March 4, 2012

Greetings one and all,

Our trip from Boston to Honduras was smooth and seamless - and one cannot always say that, so we were off to a promising start! After settling in Saturday, tour of the campus, orientation meeting, unpacking and late lunch, we spent the evening outside with the 80 or so children still at El Hogar for the weekend. The other 20 or so were home visiting their families for a couple of days. The evening air was warm and gentle - something we all relished as you can imagine. Games of uno abounded, coloring, pipecleaner creations, rollerblading on one foot - the usual fare for an evening of play at El Hogar.

Sunday brought refreshed ladies after a good night of sleep, albeit some of us had wild and crazy dreams. The church service observed a Holy Lent by silent processions, but otherwise offered the lively upbeat music and warm atmosphere that those who have been to St. Mary´s in Tegucigalpa have come to love. Now six more people have experienced it and also found it like no other. Lunch at Pizza Hut may have at first seemed ordinary for us, but extraordinary for the children new to El Hogar for whom pizza in a restaurant was something never dreamed of. They all savored every bite.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was attending a mother´s meeting held by Claudia Castro, Director of the elementary school. Once a month Claudia gathers any parent interested in and able to come to El Hogar and hear about the work El Hogar is doing in the lives of their children, to encourage them to support their children, and to support her, in her efforts to change the lives of these children. She implored the mothers there to praise their children, to write to them, send them a photo of themselves for them to put by their bed at night, so in the morning they are reminded of how much their moms encourage them in their lives here. Claudia is working with whole family systems, offering support, education, encouragement and teamwork in the raising and educating of these children.

Seeing the mothers leave at the end of the afternoon, with teary goodbyes with their children, is a little heartwrenching, but nowhere near as heartwrenching as leaving a little one back in their life of poverty and desperation. The tears are temporary and we were more than happy to receive the sad ones into our circles of companionship and play. they soon were smiling and coloring and jumping rope like children do when they are safe, fed and loved.

You all must be eager to know what our work projects are...well, it involves painting classrooms, tending to gardens and tamping down dirt. For those who have been here, I know you can picture it vividly!

Our little group of women is wonderful, happy, open and full of love. It is, as always, a privilege to be here.

Dona Liz Kinchen