Session Four ran from June 2009-Nov. 2009 (session three summary below this one)
The fourth session of Las Sonrisas de los Niños ran from June 2009 to November 2009. It proved to be very interesting, to say the least. Just as we were re-opening the president of Honduras was deposed on orders from the Honduran national congress and supreme court. The president was not in agreement and what followed was months of political instability and uncertainty. Honduras was put on the Do Not Travel lists of many countries, tourism dropped like a rock thrown off a cliff, and there was always some interesting news and/or rumors on which to speculate. Our little village was not affected too much, but the closing of the schools resulted in an increased number of kids attending the project beyond what we anticipated, which was not a bad thing.
Fortunately despite everything we had a good number of volunteers, dropping off only in the last few weeks we were in session. Volunteers are an important and integral part of our project, and before we go further we want to thank all of our wonderful Session Four volunteers:
From Canada- Stephanie (our very first volunteer, here six weeks this time), accompanied by Allan, and Richard. From the USA- Kayla (6th visit, had a 7th visit in early 2010 when we weren’t open), Gail and Becky (3rd consecutive annual trip to Honduras, 2nd time volunteering with us), Andrea, Fatima-Karin-Johann, the Hollis family (Minoo, Marcus, Lelia, Camron, Arshia), David and Megan, and from Duke University & Peaceworks Anna-Melody-Akul-Adriene-Laura. From England- Nikki, Clementyne, and Jack. From Ireland- Helena, Clare, and Emma. From Australia- Karen. From Denmark- Rikki (who had visited us in past sessions). Ben, a Session Three volunteer, decided to spend his Spring break from college in Cacao with some friends in March 2010.
Now we’ll get the Bad Event out of the way. Our friends at an organization called Helping Honduras Kids (HHK) operated an orphanage about a mile down the highway from us, which opened at the same time as us in May 2007. As our relationship developed we shared many things, including housing for our respective volunteers. For reasons that are not entirely clear, they had problems with moronic local punks from the beginning- stealing, threats, at least one home invasion- and in July or August 2009 the nitwits, probably with some gang associations, decided it would be a good idea to fire automatic weapons at their facility. Fortunately no one was hurt but this prompted what was essentially an emergency evacuation out of their facilities, and of course their volunteers left as well. To Patricia and me and I think many of the past volunteers, this was the end of a very happy era- at times our little housing area was one of the most hopping places in Honduras, with 12 or more volunteers from our two projects living together. It could have been a reality show. We’ve heard that the four people involved in the firing of weapons at HHK have all since met violent ends. We are still in touch with HHK, are glad to report they are doing well at their new location, and miss them quite a bit.
In December 2008 we sold about 2 ½ acres of our land to another orphanage called Casa Cielo as they needed to relocate and wanted a place of their own to develop their project. We are happy to say they are now an important presence in the area and are renting both the original volunteer house and our old house (our living arrangements are in a little neighborhood a short walk from our project, and the village of Cacao is about a mile further down a dirt road). We are happy to have Casa Cielo as friends and neighbors.
For years there has been in the village a fully stocked but never opened medical facility. Finally in July 2009 a group out of Canada called Adventures in Missions opened up the building to operate a clinic. We are extremely happy for their presence and that the local people finally can get medical care without making a trip to the city. We very much wish them continued success.
Canadian volunteer Richard, who generously built a tree house while he was with us in the early part of Session Four, decided to return to Cacao in December 2009 and remains there, kind of serving as a friend and mentor to our local employees and the kids. In January 2010 Patricia and I made a visit to Ontario and spent a wonderful afternoon with Stephanie and Allan.
It is always difficult to know if a charity project is having a beneficial result, especially in a place and with a type of project that by nature doesn’t easily lend itself to objective criteria. The kids in the poor villages rarely have the support of their parents and the community that leads them to favorable interactions with others and their society. In other words they tend to run wild, behave poorly, and interact with each other in selfish ways. Especially in Session Four we had people, familiar with other villages and project, who were rather impressed with our kids. Although it’s been gradual, we are truly coming to believe our kids are learning skills that will benefit them and their community in the future. Trash doesn’t get thrown on the ground, they can wait in line rather than stampede, they can say “por favor” and “gracias,” and all in all they can approach interactions and activities in more meaningful and beneficial way. One thing that pleases us greatly is that during story and music times the kids now love not just to hear stories but to read them as well and part of the daily ritual started including the kids choosing which books they want to read, a significant change.
If there were a contest for the most warm and fuzzy moment of Session Four, for me it would be the following: we were thinking about taking a field trip and I said something like “you have to be a good girl or boy to go.” One of the cutest kids, a boy of around 8 named Elias, came up to me and asked “I’m a good boy, aren’t I.” Con un abrazo, yo dije “si Elias, tu eres un niño muy bueno!”
In addition to the volunteers, we want to thank Lisa (from Germany, Session Three volunteer) and Claudia (from Germany, Session Two volunteer) for the packages they sent. And thank you VERY MUCH to our donors associated with Session Four (we hope we are not omitting anyone): Amber and Fernando; Gail and Becky; Stephanie; Fatima; Paul and Susan; Cindy and Mark; Barbara; Debbie; Ben; Frank and Joanne; David and Lee Ann; David; Josh and Amy and Russ; Anna and Project Heal; AND Kim.
One more expression of appreciation- the First Presbyterian Church (PCA) of Brewton, AL, its youth group, and Pastor John Mathieu for clearing the jungle that once was a lawn around our house before our return to the US at the close of Session Four. We never actually saw it in the jungle state but heard stories, and can only imagine what Alabaman land looks like after 5 months of unfettered growth!
There are photos of all the Session Four volunteers on the Volunteers and Volunteering page.
The third session (“phase 3”) of Las Sonrisas de los Ninos ran from September 2008 through January 2009:
We were very fortunate to already have two volunteers lined up (Debbie and Damien) upon our return to Honduras on September 4, 2008, then quickly picked up two more (Ben and Lisa), so that we had lots of help in the two weeks we spent preparing to re-open. Our opening day was September 22, 2008 and we were unexpectedly overwhelmed by about 72 kids showing up, and we served around 600 meals that first week. Our numbers throughout the session were 1 ½ to 2 times what we anticipated, especially once school closed in November, which necessitated having four fulltime local women as our paid staff. We were very lucky that Miriam, who has been with us from the very beginning, was available and willing to work for us again. Other returning employees were Blanca and Yolanda and our new hire was also named Miriam (nicknamed Miriam dos- dos being two in Spanish), who was very pregnant and finally delivered her healthy baby girl two weeks before we closed.
Soon after we opened two more long-term volunteers arrived, Jake and Theresa. In all for the session we had 17 volunteers: Debbie, Damien, Ben, Lisa, Jake, Theresa, Kayla, Matt, James, Melissa, Sara, Thea, Mariah, Kim, Joanne, Frank, and Dan. Special mentions include Ben earning the record as our longest serving volunteer (5 months) and repeat volunteers were Kayla (5 trips), Melissa (3 trips), and Matt (3 trips). THANKS TO EACH AND EVERY VOLUNTEER! They were a huge and necessary help in operating the project and provided wonderful, meaningful, and lasting memories for the all of the children.
Sometime in October it started to rain (and was surprisingly cool) and it didn’t seem to stop for any significant length of time until December. We learned that much of our outdoor activity area is in the low point on the land and that a foot and a half of submerged land can even be more fun to play in for some of the heartier kids! We also learned that 45 kids along with employees and volunteers inside our 450 square foot building creates lasting memories. At times we did close early, after the kids had their hot lunch and vitamins. One day, driving the kids back to the village, the mile long road literally could have been navigated in a canoe.
Most of our volunteers stayed in the volunteer house(s). When combined with the volunteers from Helping Honduras Kids (HHK) the original joint volunteer house became impressively populated, so effective Nov. 1, 2008 we opened a second house, which in close proximity to the first one. There was some irony in that only HHK volunteers initially lived in our house and the HHK house was home to ours. We very much enjoy watching as the volunteers, strangers at the beginning, quickly develop deep friendships. Between us and HHK we had people from the US, Canada, Germany, Australia, England, Spain, Switzerland, Scotland, and Holland living together at various times, which we believe complements the volunteer experience.
Christmas was made special for a number of reasons. First, volunteer Lisa was returning to Germany (hoping for a surprise Christmas Eve arrival) so she made up little gifts for the kids, which was party #1. On the Saturday before Christmas, thanks to Rafael Linares of the Central American Spanish School, we had a visit from Santa. It was fascinating to observe the kids, many who had only vaguely heard of Santa, being fascinated by the red suit, white beard and, of course, the gifts (we had a perfect match of 60 gifts and 60 kids). The Honduran version of Christmas also included a Santa Claus piñata. The official project celebration was the Monday before Christmas; we attempted to explain the true meaning of Christmas with limited success (i.e. the kids were pretty excited) and the gifts were slightly lame but purposeful and well received- they included pencils, erasers, and rulers.
Three of our volunteers, Ben, Jake, and Theresa, had their parents visit and we really appreciated the opportunity to tell them personally the great work their kids were doing. We received many hoped for donated items, including books in Spanish- enough that we were able to start a small lending library, a concept quite foreign to the local culture. We are very protective of our books and the child has to be known to be responsible in order to borrow, but we were very gratified by the demand and in one case we noticed one of the older girls reading a borrowed book to the younger kids at her house. We also want to mention the second visit of Barbara of Ontario, Canada. She stopped by last year on a vacation at a nearby resort and generously donated many items for the kids and this year she did the same.
Overall, the third session of Las Sonrisas de los Niños busy, tiring, and very successful. We probably averaged 30-35 kids a day (partly because this session largely coincided with school being out) but, gracias a Dios, we continued with no significant accidents or injuries. Thanks to everyone involved there were innumerable sonrisas de los niños (smiles of the children)! Below are a few photos of session 3 not otherwise posted on this website but too compelling to ignore! In order, 7 of the older girls leaving on an overnight trip to the city with Kayla; Kisle throwing an American futbol; Girls and dolls; Fun in the flood; The makeover; The 2 Miriams at Miriam 1's birthday party; Is Santa real?; Quiet time outside with volunteers Theresa, Thea, and Mariah; When you have to sleep, sleep; and lastly, the closing day of phase 3
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