There have been few things in my life I have found as fulfilling as the educational brigade we had the opportunity to partake in this morning. After breakfast, we divided the school supplies donated by Plymouth High School and St. Michael’s into 33 different bags, 15 for the girls, 15 for the boys, and three for the teacher. We loaded everything on to the bus and drove the 20 minutes to Escuela Rural Mixta Amigos por Siempre, which is a school that receives very little to no outside funding or attention. The kids were busy cleaning up for us when we arrived, so it took them about 15 minutes to run home and change back into their uniforms, but once they were all back, they were excited to perform a few songs for us. We heard two common Honduran children’s songs and part of the Honduran national anthem. In turn, we sang (more than slightly off key) our national anthem. After the singing, we played outside games with them for a couple hours. We played a game where you have to run from “house” to “house,” and each “house” is two people holding hands. We also played tag, duck, duck, goose, futbol and jump rope. Duck, duck, goose was completely new to them, and it was absolutely adorable to watch them try to figure it out. Throughout most of the game playing, I let a little girl use my camera to take pictures. Cameras are so foreign to the kids that none of them thought to ask us to see what the picture looked like until we taught them about the playback option on digital cameras. The most rewarding and special part of the excursion was when we gave the kids the bags full of school supplies. It is impossible to describe the pure joy that filled me as they opened the bags and realized everything inside was for them. Most of the kids had never seen a folder and didn’t know what it was for. The books were by far the biggest hit, and it did not seem to faze any of the kids that the words were all in English. They instantly started to show one another the pictures in the books and tried to read them aloud. Both of the teachers spoke English and taught the kids how to tell us thank you in English. Then, each of the teachers vocalized their appreciation for our gifts. The older teacher told us that no one ever comes to see them, and it means so much to him that we took the time to visit. He also added that he looks forward to seeing us again. The younger teacher, who is only 19, also took us how thankful he is for us and said they will never forget what we did for them. We responded by telling them that they will forever be in our hearts. I do not think I will ever forget the overwhelming feeling of happiness I felt during that brigade. After our excursion, we came back to our home base to eat lunch. The cooks fixed us triple layer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with Oreos and wafer cookies. Mae added to the craziness by buying us a bag of munchies. After lunch the majority of the group went to Flor Azul to see the cross the group I came with the first time built and to play futbol with the kids. I stayed at La Sociedad to squeeze every last minute out of my time with the kids here. Walking up to the house where Sandra, Samantha and Brandon live, I thought to myself that this will be the last time in quite awhile that I will be able to greet the kids and hug them hello. I spent the first hour sitting with the tias and watching them pick the lice out of Samantha and Lupe’s hair. Tia Candy told me it takes them two hours every single day to get the lice out of the kids’ hair because the school has a problem with it. I don’t think that’s too uncommon in elementary schools; I remember that being a difficultly in sharing coat closes at my elementary school, too. As the tias combed through the girls’ hair, I talked with Candy about life in the United States versus Honduras and what I’m interested in, she’s interested in, etc. I felt really proud to be able to speak to her in Spanish. After awhile, I started to wander around the house. I stood in the doorway of Samantha’s room and surveyed the place she calls home. There are four kids to a room, and the place where all the kids keep their stuff is roughly the same size as the drawers one American child uses. The clothes, like in any room of a six-year-old, are haphazardly on the shelves, and tattered shoes line the floor. The room, which is only about three fourths of the size of mine at home, has two sets of bunk beds and a few pictures without frames here and there. Stuffed animals sit on the beds and a few toys are strewn throughout on the floor. Two other rooms make up the bulk of the house, and there is one bathroom with two toilets and two showers for the 13 children to share. The living area has two tattered couches and an arm chair that are covered with bed sheets and a TV with a DVD player for the kids to watch the eight DVDS that have been donated. The kitchen has a rectangular wooden table for the kids to gather around for dinner, and the refrigerator, sink and water basin fill the rest of the room. Their lives are simple, much simpler than those of most children in the United States. In my mind I know people will comment on the fact that the children have a TV and a DVD player or a place to call home, but I do not have one friend who shared a room with three other kids growing up, kids that were not even their siblings. I do not know one family who has only one TV in their house with 13 people watching it. I do not know any person who only wears donated clothes and shoes with words in another language that mean nothing to them. Sure, a TV and a DVD are a luxury, but after having been at the house during quiet time when all the kids are winding down for the night, I cannot imagine how the tia would quiet 13 five and six year olds night after night without some sort of common relaxer. To give Candy a little break and because I was interested in learning, I offered to help her make dinner. I saw how she makes the tortillas that I love so much. She poured a bag full of floor into the bowl and added water as she saw necessary. Since the electricity was out due to last night’s storm, she had to cook outdoors over an open flame. She tried three make-shift “stoves” before finding one that worked. She and a tia from another house helped one another to make enough tortillas for the kids. Sandra and I worked together to hand Candy the doughy tortillas for her to put on the stove. It took us about 45 minutes, and from there, Candy had to make the bulk of the dinner. While she cooked, I went with the kids to the fiesta for our last night. The fiesta had to be earlier than planned because the ice-cream we bought them would have melted without electricity, and the DJ could not come since there was no way for him to work. I played with the kids for a little while longer and took Samantha with me when Mae went to pass out birthday gifts to the kids who had birthdays during the month of May. One little girl got a Barbie; another got two shirts and a skirt. A little boy got a soccer ball; and another got a few clothing items, including underwear and a toy car. Mae gives them what they need along with a little something special. One girl, Fanny, was celebrating her quinceañero, or 15th birthday; so she got an extra special gift. I always love to be a part of birthday celebrations, especially because I absolutely adore birthdays. I try to make mine last no shorter than a week. After celebrating, it was time for me to say good bye to the kids. Hugging Samantha and Sandra for the last time in I don’t know how long, gave me an overwhelming feeling of sadness. Sandra asked me if I’ll be back to Honduras, and I told her that I hope so. She whispered that she loved me and started to cry as I walked away. I turned away from her because tears were streaming down my face. The relationships I formed during this trip feel much deeper than those of my first one. The children touched a place in my heart I think only they could reach. I feel confident that I will return and reunite with them sometime in the future, and when I do, they will be more beautiful and intelligent than I can imagine.
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