in Germany, Mohammed in Mogadishu, Mzee Nyerere in Tanzania, Sisters in Kenya, Chepe and Gloria in Honduras. None of these are (were – I am old enough that some of these are now past tense) wealthy or in the elite classes. Several of them have spoken languages that I had no idea of what was being said. Many have responded to love in differing faiths and religious expressions. But all of them, have, in at least a part of their lives, understood and communicated in the alternative language of love, a life to be lived without fear.

On a less philosophical note, our two oldest students arrived this week to write the exams for the second and third books in their Grade level. Hurrah. They will be done shortly – another month or so? They are studying at home and only come for the exams.

The cost of transport is beginning to bite for a number of students. Even though the cost of the school is free, getting here is proving a problem. We are so very hopeful that the CIDA proposal will be approved so that we can concentrate on setting up satellite centres in the villages and thus have students free to come without further costs.

The Saturday crew is here and it is a full house. Good to see.

Paz
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Wow – Two Weeks Already

Sorry for the delay folks. I have had a visitor for the last week or so and that has taken a great deal of time. On of our board members came down for a week and we were busy from dawn till well past dusk.

A couple of thoughts from this week. Yesterday, I met a girl who is only two weeks away from delivering her first child. I asked her who old she was. Thirteen. Imagine, thirteen, married village style and ready to deliver. What can be going through her mind? That is a story that is so common here as to receive little comment. Still, it bothers me immensely. Can our program at least help some girls from travelling the same path ... at least for a few more years?

She is moving into a house which is being repaired and is grateful for the opportunity. The house features a water tank, a newly repaired stove (inside) and, by the end of this week, we hope, a latrine. The walls are being replastered with mud and the floor will be smoothed out with a mud and manure mixture (actually a great flooring – much better than it sounds). No electricity. I don’t want to think about where she will deliver.

Last week featured a trip to Tegucigulpa to meet with the Ministry of Education and the Educatodos people. The recent change in government has meant a wholesale change in office personnel. So, we reintroduced our program and began negotiations. Fortunately, we met with a much warmer reception than previously and we hope that bodes well. Recent cuts in funding from outside countries (partly as a result of the coup) have meant that new ideas and programs which don’t cost the government money are being looked at with better eyes. As well, having a number of students already registered helps a great deal. We shall see this week as we prepare, yet again, documents.

We have begun work on a small piece of land which we recovered from an errant former employee. The fish tanks are being cleaned and repaired, a small pond drained and re-dug and seeds planted around the border. Hopefully we can plant some fruit trees in the next weeks as well and begin forming permanent beds. Friday I went out for an hour to wade through grass, mud and swampy ground to measure and get an idea of the layout. Water is going to be a problem – too much. We can deal with that and will enjoy the potential.

Last Sunday, Reuben (my visitor) and I were able to visit the home of two of our students and see the adobe beehive that their two brothers built. It is occupied by bees and looks very good. Hopefully Reuben will send me pictures to post. The cost of the whole hive was less than 25% of a traditional hive so that is exciting. The boys have two more swarms in trap hives ready to move into new quarters as soon as they are built. A third swarm will be moved into a hive made of cement blocks at their neighbour’s place. So, two new types of hives to watch and learn from.

Reuben and I tried out the hot springs in a neighbouring town. Amazing to have such a lovely resource so close by. The man at the gate tried to stiff me my change and almost managed. I haven’t gotten caught like that in a long time.

Trying a new chigger and tick idea given to me by a man from South Carolina. The recipe calls for putting nail polish on the spot. The idea is that the nail polish stops the insects from getting air which stops any further trouble. Maybe I have sensitive skin (should I shave my legs more?) but the cure seems more painful than the problem. Will see. The chigger here is different from the chigger in Africa which attacks under the toenail.

I hauled a wheelbarrow to Santa Rita yesterday. It is a challenge getting it loaded on to three different buses but the conductors were all very accommodating and we made it without a problem. The wheelbarrow will help with various projects there.

Sorry for the rather disjointed effort here.

TTYL
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Easter Sunday

Vive la resurección! Today, Easter Sunday is being celebrated throughout the world by those who have a firm belief that there is something beyond death. I was fortunate enough to participate in some of the events of Holy Week here in Honduras.

Friday night was a long procession which wound through the town with stops for prayers for the poor, the homeless, the people in Honduras who are most in need of life and hope. Two groups of people carried two statues. The men carried a statue of Christ laid out on a funeral bier. The women carried a smaller statute of the Virgin Mary. At each of the stops, the bearers were rotated and those who had finished their turn quietly joined the back of the line. Those chose to carry the statues were the older people of the congregation, many bent with years of work in spent fields of maize and beans. The procession ended in the church where a very passionate homily was given by the visiting bishop. I was impressed that he addressed the current problems the Catholic Church is having with their history of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

As we marched along, I thought of the people who had originally carried Christ’s body through the darkening streets, furtively and with fear that, even though dead, the authorities might wreak further vengeance on His followers. Obviously, authorities were aware of what was happening as they posted guards around the closed tomb.

Last night was the Easter Vigil Service. Another procession. This time it headed out of town for more than a mile to the bull riding stadium. It was quite spectacular to look back up the road and see the long line of candles. Virtually no street lights made the experience even more powerful.

As we sat in the darkened arena, I was struck by the fact that, in all likelihood, I was one of maybe five or six people in the audience who had ever read a book. I tried to understand what the powerful, dramatic liturgy must mean in this setting. We, in Canada, are always comparing any experience with the glitz of TV, constant video streaming, and instant text messaging with photos attached. We have, for the most part, lost the ability to be amazed. We have also lost the ability to be moved by silence and awe.

This afternoon, to switch topics quickly, a neighbour family is having a celebration for their daughter’s first birthday. It is to start at 2:00 but the speakers have been pounding out Christian Latino music for over an hour and it is still awhile before start time. Chairs are set out under an awning and, obviously, quite a number of guests are expected. I will see soon.

Last Thursday, another neighbour took us to the nearby dam to tour the electrical generating plant. Unfortunately, it was locked because of Easter week holidays and he was unable to get in. However, he then asked if we wanted to see the hot springs. What? Hot springs within thirty minutes of where we live? Incredible. Nestled in the steep gorge at the foot of the fifth tallest dam (according to my neighbour) in the world and flanking the small river that poured out of the dam were two hot springs of varying intensity. We hadn’t brought swimsuits so only stuck our hands in. Obviously, I will be making use of those springs as soon as I get a vehicle and more complete instructions in Spanish. There are so many amazing wonders tucked away in this small country that no one seems to take account of or visit.

My daughter visited here for eight days and that was great. We took in two football matches in the stadium in San Pedro Sula. As well, we joined the flocks of people heading to the ocean during Holy Week. We beat the rush by a day so only saw a few thousand on the beach. The national obsession with hitting the beaches and riverbanks during Holy Week is amazing. Every bridge looks down on hundreds of people in the water. The beaches are wall to wall people.

School begins again on Tuesday after three days of break. We have some sorting out to do with new satellite centres and so forth. Three girls are set to finish Grade Eight this week and that is exciting. It may take an extra week but, still, we are making progress.

TTYL
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