Yesterday morning, after doing some work in the office and talking to family via Skype, I set out to return to the Messianic Jewish/Christian community. A brief phone call to Oscar, their English teacher, got me some directions with a worrisome bit, “Be at Buena Ventura by 2:30 to catch the only bus up to Amapa El Zapote.” I hurried home and packed an extra shirt, a kikoi, toothbrush and, more importantly, bird books and binoculars and went into town to find transport. Well, as is often the case, you don’t know something exists until you start looking for it. There is, actually, a rapidito route that goes from Santa Cruz to Buena Ventura (along with some other places). What a delight to see Peña Blanca on the front of the van.
Within forty minutes I was dropped of in Buena Ventura with plenty of directions from the other passengers. To double check, I phoned Oscar again and found out that I needed to be four blocks away at another bus stop. Sure enough, the battered yellow school bus was waiting, albeit with hood up and oil and water containers strewn about. I checked with a couple of people inside and they said the bus was indeed leaving at 2:30 (an hour or so later). A few Kakuro puzzles later and some elementary conversations fumbled through the brother of one of the people in the community I was headed to stuck his head in to say hello. That was a relief. He assured me that I was on the right bus and told the others where to make sure I got off. So delightful to have people help you out in such ways.
Close to 2:30 the bus started up and, with a minimum of splutters and chokes began climbing out of town. Within short order we were into the hills and valleys with their green lacework of a myriad cattle tracks and fence lines meandering haphazardly up and down. This area is cattle country with lots of dairy cattle interspersed with the Brahman type beef cattle. Oscar and another young man were waiting at the drop off point so there was no need to worry. We started the mile walk (about four blocks in Oscar’s words) to the community. We met their friend, the major landholder in the area, who gave us a ride most of the way.
Within a few minutes we were seated by the synagogue overlooking a lush green valley framed by green mountains. One of the features of this group is that they have a strong sense of coming troubles. In order to prepare for these troubles, it is necessary to move to the mountains and become somewhat self-sufficient. Having grown up with numberless “end times” prophetic theories I readily identified with their thinking. Of course, there is the troubling question, “How to live until then.” We began to look at resources they have at hand. As we began to talk about trees, plants and natural resources we were looking at they began to become very excited. That is always a pretty neat feeling to see people begin to feel that there is hope and potential in their lives. We continued the conversation this morning and, Rolanda, one of the main leaders began to start understanding the nuts and bolts of what could be done. We first of all had to climb the hurdle of long term thinking. We sat looking at a coconut tree that was only five years old and loaded with more than $40.00 of coconuts. I asked about planting them as an income source and Rolando talked about it been such a long time. When we compared it to the ages of his children he began to see that a ten year plan was possible and, even, prudent. Once that hurdle was clambered over then lights began to turn on. Tree after tree was pointed out and, with growing excitement, Rolando was able to tell me what the potential was. So incredible. The knowledge was already there. It just needed a different point of view to begin to put it together. One of the trees shown me was the Mulberry tree which was great. I have been looking for seed stock for that because it offers so many potential uses for small landholders (fruit, firewood, high protein leaves).
Last night was day 8 of Hanukah. Their cantor was visiting from San Pedro Sula with his wife and family. This meant a time of celebration with lots of candies, driedel games and a tiny bit of liturgy. Evidently, this movement is growing rapidly in Latin America. There are books with Spanish and Hebrew liturgy, a “Seminary” in Brazil (complete with Synagogue planters) and a translation of the Bible into Spanish that includes Jewish type explanations. For example, when the verse says that Jesus broke bread, their version says that Jesus broke the middle piece of matzoh. Obviously, those familiar with the Passover celebration already know that (including the original authors of the Gospels) so I am not sure who benefits from the additions. Still, it was very interesting to look at. For their worship they use ordinary Spanish translations but their liturgical leader has this special version.
Part of the celebration included white bread sandwiches. Obviously, white bread is a luxury item only seen on special occasions. I am still confused as to what the spread was but it followed the cardinal rule of cooking, “Enough garlic solves every problem.” We had leftover spread on white bread for lunch today.
Although the synagogue has power, the rest of the community does not. We trudged to my host’s house by cell phone flash light and, once there, lit a candle. I had a nice, double bed with a pillow and blanket. My kikoi gave the needed extra warmth so a good night’s sleep.
In the morning I began looking for birds. Morning fog covered everything and it was great to watch the sun begin to tear away the shrouds and reveal bits and pieces of mountains and valleys. At 7:15 I began walking to the bus stop as I was told that the only bus came by at 8:00. Fortunately, I passed by Ronaldo’s house and he had alternative plans – including coffee and a hot tamale. The cantor was heading back to San Pedro Sula at 1:00 so I had lots of time to find birds, talk trees and ideas and so forth. A profitable morning with five new species and several others worth looking at again. The community is high enough up that I could watch the vultures from above as they began their daily search for updrafts. How do they sense the where the air is going to be moving upward and manage to slide into those movements? It is really marvellous to watch fifty of these birds sail back and forth until they find the needed help and then begin the circle that soon makes them specks even from the top of a mountain.
Lunch done, we got in the truck and an hour later I was by the main highway waiting for a Santa Cruz bus. One of the soda sellers at the stop was most helpful in shouting out the destination of each coming bus long before I had any hope of reading the signs. He obviously knows the shape and colour of the buses on the route or else has 80/20 vision. Home again safely and ready to go cook supper (ham of course:))).
Bryan
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas Eve
The morning was spent in the office, working on various lists and talking with people on the phone. The Skype system is so wonderful. The old system of international calls which needed to be booked hour ahead of time and had long wait times which broke up every conversation are part of the dinosaur past. All those skills for talking via that method are becoming obsolete, along with making four carbon copies of lesson materials and letters on a portable typewriter. Computers are so much easier on fingertips than pounding out multiple copies on a manual machine. Say the word Telex machine to your children and check out the look they give you. Now, via the wonders of internet, a phone call can be made anywhere in the world for pennies or less.
In the afternoon I went out to El Ciprés to visit a couple working with MCC on a small fish project and conference centre. The streets were full of people dressed up and waiting for the evening’s festivities. Stores were still bustling though so lots of merchandise to see. I wondered what to take out with me and was making scant progress until I came to the couple selling fireworks. We managed to communicate the explosive nature and pattern of each of their wares and for $5.00 I had a small bag of firecrackers, sparklers and one lovely 15” long by 4” diameter tube of something with showers of sparks on the picture. Now we were ready to truly celebrate the coming of Christmas.
On the way down the hill into their property I saw my first snake here. It was only about 60 cm long and was much like a brown and black striped garter snake. It saw me stop and decided on a hasty retreat for which I was duly appreciative. My African strategy with snakes was to first find the machete and then, when head and body were separated by a minimum of 20 cm, go and get the snake guide book to identify it. It seemed so much easier to say, “Oops, not poisonous,” than miss something more troublesome. Obviously, to me, that is not an issue here. When I see people cruise through tall grass without a thought of what is in their way I realize that snakes of the bothersome variety are not an issue. Rule number one when going through grass in Africa: Let someone else go first.
At the MCC centre, I met a couple from Ohio who are working with disaster preparedness and long term recovery out of Tegucigulpa. They were, delightfully, birdwatchers and, even more amazing, hobby beekeepers who had tried top bar hives. Needless to say, we had lots to talk about ... besides kids.
A few village children were down visiting as well so my fireworks were the ideal gift. Lots of entertainment as we tried different combinations of firecrackers and so forth. We left the big tube till dark. That turned out to have a wonderful trajectory and spark trail, a very satisfying thunderclap but nothing in the way of showers of coloured balls of sparks. No one was disappointed though.
After a supper of mashed potatoes and roast pork (talk about comfort food), we visited with the stream of drop in visitors until time to get in the truck and head to Santa Cruz for mass. A number of boys took the opportunity to ride in the back for a chance at ‘big city’ lights and action. Josh and Marie squashed a few of their dreams by insisting that they would have to go to church – so much for cruising the streets.
The church was quite full but we all found seats. In addition to the huge crèche scene, there were long, beribboned garlands of plastic pine on every pillar and light string. The music group was busy pounding out a rendition of “Navidad, Navidad, Feliz Navidad” (you’ll figure out the tune shortly) as we entered. Being Christmas Eve, the incense was out in full force and soon filled the church with its fragrance. The priest needs to take lessons from the Ethiopian church that we attend on high holidays. The general rule there seems to be that if you can see the middle of the church you need to add a couple more spoonfuls of frankincense. We were in no danger of that last night – just a tasteful amount. The music group surprised us with two acapella numbers. The whole group, drummers, electric piano players, guitarists and rhythm section all were part of the choir. Very well done. Four parts even.
After mass, I stopped to greet a few people I knew and thank the music group for their work. The Christmas Eve fireworks were popping merrily as I headed home. Midnight came and with it, the popping became a barrage. The whole city broke out in bangs and crackles. I went outside to watch and the sky was filled with clouds of firework smoke. Setting off loud fireworks inside small compounds makes for great amplification. Someone within twenty blocks or so had a super duper stereo system which they shared with all of us. Happily, the noise died down within an hour and people got on with eating and family gatherings.
There were no Christmas bells a ringing but, there were bells as we exited the church. The ice cream man had parked his cart at the foot of the stairs and was ringing out the good news of cold treats for all to the parishioners.
It is 8:00 a.m. and the left over firecrackers are being set off by early risers. I am headed to the office to post this and to make some Merry Christmas phone calls.
God Rest You Merry.
Bryan
In the afternoon I went out to El Ciprés to visit a couple working with MCC on a small fish project and conference centre. The streets were full of people dressed up and waiting for the evening’s festivities. Stores were still bustling though so lots of merchandise to see. I wondered what to take out with me and was making scant progress until I came to the couple selling fireworks. We managed to communicate the explosive nature and pattern of each of their wares and for $5.00 I had a small bag of firecrackers, sparklers and one lovely 15” long by 4” diameter tube of something with showers of sparks on the picture. Now we were ready to truly celebrate the coming of Christmas.
On the way down the hill into their property I saw my first snake here. It was only about 60 cm long and was much like a brown and black striped garter snake. It saw me stop and decided on a hasty retreat for which I was duly appreciative. My African strategy with snakes was to first find the machete and then, when head and body were separated by a minimum of 20 cm, go and get the snake guide book to identify it. It seemed so much easier to say, “Oops, not poisonous,” than miss something more troublesome. Obviously, to me, that is not an issue here. When I see people cruise through tall grass without a thought of what is in their way I realize that snakes of the bothersome variety are not an issue. Rule number one when going through grass in Africa: Let someone else go first.
At the MCC centre, I met a couple from Ohio who are working with disaster preparedness and long term recovery out of Tegucigulpa. They were, delightfully, birdwatchers and, even more amazing, hobby beekeepers who had tried top bar hives. Needless to say, we had lots to talk about ... besides kids.
A few village children were down visiting as well so my fireworks were the ideal gift. Lots of entertainment as we tried different combinations of firecrackers and so forth. We left the big tube till dark. That turned out to have a wonderful trajectory and spark trail, a very satisfying thunderclap but nothing in the way of showers of coloured balls of sparks. No one was disappointed though.
After a supper of mashed potatoes and roast pork (talk about comfort food), we visited with the stream of drop in visitors until time to get in the truck and head to Santa Cruz for mass. A number of boys took the opportunity to ride in the back for a chance at ‘big city’ lights and action. Josh and Marie squashed a few of their dreams by insisting that they would have to go to church – so much for cruising the streets.
The church was quite full but we all found seats. In addition to the huge crèche scene, there were long, beribboned garlands of plastic pine on every pillar and light string. The music group was busy pounding out a rendition of “Navidad, Navidad, Feliz Navidad” (you’ll figure out the tune shortly) as we entered. Being Christmas Eve, the incense was out in full force and soon filled the church with its fragrance. The priest needs to take lessons from the Ethiopian church that we attend on high holidays. The general rule there seems to be that if you can see the middle of the church you need to add a couple more spoonfuls of frankincense. We were in no danger of that last night – just a tasteful amount. The music group surprised us with two acapella numbers. The whole group, drummers, electric piano players, guitarists and rhythm section all were part of the choir. Very well done. Four parts even.
After mass, I stopped to greet a few people I knew and thank the music group for their work. The Christmas Eve fireworks were popping merrily as I headed home. Midnight came and with it, the popping became a barrage. The whole city broke out in bangs and crackles. I went outside to watch and the sky was filled with clouds of firework smoke. Setting off loud fireworks inside small compounds makes for great amplification. Someone within twenty blocks or so had a super duper stereo system which they shared with all of us. Happily, the noise died down within an hour and people got on with eating and family gatherings.
There were no Christmas bells a ringing but, there were bells as we exited the church. The ice cream man had parked his cart at the foot of the stairs and was ringing out the good news of cold treats for all to the parishioners.
It is 8:00 a.m. and the left over firecrackers are being set off by early risers. I am headed to the office to post this and to make some Merry Christmas phone calls.
God Rest You Merry.
Bryan
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Value of One – CPI Efforts
As we begin this project, we look back at other work that CPI has done over the past few years. It is often difficult to quantify the work that has been done and match that to the money spent. Accounting principles have been blurred at times by differing cultures, differing expectations and, sometimes, deliberately. At times, it is discouraging to work through all this and one loses sight of the people that were given hope and opportunity through all of the efforts.
Being able to live in Santa Cruz, I am able to meet, often several times a week, individuals whose lives have been changed by our efforts, ideas and money. Listening to Lydia, a current Board member, describe to a visiting delegation the effects that being able to graduate from Sixth Grade has made in her life and the life of her family. Watching the excitement on Julia’s face, a widowed mother of five, as she talked about the chance to learn more and take Grade Seven. Meeting a young man who was able to finish Grade Six because of a scholarship and is now finding ways to work and pay for further schooling. To hear stories from the ladies who operate the little Botequines (medicine boxes) tell of patients they have treated – with scant resources and scantier knowledge – in villages where no medical treatment is available opens exciting vistas of ideas and opportunities.
The bottom line in every project is, “What is the value of one?” How do we put a dollar value on intangibles like learning, hope, medical treatment, new agricultural methods? Of course, the answer is, “We don’t.” In the end, we look at our efforts and ask ourselves only one question, “Did we try?” If the answer is “Yes”, we have been successful. Without doubt, we will also ask ourselves how we can try better or be more effective. But that is something that stems from the basic first question.
A couple of tidbits from the last few days. Saturday night I enjoyed a small bowl of pig skin soup. The pig skin is deep fried and, in the process, puffs up and gains the texture something like a cheesy. These pieces are then put in a soup with spices, peppers and tomatoes (and x kinds of vegetables). As with every type of soup I have tried here, it is delicious.
In search of Christmas presents (for January Christmas in Canada), I took a Rapidito trip to La Guama, up the road about fifteen kilometres. I had seen a tourist type place along the highway so knew it was on the La Guama route. As we went, I paid the fare of 18 L. The tourist place was some kilometres before La Guama but I thought nothing of it as I climbed out of the Rapidito. Well, after shopping and purchasing a couple items, I walked back to the highway and sat on the wooden slab bench and waited for a return Rapidito. One went by, rather full, without stopping and I resigned myself to waiting an hour. Fortunately, within another fifteen minutes, the same Rapidito I was first on stopped for me. As I went to pay for my fare, the driver turned to the turnboy and told him to discount the price to match what I had overpaid on the outward trip. What a pleasant surprise. It was so nice to be shown that respect and courtesy.
Sunday morning saw me in the office waiting for a repairman to come and fix the tiles in our kitchen area and some other odds and ends we had informed the landlady about. Not too surprisingly, he showed up two hours late and then only to drop a couple of things off and that was it. Sigh. I had stopped doing office work and was busy watching a Harrison Ford movie dubbed in Spanish. The printed parts were redone in, I think, Greek lettering but the words were in Spanish. When you pay $2.00 for a DVD that has all four Indiana Jones movies on it you need to be prepared for the odd difference.
At about 12.30, there was a knock on the door and in walked my friend Mariano and his friend, Pablo. They had come to take me to lunch. What a nice surprise. We headed to a restaurant that is on the second floor of a building. The walls are open and you are high enough to see the trees and greenery and enjoy the breeze. Colourful Japanese lanterns, four jolly plastic Santas and several old 78 rpm records are part of the decoration. We ordered Chorizzo, a spicy sausage, served with salsa, cheese and chips. The owner of the restaurant spoke some English so whenever we hit an impasse in our conversation, we had him help out with a phrase or sentence. We must have managed okay because Manuel told me yesterday that he met Pablo on his way to the office and Pablo had said we had a great time. Manuel, who really knows how little Spanish I know, was amazed.
Yesterday I spent almost an hour walking through town trying to find a plug for my bathroom sink. A number of places had drain units for sale but no one had only a plug. Even went to the large department type store on the edge of town. Found that store accidently on Saturday as I was searching for prices of rebar and metal tubing. I was so amazed to find such a big place here in Santa Cruz. I have seen plugs for sale (when I wasn’t looking for one of course) but, I fear that they were on some table in front of a kiosk somewhere in downtown San Pedro Sula. I will use the technique of not looking for it and then I shall be sure to find it.
The nativity scene at church is incredible. It is about 3 metres X 4 metres with walls of bamboo and thatched roof. The floor is covered with sand and stones and there are thirty or forty houses with over a hundred figurines of people, animals and different tools of daily life. On one side is a little jungle area with jungle animals including (as it must have, surely, on that night in Bethlehem) dinosaurs and tigers. All this is set off with blinking and winking strings of colourful Christmas lights. The cradle is covered until Christmas Eve. I wonder how long the scene stays up. Because of the scene, the music group has had to switch to the other side of the church which leaves things rather crowded but … the more the merrier, right?
We have a night watchman now that the computers are set up. His only job is to sleep inside the house. He likes to come at about 8:00 because he is worried about walking around the town after that hour. I hear stories of problems but haven’t figured out what streets they are on. Of course, I won’t go looking either. The street I use to come home on is always full of families, children and vehicles as well as several pulperias and a church so I am not worried about that route. Evidently other routes are not as welcoming.
Have to run.
Bryan
Being able to live in Santa Cruz, I am able to meet, often several times a week, individuals whose lives have been changed by our efforts, ideas and money. Listening to Lydia, a current Board member, describe to a visiting delegation the effects that being able to graduate from Sixth Grade has made in her life and the life of her family. Watching the excitement on Julia’s face, a widowed mother of five, as she talked about the chance to learn more and take Grade Seven. Meeting a young man who was able to finish Grade Six because of a scholarship and is now finding ways to work and pay for further schooling. To hear stories from the ladies who operate the little Botequines (medicine boxes) tell of patients they have treated – with scant resources and scantier knowledge – in villages where no medical treatment is available opens exciting vistas of ideas and opportunities.
The bottom line in every project is, “What is the value of one?” How do we put a dollar value on intangibles like learning, hope, medical treatment, new agricultural methods? Of course, the answer is, “We don’t.” In the end, we look at our efforts and ask ourselves only one question, “Did we try?” If the answer is “Yes”, we have been successful. Without doubt, we will also ask ourselves how we can try better or be more effective. But that is something that stems from the basic first question.
A couple of tidbits from the last few days. Saturday night I enjoyed a small bowl of pig skin soup. The pig skin is deep fried and, in the process, puffs up and gains the texture something like a cheesy. These pieces are then put in a soup with spices, peppers and tomatoes (and x kinds of vegetables). As with every type of soup I have tried here, it is delicious.
In search of Christmas presents (for January Christmas in Canada), I took a Rapidito trip to La Guama, up the road about fifteen kilometres. I had seen a tourist type place along the highway so knew it was on the La Guama route. As we went, I paid the fare of 18 L. The tourist place was some kilometres before La Guama but I thought nothing of it as I climbed out of the Rapidito. Well, after shopping and purchasing a couple items, I walked back to the highway and sat on the wooden slab bench and waited for a return Rapidito. One went by, rather full, without stopping and I resigned myself to waiting an hour. Fortunately, within another fifteen minutes, the same Rapidito I was first on stopped for me. As I went to pay for my fare, the driver turned to the turnboy and told him to discount the price to match what I had overpaid on the outward trip. What a pleasant surprise. It was so nice to be shown that respect and courtesy.
Sunday morning saw me in the office waiting for a repairman to come and fix the tiles in our kitchen area and some other odds and ends we had informed the landlady about. Not too surprisingly, he showed up two hours late and then only to drop a couple of things off and that was it. Sigh. I had stopped doing office work and was busy watching a Harrison Ford movie dubbed in Spanish. The printed parts were redone in, I think, Greek lettering but the words were in Spanish. When you pay $2.00 for a DVD that has all four Indiana Jones movies on it you need to be prepared for the odd difference.
At about 12.30, there was a knock on the door and in walked my friend Mariano and his friend, Pablo. They had come to take me to lunch. What a nice surprise. We headed to a restaurant that is on the second floor of a building. The walls are open and you are high enough to see the trees and greenery and enjoy the breeze. Colourful Japanese lanterns, four jolly plastic Santas and several old 78 rpm records are part of the decoration. We ordered Chorizzo, a spicy sausage, served with salsa, cheese and chips. The owner of the restaurant spoke some English so whenever we hit an impasse in our conversation, we had him help out with a phrase or sentence. We must have managed okay because Manuel told me yesterday that he met Pablo on his way to the office and Pablo had said we had a great time. Manuel, who really knows how little Spanish I know, was amazed.
Yesterday I spent almost an hour walking through town trying to find a plug for my bathroom sink. A number of places had drain units for sale but no one had only a plug. Even went to the large department type store on the edge of town. Found that store accidently on Saturday as I was searching for prices of rebar and metal tubing. I was so amazed to find such a big place here in Santa Cruz. I have seen plugs for sale (when I wasn’t looking for one of course) but, I fear that they were on some table in front of a kiosk somewhere in downtown San Pedro Sula. I will use the technique of not looking for it and then I shall be sure to find it.
The nativity scene at church is incredible. It is about 3 metres X 4 metres with walls of bamboo and thatched roof. The floor is covered with sand and stones and there are thirty or forty houses with over a hundred figurines of people, animals and different tools of daily life. On one side is a little jungle area with jungle animals including (as it must have, surely, on that night in Bethlehem) dinosaurs and tigers. All this is set off with blinking and winking strings of colourful Christmas lights. The cradle is covered until Christmas Eve. I wonder how long the scene stays up. Because of the scene, the music group has had to switch to the other side of the church which leaves things rather crowded but … the more the merrier, right?
We have a night watchman now that the computers are set up. His only job is to sleep inside the house. He likes to come at about 8:00 because he is worried about walking around the town after that hour. I hear stories of problems but haven’t figured out what streets they are on. Of course, I won’t go looking either. The street I use to come home on is always full of families, children and vehicles as well as several pulperias and a church so I am not worried about that route. Evidently other routes are not as welcoming.
Have to run.
Bryan
Monday, December 22, 2008
God Sat Alone
Four Sundays of preparation for God’s coming.
Hundreds of people waiting in expectation ...
as they have for two thousand years.
The huge crèche with a village of waiting figurines centered
round the still empty cradle blinked and glittered invitation.
Then,
just as the fourth service was ending,
God arrived.
The One who belongs beyond time,
beyond light and darkness,
beyond space infinite and infinitesimal arrived
Swaddled in three shirts and extra long, walked on jeans
stained by rain sweat nights spent barred from love
by barbed crowned walls and gates
locked from fear of Love’s inadequacy.
For someone Whose only language is Love,
the language being sung and spoken with musical and practiced intonation
had whispers and foggy wisps of connection
but never quite enough to be confident of the translation.
No one moved to greet God.
In fact, things went on,
albeit a wee bit chagrined,
as if no one was there, kneeling at the front.
Eventually, God turned around and sat on the altar steps.
God came.
But ...
God sat alone.
Bryan
Hundreds of people waiting in expectation ...
as they have for two thousand years.
The huge crèche with a village of waiting figurines centered
round the still empty cradle blinked and glittered invitation.
Then,
just as the fourth service was ending,
God arrived.
The One who belongs beyond time,
beyond light and darkness,
beyond space infinite and infinitesimal arrived
Swaddled in three shirts and extra long, walked on jeans
stained by rain sweat nights spent barred from love
by barbed crowned walls and gates
locked from fear of Love’s inadequacy.
For someone Whose only language is Love,
the language being sung and spoken with musical and practiced intonation
had whispers and foggy wisps of connection
but never quite enough to be confident of the translation.
No one moved to greet God.
In fact, things went on,
albeit a wee bit chagrined,
as if no one was there, kneeling at the front.
Eventually, God turned around and sat on the altar steps.
God came.
But ...
God sat alone.
Bryan
Friday, December 19, 2008
A Shofar Shalom – Dec. 19
It seems like a week since I was writing last. When you are busy for sixteen hours in a day, a lot can happen. As I mentioned before, the unexpected is always lurking around the next corner. Lots of corners yesterday.
The group from Tegucigalpa phoned at about 11:00 telling us they were still on the way. By their location, we knew it would be more than an hour. After riding with their driver later in the day, I realized why their trip was taking so long – very cautious that man. Well, the Mayor, Principal and head of Educatodos here in Santa Cruz were all on schedule for 11:00. A bit of a worry for all of us. We had an early lunch of seasoned chicken salad and waited patiently. At 1:00 we began walking towards the City Hall to be there when the guests arrived. Manuel and I headed to the Education offices and arrived just as the folks were getting out of the car. Some quick phone calls and schedules were rearranged. The Mayor said we could see him at 3:00 (that was a minor miracle let me tell you) and the Principal, who was on lunch break agreed to meet then as well. That left us to take the guests to tour our facility.
Here at the office, we had lunch and each of the Board members talked about their experiences with CPI, education and, in particular, Educatodos. They all spoke well and had interesting stories so that was very good. I sat in the corner, observed and ate a second round of chicken sandwiches. The Educatodos program also insists that each student work on some sort of project – tree planting, first aid, etc. – that will help them or their community. Because we had the Moringa seeds ready for our guests, the conversation turned to that. It ended up that the five pots we had for the dignitaries were just enough to give one to each of our Tegucigalpa guests. My computer was up and running so I was able to show them pictures of the tree and some more information. All that writing I did this fall is certainly having some positive results. It is so easy to “flip” the page to the relevant material and have it on the screen for people to see. As well, Manuel has read much of the material so is able to refer to it when needed. The lady in charge of the delegation is actually very knowledgeable about local trees and so was able to appreciate the merits of the Moringa and the information much better than most (a plus for our project pitch as well).
Three o’clock saw us at the Mayor’s office. Amazingly, he was in and waiting. The Principal arrived as well and all of us (almost twenty) filed in and sat in the chairs arranged for us. The Mayor’s translator, Oscar, came with to help. That was an unexpected bonus because it left Manuel free to speak as one of the school directors (me being the other one) rather than translating. Often translators become part of the furniture rather than being respected in their own right. The Educatodos lady, the Principal and Chepe (our Board Chairman) all spoke. I was delightfully surprised at the passion with which the Educatodos lady and Principal spoke. Eventually I was given a couple of questions to answer as well. To me, part of the merits of a project idea is when local people begin to claim it as their own and do the pushing for it. Obviously, this project is fitting into that category as I don’t have to do much of the talking. The Mayor then asked me when we were ready to go talk to the Minister in Tegucigalpa. I looked at my watch and replied, “In an hour.” He grinned and took out his cell phone and scrolled down to the Minister’s number and called him then and there. That is fast and shows some of the clout that the Mayor of a region has. The Minister told the Mayor that the project had been approved and was handed over to the head of the EFA (don’t ask me what the initials stand for) to deal with. The Mayor got his number and then gave him a call. This next person began to play some games with the Mayor and talked about arranging a meeting in Tegucigalpa, etc., etc. What he didn’t realize was that the Mayor had turned up the volume on his cell phone (obviously much better model than mine) so that those of us close to the desk could hear what was said. Very quickly the Mayor informed him that the meeting would take place in Santa Cruz and he would call the Mayor to inform him when. So ... some hope for things. Certainly everyone on our team was encouraged. Finally we are getting enough of a group that we can push things through. The Mayor also mentioned that if progress is too slow he will simply go to the press with the story. Good stuff from our point of view.
I was quite happy with our day and ready to head back to the office and discuss plans and so forth. However, the head of the Educatodos group told us that we were going to see a school run by them. Manuel, Chepe and I hopped in the van and headed off. It was after 4:00 by this time and it gets dark by 5:30 so this seemed rather brave to me. It turned out that it was very brave. We drove for an hour and the road became progressively narrower, rougher and steeper. Rule number one when driving up strange roads: Never go up a track you are not prepared to back down. The van finally came to a patch that was too steep and muddy to navigate and so we backed down for an anxious few minutes till a spot to turn around was located. For our Tegucigalpa, city friends, it was feeling very remote. Even cell phone coverage was missing. Turns out we were only about fifteen kilometres from the main road. We back tracked to a fork in the road to find an alternative route. Looking down from the fork, the road looked much too iffy to try. Fortunately, cell phone coverage was available and our guide made a quick call and in about three minutes a four wheel drive pickup appeared. We climbed in and headed up and away.
Just at dusk, we arrived at the school. The lights were on and everybody was at home. Fifteen students sat in chairs listening to lecture notes from two foot high speakers in a 6 M x 5 M room. Another four sat around a table studying their books. This turned out to be a group of Grade Seven students and the smaller group of Grade Eight students. The building turned out to be a Synagogue belonging to a group of Messianic Jewish believers. In accordance with Leviticus 19.27, the leaders had long beards. A couple of the other men had short beards so I felt right at home. One of the members spoke very good English and so we got some of the background. An amazing group of people who are working together to make a life for themselves and their children. They are doing well in many ways because of their cooperation with each other. It was fun to talk with people who are full of ideas and knowledge of things they have tried or heard about.
We watched the school for an hour or so, meandering in and out at times to continue conversations with the men outside. It is of course, very dark by this time and I know that a return trip has to be made. All public transport shuts down at about 8:00 p.m. so I wasn’t sure where I might spend the night. The coffee cups arrived and, shortly, the coffee appeared. The students around the tables got up and chairs were set up for the guests. However, it was first time for introductions and welcoming speeches. Everyone was, thankfully, brief. The leader of the synagogue was very grateful for the educational opportunity provided by the Educatodos program. He was quite emotional about it and, at a loss for words, he turned to one of the Shofar horns (go to II Samuel 6.15 for one description – a one metre long, twisted wild goat or kudu horn) and blew it. It was amazing. He was extremely proficient and it was very moving to listen to. I have never heard a Shofar horn played with any skill so this was beautiful.
Students were dismissed and there were enough chairs for us all to sit down and enjoy sweetened home grown and roasted coffee with fresh hot milk. Lovely. After an appropriate amount of time, we stood up to go to the truck. We all made it outside when it was announced that cuajada was on its way. All the Hondurans were excited about the prospect of home made cuajada. Cuajada is a type of soft, fedha cheese. Sure enough, plates, utensils and platters with refried beans, thick cream, scrambled eggs and balls of cuajada appeared. We trooped back in and sat down. By this time we wondered if we would be staying for breakfast as well. This feeling was even stronger when, as we stood up after the meal and the pitchers of spring fed water appeared. We sat down again and enjoyed the water.
Back up and ready to leave. Fortunately, all was not finished. The leader wanted to send us off with a blessing. So, the cantor donned his prayer shawl, rubbed his hands with scented oil, a CD of Hebrew singing was turned on and the prayer began. The prayer was in Spanish so only the background singing was in Hebrew. Part way through, the shofar was played as an accompaniment to the music. Again, very well done musically. Prayer over, we all shook hands, received a blessing and were out the door for the last time.
As we drove away, the young people sent us off with echoing sounds of the Shofar following us. Clear skies allowed us to enjoy the stars and the night flowers perfumed our way. We arrived back in Santa Cruz at 10:00 p.m. The people in the van still had another two hours to get to San Pedro Sula so they will be well tired and travelled today.
I find it so heart warming whenever I am able to participate in worship traditions that stretch across geographical and historical boundaries. What a lovely Advent touch to hear the same sounds that were part of Jesus’ growing up. Each Friday and Saturday evening at sundown He would have heard the Shofar calling out the Sabbath. At festivals and celebrations the same sound would have filled the streets of His village. No doubt, during triumphal entry into Jerusalem there were more than one Shofar horns being blown. And, quite likely, that was one of the sounds heard as the disciples carried Christ’s body to the tomb.
Bryan
The group from Tegucigalpa phoned at about 11:00 telling us they were still on the way. By their location, we knew it would be more than an hour. After riding with their driver later in the day, I realized why their trip was taking so long – very cautious that man. Well, the Mayor, Principal and head of Educatodos here in Santa Cruz were all on schedule for 11:00. A bit of a worry for all of us. We had an early lunch of seasoned chicken salad and waited patiently. At 1:00 we began walking towards the City Hall to be there when the guests arrived. Manuel and I headed to the Education offices and arrived just as the folks were getting out of the car. Some quick phone calls and schedules were rearranged. The Mayor said we could see him at 3:00 (that was a minor miracle let me tell you) and the Principal, who was on lunch break agreed to meet then as well. That left us to take the guests to tour our facility.
Here at the office, we had lunch and each of the Board members talked about their experiences with CPI, education and, in particular, Educatodos. They all spoke well and had interesting stories so that was very good. I sat in the corner, observed and ate a second round of chicken sandwiches. The Educatodos program also insists that each student work on some sort of project – tree planting, first aid, etc. – that will help them or their community. Because we had the Moringa seeds ready for our guests, the conversation turned to that. It ended up that the five pots we had for the dignitaries were just enough to give one to each of our Tegucigalpa guests. My computer was up and running so I was able to show them pictures of the tree and some more information. All that writing I did this fall is certainly having some positive results. It is so easy to “flip” the page to the relevant material and have it on the screen for people to see. As well, Manuel has read much of the material so is able to refer to it when needed. The lady in charge of the delegation is actually very knowledgeable about local trees and so was able to appreciate the merits of the Moringa and the information much better than most (a plus for our project pitch as well).
Three o’clock saw us at the Mayor’s office. Amazingly, he was in and waiting. The Principal arrived as well and all of us (almost twenty) filed in and sat in the chairs arranged for us. The Mayor’s translator, Oscar, came with to help. That was an unexpected bonus because it left Manuel free to speak as one of the school directors (me being the other one) rather than translating. Often translators become part of the furniture rather than being respected in their own right. The Educatodos lady, the Principal and Chepe (our Board Chairman) all spoke. I was delightfully surprised at the passion with which the Educatodos lady and Principal spoke. Eventually I was given a couple of questions to answer as well. To me, part of the merits of a project idea is when local people begin to claim it as their own and do the pushing for it. Obviously, this project is fitting into that category as I don’t have to do much of the talking. The Mayor then asked me when we were ready to go talk to the Minister in Tegucigalpa. I looked at my watch and replied, “In an hour.” He grinned and took out his cell phone and scrolled down to the Minister’s number and called him then and there. That is fast and shows some of the clout that the Mayor of a region has. The Minister told the Mayor that the project had been approved and was handed over to the head of the EFA (don’t ask me what the initials stand for) to deal with. The Mayor got his number and then gave him a call. This next person began to play some games with the Mayor and talked about arranging a meeting in Tegucigalpa, etc., etc. What he didn’t realize was that the Mayor had turned up the volume on his cell phone (obviously much better model than mine) so that those of us close to the desk could hear what was said. Very quickly the Mayor informed him that the meeting would take place in Santa Cruz and he would call the Mayor to inform him when. So ... some hope for things. Certainly everyone on our team was encouraged. Finally we are getting enough of a group that we can push things through. The Mayor also mentioned that if progress is too slow he will simply go to the press with the story. Good stuff from our point of view.
I was quite happy with our day and ready to head back to the office and discuss plans and so forth. However, the head of the Educatodos group told us that we were going to see a school run by them. Manuel, Chepe and I hopped in the van and headed off. It was after 4:00 by this time and it gets dark by 5:30 so this seemed rather brave to me. It turned out that it was very brave. We drove for an hour and the road became progressively narrower, rougher and steeper. Rule number one when driving up strange roads: Never go up a track you are not prepared to back down. The van finally came to a patch that was too steep and muddy to navigate and so we backed down for an anxious few minutes till a spot to turn around was located. For our Tegucigalpa, city friends, it was feeling very remote. Even cell phone coverage was missing. Turns out we were only about fifteen kilometres from the main road. We back tracked to a fork in the road to find an alternative route. Looking down from the fork, the road looked much too iffy to try. Fortunately, cell phone coverage was available and our guide made a quick call and in about three minutes a four wheel drive pickup appeared. We climbed in and headed up and away.
Just at dusk, we arrived at the school. The lights were on and everybody was at home. Fifteen students sat in chairs listening to lecture notes from two foot high speakers in a 6 M x 5 M room. Another four sat around a table studying their books. This turned out to be a group of Grade Seven students and the smaller group of Grade Eight students. The building turned out to be a Synagogue belonging to a group of Messianic Jewish believers. In accordance with Leviticus 19.27, the leaders had long beards. A couple of the other men had short beards so I felt right at home. One of the members spoke very good English and so we got some of the background. An amazing group of people who are working together to make a life for themselves and their children. They are doing well in many ways because of their cooperation with each other. It was fun to talk with people who are full of ideas and knowledge of things they have tried or heard about.
We watched the school for an hour or so, meandering in and out at times to continue conversations with the men outside. It is of course, very dark by this time and I know that a return trip has to be made. All public transport shuts down at about 8:00 p.m. so I wasn’t sure where I might spend the night. The coffee cups arrived and, shortly, the coffee appeared. The students around the tables got up and chairs were set up for the guests. However, it was first time for introductions and welcoming speeches. Everyone was, thankfully, brief. The leader of the synagogue was very grateful for the educational opportunity provided by the Educatodos program. He was quite emotional about it and, at a loss for words, he turned to one of the Shofar horns (go to II Samuel 6.15 for one description – a one metre long, twisted wild goat or kudu horn) and blew it. It was amazing. He was extremely proficient and it was very moving to listen to. I have never heard a Shofar horn played with any skill so this was beautiful.
Students were dismissed and there were enough chairs for us all to sit down and enjoy sweetened home grown and roasted coffee with fresh hot milk. Lovely. After an appropriate amount of time, we stood up to go to the truck. We all made it outside when it was announced that cuajada was on its way. All the Hondurans were excited about the prospect of home made cuajada. Cuajada is a type of soft, fedha cheese. Sure enough, plates, utensils and platters with refried beans, thick cream, scrambled eggs and balls of cuajada appeared. We trooped back in and sat down. By this time we wondered if we would be staying for breakfast as well. This feeling was even stronger when, as we stood up after the meal and the pitchers of spring fed water appeared. We sat down again and enjoyed the water.
Back up and ready to leave. Fortunately, all was not finished. The leader wanted to send us off with a blessing. So, the cantor donned his prayer shawl, rubbed his hands with scented oil, a CD of Hebrew singing was turned on and the prayer began. The prayer was in Spanish so only the background singing was in Hebrew. Part way through, the shofar was played as an accompaniment to the music. Again, very well done musically. Prayer over, we all shook hands, received a blessing and were out the door for the last time.
As we drove away, the young people sent us off with echoing sounds of the Shofar following us. Clear skies allowed us to enjoy the stars and the night flowers perfumed our way. We arrived back in Santa Cruz at 10:00 p.m. The people in the van still had another two hours to get to San Pedro Sula so they will be well tired and travelled today.
I find it so heart warming whenever I am able to participate in worship traditions that stretch across geographical and historical boundaries. What a lovely Advent touch to hear the same sounds that were part of Jesus’ growing up. Each Friday and Saturday evening at sundown He would have heard the Shofar calling out the Sabbath. At festivals and celebrations the same sound would have filled the streets of His village. No doubt, during triumphal entry into Jerusalem there were more than one Shofar horns being blown. And, quite likely, that was one of the sounds heard as the disciples carried Christ’s body to the tomb.
Bryan
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Ready and Waiting – Dec. 18
Good news. The delegation coming to visit us phoned and said they were leaving Tegucigalpa. Phew. I had worried that they would cancel the visit. Bad news. They phoned after 8:00 a.m. But, they should be here in an hour or so.
All of the CPI Honduras Board showed up this morning and are waiting with us. The two boys working on the yard continue apace. Today they are digging up two permanent beds. When they finish those they will cut some grass and other biomass to finish filling the banana circles that we laid out. Yesterday the yard was cleaned, the last of the shrubs planted, Moringa seeds planted and yard raked and stones picked up. It looks like a yard now and not a derelict post-construction site. Two days of light evening rains and cloudy days have meant ideal planting conditions. The shrubs planted on Monday are already sending out new leaves.
The tables arrived from the carpenter at 1:00 p.m. yesterday. Wow. The same day they were scheduled to arrive. They look wonderful. A little tall but that is nothing that a hacksaw can’t remedy. Our carpenter is proving to be an excellent workman. It is such a pleasure to have an idea translated through an interpreter and scratch drawings turn into something workable. Often, the only person who has ever seen such a thing is me so it is a stretch for everyone else involved.
We took a trip to the local material shop and got some lovely tablecloth material which features bold green squares alternating with squares of sunflowers and a boarder of sunflowers. Bright and cheery. Hopefully it will look as nice in a year. Jessica, one of our future Grade 8 students who is also a teacher in the Grade 1-6 Educatodos Progam, took the cloths home to hem them. We spread them this morning, lifting and moving the computers to squeeze the cloth underneath.
With tables and computers all organized, the place looks like a real office/tutorial centre. The activity has caused lots of comments in the community and I notice passersby slowing to read the sign and, if I am outside, ask questions. For our dignitaries, we first thought of having them plant a shrub. Well, I miscounted numbers and had planted too many of the shrubs before recounting. So, we went to Plan B. We bought 5 flowerpots and filled them with dirt. Then, with each pot, the dignitary will receive a packet of four Moringa seeds and a beribboned document that outlines some of the qualities of the plant. All are pleased with Plan B so that is a relief. I went down to the material to shop to buy the ribbon this morning.
As I write, the first students are having an introduction to computers lesson. How to turn it on and find the typing program are first lessons. Will see how it is going in a few minutes. It is rather intimidating for them to have me towering behind them.
Lunch is here for the guests. Not sure what it is going to be but I am sure the ladies will do us proud. We had a mid morning snack – white buns with heavy cream. Cream is used as a substitute for butter and the same word is used for both. Confusing to someone like me. One of the things about English is how very precise we are with hundreds of extra words for everything from unbred female pigs to a zillion kinds of cheese. Often that same precision exists in other languages but in areas that we are unfamiliar with (Inuit words to describe ice and snow for example).
Tried to do some emergency repairs on the toilet this morning. Sigh. One never knows when you will hit the wall of the last plumber’s lack of experience, lack of parts or lack of will. The good news is that nothing is broken and water is not flooding any part of the bathroom. The bad news is that we will have to rely on buckets for flushing. The good news is that our pila out back is full of clean water. And, there is no doubt that every one of our visitors will be able to handle the system with experience.
Last night, as I sat having baleadas, everyone in the restaurant, including the owner, started hustling out to the street. Not to be outdone, I followed. The excitement was over when I got there. Evidently, up the hill a ways, two electrical wires were shorting and causing an impromptu display of fireworks. The owner looked at me, grinned, shrugged his shoulders and said, “This is Honduras.”
Because we have computers here in the office, it was felt that we need a guard at night. Julia found a young man named Harrison to come and sleep in the office. I gave him my foam mattress and he slept here. I noticed that he had slept with a machete beside him – it was still on the floor this morning. I guess that there is a drug addict who hangs out in the empty lot beside us some nights.
Finished the requirements for my bank account this morning. The forged signature passed muster and the stamp we had made did the trick. The lady was happy with the document and returned my cheery “Merry Christmas” with a will. Manuel’s question was, “Why did the documents we made work here and not for me at my bank?” He will try another bank. Sigh.
I notice that more and more things from my kitchen are appearing here. It will be a challenge to get them all back to my place once the festivities are done. I wonder what my place is looking like. With all the strange ladies going in and out of my apartment, I hope that the neighbours don’t start too many stories. Men might be coming to me for advice. What a waste of their time that would be.
Time to check on the classes.
Bryan
All of the CPI Honduras Board showed up this morning and are waiting with us. The two boys working on the yard continue apace. Today they are digging up two permanent beds. When they finish those they will cut some grass and other biomass to finish filling the banana circles that we laid out. Yesterday the yard was cleaned, the last of the shrubs planted, Moringa seeds planted and yard raked and stones picked up. It looks like a yard now and not a derelict post-construction site. Two days of light evening rains and cloudy days have meant ideal planting conditions. The shrubs planted on Monday are already sending out new leaves.
The tables arrived from the carpenter at 1:00 p.m. yesterday. Wow. The same day they were scheduled to arrive. They look wonderful. A little tall but that is nothing that a hacksaw can’t remedy. Our carpenter is proving to be an excellent workman. It is such a pleasure to have an idea translated through an interpreter and scratch drawings turn into something workable. Often, the only person who has ever seen such a thing is me so it is a stretch for everyone else involved.
We took a trip to the local material shop and got some lovely tablecloth material which features bold green squares alternating with squares of sunflowers and a boarder of sunflowers. Bright and cheery. Hopefully it will look as nice in a year. Jessica, one of our future Grade 8 students who is also a teacher in the Grade 1-6 Educatodos Progam, took the cloths home to hem them. We spread them this morning, lifting and moving the computers to squeeze the cloth underneath.
With tables and computers all organized, the place looks like a real office/tutorial centre. The activity has caused lots of comments in the community and I notice passersby slowing to read the sign and, if I am outside, ask questions. For our dignitaries, we first thought of having them plant a shrub. Well, I miscounted numbers and had planted too many of the shrubs before recounting. So, we went to Plan B. We bought 5 flowerpots and filled them with dirt. Then, with each pot, the dignitary will receive a packet of four Moringa seeds and a beribboned document that outlines some of the qualities of the plant. All are pleased with Plan B so that is a relief. I went down to the material to shop to buy the ribbon this morning.
As I write, the first students are having an introduction to computers lesson. How to turn it on and find the typing program are first lessons. Will see how it is going in a few minutes. It is rather intimidating for them to have me towering behind them.
Lunch is here for the guests. Not sure what it is going to be but I am sure the ladies will do us proud. We had a mid morning snack – white buns with heavy cream. Cream is used as a substitute for butter and the same word is used for both. Confusing to someone like me. One of the things about English is how very precise we are with hundreds of extra words for everything from unbred female pigs to a zillion kinds of cheese. Often that same precision exists in other languages but in areas that we are unfamiliar with (Inuit words to describe ice and snow for example).
Tried to do some emergency repairs on the toilet this morning. Sigh. One never knows when you will hit the wall of the last plumber’s lack of experience, lack of parts or lack of will. The good news is that nothing is broken and water is not flooding any part of the bathroom. The bad news is that we will have to rely on buckets for flushing. The good news is that our pila out back is full of clean water. And, there is no doubt that every one of our visitors will be able to handle the system with experience.
Last night, as I sat having baleadas, everyone in the restaurant, including the owner, started hustling out to the street. Not to be outdone, I followed. The excitement was over when I got there. Evidently, up the hill a ways, two electrical wires were shorting and causing an impromptu display of fireworks. The owner looked at me, grinned, shrugged his shoulders and said, “This is Honduras.”
Because we have computers here in the office, it was felt that we need a guard at night. Julia found a young man named Harrison to come and sleep in the office. I gave him my foam mattress and he slept here. I noticed that he had slept with a machete beside him – it was still on the floor this morning. I guess that there is a drug addict who hangs out in the empty lot beside us some nights.
Finished the requirements for my bank account this morning. The forged signature passed muster and the stamp we had made did the trick. The lady was happy with the document and returned my cheery “Merry Christmas” with a will. Manuel’s question was, “Why did the documents we made work here and not for me at my bank?” He will try another bank. Sigh.
I notice that more and more things from my kitchen are appearing here. It will be a challenge to get them all back to my place once the festivities are done. I wonder what my place is looking like. With all the strange ladies going in and out of my apartment, I hope that the neighbours don’t start too many stories. Men might be coming to me for advice. What a waste of their time that would be.
Time to check on the classes.
Bryan
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Planting Shrubs – A Form of Prayer – Dec. 16
On Thursday, a group of officials from the Educatodos Centre in Tegucigalpa are coming to tour our facility. These are the folks who own and manage the curriculum we are hoping to use for our school. The curriculum is designed for students who don’t have access to schools and regular classroom settings. This makes it ideal for our purposes. If they are happy with what they see, they have promised to give us an electronic copy of their material which would be very helpful. Currently we are starting to type all of the material so that we have our own electronic copy. If they give us the material we will be months and money ahead of the game.
In preparation for their coming we have been trying to get things spiffed up. The man I expected to come yesterday to start clearing the yard was a no show. Fortunately, one of our Board members has a son who was willing to come today. He will come again tomorrow and bring a friend to finish all the things I have in mind. The grass is now all slashed (sharpened machete in one hand and a small forked stick in the other to push back the grass as it is being cut) and in two nice piles (future sites of papaya circles – the seedlings are three weeks away from being ready for transplant). This afternoon I laid out the holes for the shrubs I bought on Sunday and started digging. The handle of the hoe (a long grubbing type hoe – I only know the Swahili term ‘Jembe’ for it) was brand new so I have some blisters to show for my efforts. Once the holes were laid out and cleared of grass, we dug the final part with a machete (in Uganda we used a spear but this works pretty good) and then began planting.
Santos, the nursery man, sent me eight varieties of shrubs so it will look very nice when they begin to fill in. The seedlings are all at least two feet tall so the already look good. I really do think that whenever you kneel to plant a tree or any plant, you are worshipping God and participating in God’s plan of beauty and plenty for all. So, a small prayer for beauty and plenty for my Honduran brothers and sisters was said today.
Yesterday, the Board of CPI Honduras met here to discuss plans and to hear about the school, etc. One of the tasks I set them was to come up with a name for the school. Now, years of fiery, hell and brimstone evangelical sermons have equipped me with an awesome ability in alliteration. So, my first thought was to have a catchy alliterated title for the school. I even went through the Spanish-English Dictionary and wrote down all the ‘E’ words that had something inspirational to go along with Escuela. Well, the words were a good starting point for discussion but the Board, not burdened with my penchant for alliteration, went in another direction. Final product, “Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad”. Roughly translated that means, I think, Centre for Learning and Brotherhood. Not quite as catchy in English. Everyone was well pleased with their efforts.
The sign painter came yesterday to get an idea of what we wanted. He showed up today with an amazing stencil that he had crafted. It has the Honduran and Canadian flags crossed in the centre and then, in an arc over them, the schools name and in another arc, CPI Honduras underneath. It was an amazing piece of work. He taped the stencil on the side of the building and daubed away with a piece of sponge and blue, red and white paint. He fine tuned the final product with a tiny brush. Impressive.
Went to the bank this morning to get some money for all these expenses – new school tables, new medicine cabinets for village dispensaries, December salaries (in Honduras, you get 14 salaries a year – extra one in December and another in June), etc. The bank is, happily, in the bus terminal (a huge improvement from downtown). Still, a five hour journey there and back. Because it is December, the line up for the bank began gathering an hour before it opened. Fortunately, I was there fifty minutes early so was in the front part of the line. When I got to the teller, I had her update my passbook. I was disappointed to find that the money wired to my account hadn’t arrived. As I was walking out (almost to the two armed guards with metal detecting wands) I noticed that the machine had updated my book in reverse order. The money was up four lines and sort of blurred by some overlapped typing. I turned around and went to get in line again. The teller saw me though and motioned me to come back to the window where she served me as soon as she finished with the next client. We got everything sorted out and she needed only one “Dio Mio” to get the machine to finally cooperate and show us the real information.
Lots of people on the bus today so we had a choice of standing or waiting for thirty to forty minutes for the next bus. We chose standing. A small delay along the road for an accident but, thanks to being full, we didn’t have many of the normal stops and starts to pick up people. I have this feeling that the driver and turnboy keep track of the ticketed passengers but somehow get to share the monies from the unticketed passengers. So, there is that balance. They need to keep an eye on the clock so they stick to the timetable but anyone they can pick up and drop off within that window of opportunity is extra money. Not sure about that but I do have a few suspicions.
Manuel spent the afternoon loading Windows software in four computers. A couple of others wouldn’t respond so we will have to find the problem there. Come Thursday we should look very professional. The carpenter has the table tops ready and the welder has the bottoms done and being painted today. Can you believe it – two days ahead of schedule. Are we on top of things or what?
Night is falling (although not as early as for you folks up north). I do hope that the rain which Hector, my yard man for the day, said is going to fall tonight does come. It will help the transplants get established faster ... I hope.
Bryan
In preparation for their coming we have been trying to get things spiffed up. The man I expected to come yesterday to start clearing the yard was a no show. Fortunately, one of our Board members has a son who was willing to come today. He will come again tomorrow and bring a friend to finish all the things I have in mind. The grass is now all slashed (sharpened machete in one hand and a small forked stick in the other to push back the grass as it is being cut) and in two nice piles (future sites of papaya circles – the seedlings are three weeks away from being ready for transplant). This afternoon I laid out the holes for the shrubs I bought on Sunday and started digging. The handle of the hoe (a long grubbing type hoe – I only know the Swahili term ‘Jembe’ for it) was brand new so I have some blisters to show for my efforts. Once the holes were laid out and cleared of grass, we dug the final part with a machete (in Uganda we used a spear but this works pretty good) and then began planting.
Santos, the nursery man, sent me eight varieties of shrubs so it will look very nice when they begin to fill in. The seedlings are all at least two feet tall so the already look good. I really do think that whenever you kneel to plant a tree or any plant, you are worshipping God and participating in God’s plan of beauty and plenty for all. So, a small prayer for beauty and plenty for my Honduran brothers and sisters was said today.
Yesterday, the Board of CPI Honduras met here to discuss plans and to hear about the school, etc. One of the tasks I set them was to come up with a name for the school. Now, years of fiery, hell and brimstone evangelical sermons have equipped me with an awesome ability in alliteration. So, my first thought was to have a catchy alliterated title for the school. I even went through the Spanish-English Dictionary and wrote down all the ‘E’ words that had something inspirational to go along with Escuela. Well, the words were a good starting point for discussion but the Board, not burdened with my penchant for alliteration, went in another direction. Final product, “Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad”. Roughly translated that means, I think, Centre for Learning and Brotherhood. Not quite as catchy in English. Everyone was well pleased with their efforts.
The sign painter came yesterday to get an idea of what we wanted. He showed up today with an amazing stencil that he had crafted. It has the Honduran and Canadian flags crossed in the centre and then, in an arc over them, the schools name and in another arc, CPI Honduras underneath. It was an amazing piece of work. He taped the stencil on the side of the building and daubed away with a piece of sponge and blue, red and white paint. He fine tuned the final product with a tiny brush. Impressive.
Went to the bank this morning to get some money for all these expenses – new school tables, new medicine cabinets for village dispensaries, December salaries (in Honduras, you get 14 salaries a year – extra one in December and another in June), etc. The bank is, happily, in the bus terminal (a huge improvement from downtown). Still, a five hour journey there and back. Because it is December, the line up for the bank began gathering an hour before it opened. Fortunately, I was there fifty minutes early so was in the front part of the line. When I got to the teller, I had her update my passbook. I was disappointed to find that the money wired to my account hadn’t arrived. As I was walking out (almost to the two armed guards with metal detecting wands) I noticed that the machine had updated my book in reverse order. The money was up four lines and sort of blurred by some overlapped typing. I turned around and went to get in line again. The teller saw me though and motioned me to come back to the window where she served me as soon as she finished with the next client. We got everything sorted out and she needed only one “Dio Mio” to get the machine to finally cooperate and show us the real information.
Lots of people on the bus today so we had a choice of standing or waiting for thirty to forty minutes for the next bus. We chose standing. A small delay along the road for an accident but, thanks to being full, we didn’t have many of the normal stops and starts to pick up people. I have this feeling that the driver and turnboy keep track of the ticketed passengers but somehow get to share the monies from the unticketed passengers. So, there is that balance. They need to keep an eye on the clock so they stick to the timetable but anyone they can pick up and drop off within that window of opportunity is extra money. Not sure about that but I do have a few suspicions.
Manuel spent the afternoon loading Windows software in four computers. A couple of others wouldn’t respond so we will have to find the problem there. Come Thursday we should look very professional. The carpenter has the table tops ready and the welder has the bottoms done and being painted today. Can you believe it – two days ahead of schedule. Are we on top of things or what?
Night is falling (although not as early as for you folks up north). I do hope that the rain which Hector, my yard man for the day, said is going to fall tonight does come. It will help the transplants get established faster ... I hope.
Bryan
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