message to gringos

I picked up a book from the MCC office a few weeks ago titled “Don’t be afraid, Gringo.” It is a personal narrative of Elvia Alvarado, a Honduran woman who has dedicated her life to helping people in the rural areas of Honduras organize and fight for justice, mostly relating to land reform. She openly shares about the injustices of life for the rural poor and the terrible meddling of the United States in Honduras, sparked by the Contra struggle against the “communist” Sandinista government of Nicaragua in the 80’s.

This book is a fascinating read. Not only does it give an honest view of life in the campo (countryside) of Honduras, but shares one women’s astute perspective of government, politics, corruption and the economic disparity that exists in this country.

When I started the book, I was a little disappointed because it was based on interviews done in the early 80’s, and most of the data is also from that decade (when the book was published). I figured it would seem out of date and irrelevant to the Honduran context today. However, I quickly noticed that most of the stories that Elvia tells could be lifted right from the pages of today’s Honduran newspaper. The inequality between rich and poor, the corruption among government, military and police forces, and ultimately the siphoning of Honduras’ wealth into the hands of the few are all issues that still face the Honduran people today. Going into the more rural areas for my work with ACDIM makes me wonder “Has anything really changed in the last 25 years?” and then, tragically “How has nothing changed in all this time? Why are Hondurans still fighting for the same rights, the same rule of law and the same equality that Elvia struggled for in the early 80’s?

With so much foreign involvement in such a small country, it is depressing and frustrating to consider how little change there has been, especially for the rural campesino population. In this region alone there are development organizations in (seemingly) every community. Hondurans are used to foreigners coming in for a time, making promises, but never really seeing many results. A quote from the book that really impacted me:

Elvia, speaking about Honduran campesinos:
“We don’t need the U.S. money. We never get to see any of it anyway. What do you think that money goes for? To the foreign bank accounts of the rich, to line the pockets of our corrupt politicians, to give the military more power to repress the poor.
It’s the rich who need the U.S. aid, not the poor. We’ve lived for years with only our beans and tortillas, and we’ll go on living with our beans and tortillas. If the U.S. stopped sending money, it would be the rich who’d hurt, not us. They’re the ones who live off the dollars.”

It is a constant struggle to live here as a development worker for a foreign development organization and consider why things are not changing for those living in poverty…and why is what I’m doing any different than what Elvia speaks out against? And the problem is I don’t really have any answers.

I believe so much in the potential Honduras has to be a more equitable country, and I pray often that it could be a peaceful country, free from the extreme level of violence that exists currently. I know in my heart that no amount of microfinance programs to create small businesses will bring families out of poverty without more systemic change in the structures and practices of government. There will be no end to the drug war and gang violence until the corruption among law enforcement is mitigated. The fear that keeps people from speaking out against injustice gives the wealthy ruling class incredible power to keep doing “business as usual.” And it has to change.

“It’s hard to think of change taking place in Central America without there first being changes in the United States…So you Americans who really want to help the poor have to change your own government first. You Americans who want to see an end to hunger and poverty have to take a stand. You have to fight just like we’re fighting—even harder. You have to be ready to be jailed, to be abused, to be repressed. And you have to have the character, the courage, the morale, and the spirit to confront whatever comes your way.

If you say, “oh the United States is so big and powerful, there’s nothing we can do to change it,” then why bother talking about solidarity? If you think like that, you start to feel insignificant and your spirit dies. That’s very dangerous. For as long as we keep our spirits high, we continue to struggle…You also have to be clear about your objectives, about why you’re struggling. You can’t struggle just because someone else tells you it’s a good idea. No, you’ve got to feel the struggle. You’ve got to be completely convinced that what you’re struggling for is just

 …You have to begin educating people, telling them the truth about what’s happening in the world. Because if the press in the United States is anything like it is in Honduras, the people aren’t well informed. You have to teach them what’s really happening in the United States, what your government is really doing. And once you’ve educated people, then get them organized.

…we’re not asking for food or clothing or money. We want you with us in the struggle. We want you to educate your people. We want you to organize your people. We want you to denounce what your government is doing in Central America. From those of you who feel the pain of the poor, who feel the pain of the murdered, the disappeared, the tortured, we need more than sympathy. We need you to join the struggle.”
~Elvia Alvarado

tour of the countryside

Last week was a busy one for us at work. We were out on the road almost every day, running to San Pedro for a meeting, visiting Mennonite churches in our region and meeting with some other people working for NGOs here in Santa Rosa to see if we can work together.

While it has been tiring in many ways, it has been a good way to see more of "occidente" or the western region of Honduras, while also giving me time to talk more with my co-workers.

Although we are still working with women's community groups in 4 different municipalities (see earlier post on work life) we have started to venture into a new project.

Ruth has a vision to work with Mennonite churches here in the western departments of Honduras because many of them are the most rural and impoverished of the denomination. There are 14 churches in Occidente, and we asked the regional pastors to help us identify 6 where we would start working first. Of course, all of them wanted to be included, but we have to keep reminding them that we have to start with a few, but our hope is to eventually work with all of them.

Once we had the pastors on board and decided on 6 (which has morphed into 8), we went to visit each congregation and do "prioritazation of needs" within each individual church. The idea was to have the members of each church identify what their needs are, whether in training, education, health, home needs or church improvements. The whole idea was to not tell them what they need (as many organizations come into a community and dictate what will be done)...and this kind of worked, for the most part. It was some times hard for my coworkers to not jump in with ideas when people didn't talk much, but overall I think we have a good idea of what each church needs.

This whole process has been interesting for me and there have been plenty of frustrations along the way. The largest challenge is that we don't have funds to carry out any projects within these churches, but my co-workers are convinced I will be hooking them up with that. It has been hard for me to bite my tongue against some pretty unrealistic expectations, or when I hear a lot of things I don't agree with...or when they do things in ways that I don't think are the most appropriate.

But I am learning to take these things one at a time and address them constructively, as I am able. On the good days, I think it's getting better. I have also really enjoyed visiting the different Mennonite churches, getting to know the pastors and personality of each church. It is a privilege to get to know and share in the global church.

Here are some photos from our visits last week:

Since I have the nicest handwriting, I get to be the recorder...and it means I don't have to talk as much :)

my boss, Ruth is the lady in the middle w/ the blue coat

yep, I get to work here!

you'll easily notice I am more than a head taller than EVERYONE in the photo (and below). Welcome to my gringa life in Honduras :)

rain, rain, go away...

I'm guessing not to much news from Latin America makes it's way up north...well, let's be honest, I don't even have good access to regional news where I am either!

The past few weeks have been rather scary as heavy rains caused by a tropical depression have been hammering Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. There are a lot of roads and bridges that are out of commission, mudslides and flooding. Transportation is becoming increasingly complicated, and many areas are under a state of emergency as the rains continue.

For Honduras, and I think most of this region, it is rainy season right now, but the persistent rains and cold front  of the past several weeks has been more intense than what is normal for October.

CNN.com reports that at least 60 people (though I would guess it may actually be higher than that) have died due to flooding of rivers and the collapse of their homes.

Here is a brief article I found if you you want to read a little bit more.

Being that I am good friends with MCC's Regional Disaster Coordinators for Latin America, I know that they are discussing next steps for helping with the situation, mostly in El Salvador and Guatemala. This could include material resource aid (like health kits or canned meat) but will likely be more long-term projects to help with the rebuilding of homes when the flooding recedes and mud can dry up.

Thankfully where I live it hasn't been too bad. We are always having rain, and some roads to rural communities where we go for work aren't the best, but we have been blessed to not have problems so far. The southern part of Honduras has been hardest hit, and we are concerned about an MCC Honduras partner in Choluteca that has experienced a lot of loss and damage.

Please remember to pray for the people in these countries and that the rains would soon move on. You can also be praying for MCC and wisdom in how we help respond to the ever increasing needs in these 3 countries.

laughter is the best (coping) medicine

Here is a video of the skit my SALTer pals and I did at the re-entry retreat in July.

The idea was to share cultural experiences from where we spent our year, so the 3 of us decided to write a skit based on real life experiences of thwarting unwanted male attention as Northamerican females in Honduras.

Hope you enjoy :)




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Bqwc_IbRU

working girl

It has been awhile since I've blogged, mostly because I haven't felt like there is much to tell. I have been struggling to find my way at work, don't have much of a social life to speak of, and generally have been up and down with being sick. Exciting stuff, right?

Also, I don't have any new pictures. I really want to show you the beauty of the countryside where I've been working and show you my town, but the camera has been collecting dust of late and I'm falling behind on the photo-documentation of life.

But for all the stuff that's been getting me down, there are some bright spots. So I guess it's better to focus on that.

This week at work was our week of community visits. About every 3 weeks we visit 4 different rural communities and lead a training on various topics for the women's groups that meet. It takes about an hour on the motorcycle to get to each town, though some are a bit further than others. I do not drive the moto yet, but Oscar would like to teach me!

Our topic this week was domestic violence and how the law protects women in Honduras. Overall the visits went really well. Up to this point, I had only been to 2 of the 4 communities, but now I have met each group. The women are always gracious and hospitable and it is fun to see the personality of each group.

On Friday my coworker Oscar and I did 2 visits in one day. About 5 minutes before the training, he asked me if I wanted to lead it. I felt there weren't too many options, so I took a deep breath and said "sure!"

I was pretty nervous, but overall it went well. In fact, Oscar was convinced the women participated much more with me than they ever do when he is leading the training. I've always had my doubts about being a teacher, but everyone in the group was very affirming of my ability to lead and teach the session. I only made a few blunders with my Spanish, but it seemed to hold their attention, so I decided to make it part of my routine :)

We were at the second town by 12:30 and were able to wait out the daily rain storm at someone's house (much better than being on the moto!). I led the session again, but with a bit less participation from the crowd this time. All in all, it was a good day and I'm glad to have a some practice leading the trainings.

Although I said at the beginning that I don't have much of a social life, the church youth group has become my main social outlet. There is hang-out night on Friday evenings, youth service on Saturday night at the church, regular church service on Sunday evening and we usually go out to eat after the service. So far, they have been gracious in accepting me and inviting me along. I'm trying to take advantage of their interest while I'm still novel and interesting...it's only a matter of time before they decide I'm not really that cool ;)

So, things are moving along. It's not always easy to be living on my own, but I am slowly making friends and learning my way around, figuring things out as I go. Thank you for your prayers as I continue to settle in.

adventures in tiny cooking

As you saw from my previous post, my kitchen is nothing if not grand and imposing. Also, it is fully stocked with any kind of kitchen implement one could want...
Well--almost.
Let's just say, my tiny apartment in New Cumberland, PA and hand-me-down kitchen was great preparation for living solo in Honduras.

Since I finally started feeling like eating real food again in the last few days, I decided to see what could be done with what I've got.

Meal 1: Pancakes!
A simple meal, you are probably thinking. And you are right...it's nothing worthy of a Food Network show...
but let me remind you, I made all of this happen
without measuring cups, a flipper (plastic, metal, or otherwise)
and using a burner that I could take camping.

You know, an amateur start...but I felt pretty good about it.

Then last night I was on my way back from aerobics class (which, almost rendered my legs useless) and was craving something more substantial. Since I had been to the grocery store and stocked up on veggies, I threw caution to the wind and...

Meal 2 = Pizza!
This was a more impressive feat than the first. I made half of my mom's pizza dough recipe and even used yeast! Then I decked it out with all kinds of veggies and baked it in my toaster oven.
Pretty excited about how this turned out.

The only thing that could have made it better would be some shredded mozzarella, but since super Target is not just down the street, you take what you get :)