Day 7 in Honduras

Today we had a very special treat that most groups do not have the opportunity to be a part of.  We drove the hour and a half from Nuevo Paraiso to Tegucigalpa and arrived at Sister Maria Rosa’s house where we are staying until tomorrow morning when we leave for the airport.  Sister’s house has a kind of apartment add-on that allows for her to host guests in case groups like ours need a place to stay.  Our room has air conditioning, and the food is just as great as it was at Nuevo Paraiso.  For about an hour during the morning, seven of us walked the block to the school named after Mae’s aunt Irene Reyes.  The school was started by Sister Maria Rosa and Mae’s aunt Irene, and its purpose is to give young women the opportunity to provide for themselves with trades such as cosmetology or sewing, and they can also learn how to be a secretary.  The girls work six days a week either selling tortillas or water on the road on their own and then attend school on the seventh day, which is their only free time.  The girls can start attending in the seventh grade and graduate after twelfth grade.  We met the seventh graders, and they were really shy; our tour guide told us that’s because most of them have self-confidence issues when they first come to the school.  Everything is free to them if they don’t have the money, but if they do, they pay roughly $20 to cover the costs of snacks and books for the year.  The director of the school is also aware of students’ needs because at the end of the year the students fill out a survey about what they did or did not like so that the school can improve.  The director said such a concept is not commonly used in Honduran schools or businesses.  One improvement they recently made was to not allow babies or children to come to the school with the women because the other students find it distracting.  Of course if there is an emergency, the babies are allowed to come, but on a regular basis, it is not encouraged.  They told us that there are rules, but there are always exceptions to the rules, and they work really hard to make the school accessible to everyone.  They said that if they turn someone away because they don’t have enough money or can’t find someone to watch their kids, they are turning away the girls who need the school the most.  The director said the school is very important because it gives young women who want to improve their lives the opportunity to do so.  After visiting the school, we came back to Sister’s house for lunch and then just hung out until going back to Pedro Attala at four to play with the kids.  Playing with the kids was as fun as ever, but I also knew in my mind that I would have to leave them in a few hours, so I was leery to get too attached.  I spent the first 30 minutes running around with the same little girl Sophia who I loved from our first visit there, but then I had to take a break.  I’ve had a stomach bacteria or something like it for two days, and the effects finally caught up with me.  I spent the next hour and a half relaxing and having a conversation with Laura and a girl named Yoselin.  It was fun because I spoke English to Lauren, and she translated to Yoselin, and when Yoselin spoke in Spanish, Laura translated to English for me.  I got so excited every time I could understand what was being said in Spanish.  At 6:30 the pizza arrived for dinner, and we enjoyed hanging out.  At around 7:30 we said to good bye to the kids and walked back to our living quarters at Sister’s house.  We showered one by one in a shower with cold water and a water supply so small we had to turn the water off each time we put soap on or shampoo in.  I think it made us all aware of how precious natural resources are and how necessary it is to conserve them.  After we all got clean again, we had our final reflection and prayer time.  Throughout the week, we each drew names for guardian angels to watch over and pray for during the seven days of our trip.  Allison had me, and this is the letter she wrote me:

            Katie,

I have enjoyed getting to know you this past week.  I admire how confident and driven you are.  You are great with the kids and I could tell that they loved spending time with you.  It was so cute when the kids at Hogar Paul would ask me for “EsKatie!”  I could tell that you really had an impact on them.  I liked that you spent time talking to the tias, too.  I haven’t really gotten to know any of the tias on my trip and when you told me everything they do for the kids, like spending two hours checking for lice every day, it made me realize how much they do.  It was cool to see how you not only played with the kids, but you also helped out with chores, too.  You worked really hard when we painted the building even though you got stuck with a frustrating and messy job.  I admire how you are able to give so much of your time to serving others.  Your trip to Ireland sounds like it will be a very unique experience.  I think it takes someone who is really brave and who really cares about helping others to do what you are going to do – going abroad on your own to do service.  I hope you enjoy your trip!  Good luck with your senior year, wedding planning and whatever your future brings!  I think it’s amazing you’ve found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, and I hope you and Brendan have a very happy marriage. 

            Love, Allison

It made me feel really special to know I had the opportunity to impact Allison the way I did.  Sharing things we’ve noticed throughout the week made everyone in the group feel more apart of things, and afterwards, we each said what we hope to bring back to our lives in the United States.  I hope I bring home a deeper appreciation for the people around me.  I really appreciate people meeting when where I am and letting me be me.  I am looking forward to being home for a little while, but I’m sad to leave my new family here in Honduras.