This morning we had the opportunity to learn more about our surroundings and the people who have made Nuevo Paraiso what it is. Nuevo Paraiso translates to “new paradise” and was created by Sister Maria Rosa. Originally, Sister purchased the land, which was filled with nothing but bushes for miles, and created wells for water and brought electricity from surrounding villages. She built houses and used the space for Honduran girls and woman who had children but did not have a man to help support them. Sister understood that the need in Honduras was for women who continued to get pregnant but did not have a place to go. However, after awhile, the women continued to have children with men who disappeared, and Sister began to enforce the rule that if the women had two or more children while living in Nuevo Paraiso, they would have to leave. Most of the women left, but a few stayed, and Sister built houses nearby for them, which she paid the down payment on but encouraged the women to pay for the rest. The added responsibility created a stronger sense of ownership and thus led to the women respecting the space more. Two of the women who left also left eight children, four each. Sister then decided to create an orphanage for children who were either abandoned by their parents or had lost both of their parents for whatever reason. At that point La Sociedad Amigos de los Ninos was formed. When I visited two years ago, the orphanage housed around 80 children, and today it has 125. After hearing the history of the organization, we had the opportunity to tour the grounds. We saw how the houses have improved since the orphanage was originally formed. Ideally, each house holds 12 children with two tias to take care of them. Tias translates to aunts, and most tias also have children of their own who they must support. The original houses had only three rooms with one bathroom and a very cramped living and kitchen space. Now, the new buildings are a little more spacious with places for children to keep the clothes that are donated to them, and each room of four or five children has a bathroom. The kitchen and living space is also big enough for the whole house to eat together. Food has also improved greatly at the orphanage; now, instead of eating rice and beans every day, there is more frozen meat and fresh fruit. The next stop on our tour was the preschool and nursery. The children sang a song to us in Spanish, and we performed the hokey pokey for them. In turn, they performed the hokey pokey for us in Spanish. There is not a whole lot that’s cuter than four and five year olds singing and dancing. We also got to visit the nursery with the very little kids. They were shyer, and we didn’t get to spend as much time there, but regardless, we enjoyed it. Next we visited the elementary aged students. I reunited with a little girl named Maria who I met during my first trip. I thought my Spanish was getting so much better, but it turns out I do a lot better communicating with the really little kids than the older ones. Each time I asked her to repeat what she was saying, she would talk much slower. I felt so stupid; then I realized in the United States when people don’t understand what we’re saying we just talk louder. If you don’t know the words, you don’t know the words. And even though communication was difficult, we played tag and hide and go seek with two of her friends. Recently, thanks to donations, some of the children have been able to wear glasses. The glasses have really improved their learning. Also, there is now a full time social worker and psychiatrist on staff for the children to talk to. Although most of the children are considered orphans, most technically still have parents who are alive. Many of the kids have been abused in heinous ways and have never had the opportunity to talk about it. The hope is that the social worker and psychiatrist will change that. From there, we walked the short distance to the high school. We stopped to have Pepsi in glass bottles for 50 cents each and then explored the different trades at the high school. Since I was here two years ago, they have added classes about how to fix computers. They also have electrical wiring, welding, sewing, culinary arts and computer programming classes. The kids were not in classes today because they were attending a national dance competition that they had qualified for through their folk dance program. They were also celebrating Mother’s Day for their teachers. Mae also said that recently they have been trying to give the kids the opportunity to leave the premises and that a few weeks ago the kids had two options. Half of the kids went swimming at a swimming pool which is a huge luxury in Honduras, and the other half went to a movie theatre to see Justin Beiber. Mae said they squealed in delight the entire time because it was in 3-D. In the last two years, they have also added a library for the kids to use. The only thing that seems to not be improving is the clinic. When I was here last, the clinic was full of patients. Doctors did up to 40 eye surgeries a day for people in the area. Now, thanks to the raised minimum wage, La Sociedad can’t afford to pay the doctors, and there is only one on staff. Plus, each visit (including the medicine) now costs each patient $3, an amount that is too high in Honduras. One of the people in our group asked Mae if medical brigades often come to La Sociedad. She said that they have a few times, but it’s tricky because of the insurance. If something happens to a patient after the volunteers have left, then there’s no one to be held liable. Plus, volunteers offer everything for free, so people in the area think the clinic is free when in reality it is not. A plan is currently underway to better utilize the space that was donated to medically treat locals. A few other fun places we had the chance to visit included the new convenience store that was created by a man who was raised by Sister as well as a place where a man was making a fishing net by hand. So far the net has taken 15 days. On the way back, Susan and I had the chance to talk about the issue of colonization and my concerns regarding the white man coming in and telling the Hondurans what to do. She said this organization is unique in the way that it runs because everything is planned and carried out by the Hondurans. There is no American or Canadian board of directors, and all decisions are made locally. The school and organization would still be in place without our help, she said, but we give it a little extra bump. Our sponsorship of kids and our trips make it possible for them to take day trips and build nicer facilities. Mae also added that our donations allow for upkeep, a word that is seemingly nonexistent in the Honduran culture. Our visits are important, she said, because we bring with us hope. Those of us who come more than once tell the kids, through our presence, that someone finds them worthwhile and important. She said physically bringing the supplies is much more meaningful than just sending them money, even if we could send more money if we didn’t have to pay for our flights. After our morning tour, we ate the food prepared for us by the La Sociedad cooks and enjoyed the fresh mango and cantaloupe. My favorites were the homemade tortillas and the shredded roast beef that went on them. After lunch we had an hour long break to regroup and spend some time inside with the fans before working for the afternoon. For our first day on the job, we were split into two groups. The first group was focused on creating a guard house for the guard who stands outside every night to make sure nothing goes wrong. There is a guard on either side of the main road as well as at the main entrance where there is a gate. Nothing is fancy, but Sister and Mae want to make sure they’re protecting the kids who are now officially in their care. The second group, which was my group, worked on mixing cement in order to help create a sidewalk. I broke off several times to assist my new friend Alexander do the more detailed work. I learned slowly thru broken Spanish that he is 26 and is married with three kids. His kids are seven, three and one a half. The baby is a little girl, and he said she is very cute. I loved being able to get to know someone more than just learning their name; he was very patient with me and I with him. After working for two hours, I walked with Susan and Julie to the Internet café run by Flor Azul. We spent 15 minutes checking email in exchange for parting with $1. After our technology fix, we hung out for a little while before going to dinner. The food was delicious as always. We had spaghetti with the most amazing tomato sauce I’ve ever tasted (not the kind that lands you in the London hospital with food poisoning for 10 days) along with pineapple, garlic bread and cookies. I was in heaven. Throughout dinner I had an extremely fulfilling conversation with Sister Kathleen, Mary Ann, and Susan. I learned of Sister’s vocation story and had the opportunity to share my experiences with Regnum Christi. It felt good to reach a deeper level with people; I felt like I was really being understood for who I am. Feelings emerged that I didn’t even realize still existed. The conversation made me feel like I am in the right place at the right time. After dinner we had night prayer and reflection. I had a difficult time sharing what I haven’t been able to leave behind – primarily all my fears about Eric’s check-up appointment. However, it made me feel so good that Kathleen and Adam made sure to take care of me and let me know that how I’m feeling is normal. I always like people telling me that when I’m upset. It’s relieving to know you can feel what you feel. After recovering, I rejoined the group to play super ninja time. It was a blast, especially caterpillar Kathleen. We then played the burping game, which had everyone rolling on the floor with laughter, as well as the wah game. I learned both at my student orientation guide training. I think it was good practice for August. We then moved on to telephone and the sentence game. It was a great night of bonding and friendship forming. I feel very thankful to be where I am. I don’t really think I’m looking forward to tomorrow or the rest of the week, which seems like an odd thing to say, but I’m much more living in this moment. That’s something I’ve always struggled with, and ironically enough, the light bulb went off without me even meaning to flip the switch. God is funny like that sometimes. He always knows what I need, and I love him for that.
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