There’s nothing quite like waking up at 7 a.m. to do hard manual labor for several hours. Today Julie and I were put in charge of digging a hole for columns that will hold a screened-in porch in place. La Sociedad is focused on an anti-malaria movement, and the screened-in porches are one way to propel that movement forward. It took us an hour and a half to dig our hole, and by the end, I was exhausted. My hands were blistered, my body was drenched with sweat, and my lower back ached because I do not have the correct form. At that point the groups switched jobs, and we worked with Lizzy and Jose Luis to even out cement for the foundation surrounding drainage pipes. It was a significantly easier job. I was not happy to find out, however, that when Adam and Jon were given the job of digging a hole the same size with the same tools, it only took them 20 minutes. Why in the world were they not assigned to dig both holes? Regardless, we finished working at 11:30 and relaxed until lunch at noon. Lunch was delicious as always with beef atop rice with salad and fresh fruit. I learned more about Mary Ann and her family. Slowly I am learning about what makes each person who they are. After lunch we had a little free time and then took a bus the short ten minute drive to Flor Azul. Flor Azul is where the group I came with the first time worked to build a cross and trail for a newly ordained priest. Flor Azul, which translates to blue flower, is an all boys farming community. The boys who are there go to school until sixth grade, and for there, they learn agricultural skills from professionals in the field, such as engineers and farmers. The hope is that the boys will return to the communities from which they came and teach the people there the proper ways to care for animals and to plant crops. Doing so allows for the Hondurans to continue to take care of their own and provide sustainability for future generations. After our tour of the grounds – primarily dorms and a dining hall – our group faced the Flor Azul boys in futbol. I am no better now than I was in the fourth grade when I scored a goal for the other team, but I loved being a part of things and seeing the boys show off their skills. Marlon, one of the boys I met on my first trip, remembered me and made sure to stick close by. After about a half hour of playing soccer, I asked him to walk with me to the cross our group had made. Seeing the cross again brought back the memories of walking the sand and rock up the hill to use in mixing cement and digging through tree roots and hard Honduran soil to create a trail. Marlon asked me if I remembered when one of the girls in our group face planted into the cement; I told him that of course I remembered. I climbed on top of the cross so Marlon could take my picture, and we spent awhile catching up on what had gone on in each of our lives for the past two years. It was slow going because my Spanish is broken, and his English is equally as poor, but if I understood correctly, his eighteenth birthday is coming up next week. Once he finishes school at Flor Azul, he wants to go to the university in Tegucigalpa in order to become an architect. He has been playing a lot of soccer and wants to become bilingual. On our walk back he asked me when I was coming again. I didn’t know what to say, but I told him I hope I will be back soon. It was then that I realized that our presence really does make a difference to the kids; it tells them that we see something worthwhile in them, and they should recognize that goodness in themselves. Upon rejoining the group, I reunited with Kevin, another Flor Azul boy who had been a very big part of our group during my first trip. I learned that today was his first time back at Flor Azul in two years too because he has been studying at a bilingual high school in Tegucigalpa thanks to his sponsor godparents. He wants to become a doctor and stay in Honduras in order to give back to his people. He was as ornery as I remember, and I loved the teasing we did back and forth. Our trip was cut short by an older man at Flor Azul who needed to go to the hospital, but that worked out fine because it gave us more time to spend with the kids at La Sociedad. I went back to the house where the sisters Sandra and Samantha live to play. Samantha was sleeping, so Sandra and I tried waking her up, but she was not really interested. Sandra and I took advantage of that time to take creative pictures of inanimate objects. Sandra is very creatively talented and at nine years old has a keen eye for angles and color. Eventually, Samantha woke up, and she came to snuggle with me while we read a book. She insisted that I read a page and she read a page. I had hardly any idea what the story was about, but I was extremely impressed with her pronunciation and reading skills. She is only seven but was correcting my pronunciation left and right, and the book was a chapter book. They are absolutely adorable little girls. After playing with them, I passed Kevin on my way back to my room and spent a little more time joking around with him, Lauren, Kathleen, Julie and Josue before dinner. Dinner was a little dramatic because we were concerned about a tropical storm (not really, but that was the joke from something Adam tried to translate), and the electricity was out. We ate by candlelight, and I stuck around after to hear Mae’s vocation story and family history before walking back to the housing area. For our night prayer and reflection, Sister Kathleen challenged us to consider what our hopes are. When it came to my turn to share, I said I hope that I choose a profession that I find fulfilling. I hope that I am able to run a nonprofit organization. I hope that I am a good wife and I bring out the best in my husband, as well as my family and friends. I hope that I end up being who God intended me to be. I hope that am happy and I make those around me happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment