Planting Fruit Trees

By Matt,

This past month David, Jordan, and I helped plant about 15 fruit trees in the schoolyard of El Guanabano. This activity came out of our relationship to the Ag University near Catacamas. Prof. Lopez and his university students made a nursery of several varieties of tropical fruits including mangos, tamarinds, limes, marañon (cashew), passion fruit, and mamón. Originally the U students were going to come and help us plant, but the scheduling didnt work out for the prof.

We met with the kindergarden teacher, the students of the school, and some of the parents to plant the trees.
Each student planted a tree and adopted it, promising to water and care for it. I told them that in 10 years I want to come back and eat all the different kinds of fruit.
It is really great to see so many different people and institutions working together on a project like this. The idea is to provide cheap food at the school to help suppliment the lunch program. Another strategy is to encourage the school to make natural juices from these fruits instead of selling the kids soda.

Included in the event were some students that recieve scholarships through Diaconia. These students are have the responsibility of doing community projects like this with the Ag/Env program. The hope is that the studens and adults learn the importance if investing for the long term benefit of the community.
We all had a great time, and got nice and dirty. I even had a chance to practice my chopping skills with the machete because the place where we planted the trees had 4 foot high grass growing.
Later that day we had a meeting in the church to do a community survey. We noticed this turtle shell that they use for the rythm section in the praise band. The different colored panels make different noises when you tap them with the sticks.

To Yocón and beyond

By Matt

Well, you might be wondering "what happened to Matt?". It's true I haven't posted a blog in WAY too long. The truth is that I have been quite occupied with the Ag and Environment program to the point of not having much time for blogging, my apologies.

Anyway, as you may know for about the past 6 months we have had Jordan Fox living next door to us. He is a Canadian, and part of the "Carpinteros" group that comes often to Honduras to help out. It was really great to have him here. A while back Jordan's dad Steve came to visit. Steve is helping out with the health program in the south with some suppliments. Steve, Jordan, Arturo and I traveled down a very rough dirt road to the town of Yocon, and then beyond to several villages up in the mountains. This northern part of Olancho is quite isolated and many of these villages have recieved very little attention from the governement in terms of development and law enforcement. We stayed with Pastor Adrian and his family in a typical little country home. There is no water or electricity in these remote settings, so to shower we walked about 15 minutes down to a big waterfall. It was very beautiful.


The purpose of the trip was to continue the "Community Transformation Plans" that Arturo has been making with the community members. The goal is to unite and organize the people of the community around their shared priorities for improvement. The people write a short history of the community, draw a map, and identify the local resources that they have to work with including organizations. Community priorities are set and plans are made for how to achieve those goals, who will do it, and when. The priorities often include things like water projects, latrines, and getting electricity in the community. Diaconia often works to help strengthen and guide groups like the water board, or whatever other group of people that might be responsible for getting projects going.



On this trip I mostly translated for Steve so that he could contribute to what was going on. It is exciting to see communites working together like this to improve their well being. By now Jordan is back in Canada with his family, it was great to have him living here for that time.

Front Porch Gang Update

By Katie

The front porch gang has been just as active as ever, but I realized it's been a long time since you've had an update. We still have classes in the afternoons usually four days a week. After working on some reading skills and reading a story together, we usually play a learning game. In this picutre we are playing Go Fish with some letter cards which has done wonders for those who previously couldn't recognize their letters. One second grade student, Wilmer, went from hardly being able to name half the letters to naming almost all of them very quickly because he was very motivated to win the game. It's been fun to watch them develop a sense of strategy too. On this day we were having so much fun that some teenage cousins and even a mom who were visiting the neighbors came over for a round.


After game time we usually have free reading time so the kids can enjoy the little library I've collected. It's a great opportunity for them to practice and has really made a difference in their skills. Most of the families of these children do not own books of their own, so it's the only opportunity they have for reading material at their level. The little squirts who are too young to be reading yet usually work on letter or number worksheets during this time. Here's a video of a nice quiet work time with some of the kids.


Hanging out with the front porch gang is certainly my favorite part of the day!

Movie Night

By Katie

Last Friday night the youth at our church hosted a movie night. We used a data projector from Diaconia to project a movie on the wall of the church. In the end we had a pretty good turn out, but it wasn't without some struggles. We had about five youth who were part of the church's youth board which Matt and I help with since it overlaps with work we already do for Diaconia. The week before the movie two of the five announced they were switching churches. Another one was working and couldn't come and the other two showed up very late. So basically the event was a Matt and Katie production. We'd certainly like to see more ownership of the group by the youth themselves. Pray with us for the strengthening of this group.

There certainly were some successes though. There were about 20 people who ended up coming; some youth, some kids and some adults and we watched a remarkably good Christian movie that many seemed to enjoy. I made popcorn over an open fire for my first time and only burned a little bit!

A model for short-term missions

By Katie

Recently I got to go along with a group of visitors from Michigan to their first visit to the community of Dos Quebradas, about 45 minutes from where we live. It was exciting to me for a couple of reasons. First, I went along as a translator for the group. It was my first time doing something like this, and I was happy that it went pretty well, although I know too that I've still got a lot more Spanish to learn!

Folks from the community, Diaconia and CRWRC staffers and the visitors from Michigan.

What was most exciting though was the way this church, Mayfair Christian Reformed of Grand Rapids, MI, is looking to form a partnership with the community of Dos Quebradas. In 2007, Diaconia Nacional began a process of making a "Community Transformation Plan" for each community they work with. The process involves surveys, writing the history of the community story, community mapping, and asking the community to name their top ten priorities they'd like to see for the development of their community. Arturo of Diaconia took the information he collected and wrote it into a report. The community uses the document to assess how they are doing on making their priority projects a reality in their community. The process inspires them to look within their community and to various NGOs and the government to get the resources they need. The document is revised every year to mark changes and to hold the community members accountable to it.
A picture from a community transformation planning meeting in Dos Quebradas, 2007.

Once the plan is done and is being used within the community, CRWRC takes it and translates a shortened version into English. Churches who are interested in forming partnerships with a church or community in another country can read the profiles of the communities with the plan and choose one that fits the interests and abilities of their congregants. The North American church then sends a fact-finding team to initially meet the community and explore what they could do to continue a long-term relationship with this community. This fact-finding trip was what brought the three people from Mayfair to Dos Quebradas. They'll take what they learned and present it to their council, and Lord willing will start planning another trip with a group from their church.

I really like this model for many reasons. It ensures that the community names their own priorities, as opposed to donors who might put the ideas into the minds of the community members. From the outset the community understands that they are in charge of making the connections necessary to get a water project (or whatever other project) done. It's possible that a North American group might come and lend a hand, but really they need to get things done locally. It's a good deal for the North American churches too because they are encouraged to make long-term relationships with one community and learn to share in their joys and sorrows over the years and helps instil a new set of values and way of looking at the world for both sides of the partnership. The groups that return year after year to Honduras certainly exhibit higher levels of understanding and have realistic expections for what their time with the community means for the building of their on-going relationship. It's a great model to follow for doing short-term missions right.

Student Prayers

By Katie

The exams are done and school's out for the year at Luz y Verdad. Just before the end I got some fun work in from the students in computer class. Their assignment was to write a series of prayers by drawing a picture in Paint, then saving it and inserting it into a Word document where they typed the words to the prayer. That they all were able to do this is showed the progress that they had made throughout the year. Many could hardly use a mouse at the beginning of the year, and only one or two knew how to save their work.

Here's some of the pictures they created and the prayers they wrote, translated into English.

By Oto (fourth grade)

Our Father in heaven, holy be your name. Come to do your will on the earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, forgive us our sins. Also help us to forgive the sins of others. Help also the politicians that they can resolve the problem in the country and that all can return to normal. Amen.

By Fernando (third grade)

Father God we ask that you guard all the people of the earth including the people of the world, for the pastors and for Mel and Michelleti. Father, guard us. Amen.

By Adela Michell (third grade)

Lord, I pray for the children that they can learn. Amen.





By Estefany and Cintia (fifth grade)

Our Father in heaven, protect the forests, the animals and the people in our country. Amen.




AMEN!

Gift Catalog

By Katie

This year's CRWRC gift catalog is out and again includes some things from Honduras. I thought I'd highlight the items specifically for Honduras. There's lots more gifts to choose from around the world; check out the entire catalog by clicking here.

Moringa Tree ($2 usd)
"Purchasing animal feed in Honduras is expensive and has the added environmental cost of transportation. Moringa trees provide highly nutritious leaves and pods that can be eaten by cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and rabbits." Humans can eat it too!

Of course, this is our personal favorite. Matt does trainings on the moringa tree very often and the purchase of these trees would continue the funding for even more trainings, seeds and seedlings.

Nutrition Kit ($17 usd)
"A nutritional kit containing soybean milk, vitamins, and anti-parasite medication can help a Honduran child gain the nutrients and protection she needs to grow strong and healthy."

Two nurses work for Diaconia in southern Honduras where very high rates of malnutrition exist. They distribute these kits to trained health leaders in the communities. These community leaders run mini-pharmacies and are sources of knowledge in their communities.

Water Filter ($50 usd)
"A plastic filter that uses water and sand to filter out germs can clean stored water and make it healthy to drink."

These are also distributed through the health program in the south.



Water Containers ($65 usd)

"A water storage container, or PILA, can help a Honduran family gain regular access to water."

The people fortunate enough to have running water in Honduras don't experience running water like we know it in North America. It rarely comes every day, sometimes up to once every fifteen days. In the mean time, we keep stores of water to use. The alternative to having a pila is filling up 3 liter pop bottles little by little and keeping them for storage. Even those who don't have running water find it much easier to store the water from the hand pump in a pila rather than so many small containers. Pilas are essential for life in Honduras.

Popular Honduran Music

By Katie

One of our favorite Honduran musicians is singer/songwriter Polache. He often sings about Honduras, and this song, "Mirá a Honduras" is very popular lately. This song is especially popular among folks who want to remind Hondurans that Honduras can be more than just another country ruled by corruption. The song takes on extra significance this month as we gear up for elections on November 29.

Have a listen!



Mirá a Honduras

Que no te tapen los ojos, Ojos con la corrupción y la incomprensión, la indiferencia y la delincuencia que con frequencia amigo uno se encuentra en esta nación, ponele mucho atención a esta canción de corazón, es más lo bueno que aquí tenemos más los que queremos, creemos en esta tierra que es una bendición

CORO
Mirá a Honduras con otros ojos que esta es tu tierra
Descubrí que al mirarla con otros ojos vas a merecerla
Mirá a Honduras con otros ojos, tenés que quererla
Descubrí que al mirarla con otros ojos, vas a merecerla.

Laralala…

Que no te tapen los ojos, la desforestación y contaminación, la pobreza, injusticia y bajeza, que con frequencia amigo uno se encuentra en esta nación, ponele mucha atención a esta canción de corazón, es más la riqueza, grandeza, nobleza, y más la belleza que hay en esta tierra que es un bendción.

CORO BIS

Translation:
Look at Honduras

Don’t let them cover your eyes, see the corruption, and the incomprehension, the indifference and delinquency that with frequency friend one finds in this nation, pay much attention to this song from the heart, it’s more the good that we have here, more the ones that we love, we believe in this land that is a blessing.

CHORUS
Look at Honduras with other eyes ‘cuz it’s your land
Discover that to look at it with other eyes you’re going to deserve it.
Look at Honduras with other eyes, you have to love it
Discover that to look at it with other eyes you’re going to deserve it.

Laralala….

Don’t let them cover your eyes, the deforestation, and contamination, the poverty, injustice and lowness, that with frequency friend one finds in this nation, pay much attention to this song of the heart, it’s more the richness, grandness, nobleness, and more the beauty that is in this land that is a blessing.

We Have Water!!!

By Matt

Yes that's right, the water project in our barrio is finally done and running water comes to our house!
On my birthday (Sunday, Oct 18th) we had a big inauguration party for the water project which included cake, lots of pop, and Tapado Olanchano which is an amazing stew-like dish that Olancho is famous for. To make the tapado someone in the barrio killed a cow, cut it up and put big hunks of it in a huge kettle, then added yucca (cassava), green bananas, sweet ripe plantains, spicy sausage, and a bunch of coconut juice and let it cook slowly over a fire with pepper and spices. Let me tell you that it was just about the best birthday meal I could have asked for. I had to go sleep for a while afterword because it was so heavy!





Here are some pics of the water tower which includes the project title "gift of God" and Psalm 120:1, "I call on the Lord in my distress, and He answers me".

Because the tank is not huge the water is distributed on a schedule (this is very common in Honduras). Water should arrive every other day for a couple hours in the moring.
Diaconia helped out with a little bit of the funding for the project too.
It is really cool to see this neighborhood rally together and raise funds, and then complete such a big project on their own initiative. It was a great birthday.

Early vacation and free passes for everyone!

By Katie

The latest drama in the Honduran education system is that the school year will be cut short by about three weeks, as decided by the current government. This rule applies to the private school where I work as well as the public schools. Now our last day will be Friday, and we only learned this less than two weeks ago.

Understanding that this would make it difficult for teachers to have time to properly test their students, the current government said that each student in all grades will pass; there will be no one in the country repeating a grade this year! Kids on the edge love the idea while the studious ones are disappointed.

Why end the year early? Answer: The teachers are taking a hard line against the current government (hence the strikes I mentioned in an earlier blog). The elections for a new president will be at the end of November, a few days after school was originally supposed to end. Public schools are used to house the polls. The current government feared that the teachers would take over the schools if let allowed to stay there for too long. Now as soon as school is done, it is said that the military will occupy the schools.

For me this is a lesson in not taking myself or my work too seriously. I admit, I'm upset about this; it's not fair for the students and I had some cool lessons planned for the end of the year. But I also need to work on not letting my ideology or would-be plans stress me out. I need to tackle what I can, let go what I can't.

Grant Proposal

By Katie

Matt's been busy lately (so busy he can't write his own blog post, so I'm doing it for him). He's working on a proposal to an agency in Canada to help fund Diaconia's Agriculture and Environment program where he works. The proposal is quite long and intricate and there's been plenty of bumps along the road in writing it. But he's getting much-appreciated input from CRWRC staffers from all over. Please pray with us that the writing goes well, and that this grant could be approved to help fund the agriculture program.

World Cup update

By Katie

I wasn't paying any attention to the playoff soccer games last night until I went outside to do the dishes. All of a sudden, shouts arose from every single house in the neighborhood and I judged that Honduras had won. I ran over to the neighbor's house and there learned that not only had Honduras won the game, but the US had tied Costa Rica in a nail-bitter. With those two outcomes (that happened within moments of each other), both Honduras and the US will advance to the World Cup in South Africa. Today I had two people tell me how grateful they were that "my" team had helped their team beat Costa Rica in points, thus allowing Honduras to advance. It was sweet because they really meant it.

After the game last night I went and sat outside on the front porch for a bit, just listening to the noise around the neighborhood. You could hear many loud excited voices coming from many of the neighbor's houses, lots of fireworks, whooping and hollaring, and car horns honking. One lone teenager whizzed by on his bike and, for no audience in particular, threw back his head and yelled, "¡Viva Honduras!", "Honduras lives!".

I love what sports and a little bit of good news can do to humans.

Radio broadcast

By Katie

Calvin College professor and Association for a More Just Society co-founder Kurt Ver Beek was on Chicago Public Radio recently to talk about the current situation in Honduras. It's a very interesting summary and analysis. Have a listen by clicking here.

Honduras vs. United States of America

By Katie

This Saturday night we get ninety minutes to forget about Honduras vs. the United States in the political world and watch what the two countries can do on the soccer field. The two teams are playing in the playoffs for the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. There's only a few games left, so the stakes are quite high and it's supposed to be a close one.

When asked who I'm cheering for, I can't deny it, I go for Honduras. Futbol fever grips Honduras on game days like people in the US can't begin to understand. Blue and white jerseys are everywhere. Many banks and grocery stores encourage their employees to wear their jerseys during work. Vendors selling jerseys line the streets of every town for a week or more ahead of big games. It's serious business. Go Honduras!!

In the South

By Matt and Katie

Recently we traveled to the south of Honduras to help out Gloribel and Lisa in the health program by giving trainings on how to grow and use Moringa trees. This had been in the planning stages for a while, and Lisa had already grown a nursery of Moringa trees from seeds that we got from Olancho. The south is a very distinct part of Honduras, it is known for its very hot temperatures, wind, watermelons, and shrimp farms. It is also known for malnutrition and deep poverty. Our first stop was Amapala, a volcanic island very near the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Matt and Lisa led a meeting of women who meet regularly as part of Diaconia’s health program. Meanwhile, Katie cooked moringa soup (in a Honduran lady’s kitchen, over the open flames for the first time… by herself… for twenty people… successfully!). We also brought some powder made from dried and ground moringa leaves. A woman added it to her tortillas. They tasted good, as long as you don’t mind green tortillas. We added 2 tablespoons (which contains about 100% of the vitamin A needed for a child) to make about 9 tortillas (most children eat around that many per day).

In the video below, you can see the women taking turns reading from the pamphlets Matt brought. Matt goes on to explain a few things and the women pipe in with their own ideas.

To wrap up the meeting, Lisa distributed the moringa trees that she had grown from seed. Each woman got two or three seedlings and several more women took bags of seeds to plant nurseries. When the seeds grow into seedlings, they’ll distribute the seedlings to other women in their community and train them on the uses and benefits. We spent the night on the island too, in the house of one of the women in the group named Juanita. She has a little guest house and serves up quite the meals, this one containing a whole fish, a whole crab, green beans, and boiled bananas.
But, how on earth do you eat a meal like this? Juanita got out her grinding stone to smash the crabs so they could be eaten. She’s also a big fan of the eyeballs of the fish. I gave her mine.



Sunday we were able to take some time to enjoy the water and go around the island a bit. Amapala is an interesting place in the fact that it located in an absolutely beautiful place, but the poverty is immense. More people live in houses made of plastic sheeting on the island than any other place we’ve been to in Honduras. On the flip side, there is a lovely brick road that goes all around the island and little quaint mototaxis as a common mode of transportation, which of course promotes tourism.

Monday the four of us went to anther community on the mainland and did the same training on moringa in one of the churches in the area. It was so incredibly hot this day that we just hope all the little seedlings survived!

Ever-changing news from Honduras

By Katie

It's been three months since the June 28 coup that deposed Mel Zelaya. He recently snuck back into the country and shook things up quite a bit. Mel continues camping out at the Brazilian Embassy. And the news keeps on coming...

I've tried on several occasions to write blogs about the current political situation but keep erasing them. The problem is that the news changes dramatically every few hours. There have been bouts of violence from both sides in the capital. Curfews of varying hours were set for every day in weeks past. The de facto government suspended five civil liberties, and in turn invaded and shut down several media sources. About 24 hours later they changed their mind and reinstated the civil liberties, thank goodness! There has been cracks in the support that backs both sides lately, which may point us closer to a compromise.

So far everything has been very calm in Catacamas, although sometimes things are canceled as precautionary measures, including Catacamas' Bible Day celebration.

It's undeniable that something in Honduras has to change and that there's a few roads that Honduras could take in the future. Please pray that Honduras can be transformed for the better through this crisis, and that it will end peacefully.

Hiking up La Picucha

By Katie

In late August we went on an amazing hike up the mountain just outside of Catacamas. I'm playing catch-up on blogging now, so the story's a little late. At any rate, I hope you enjoy these pictures!

Day One: Five-hour hike

Our team of hikers consisted of Lisa, Brayan, Matt and I, Sarah, David, Jordan and Calixto the guide. With the exception of Brayan, who is a youth from our church, all the others work or volunteer in various parts of Honduras. You can see two peaks in the background; we camped on top of the one on the left, and hiked up to the taller one on the right. On this day we had a donkey and a mule to carry our bags and give us rides.

Our campsite the first night was amidst a coffee plantation in the cloud forest.

On this night we cooked and slept in a shack that houses the coffee pickers during the harvest season.

Day Two: Six-hour hike
The day of big adventures!

Straight up!

Calixto built this trail himself with a couple of other people. He continued clearing the trail with his machete as we went up.

Just before the peak of the mountain we arrived in the dwarf forest, a unique ecosystem found in areas of high altitude, high wind and humidity. In this picutre you can see a bit of the dwarf forest overlooking the cloud forest and then valley below.

The plants in the dwarf forest are all short with thick leaves. It's like an ornamental garden everywhere you look!

How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Psalm 104:24

You didn't want to go walking around at night at this campsite-- the land went straight down to both the left and right of our cluster of three tents.



Day Three: Eight-hour hike
We woke up to see the sun rising and the clouds below us.

We packed up in a bit of a drizzle, then did a hike/run down the mountain and made it back to catch the last bus back to Catacamas. We were tired, very dirty, and very satisfied.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
Psalm 19:1-4a

Running water, Here We Come!

By Katie

The last few days in Honduras have been interesting, to say the least. On Monday the old president returned and all day Tuesday and most of Wednesday the entire nation was under curfew to prevent people from traveling to the capitol city.

Fortunately, the days off of work coincided perfectly with our community’s water project. Soon and very soon our barrio, Colonia Villa Verde, will have running water! This is no gift from the government; it is entirely a project of the people who live in the neighborhood. There’s a group of community leaders who started almost two years ago petitioning different organizations (such as Diaconia Nacional), as well as their own neighbors, for the money to put a tank, pump, and tubes in for the neighborhood. Bit by bit the tower for the tank was built. Last Tuesday was a national holiday, so people had the day off of work. They spent their time digging the trenches in front of their homes and community spaces for the pipes. Then, this week when we all had another surprise day off because of the curfew, the neighbors all set out to work again, this time laying the PVC pipes in the trenches and covering them back up. It has been amazing to see the community come together for the project. On work days you can see everyone out in the streets working for a total of about four square blocks—pure people with shovels and pickaxes! Everyone is there to work and encourage each other, young and old.


While there’s plenty of disunity in the capitol, our neighborhood has shown what a little bit of working together can do. It’s encouragement we all need these days.

Church in Patuca

By Matt

In the ag progam we have been working with a group of farmers down in the southern part of olancho in a town called Patuca. It takes us at least 4 hours to get to Patuca, and the trip is both difficult and beautiful. We cross over a mountain range and then follow the mighty Patuca river for quite a while. In town you see a lot of boats from the travelers coming in and out of the Moskitia on the river (this is the very undeveloped, rainforest/lagoon region on the eastern side of Honduras).
The farmers are working land that is owned by Diaconia and paying it off bit by bit with every harvest.



They always ask David to preach in the local Christian Reformed Church when we go there. This time I was able to lead a bible study with the farmer group focusing on how God was the first farmer and how he has given us the responsibility to care for the land. This was all great, but the best part of being in Patuca is the praise and worship with a band of very animated Olanchanos playing ranchera music on a variety of well-worn instruments. A couple of the farmers are also in the band. Here is a short video to give you a taste:



As we clapped and praised the Lord together, I was struck to think of how fortunate I am to have experiences like this. I love this job.

Professional Development comes to Luz y Verdad

By Katie

A few weeks ago Escuela Luz y Verdad was blessed with an opportunity for professional development. I went to school that day thinking we were just going to have a regular teachers' meeting, so I was astonished to see Professor María Rodriguez of Calvin College show up to do a training for the teachers at Luz y Verdad and the teachers of a nearby town.

I had Prof. María Rodriguez´s sister as a professor in the Spanish department at Calvin, and her other sister Blanca works here in Honduras for Worldwide Christian Schools. Accompanying María and Blanca was Elaine Helmus, who is a former missionary with CRWM and was integral in starting the school about 20 years ago. It was truly an honor to have them come to visit our little school.

Professor María gave an excellent workshop on teaching strategies for improving reading skills and examples for providing more hands-on, high-interest learning activities in the classroom. It was exciting to see Professor María talk about these things for several reasons. First, the examples she gave were very much in-line with the style of teaching that I try to promote by example in our school. This style is contrary to the more popular mode of copying off the board or doing book work. But María, who was born and raised in Honduras, was able to be very convincing to the teachers that we need to shift our methods to reflect changing times where group work skills and creativity are necessary for success in life. She explained that, although this was not how they were taught, it is a necessary shift that needs to be made by today´s educators. Also, parents might be skeptical if they see that students play games all day long, so the teachers need to educate the parents on the new learning techniques too. Professor María said in a few short minutes what I´m hoping the teachers glean from me in the two years that I´ll be with them.

The results of the workshop were immediate. The next day the English teacher, Marcos, developed an activity that combined an activity that Professor María had shown with one I had done with another group the week before. It was encouraging for Marcos to see that not only did the students learn the new vocabulary better, but they behaved much better too. Now he is incorporating pre-planned activities such as this into his classes more often. Another teacher, Cendy, had her kids create posters for something they were learning, and those posters are now hanging in her classroom. You can see in this picture that teacher Jarmin also hangs student work in her classroom and has the students interact with it.

Bit by bit change is coming to Luz y Verdad. With the support of trainings from highly-qualified professionals like Professor María Rodriguez, these changes can become permanent pieces of our identity as a school, so that we can better reflect our calling to be a Christian school dedicated to real learning for ALL of the students.

Youth Retreat

By Katie

Recently youth from all over Honduras gathered at a church camp in the mountains just outside of Tegucigalpa for the national youth retreat. It was a weekend of new experiences for many youth, some of whom had never been to the city before.

The sessions started with Ana Joya, who works for CRWRC, leading a session called “To love is to wait”. Ana did an excellent job speaking to the youth about this topic.

She started out with group work, which is not something commonly done in the rural areas outside of Tegucigalpa. It was a great opportunity for the youth to have their voice heard and to develop teamwork skills. To finish the session, Matt and I gave our testimony about our dating relationship and how God guided us through that time of our lives.


On Friday night, we had the ever-popular Honduran tradition: Open Mic Night. Here’s a video of a couple of guys from Olancho singing a ranchero song, a Honduran country song. The crowd is going nuts because they love it.



Some youth from the city had entirely different presentations for open mic night. Here’s a group that made a skit about how only Christ leads to salvation, not other lifestyles like rock n’ roll, goth, etc.


There was one last thing you thought you’d never see in Honduras: A little Christian Reformed *bling*bling*:



It was a great opportunity for the students to get together and push their limits of comfort, expand their circle of friends to include people all over the country, and to challenge their hearts and minds to live more fully for Jesus Christ.

Public school teachers still on strike

By Katie

No one has felt the effects of the political crisis more than the students of public schools in Honduras. Since the coup occured on June 28, the public school students have not been to school more than three days a week in most cases. The teachers' union is very strong and is has been striking for eight weeks to show their support of the ousted president, Mel Zelaya. For the first three weeks there was no school at all, and now they only strike Mondays and Tuesdays and give classes the other three days of the week.

This is infuriating because it is especially affecting the poor students in Honduras. Anyone who can at all afford it does not send their children to the public school. The teachers have a history of striking far too many days, so any other school is better than the public schools, as long as they give classes most of the time.

However, I do know some public school teachers who are fighting against their unions and truly looking out for the students they teach. One of these is my Spanish tutor, Delvin, who is the president of the local chapter of the teachers' union. He does not take a political stance in the Mel vs. Michelletti game, and does not support the strike because it is not the fault of the students that their president was ousted. He is working with a few local teachers to move the strike to only one day per week and to teach four days per week. He'd like to teach full five-day weeks, but realizes that there is only a small minority of teachers who want to stop the strike and sees the one/four option as a compromise.

Other teachers keep teaching despite demands on them not to. The teacher of the second graders in my neighborhood holds classes in the afternoons for struggling students on the days of the week when she is not supposed to be striking. Many of those kids are in my after-school program, so I make sure they go to her classes on those days so that I can show my support of her efforts. Other teachers are holding classes on Saturdays in order to keep educating their students.

Please pray with us that this situation gets resolved soon, and does not last the entire year. Pray especially for the strength of people like Delvin and the second grade teacher in our neighborhood who face strong opposition for their support of putting students first.


Photo from La Tribuna, a newspaper in Honduras. The school called Rafael Pineda Ponce says "We want classes, We want teachers".