Sunday morning, 120 students, family members and the CPI Honduras board went to Tela to spend a day on the beach. Incredibly, we left on time (before 7.00 a.m. from Santa Cruz – earlier for the first bus stops). Just after 9:00 we passed Tela.
We travelled past Tela to Triunfo de la Cruz, a Garifuna village. The Garifuna are descendants of the slaves brought to work the Sugar Cane plantations many years ago. They continue to maintain their own language and, to a certain extent, their own culture. The Garifuna language has many West African roots and one can hear the similar sounds to West African languages as they talk (not that I am an expert ... but I can still count in Hausa).
We piled off the bus and headed to some rickety shelters made of bamboo and coconut fronds. The villagers have a monopoly on items such as bathrooms and change rooms and make full use of it. The charges are what the market can bear so it is okay ... I guess. They have kept the facilities rustic.
The water was beautiful. Enough of a wave was hitting the beach to make it fun for all but not enough to cause problems for first timers. The beach sloped gently for a long ways so people could find their own preferred spot without any trouble.
Two months ago, the board of CPI Honduras felt that they should be contributing to the project in a financial way. So, they thought of how to raise funds. Their idea was to organize this excursion. Along with Manuel, Yeni and Edel, they made up tickets, sold them in their communities and organized small snacks to be sold along the way and at the beach.
I am so delighted with the whole venture. It was a success on so many levels. First of all, the trip went off without any hitches. So, everything else is beyond expectation. Having the board take ownership of this project and look for ways to contribute is so very encouraging. As well, we had people from a variety of communities which meant that students and families were able to make new friends and give our program a much bigger ‘face’. Other schools aren’t doing this so it was a real achievement for our school. For several of the young people, it was their first trip to the ocean (100 km away).
What was especially exciting was the fact that Santos and Esperanza came with many of the students they have helped enrol in the program. Two years ago relations were very strained with these lovely people due to a former employee’s maliciousness. To have them back as friends and contributing to the success of our school is extremely rewarding.
We arrived back in torrential rain. I carried about ten students in my truck to their village. All vestiges of salt were well taken care of by the time we pulled into the village centre. Being inside the truck meant that I had to wash off in the house.
Other news. Friday, Santiago and I found some Vetiver grass and were able to buy five large sacks. We planted two sacks’ worth at the school with the help of the students. They enjoyed the project and we practised English phrases as we separated the shoots and set them out to grow. A tiny bit of excitement ensued when a foot long snake appeared in one of the clumps. Everyone agreed that it wasn’t poisonous (rather a surprise in itself – generally all snakes are ‘poisonous’) and so we released it on the other side of the road.
This morning, the local representative of the Educatodos program dropped in to see us. She talks at auctioneer overdrive speed so much of what she said went well into my stratosphere. One of the things she mentioned was that she has not received her salary for eighteen months. Can you imagine? I have no idea what keeps her going.
TTYL
BB
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