Friday, April 12,  2024. Travel Day

We are staying in a charming historic hotel in the middle of the historic part of the city of Comayagua.  Breakfast was in the courtyard and included the tipico breakfast of scrambled eggs, plantain, beans. 

Before we left for the airport, we had a little time to stroll, visit a few souvenir shops and have a coffee to watch the morning activity in the church plaza.  Some went to visit a small chocolateria down the street with Efren, the founder, giving us a personal tour where we learned alot about what goes into making a chocolate bar!   The cacao tree is native to Central America and Honduras is known for high quality cacao.  We can attest to that as we got lots of samples to try out.  

For $1.70, one could buy a ticket to climb the narrow staricase to the top of the bell tower.  Some good pictures for Rob to get. 

The hotel arranged transportation to the airport and so the team climbed into a van one more time.  The airport is 20 minutes away and holds some little souvenir shops to do some last minute purchasing.  On the way home with a stopover in Miami and it was here that we said our goodbyes to Mariann and Anna as they headed off to find their flights back to Washington.  It was a  joy to get to know them and share life with them for a week.  

Our head and our hearts are full of what we have experienced this week.  So much to process.  Be sure to check in again as we post more pictures in the next week.  Thank you as always, for your support and your prayers.  

 

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Our time in this place has gone so quickly, but oh what a special week it has been.  After breakfast, we met with  Denise, the Executive Director and Erika, Communications and Internal Relations where we shared stories  - of our week here and of their dreams and goals and what it means to be partners.  Such a insightful sharing time between us all.  

In the middle of the meeting we broke up to head outside during the students' morning break, so that Rob and Melina could sing a song for the kids to hear.  Rob wrote it last night and wanted to be able to say goodbye in this special way through this song called "Adios". The students loved it.  Our singers got a chance earlier to try the song out on our cook Patricia and her helper. 

As we departed for Comayagua for our last night, some of the kids gathered to see us off. In our short time there, we have built some friendships with these boys and so there were some heartfelt goodbyes.

   

Comayagua is an hour away, where we will spend the last evening together but also conveniently close to the airport and so thought it a perfect way to experience a little more of the culture of the area and give us a location to wrap up our time together and do a bit of debriefing. 

Erika brought two students along to help with all the luggage and they had never been to Comayagua before, so it was an outing for them.  They got to go up the Cathedral Tower in the town plaza and check out the view.

The town was the former old Honduran colonial capital and has a wealth of Spanish colonial architecture which we have been enjoying.  The clock in the tower seen between the middle level of windows dates from 1100 made by the Arabs during their occupation of Spain.  It was given to the city by the King of Spain in 1620.

We had discussion in a quiet room in the hotel and shared our thoughts about how we can effectively be partners with El Hogar.  The commitment is strong amongst each of the team and we shared our ideas as well as talking about how the week has transformed us.

A big treat as we shared out last dinner in a lovely restaurant just down the street.  

 

Zoe, a Grade 12 student, joined us for a picture with our hairnets

Today was our earliest morning yet! We left around 6:30am for Tegu, a factory that makes magnetic building blocks. El Hogar students can do their internships (practica) there. We got a full tour of the machines and got to partake in their morning meeting. By pure luck, the founder was in the building, and we got time to speak with him. We got to learn the company's history and ask many questions. We also heard a lot about how much the factory values teamwork and celebrates any improvement. We ended our visit by sanding and spray painting our own magnetic blocks, in a shape and colour of our choosing. 

We headed to the elementary school where we met with Denise, Claudia, 3 kids and 2 mothers. They were all very open with us and shared many of their life stories and spoke very highly of El Hogar. Denise is El Hogar's Executive Director. She described the impact of El Hogar and how it has changed remarkably over the years. Claudia is El Hogar's long time director of academics, and she spoke of her hopes for El Hogar's future in hopes to keep kids in the highschool years. These young kids told us their dreams after graduating, and their gratitude for the opportunities El Hogar gives them. The mothers explained the positive impact El Hogar has had on their children and how they are involved with the school. 

We had el grupo photo around the El Hogar logo at the elementary campus.  This spot has been the traditional place for a team photo for 14 years.  Traditions carry on!                                                                                                 

After lunch, we headed to the Youth for Honduras organization, where we met Dulce, the director. She told us her inspiring story about how she overcame her upbringing as an orphan and how it led her to get involved in helping youth in various ways. She shared deeply emotional stories and was very much an open book for us. This organization partners with El Hogar in helping residential students transition from residential living to independent living after graduation.  We learned about the three parts of the organization: the Transition Program, I Exist, and the World Orphan Fund. She spoke of the successes and challenges of all that they do.

We love the van!

Rob singing with the kids!

Our last night spending time with the boys in various activities and crafts.  They have been floating through the various stations we had set up, but the popular one tonight was when Rob got out his guitar.  Lots of hearty singing and silliness.  We will miss this and their happy smiles.  

We have learned from trips like this that we always need to be flexible and be able to adjust - changes in timetables and unforeseen circumstances.   This is one of those days! We were prepared to head into the primary campus in Tegucigalpa when we were told that due to a protest taking place on the highway, that the road from Tegucigalpa to here in Amarateca is closed.  It also means that the bus that brings the high school kids and the teachers had been stuck in traffic for 3 hours and eventually turned around and went back.  So it means that the 40 kids that are here  as part of the residence program are without teachers or structure.  We kind of likened it to a Canadian "snow day"!  It is amazing though, that when we brought out the soccer balls and the Frisbees, that the kids come out of the woodwork and Daniel seemed to be out there for hours with the soccer ball and the kids.  Bringing a few games out also brought out the kids who love Chinese Checkers and UNO.  It has given some down time for us to get caught up on a few things and the donations of soap and dental stuff has been repacked and ready to go to where it goes.  The closing of the highway may also affect the delivery of our drinking water and we are dangerously close to not having any as we are down to our last half jug.

We are loving how the team is melding and bonding. Not only have we set up our routines living in a common space, but in how we have come together on the things that we have seen and heard here.  There are always the domestic duties to be done - a few to make the early morning coffee, or some who do the dishes or cut up the fruit (which is amazing here).  Our meals are made up in the kitchen and brought to us in the guest house by Patricia, the cook, or one of the students.  It gives us time to share our stories and get to know each other. The guest house has a lot of space for us.  Each of our rooms with 4 bunks has a bathroom, a dining area and common area, a large kitchen area and a porch surrounding the house.  

We finally got word that the protest was over and the highway was partly open allowing traffic through every 20 minutes,  By 1 p.m. we decided to take the chance and a van picked us up to take us into town.  We were relieved that the highway was now completely open and we got to the primary campus in time to get a good tour of the campus with Jessica, the staff in charge of academics.  Lots of changes in that there are only 5 residence students in the school and all the rest are day students. The residence that we saw open in 2008, has now been changed from being 4 wings with 24 kids in each wing, to each wing being a a family unit with kitchen and sitting room and a bedroom for two instead of a wing for 24. This transition has helped those who had a difficult start in life, understand what a family unit is about.  We also toured the new library, a safe and inspiring spot for the students to go. 

Anything else that we missed at the El Hogar campus today, we will finish tomorrow and got back to ITSM in time for supper with lots of drinking water packed in.  The boys' evening schedule got changed and so we did not get a chance to do our crafts and activities with them.  But they did invite us to go see the movie they were showing tonight.  I think it was just our young people, Melina and Daniel who watched it through as they were able to handle the high volume of the audio!  

We look forward to tomorrow as lots is happening.  Say tuned!

We started our morning with Norma, the school principal. She gave us a very good overview of the history and programs at the institute. She has been with the organization for 34 years after starting with them and planning to stay for only a few months. She shared many stories of the children and some of the success stories of those who truly had their lives changed by the opportunity El Hogar gave them. Some very inspiring stories in a very challenging environment.

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 It was off to tour the campus in Amarateca as the students have returned from the weekend. School is Monday to Friday and we visited several of the classrooms including electrical, welding, woodworking and computers. All classes are accredited in Honduras except computers. They are currently working with the government. It's a lengthy process and they are currently in year two of that endeavour. The teachers and students did a great job of showing us their shops and some of the projects they are working on. They ranged from new prototype residential setups to wire homes to building new furniture for the school (desks and chairs). We also saw some lovely welded artwork they sell to raise funds for the school. 

One of the electrical instructors is female and has been with the organization several years.  She is a great role model for the girls taking the electrical course.

Terry tried his skills at some welding and impressed the kids!

This was eclipse day and after our tours, we took some time to watch the eclipse (yes, with proper glasses that we brought down and shared with the students). Sky was clear and Honduras experienced about 30% coverage. Not as lucky as our friends and family in Southern Ontario, but it was still exciting to see. 

The glasses were shared with all the classes and they were as impressed as we were being able to see as well as we did, such a historic moment.

After lunch, we spent time with two students who shared their stories of their journey at El Hogar. It was a very open discussion as they shared many details of their past. El Hogar has definitely given them "love and hope" as they look forward to their next endeavours in life. Both were senior students that will be graduating this year and both hope to get to university. We asked many questions including their thoughts about the future of Honduras. Although they remain guarded, they felt the technical and social skills they learned will help them be a positive force in making Honduras a place to call home. 

After the talk, school classes were over and we were treated to a walk home with three of the students. We made stops at two homes in the local villages. When we made it home, we spent time with the residential boys playing basketball (and some of us had some downtime after a busy day. Dinner was excellent as usual and after cleaning up, we were allowed to use the auditorium to have a games night with many of the residential boys. We enjoyed crafts, puzzles, artwork, juggling and some games of UNO. We ended our evening with reflection on the full day we had. Lot's to think about!

It's Sunday morning and everyone was grateful for a bit of a sleep-in this morning after a very short night on Friday and a long day of travel yesterday.  It was a joy to gather together for breakfast after a good night, hot though it was, before we loaded into the van and headed off to church which was a 45 minute drive into the city.  We were warmly welcomed by all present and loved the energy in the worship with the music and joy of the lovely people.  

Four of the students joined us for the day and we loved their company with their sense of humour and growing comfort with us as the day went on. 

Bishop Mariann was invited by Padre Gerrardo to assist with Communion and she felt honoured.

Having volunteered here in the 80's she was reacquainted with Don Lazaro who was the director of the Technical Institute until he retired last year.  She was also introduced to two of his sons who provide the music for the worship service.

Our afternoon was a delightful trip to a parque for a picnic and a chance to get a great view of the city of Tegucigalpa from atop Cerro Juana Lainas where a Peace Monument is located.    Our picnic lunch was traditional Honduran Baleadas - flour tortillas filled with mashed red beans with a thick cream and cheese  Pretty tasty!

The views of the city were amazing, far from the overwhelming traffic we had just come through. 

The city is beautifully set amongst the mountains and we found ourselves amazed at how houses survive on those steep inclines. In spite of the drought, we rejoiced in the beauty of the flowering trees. This purple one is a Jacaranda Tree.

 

On our way home, we had the experience of shopping in a grocery store, given a budget of 500 lempiras ($27) to buy fruit and some things for the guest house.  We were not very successful of keeping within budget, as we spent almost double that! You can see our happy faces after our rather unsuccessful shopping, but we certainly enjoyed the fruit which we were craving in this hot weather.

After supper, we were able to get the kids away from their phones (allowed only on weekends) to learn a little bit of juggling from our pro Melina and an intense game of Chinese Checkers as well as puzzles, ping pong, and a little soccer which was Daniel's favourite part of the day.  These boys have wicked soccer skills.  I think learning to juggle was Steve's!

 We gathered at the end of the evening as a group to talk about the day and to understand about privilege and blessings in our lives.  But that we have used our privilege to come to this  place  to live amongst the students and teachers, to eat the same food, live in the same kind of conditions and learn what we can about life in Honduras.  

 

All flights and travel happened today and we all found ourselves converging at Gate D19 in the Miami airport for the last leg of our journey.  The Ontario contingent met finally in person with Bishop Mariann and Rev Anna from Washington DC.  All morning alarms were going off about 2 a.m. for everyone to catch their 6 a.m. flights, so it seemed like an accomplishment to get to that gate for the final leg to Honduras.

We had time for our first group photo before boarding.  Daniel,  Rick, Melina, Mariann, Rob, Steve, Michael, Janice, Anna and Terry.

Getting through Honduran immigration was fairly straightforward and getting our luggage happened quickly.  

Erika met us on the other side of the gate with her two young helpers from the Technical Institute who worked hard to get all bags loaded.  They thankfully were tied down on top (the luggage, that is) and we got the comfortable seats in the van.  

Since our last team trip to Honduras, Tegucigalpa has built a new airport which is a 50 minute drive from the Technical Institute where we are staying.  So not as convenient as the old airport in the middle of Tegucigalpa. 

It is so good to be back.  The sights and the beauty of the country.  

Erika spent some time with us taking us on a basic tour and doing some orientation -  describing the partnerships within the El Hogar system and that now we here, we are partners now too.  We talked about our week and what it would look like and we are so anxious to get started on what is ahead.

The campus where we are now located, is about 45 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa and it is very quiet this afternoon as many of the students go home for the weekend.  Quiet, except for the Cicadas who love the hot weather.  And that they have as it was +32C this afternoon when we arrived.  

We are settling in and planning the activities for the week that we will do with the kids.  Crafts and activities and I can hear Rob's guitar getting tuned up for what will be some amazing music interjected into the week with the kids.  

After supper, we will have a little casual time with some of the kids and then it will be an early night for most, since the day has been a long one.

Blessed to be here.