Brayan with his new passport
Today we went to San Pedro to try and get a passport for Brayan for the second time. Thank God that this time they let us get one, and we were able to come home with the passport (amazing how fast it is when they are willing to give you one). We also went to a supermarket in the city and were able to find some dried apricots! and some other yummy things that you can’t get here. Oh I have been missing dried apricots.
I received some cards in the mail from a whole bunch of lovely people in Kumeu! Thank you very much for sending them. I appreciate all the well-wishing and felt very loved. It’s easy to feel disconnected over here so I truly appreciated the connection and wish I could express the warm feelings that came with the cards. So thank you very much!
Brayan on stage with Guillermo Anderson
Today we watched Guillermo Anderson (a well-known Honduran singer) play some songs for the kids in the park. We climbed up the back of the mini-stadium-style concrete seating to find a little shade, and sung and clapped along with the energetic songs.
At one point, Guillermo asked for a volunteer from the audience to go on stage and do the actions (a pawing and roaring lion). Brayan jumped up and was the only child keen to be picked, which he was, so he climbed over everyone to get down to the stage and pawed and roared for us all.
This was in a break from the Project Honduras Conference. Some of the speakers had some very interesting stories to tell. The one that stands out the most was by a woman with a child who has down-syndrome. After discovering the lack of facilities for children with these types of needs (unfortunately, parents of children with down-syndrome are often ashamed of their kids and tend to hide them away), she started an organisation to help others like her daughter. It was a simple story, but somehow very moving, and was the only speaker to get a standing applause. The organisation is called Integrar, its based in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and it could really do with some help. Visit their website here.
Carol from Canada is back in Honduras to attend the Project Honduras “Conference on Honduras”. You can read her blog here, its much more interesting than this one!
Right now in Copán Ruinas, a large group of locals are protesting against the government situation. Everyone is coming out of their homes to stand in the doorways and watch with solemn smiles of encouragement, the march of the indigenous Maya.
Brothers that can hear me, Join the Fight!
Because of the rebels, we're in disgrace
Carol from Canada arrived on Saturday evening here in Copán Ruinas. She is here for around 10 days promoting health care among other things. Tomorrow she and Carol (Dobbe) will be going to one of the kindergartens to give fun health some presentations to a few classes.
She has begun her daily blog again while she is here: http://carol.hogarangelitosfelices.com/
Its worth reading, and certainly has more information than I seem to write!
A couple of updates:
Ms Younge and her class
Ms Younge and her class from Dalton School in New York City had a bake sale last week to raise money for the orphanage. They managed to raise a huge US$300.26 (it actually worked out to be NZD$519.91 – which was more than expected). This will be a huge help for the kids, and is greatly appreciated.
There is more information on their class blog: http://blogs.dalton.org/younge/
Thank you Younge House!
The past week (Semana Santa – Holy week) has been a holiday for all the kids in town. Many adults were also on holiday all week. Friday, the whole country closed down (almost everyone was on holiday, most people go to the river or somewhere to swim on the Friday) – a lot of people had trouble with transportation because the buses werent running. Thankfully, someone told me before Friday that all the shops would be closed so made sure I had what I needed beforehand.
The Thursday night, two streets were blocked off (one being mine) so the cars couldnt pass, and people make massive ‘carpets’ out of sawdust. First they lay down the plain sawdust and flatten it out, then use templates out of cardboard they had made to make beautiful designs out of coloured sawdust. The people work late into the night and most of the next day in the beating hot sun to make the designs. They see it as a sacrifice, hoping that God will be pleased with them because of the time they spent in the hot sun, making beautiful designs. They really do look amazing.
Friday night, there was a parade were they carried a statue of Jesus lying down, and some others were carrying a few Mary’s. It was beautiful to watch. They stopped right in-front of my place and read from the Bible. I have some photos and videos of the sawdust carpets and the parade.
A little earlier on the Thursday night, my neighbours made a smaller ‘carpet’ and put a big red heart in it, and the words ‘Casate conmigo’ which means ‘Marry me’. Later that evening, the intended couple came up the street and the boyfriend got one one knee and proposed. Most of the street was out watching, and cheered when she said yes. (There are a couple of photos of that too, but the power lines in front of my apartment get in the way).
Last night was a very important football (soccer) game between Honduras and Mexico. I didnt watch a minute of it, but i knew how it was going at every stage!
If anything good was happening, everyone in town would start shouting gleefully and making lots of noise. Every time Honduras scored a goal the people would go crazy, fireworks would go off, people would run through the streets shouting ‘¡Gol! ¡Gol! ¡Gol!’.
After the match, when Honduras won, the whole town came out onto the streets. Cars drove around in a loop with people hanging out windows, sunroofs, climbing all over the cars, shouting, singing, waving flags, waving at the people in the houses, dancing, horns tooting non-stop. It was incredible. Incredible!
Why dont we celebrate without reservation in NZ like they do here?
I was talking with someone about the match this morning, she told me when things arent going well for Honduras, like there is a crisis, or petrol prices have just risen, or whatever to make people depressed, the government will often arrange a football match to take people’s minds off the sadness, so that even for just a day the people will be happy. Last nights game wasn’t one of those though, it was a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup.
Click through to see a video of the celebrations.
The campesinos have taken over the Copán Ruins in protest against the government. The government has given the campesinos land to live on, in a shared fashion. There are about 30 people per block of land (a large piece of land). The problem is that the ownership of the land is in the name of all 30 people, not individual blocks per family. The campesinos would like to have the land in their own name so they can sell it if they want. From the other side though, one of the reasons for putting the land in the name of all 30 people is so they cant sell it. Unfortunately, what happens too often is if a family is given land under they own name, they sell it, use the money to buy some things (unfortunately, usually alcohol), then squat on someone else’s land. They build a little home out of sticks and mud on the land they dont own. The owners of the land cant do anything about it, and eventually the government buys the land from the owner and gives it to the squatters.
The reason for taking over the Ruins (they have blocked all entrances and are protecting them with machetes) is that its the main tourist attraction for this area, and a big deal for the government. In the past, if the government doesnt take notice of them taking over the Ruins, the campesinos have bought in old tyres, piled them up in the middle of the road so cars cant pass and set fire to them.
Im told to expect a helicopter to arrive at some point today with either a representative of the president, or the president himself. Probably to give them what they want.