Week 1

I arrived in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on Tuesday, January 30 around noon and was greeted by Mae Venezuela, my initial preceptor from Sociedad Amigos de Los Niños. My preparation for the trip was simple: clothes and books. Prior to my arrival, I was able to pair with a Professor Richard Hug from IU, Gary and Professor Anne Marie Thomson from IU, Bloomington, whom both work in SPEA. Professor Hug purchased a year subscription to Grantstation.com, which is an Internet based computer program that I can use to search for grants and Professor Thomson advised on the academic literature that I brought with me.
The administration of Sociedad has informed me that my job will be two fold: to secure funding through grants for SAN’s many projects, and to work with the strategic planning, finances, and database systems of the organization. All three of these do not currently exist and they have asked me to help initiate each service. This is very exciting for me because I am treated as a professional member of SAN. I have spent my first days traveling a great deal and being introduced to the different projects. This organization is very interesting in that the people seem to sincerely care about what they are doing. I am curious as to what my feelings will be in three months, but my first impression is that when I awake at 7am to get ready, it is not by my alarm, but instead by ALL of the employees already in the office and walking around preparing for brigades or new projects. I feel guilty going in to the office at 8, so I'm going to get up earlier.

As of right now, I have my own desk and my bedroom is small, but very nice. The rest of the facilities are very nice with lots of flowers and busy people. There are also kids always around. Pedro Atala, a home for 100 children, is right around the corner and I know some of the kids there from past trips. As part of my job description, Sociedad is "requiring" me to go to Pedro Atala every day from 3-5 to practice my Spanish and play with the kids. Talk about a tough job huh!
Right now, my first project is to secure funding to expand a kitchen and build a dining room at Nuevo Paraíso (the largest project in the rural countryside). Sociedad is breaking ground on to construct a 40-person dorm, where the various brigades can stay. This will allow them to recoup the money that they normally spend to rent housing in other places. To meet the needs of the people, they need a larger dining room and the ability to prepare more food. So that's my project, to get the money to make this project happen. The old dining room and kitchen...... Currently, 35 people can be accomodated, our proposed construction will accomodate 85 people, the new housing capacity at Nuevo Paraiso.
All in all, things are going very well. I enjoy my work very much and the people are very supportive. The food is amazing and plentiful. My first week in Honduras has literally been one to celebrate...

Fireworks over the city/mountain skyline...