Honduras

I just had a touching experience at our Hogar.  I decided to bring over a pan full of brownies to have with the boys after dinner.  We cut the pan into 24 small pieces.  You would have thought I brought a pot of gold!  They were so excited about it.  At the end they literally licked the pan clean!  It made me think of the extensive treats I bring to the girls in the dorm at PEA , and I’m doing well if I get some “thank yous!”  Boy, are these kids easy to please.  One other volunteer suggested bringing a 25 cent jar of chili sauce to a meal.  They think  that its the greatest thing ever.  We just bought a few in Teguc. 

July 24, 2006

I had my first day at school today.  Until Febrero(when I will teach English) I will be spending 50% of my time tutoring and 50% helping to develop some laboratorios for the science classes.  Today I met with the volunteer tutor I will be replacing.  She was from
France and spoke no English.  I’ve long ago forgotten my French, so I listened to her in Spanish and was SO lost.  I was thinking, I’m in serious trouble here.  I will have NO idea what to do.  But, in the end I think I figured most things out.  It sounds pretty easy.  I will be tutoring certain children in math and SPANISH. Help!!!!!  I guess I may know more grammar than them….I hope.  I’m done on most days at 1 pm and then its SIESTA for me.

Tonight we had dinner with an older boys Hogar. They were giving me a hard time about trying to pronounce their names, but it was fun.  We had granola mixed with cornflakes and warm milk for dinner. Afterwards, everyone was out playing futbol.  They play on a cement court and they are GOOD.  They were playing “strip futbol.”  When one team gets three goals, the other team has to take off one piece of clothing.  They only got down to their briefs, but I was waiting for more.  One boy said, about Lucas and Henry, that they are the first gringitos ever at the ranch who can play futbol.  They are getting right in there with the pequenos(the name for the orphans) and everyone on the ranch seems to know their names.  Everywhere we go, we hear “Lucas, Henrique!”  Its nice that everyone being so friendly to the gringitos.  The boys are loving all of the attention.

July 28, 2006

Let’s see.  We finally were assigned to a hogar housing the 10-13 year olds.  I love them.  Henry went home and had a complete meltdown when he found out.  He really wanted to be with the younger boys.  I’m sure in a week or so he will be just fine.  The boys there are so sweet. 

I have been working in el laboratorio some this week.  It is a nice big space and must not have been used for the last three years.  There are creepy crawlies everywhere.  Everytime I open a drawer or a box something jumps out at me.  A giant cockroach ran down my arm yesterday.  There are these mud wasp nests growing on the microscopes and in all of the shelves.  Ughhhh!  I finally got disgusted yesterday and went back to the tutoring room and studied the Spanish grammar I will be tutoring in.

This morning we visited a house for victims of AIDS.  Some of the mothers come her with their children so when they die, the children can grow up here on the ranch.  While we were there, the sewage line outside was backed up so Carl helped them clear it. He opened one sewage  box (these big concrete things outside) and there was a tarantula!  We have to go back and have Carl catch it, so I can put in the labaoratorio along with the scorpion we found under our bed last night. I also found out that a few years ago the people that lived in our house found a coral snake on the porch one morning.  I m careful now wherever I step!

We also met with one of the psychologists and her about some of the traumas these children have faced.  Some have seen their parents get killed or been abandoned on the street.  There are three psychologists to serve the population of 500 children. Sometime the psychologists bring the children who have been here awhile and have been “spoiled” in to
Tegucigalpa to the dump to remind the students how good they have it at the ranch.  There is a whole community who lives at the dump and scavenges for food.  Carl and I thought it was interesting…there are so many levels of suffering.  We brought our children here to see how good they have it!  I wonder if the parents of the dump children tell there children how there are people worse off than them!

Things I like:

the children

the scenery

the birds

the simple life

the friendly people

time is meaningless

Things I don’t like:

I am a giant snack for insects

I don’t have a coffee maker

not enough junk food(probably a good thing)

The bugs may take all of my blood

the possibility of a scorpion in my shoe

time is meaningless (except for when God is involved-all are on time for Mass)

LP  no, we can’t find any cacoa plants

Just got back from Saturday Mass.  The boys compained the whole time.  I thought it was fine.  A couple of guys played guitar and we all sang songs.  The sermon in Spanish was a little tough.  The chapel is in an outdoor covered amphitheater. 

This morning we worked with one of the girl’s hogares for three hours.  They all work SO hard.  We weeded and gardened around their Hogar. Last night we had dinner with the handicapped folk.  Some have autism and some are a product of incest…not too good.  Our boys were totally freaked out. We also met a guy who had been shot in the leg when he was robbed in Tegucigalpa.  Teguc is very dangerous after dark.

Need to get off to dinner at a girl’s hogar. They are all teenagers and think Lucas is adorable.

July 19, 2006

The boys had there first day of school today.  They were okay about going but when they got home they weren’t too excited about it.  They said that they are refusing to go tomorrow, and that this isn’t fair.  WE have to keep encouraging them.  I would be scared going to school with a bunch of kids who looked different and spoke a language I didn’t understand.

Carl and I toured the farm today…this place is practically self sufficient.  They have pigs, milking cows, chickens, most vegetables and a number of fruits.  At some point we are going back to see the chickens being slaughtered.  I think we might bring the boys. We also saw the external medical clinic where they treat local villagers…pretty rustic.  We met with the doctor about all the various parasites we can expect to get…ughhh  scabies and lice and maybe worms or Giardia, Dengue fever, Chagas disease and then there are the scorpions and a few poisonous snakes…oh brother we all left feeling itchy and afraid of everything.. 

This evening we visited one of the girl’s hogares for 7-9 year olds.  While I was helping some girls with their homework two others were grooming each other picking out the lice.  It was just like the gorillas do…a definitely evolutionary connection!  The girls warmed up to us at dinner and chased Lucas around.  They hovered over us while we were eating our dinner (you guessed it, rice and beans) asking us questions and giggling.  They really compete for our attention.  They were all very sweet.

Henry made friends with one boy in school today that we met last night at a Hogar.  This boy has AIDS.  WE old Henry about it just in case the boy bleeds for some reason.  I think Henry was totally freaked out by it.  The sad part is that the boy probably won’t live all that long.  He gets sick frequently I guess, and has a very resistant strain.  The doc (Liz from
Maine) told us that the treatment here for HIV is nothing like the treatment he would get in the states.  He has several brothers and sisters, some contracted HIV from their mom, some didn’t.  Apparently HIV is very high in
Honduras.  Sad.