Week 6

(My buddies and students - math stars in the making)

I believe that consolidation must accompany progress. Every now and then, time must be spent evaluating your current performance and reevaluating your goals. Otherwise, it is easy to become scattered among too many tasks. This past week was epitomizes this approach. The fundraising for the security wall at Pedro Atala had come to a close and it was time to reflect on my performance. It was also time to begin considering my next projects. My options have been narrowed down to three possibilities. They are: addressing the water systems in Pedro Atala, Nuevo Paraíso and Flor Azul (part of Sociedad), as well as in Nuevo Esperanza and San Jose (two adjoining towns that are affiliated with La Sociedad), working to secure funding to pay the teachers at Reyes Irene Valenzuela (a school teaching 400 working maids/girls who have had to give up school to work), and to secure funding to provide food for Flor Azul. All three of these projects are of importance and I hope to address each one.

While it has been exciting to expand my understanding of the needs of SAN, my true gratification remains in teaching math five days a week at Pedro Atala during the afternoons. I now help two classes and we have successfully had two math competitions. Every day I am challenged to present such a dull subject to children and trying to find ways to keep them both engaged and excited. I think a story that epitomizes my work with the children is the following: There are four houses at Pedro Atala and in each house, one room is designated a classroom and there is a teacher for each room. Every day the children go to one of the classrooms from 1:30 to 4pm to complete their homework and practice reading and math afterwards. I help in one of the houses with the older children (Grade 4). On Wednesday, a teacher from another house saw me working with the children and asked if I would help her class the next day. I agreed and spent Thursday practicing multiplication tables with her students. On Friday, I returned to my regular class, where the teacher had decided she’d let the kids spend the day coloring. Rediscovering my subdued passion for coloring, I happily joined in. Well, when I walked out of the room I was greeted by four young students from the other class demanding an explanation as to why I was in there coloring while instead we could have been practicing multiplication tables instead… I was dumbfounded to say the least, but I was also left with a sense of accomplishment that they children are excited about math.

Probably the most exciting part of my week this far would be going to a market with one of the Hondurans from the office. This market was however located in one of the very poor areas of Tegucigalpa and it gave me a fresh taste of Honduran life. An Australian came with a group earlier this week and he was telling me of his work in Cambodia. It was very interesting and I told him that I wanted to hear about his comparison between the two places. I think that a lot of people initially come to Honduras and after the initial freight of a developing country subsides, they feel like it isn’t so bad. I felt this way, but I now am coming to see the small nuances that make life difficult. Gangs are a huge, huge problem here. I wonder if there are problems with gangs in Africa, not militias, but gangs. A few nights ago, Tuesday I think, I was woken up by gunshots, clearly audible outside. This was initially a bit disconcerting, but I figured there were gunshots in Harlem too, or maybe nicer places than that. But Colonia Miraflores is a relatively nice part of Tegucigalpa, so I’m sure it is much more common in other places.

Week 5

$8,500 in eight days!!! Construction of the wall at Pedro Atala will begin Monday, March 12! Thank you for your support!


-This is Jami, she's in kindergarten student at the one room school house of Quiscamote, Honduras... and this is her "smile"...-


-awkward smiles to unsuredness to a sense of accomplishment -
playing and likely hearing a violin for the first time

The week began without any notable excitement. (Well, except for the fact that I reached my mark of $8500 in pledged money on Monday, meaning a the fundraising only took eight days!) Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I went to the office during the morning and early afternoon and to Pedro Atala from 2:30 to 4pm to help the kids with math, particularly division.
On Thursday morning, at 6am the excitement began. I left with Sister Maria Rosa and two other people to go to the Santa Rosa de Lima Clinic for a ceremony to officially recognize the partnership between Cuba and Sociedad Amigos de Los Niños. Clinica Santa Rosa de Lima was built by a Canadian philanthropist and acts as a general clinic for all patients. The intent of the clinic is to offer quality health services at a minimal cost to the patients (each patient pays 30 lempiras for a consultation ($1.50)). Cuba has also played a pivotal role in the development of the clinic by providing the equipment and doctors to operate a two room surgical facility treating only eye problems. Mainly Hondurans are treated, but as this clinic is the only eye clinic in Honduras that provides these surgeries, patients come from all around including Nicaragua. The services provided by the Cubans are completely free of charge to the patients and Sociedad Amigos de los Niños provides the housing for the doctors, the medical facilities, and all of the necessary utilities. While the surgery center is expensive to upkeep, the service provided to the people is very important. A possible upcoming project for myself is to identify ways where Clinica Santa Rosa de Lima can become self-sufficient. Another possible project is to address the diminishing water supply affecting three surrounding communities (including Nuevo Paraíso where La Sociedad houses a number of children and operates a k-12 school). Water is also needed for the Clinica Santa Rosa de Lima.

The inauguration event, formally recognizing the partnership between Cuba and Clinica Santa Rosa de Lima, brought the Cuban Ambassador, Felipe Pérez Roque and the Honduran Prime Minister of Health. While I anticipated only a small ceremony, the fanfare that ensued surprised me greatly. People filled every inch of the large clinic and with the primary responsibility of taping this event for Sister Maria Rosa, I quickly understood the relentless persistence typical of photographers, cameramen, and journalists. However, the event went very well and just as the government officials arrived (in helicopter with police escort and a small platoon of heavily armed soldiers), they left, leaving the clinic to resume treating their patients for free. The video below is of the ceremony at the Santa Rosa de Lima Clinic between Sociedad Amigos de los Niños and Cuba.


(Speakers: Sister Maria Rosa - Sociedad Amigos de Los Ninos, the Cuban Ambassador to Honduras, the Prime Minister of Health-Honduras)

After perusing the grounds of the clinic to compare the aftermath of the hype to the daily operations of the clinic, I ventured into Nuevo Paraíso to hook-up with an American teaching brigade. As the group of 10 Americans had not yet arrived, I hitched a ride with my good friend and partner in construction, Giovany, to travel out to Flor Azul to look at a prospective sight for guest housing. Much to my surprise, the mountain road quickly ended and four boys from Flor Azul jumped out of the back of the pick-up and we were soon bushwhacking our way up the mountainside. Satisfied with the view and the potential of the project, we descended down the mountain to return to the truck. The Indianapolis group arrived and took me into their group as if I were a fellow teacher.



Friday was a day that I had been waiting for since I arrived. Quiscamote is a small, rural town located in the mountains about an hour from Tegucigalpa. In this small village, Sister Maria Rosa has taken personal responsibility to ensure that the one room schoolhouse is able to operate year-round. My excitement for this project stems from that of Sister Maria Rosa, and upon returning from the school, all of my expectations were met and I hope to be of assistance to the school while I am here in Honduras.

Arriving in Tegucigalpa at 8am for breakfast with Sister Maria Rosa, it was comforting to be back, but I could not help feeling more connected to La Sociedad and the purpose of my work.