Grace

Grace

The smile of God, kept frozen by chilling creeds;
kept hidden in folds of frayed language,
worn, patched liturgy.

God’s favour, infinite grace, dispersed in drips and drab.
Inaccessible supply points;
Miniscule amounts – sufficient for moments
... never a lifetime
... never enough.

Birthrights stolen and vendored back as new goods
in pottage crusted packaging;
impoverishing even more the already disinherited.

Stateless refugees frantically trekking from one citizenship seller to another;
their rightful, royal lineage ragged and unremembered;
unaware that their documentation is already well ordered
and eternally complete.

Imagine cascades of grace:
Flooding with reckless abandonment;
Sparkling spray clouds soaking all and sundry;
Pulverizing be-stoned and fraudulent boundary cairns;
Gushing and sweeping unused and unneeded into unmapped cracks and corners;
Pooled verdant and living in every reach and bend.

Imagine pounding waves and Fundy tides of favour
sweeping away mouldered forts of fanaticism,
freeing the shores forever
to unlimited access, unfettered supply.

Imagine no need for crudded containers,
no quack practitioners leaching life blood;
no marketable value to be exploited.

Imagine Grace.

Infinite.

Free.



And Mary found favour with God. (Luke 1.30)

December 2010
Santa Cruz de Yojoa

The peace of Christmas be with you always,
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Graduation Pictures

 Mothers/Grandmothers - Maria Elsa, Gabina, Yohanna, Eunice, Julia and Lydia.

Gabina's daughter and grandchildren. As well, Natasha (Canadian Intern), Edel (to my right - our techie guru), myself and Dave (Canadian director for CPI).

 La Barca Students (20 other students studying there with 25 and more on a waiting list.)

 Grade 7 graduates.

 Grade 8 Graduates

 Grade 9 Graduates.

Cutting the Cakes. Manuel - Deputy Head (blue shirt on left), Carolina (pouring soda), Yeni (pink blouse to left of Carolina), Natasha (Canadian intern), Stingy cake server (but ... enough for seconds for most people ... so there).

Graduation Number 2

Yesterday was our second graduation ceremony. 32 students graduated from a Grade Level. Included in that number were 5 mothers and 3 grandmothers. 9 of the graduates were finishing their second grade in less than one year – a first for Honduras.

There are so many stories from this group of people. Marie Elsa finished her Grade 8 studies. A year ago she rarely spoke to anyone and very consciously stood behind others in any group setting. Yesterday she asked to give and gave a lovely speech at the graduation. As the first woman in her village to achieve that level of education, her husband and two children are very obviously proud of her.

Lydia and Julia, both single mothers and grandmothers as well as members of our Board in Honduras, finished Grade 7. Lydia has taken charge of one of our satellite centres and uses her own home to give a number of young people an opportunity to study with us. Her project for Grade Seven was to take reading material from our growing digital library and do reading with the local primary school. Lydia’s self-confidence has led to her leading a women’s group which now has 5,000 tilapia growing in tanks and ponds on a piece of property bought by CPI for agriculture projects.

Julia works as a maid to help provide for her family. She also helps monitor student progress and activity, often supervising in the school when we are short staffed. Her infectious laugh is contagious and encouraging.

Gabina, my age mate, was accompanied by one of her daughters and several grandchildren. She has grown in confidence and is so excited to think about finishing Grade 9 and moving on to Teachers’ College.

Earlier this year, a teacher from a community realized that there were many young people without opportunity to continue their studies. She came to our office with a list of 50 young people who needed help. Thanks to CPI supporters and this teacher, computers were put in an empty classroom in La Barca and yesterday 5 of those young people graduated from Grade 7.

Francisco’s father spends hours each day in the ammonium laden atmosphere of chicken barns. He was unable to attend Francisco’s second graduation (Grade 8) but his mother and sister were there. As an old chicken catcher and farmer, Francisco is a favourite of mine.

Three sisters graduated from Grade 7 and 8. Their single mother receives money from relatives in the States and that is enough for them to live on. They are dreaming of a chance at University study, even though their mother is almost frightened to think of such daring.

Wilmer, who works during the days, finished his studies during the evening hours.  Yohana lives in a village without electricity but would come to the school to write exams and so forth. (We stretched things a bit and let her study with textbooks at home.)  Her early pregnancy had stopped her from completing Grade 9 several years ago. Now she has completed her studies.

The staff, Edel, Yeni, Carolina and Manuel, worked hard to make sure that all was in order. It was such a treat to check on the lists each day and find things moving along. I am so proud of their work. Natasha, our Canadian intern, spent an afternoon baking cakes in my small toaster oven and turbo cooker. She had ten cakes baked and we decorated them with frosting and M & M’s on Wednesday morning. They were a huge hit.

The last week also saw three letters of interest from various NGO’s to use our program and a lovely letter from the Deputy Minister of Education asking us to pursue the GED program as well. She also asked for our diagrams of classrooms made from shipping containers.

Tomorrow we move our office to new, larger quarters. Everyone is excited about the new venue. It is less prone to dust and traffic so will be welcome. I shall move as well and stay in the old place – more room for me and many more plants.

TTYL

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