Vecinos a Vecinos

Finished art projects

Vecinos a Vecinos
(Karin, Marvin Miguel, Bryan, Nicole,
Oscar, Sandy, Jordin, Jose, Gabby, Ivis,
Enrique, Sussan, Danira, Nicole, Elia and Juanita)

Almost everyday, many of the kids who live in our neighborhood come knocking on our door, wanting to come in. I play a lot of card games and soccer and stumble through a heap of Spanish books with them. Sometimes when they are here, I am breaking up fights and repeating rules over and over. Sometimes the kids play by themselves while we go about our day and they’re happy to be allowed to hang out inside. Once in awhile, I’m lucky enough to have 2 or 3 of the kids help me do my laundry, at which they are experts. Several of the kids I know come by the house selling the food their mothers make. There’s a group of 5 siblings and 2 cousins who live nearby who hang out in a tree outside our house waiting for when we are ready to play.

Volunteers in the past have done weekly groups for these kids and after about a month here, I could see the need to have such a group. And so, “Vecinos a Vecinos” (Neighbors to Neighbors) began. Every Saturday from 2-4 in the afternoon, Vecinos a Vecinos meets at our house. My goal with this group is to give these kids a fun afternoon, with structure, discipline and education hidden within it. Each week has a theme, a book, an activity and a snack. This past week the theme was Nature in Talanga. We took a walk to the famous Ceiba tree in town and picked up leafs, flowers, sticks, rocks, fruits, anything that is from nature. Then we came back to the house and the kids made pictures from all they had collected. Before our walk, we talked about why nature is important and what everyone’s favorite thing in nature was. Then we had snack of apples, peanut butter and raisins (put together to resemble a ladybug) while we read Soy una Manzana (I am an apple) and learned about the life cycle of an apple. Even with a large age range, all the kids had a great time with their projects and had a lot to say about nature.

The youngest kid in the group is 3 year old Gabby and the oldest is Oscar, who will be 14 next month. This week there were 15 kids at our group and aside from a few very minor arguments, it was a perfect afternoon. My favorite part of this week’s group was Oscar’s search for a feather. As soon as we left the house, Oscar told me he wanted to find a feather for his project and I told him that it was a great idea. Later in the walk, I noticed him ahead of me running around in circles. When I got closer, I realized that he was chasing a chicken. After a few minutes of going after the chicken, Oscar held up the feather he had just plucked from it and yelled to me that he found one. His brother, Enrique, clearly was impressed and started chasing the chicken to get his own feather. Unfortunately for Enrique, the chicken caught on and found safety behind a fence. Nature was a success for Vecinos a Vecinos… up next is Salud (Health).

Toque de Queda

Earlier this week, ex president Mel Zelaya re-entered Honduras. While Juanita, Patricia and I were at the Health Center for our weekly Domestic Violence group on Monday, our boss, Amy, called us and said we had to end early. It was 3:30 and the government had just put on a 4pm Toque de queda, a.k.a. a curfew. We wrapped things up and gave all the women a ride home and arrived home a little after 4, feeling a little nervous and unsure about what it all meant. We quickly felt reassured when we realized that our neighbors and friends in Talanga weren't worried. People remained out and about much later than the 4pm curfew. Although things in Tegus (the capital) have been less stable and more dangerous, Talanga is the same as always. The toque de queda lasted a few days and aside from running out for food or to a neighbor's, we spend most of it in the house playing games, reading, napping, cleaning and so on. We are safe as always in Talanga and now that the curfew has been lifted, are going about our days as normal. I've heard a lot of different opinions from the people I know about the political situation but don't feel I know enough to put my own here. Just know that all is well with us in Talanga... more soon.

The Latest

Everything here in Talanga is good. Its hot and its been hot but everyone tells us we will be complaining of the cold in a few months. Things have been busy as we been getting started on some projects. I've been going to our women's domestic violence support group every week, as well as to school in the mornings and to visit the internos at the Casa Pasionista, a home for people living with HIV/AIDS. Next week, I start at a second school, the kindergarten in Nuevo San Diego, where I'll be assisting the teacher, probably once a week. Tomorrow is our first day of Kids' Club, a small program we are doing with the neighborhood kids who hang out at our house. I'm not sure how many kids we'll get but the idea is to give them a couple hours of structured, educational fun every weekend. I also hope to restart the baseball team that past volunteers have coached in the next couple weeks. On Monday, I'm driving out to a clinic in Guimaca, about a half hour drive from Talanga. Past volunteers who were nurses have worked there and they have expressed an interest in having a social worker so I hope to get a good feel of what its all about and what I could do there. As a group, my roommates and I have a couple of larger projects we will be doing together throughout the year. We have gotten started on the planning stages for one of them, Comedor Infantil. Its a program that will provide lunch every day for street kids and children of single mothers. Right now, we are talking to local business people about getting involved and drafting a grant to get support from outside agencies. We hope to have the program started sometime in October but its important to build it up correctly so that it will be sustainable after our year is done. Though projects are starting to take off, as always, much of my time is spent playing soccer in the street, visiting my host family and hanging out on the neighbors' stoops.


Some things I've learned during month one in Honduras.

- Desfiles (parades) always come first.
- While driving the truck, always keep your eyes open for tumulos (speedbumps), especially when the truck bed is full of people.
- Always keep your kitchen stocked with cookies and soda, because you will have unexpected visitors and you need something to offer them.
- If you are going to drop by someone's house, be prepared to eat a full meal.
- The best way to beat the heat is in the hammock or in the river, not in front of the fan.
- Geckos and cockroaches are essentially harmless, but ants will get you.
- When in doubt, use sunscreen.
- Everyone can dance, how well is a minor detail.
- It is worth getting up early to do laundry... its cooler then and it has all day to dry.
- Certain Spanish words are more accurate than their English translation.
- Everything is easier when you tell yourself "poco a poco" (little by little).

Approaching 1 month in Hondy!

Milking a cow

Some pigs hanging out in the fango (mud) outside the Health Center

Bryan and I anticipating birthday cake!
(This is an old picture...from our first weekend here
but I just got it from my roommate and its one of my favs)

Riding a horse to herd the cows...

Miguel, Juanita and I having lunch at Nana's house

Bulk grocery shopping in Tegucigalpa.... riding in the back to protect that peanut butter

Juanita in the back of the truck.... on our way to Tegucigalpa

Gabby and I napping in the hammock.

Using the machete to clean up the yard and get some wood ready for backyard bonfires

Carolina and I cleaning the pila


*As always, click on pictures to make them bigger*

Mango trees, Bean bushes & Tamales

We are approaching week 3 in Honduras and I feel as though I'm really starting to get settled. I'm still trying to find my daily routine but its becoming clearer and I feel like I know my way around now. It is still a little odd to think of Talanga as home but we have certainly been welcomed here. We bought new curtains and plan on painting the inside of the house this weekend, so concretely, it is becoming home. Father Lucian headed back to the states on Monday and Mike is leaving on Friday to go home for a month (he has been here for a year already) so the 5 of us new volunteers will be on our own for the first time this weekend. Its exciting to realize that this isn't a short experience where we are being led by Father Lucian and Mike, but rather, a new part of our lives that we are just getting accustomed to.
There are a lot of potential projects on the horizon for us, but its important for us to first get to know our community and the people in it. It is incredible to me that my "job" right now is simply to spend time with people. We do have some scheduled "work"... helping at the radio show, tv program, domestic violence group, having a variety of community meetings or meetings for past or future projects and other things. But so much of my days consist of going to school, visiting my family, playing with neighborhood kids, hanging out with neighbors or driving out to the aldeas to spend time with people there.
Any time spent with people is valuable and well spent. Yesterday, a few of us drove down to a river. We took 3 of the kids who live down the street from us with us and spent the afternoon swimming in the river and then washed our truck there. The day before, I went to the park with some of my roommates' host brothers to play basketball. It is rare to walk through town without being stopped to chat and be invited in for a visit. Our house is constantly full of neighbors, host families, kids and friends.
I am constantly being taught how to do things here. While visiting the aldeas, I have shaken mangos out from the top of a tree, beat beans out of a bush with sticks and grinded corn kernels to make tamales. This afternoon my "dad" taught me how to eat a fish (head included) using a tortilla for silverware. And of course, I am constantly learning more Spanish.
I wish I could more fully describe all that is happening here. Being in a new culture awakens your senses in every way. Although I've been to Talanga twice before, living here is an entirely different experience. Every day I am seeing both heartbreaking things and beautiful things. I am constantly being challenged. Though in my frustration I sometimes forget it, I know that I am learning and growing everyday, with Spanish and in many other ways.
I feel so blessed to be able to be here. I miss everyone at home but am thankful for all your updates. I know I don't respond to every email but please, keep them coming!! Its great to know how things are going at home.