Summer Fellows Blog

Things have been going very well down here.
Last Friday the masons finished the last floor of the houses!!! We had a celebration afterward which was a lot of fun. Spending so much time with all of the villagers has been so great and we are very comfortable with each other.

This past weekend we went on a really fantastic excursion to Lago de Yojoa and went to a waterfall and walked in and around it.

But that is not what this blog is about.

This blog is about my class (again).

Like I mentioned my class is made up of 5th and 2nd graders. The past few school days I have been working with my 5th graders, which has given my 2nd graders a lot of one on one time with their teacher. I have seen some definite improvements in those students. There is one story that sticks out in particular:

When I was working with my 2nd graders I realized two of my favorite kids who are twins didn't even know their alphabet. That about broke my heart.

During recreo the teacher and I spoke about the differences between the abilities of students in all the classes, and I mentioned how it is unfair for teachers to send kids to the next grade when they aren't ready for it because they just sit in a class unable to participate because they don't have the basics down, or the rest of the class has to go slower so that the child can be on time. I noticed that the teachers have been paying close attention to what Leila and I have been doing in our classes, and even in this conversation I could tell she was taking mental notes.

I just realized this post never got uploaded.

July 28, 2009:

Yesterday I went to the school and taught my classes. I focused mainly on the 5th grade class yesterday, and the teacher worked with the second grade class. I really want to know who made the decision to put those two grades together because there is NO overlap.
Anyway.
Yesterday we worked on decimals. It was very difficult for them to understand that you have to line up the decimal points. All of the teachers in Honduras go to the same school to learn how to be a teacher. Its a national program. I would like to see this, maybe even one day see their books or curriculum just to compare my education to the education these children are receiving.

Today I worked with my second graders on adding numbers in two columns. Example:
17
+ 41

Most of the kids got that, but if they didn't I was able to give them serious one-on-one attention because the 5th graders had an exam on the exact same math topics I was working on with them last week. That was pretty cool seeing what I had taught them actually get through to most of them.

My second graders are great. They are kids from Siete moving to Villa so I know them really well from winter camp or I know their parents. Most of them are behind, and some of them have been moved up to second grade even though they are not prepared for it. I hope they succeed this year.

I really can't explain how much I love teaching these kids. They are so eager to learn that I just want to do it all day.

Josepha; 8 kids and still strong.

Right now I am sitting on our balcony enjoying a rare cool breeze, grateful for the rainstorm we had moments ago. It had been quite hot all day while Sarah, Soojin, and I had been preparing our Kid’s Camp lesson for tomorrow. The view from our balcony here at the volunteer house is picturesque- the palm and mango trees, the terra cotta roof tiles, the mountains of Honduras beginning not too far behind us. My personal favorite thing about this view? One of our neighbors is a mechanic with a pet Capuchin monkey who climbs on the autoshop roof and dances on the power lines every evening!

I have now been in Honduras for almost 2 full weeks. It feels like I never left, and yet so much has changed. Our summer internship consists of two main projects: Field studies, and a Research Project.

Our Field Projects are what I was really looking forward to coming down here. We are conducting family profiles and surveys on all of the families moving to Villa Soleada which is really fun because we get to know more about these families. One thing that I think gets looked over by a passerby on the worksite is the amount of work done by women. The masons are all men, who do a lot of really great work, but the women do so much of the grunt work, and never stop.

It's hard to believe it's been 2 weeks since we've arrived! We've been doing surveys to get family profiles of all the families in the village, tutoring kids in an afterschool program and creating curriculum for the future Learning center we are creating. It's been so interesting to hear the stories of the families when we've taken the surveys- to hear what they've gone through and what great things SHH has done to transform their lives. Nearly every person we talked to described how SHH has changed their lives, provided better homes, education and opportunity to their families. It is so touching and inspirational for me to continue work here, knowing that every little bit counts!

My last full day in Honduras, and I couldn’t have asked for a better day! Sam, Christian, and I had been planning a graduation ceremony for our English class at Villa Soleada for the past week. We were unsure if we would get to have it considering political unrest, but we did. We began our morning by going on a scavenger hunt in the centro to buy sandia (watermelon), duct tape, and last minute souvenirs. The centro of Progreso is really the heartbeat of the city. It’s always booming with business as townspeople sell fruits, veggies, tortillas, hammocks, machetes, and more. We braved the crowded streets one last time, and politely responded to the clearly spoken English “hellos.” After purchasing our watermelon for 35 lempiras each, Christian and I carried them through the centro as Sam navigated our way to the nearest souvenir shop. I love our team, we work together better than any trio could. The three of us fellows combined are a force not to be reckoned with. We have put forth our greatest strengths and talents, and we have shown that together anything is possible. After finalizing our purchases, we headed out to Villa Soleada for our last day.

7:15 a.m. My alarm clock went off and I dragged myself out of bed. I made a full pot of Honduran coffee to wake me up so I could get to work. Tonight we are presenting our final reports to the SHH staff so we set aside this morning to work on our reports. My first project was to compile photos and videos from our time being here and make a slideshow of them. It was a nice walk down memory lane as I sorted out photos from our first days here. Time has gone by so fast yet we have done so much every day. As I added the finishing touches to the video, my computer froze, of course. I stepped away from the situation and decided on my next plan of action. I began to write about English classes and Kid's camp. I looked over our beginning goals and ideas from the first few days here and reflected on what we've been able to accomplish. Our reports will be important for future reference by SHH. At lunch time we went to Villa Soleada for our last official English class.

On Wednesday we traveled to orphanages with the group that is here for the week. We started out at Amor y Vida, an orphanage for children with HIV. The kids are so sweet and it really is a wonderful place. The Presbyterian group had spent time in the church at home learning how to make balloon animals, and they busted out their skills for the kids, who loved it. Even though my balloon dogs looked ridiculous, the older kids liked learning how to make them, and the younger kids loved stomping on them. I also colored with a boy named Manuel and one of the women from the church, helping translate as well. I always love using my Spanish, but being able to translate and facilitate a connection between two people is that much more rewarding.

This morning we boarded the bus early, before 8 even, to get to Las Brisas. This is the first time we’ve been there when we haven’t had to focus on the surveys. Today was a different venture. Michelle and Sam have been really interested in observing schools in Honduras because of their planned teaching careers, so we shadowed a first grade class today in the morning.

Our strolling through the school gate was akin to Barack Obama walking into an American school. Kids peeked out of windows, waved frantically, yelled things. Our celebrity status in the village will probably never get old. I get a kick out of it.

We met with the director or principal of the school, a feared and respected leader. After a good bit of convincing, he sort of admitted defeat and showed us to a first grade classroom.

Every time I take a new mode of transportation in Honduras, I see life here through a new perspective. Normally, when we ride in one of the SHH vehicles, travel goes relatively smooth. When we take the chicken bus, we're incredibly attentive so we don't miss our stop or have any of our belongings misplaced. When riding in the back of the pickup, I see people selling fruit, walking here and there, and the sunset much more vividly than through the tinted windows of our vehicles. Today, however, we walked to the Centro to meet up with the new group of volunteers that is here, and as we did, I saw another view of Honduras.

Due to the internet going out intermittently over the past few days and our always busy schedules, it has been difficult to get a few free minutes to sit down and write a blog post! Yesterday the interns went with Shin to Heart 2 Heart Ministries, a Christian "children's village" in Tegucigalpita. It was interesting to see how they ran things compared to ones I've been to in the past. One noticeable difference was that there was no tall fence, and the gate was wide open. We were told that if a child really wanted to leave, someone sat down with them one-on-one and tried to figure out why they were feeling that way, and what they could do about it. This is in stark contrast to any other orphanage I've visited here, which frequently have high fences and barbed wire. The best part was that overall, the kids seemed really happy. Also, there were some American volunteers there, and one had even heard of SHH and was going to encourage her son start a chapter at his school. We directed her to get more info on the SHH website, and to make sure to read our blog :)

Our internet was out at the apartment yesterday, or else I would've posted here then. I'll fill you guys in on what we've been doing for the past few days. Yesterday, I went to the Villa in the morning and worked on a poster for the English class. It was really difficult to work on the floor of one of the new houses because they’re made of cement and although they’re flat, they’re covered in dirt and ants. In the afternoon, we did surveys and I was feeling kind of sick so I opted to either write or observe. I didn’t really feel like talking to anyone. I went to the mall to eat Pizza Hut for dinner. Never have I wanted pizza so bad and never has it tasted so good after a long day. Without internet to amuse me, I fell asleep pretty early and got a good night’s rest. The sun rises here so early that it’s kind of disorienting. I don’t have an alarm clock here and depend on others to wake me up, so when the sun’s up, I’m constantly worrying that they forgot me.

It's hard to believe that today is mid-term day. We have now been in Honduras two weeks and two days. As I think about how our projects and personal goals have developed since day one, I realize that it really is the half-way point. We have finished developing our surveys and we are now conducting them in a nearby community. We also have daily English classes for the adults at Villa Soleada, and they are so enthusiastic about learning; we are excited to continue teaching them more vocabulary and phrases. We have also had the chance to travel and learn more about Honduras: whether it has been through our trip to Copan, soccer games, or going to the beach at Tela, I have enjoyed every bit of embracing Honduran culture and beauty. One of many of my goals for this trip is to make as many meaningful memories as possible, and I have enjoyed all of the memories thus far and am excited for what the next half of the fellowship will bring.

Last night after dinner we played a rediculous soccer game with all of SHH and friends. Three teams rotated over two hours, and even though I'm not a huge sports fan, it was the most fun I've ever had playing soccer.

Today was a day of soccer as well. After working on our surveys at Las Brisas in the morning and then giving our English lesson, we headed to San Pedro Sula for the epic Honduras versus El Slavador game. I'll give you some insight on the events behind the rivalry. Google told me that in 1969, during elimination rounds for the World Cup, tensions mounted between the two countries, as Hondurans felt that the El Salvadorians were to blame for the increasing economic problems in their country. After that, military action broke out, and this skirmish became known as the Soccer War. So, everyone was slightly nervous about what to expect at the game.

Today began fairly early with a knock on my door telling me that Cosmo had made banana pancakes. Remarkably, getting out of bed becomes much easier when the prospect of a delicious breakfast is discussed. The interns are usually on their own for breakfast, eating cereal and granola bars, but today we indulged in Cosmo's cooking, a real treat.

Following breakfast, we went into a meeting to discuss our progress on the surveys we're doing for Las Brisas, the community adjacent to Villa Soleada and a place SHH would like to get to know better in order to assess their level of need. With another group from UVA, the fellows plan to survey the community, and we're currently working on finalizing the questions to make sue that they're appropriate and focused.

Yesterday morning we started our journey to Copan, Honduras at 5 a.m. We walked through the empty streets of El Progreso with bags in hand. The streets were empty and all was calm as we walked from our apartment to the bus station. We took one bus from El Progreso to San Pedro Sula and another from SPS to Copan. About 3 hours later...we arrived in the beautiful, quaint city of Copan Ruinas. The entire city of Copan is made of very steep hills, and instead of taxis, they use these tiny 3-wheel vehicles that are popular in Europe as I was told. After a delicious lunch of baleadas, we decided to go horseback riding into the mountains. We all expected a short ride to see some scenery, but it was so much better than that. We rode way up into the mountains to Hacienda San Lucas de los Sapos. There is a beautiful yoga hut on the mountain side along with a bed and breakfast and lookout over the mountains and river. We could see everything from there, even some of the ruins of Copan. I believe this is the most breathtaking view I've ever seen.

It's hard to believe I've been here for a week already. It feels like a week and a day at the same time. We have done a lot of planning this week; I feel very positive and excited about the projects we have set before us for the next four weeks. We've begun teaching English to some adults at Villa Soleada, creating and developing surveys to help us better know the community in which we work, and spend time at a local orphanage. While I don't feel physically strained, the mental and emotional preparation here can be strenuous, but it's all worth it to see the smiles on everyone's faces. I feel that our planning, development, and acclimation to the rhythm of Honduras this week has really prepared, encouraged, and empowered us for the things that we will do here. It may not always seem that the small things that we do make a difference, but we must keep in mind that "How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." -Anne Frank. I believe that is my calling for the next four weeks, and I'm so excited and thankful to be a part of it.

!Hola a todos! We've been in Honduras for just over a week, and already we've experienced so much. Let's count: first, the day we arrive the staff was dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake. We got settled in and went to the hotel to have a farewell dinner with the volunteers that were here, and the power went out. Then, when we returned to the apartment, it was flooding because the power had turned the water pump back on. And this was just the first 24 hours!

But even when there are lows, they come with a high that you don't expect. For example, while sitting for two hours in traffic because a bridge was closed for earthquake damage, we bonded with each other and the kids on the bus. And when you have a tough, super-challenging day at the orphanage, you appreciate decompressing over baleadas with the people who support you here. This is life in Honduras... we'll keep you updated!