Visitors galore

Life at the estancia has been a bit hectic with each day being very different from the next. The last few weeks of classes were filled with different visiting groups and several parties. There was first a despedida (going away party) for a woman who is going to be a nun. She volunteered at the school for a while, and now is moving to Columbia for two years as part of her preparation to become a nun. The following week, students from a local high school came and did a talk about drugs which was a little dry but had some really good messages that did get across. The students at the school often are very hungry for attention and love from adults but also from peers. One of the high school students’ main messages was that a friend who offers you drugs is not a friend because they are asking you to do harm to yourself. They were also very receptive to feedback and even said that they thought a few situational examples and case studies would have been helpful. So it was a good, well-intentioned talk, and I hope that none of our students get enticed into the lifestyle they were discussing.

Another group came and had a sort of end of the year party with the kids complete with food, cake, and a piñata! The girl in the picture is swinging the stick nowhere near the piñata--it was hilarious. One problem with this visit was that the group that came didn’t even introduce themselves to the students and gave them no explanation of why they were there. It was just instant fun and then they left without saying goodbye or anything. It was odd.

On the other hand, recently another group came and donated nonperishable goods which is a huge help and good use of money. Instead of just dropping the stuff off, they gave a small celebration and talked about where they were from, what they were donating, and why they had come. The problem for me was that when a man was talking about why they were interested in helping our project, he started saying very insulting things about the children, such as that their parents might not care for them as well as they should, and that the group had come to give them a little bit of happiness in their otherwise gloomy lives. Afterward he was talking to me within earshot of some students and telling me how great he thought it was to come to Honduras and work with children “like them.” I had to speak up, so I told him, “thank you, but just so you know they are all great children and I really enjoy working with them.” It is great that organizations in Danlí itself are willing and able to give support to the project (which is only three years old). It makes the project more sustainable than it would be if it relied more on outside donations, and in addition it is much better for the donors to be able to interact with the children whom they are benefiting. I do, however, have a huge problem with anyone, Honduran or outside, who insults the very people who they are trying to help. Knowing that the children have different needs than some students at other schools might have is one thing, but listing out what’s wrong with their lives is not helpful.

On another occasion, representatives from the Danlí office of human rights stopped by to discuss human rights with the students and again, have another party. We informed them of a group of siblings who had not come to school for a while and expressed our concern. They made a house visit with a lawyer, made some discoveries, and several government offices have gotten involved. I cannot go into details of the case, but suffice it to say that the past few weeks have been very busy and emotional aside from the day-to-day activities at the school. Exams have now ended and I am not where I had hoped to be in terms of planning activities for what I am calling “vacation school.” So far the kids have been working on the school garden, lead by an enthusiastic teacher. This week another volunteer is going to start science classes with small groups while I do something yet-to-be-determined with the other students. We’ll see!