Week 14

Students paint their animals during 'Animal Week'

Though the political issues in Honduras have yet to be resolved, this week was much calmer than last. On Monday evening, it was broadcasted that one of the most elite police units in the capital city of Tegucigalpa had refused to enforce the curfew which the government had put in place presumably to stop protests from occurring. Essentially, the police were going on strike. For the first time in the past week, I felt hopeful. Before, it seemed as though the citizens were alone in their fight against a higher power. Now, with some of the most dominant police going against the government and standing with the people, it seemed as though things might get better: their voices might be heard.

The next day we sat down with one of our Honduran, adult class students, who also works as a study buddy (i.e. Spanish tutor) for one of the volunteers. He explained to us that neither of the most popular candidates was a good option. He said that many of the people who were out in the streets were not protesting because they want Nasralla to be president, but because they want to live in a democracy where their votes will be counted properly and no fraud will occur. We also learned that Juan Orlando has a 50-year plan for his party to be in control of Honduras and, as of now, he's right on track.

Making animals out of homemade Play-Doh

Over the weekend and throughout the week, El Porvenerians of all ages took to the streets with pots, pans, spoons, ladles, and any type of loud-noisemaker they could find. In the beginning of the week, the curfew was still from 6pm to 6am. In opposition, the protests began at around 7pm and lasted until they'd done a loop around the central part of El Porvenir, making sure to pass by the police station. Each night as we were eating dinner, we would hear loud banging and rush to the porch to see what was going on. Their route took them a block away from Beach House, but we could see the lights of cars and the shapes of people bobbing down the street. At first, when one of my friends from El P told me that he was going to protest, I was nervous. I didn't think the police were allowed to shoot protesters, but they could arrest them, and who knows how well the police would actually follow the law if push came to shove. I realized though, that these marches, at least in El P, were quite peaceful. Their only purpose was to dispute the curfew; an infringement on their freedom. I don't know if these parades were happening all over Honduras but, whatever was going on, it must have worked. By Tuesday morning, the curfew had been changed to 8pm to 5am which gave us more time to go between houses after classes.

On Wednesday, the local mini-super got a shipment of fresh vegetables. There were carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and onions. Every single volunteer from our house stocked up, and Yamit and I had salad for lunch for the first time in a very long time.

One of our most talented PEP2 artists paints
a dragonfly

Meanwhile, during all of this country-wide chaos and turmoil, we'd had two volunteers whose plans to leave had been thwarted or complicated by the roadblocks and general lack of safety throughout the country. One of them was a good friend, Kathryn, who had been here since my second week. After tons of planning and hours spent on the phone to different airlines, she finally figured out a way to leave the country. We said goodbye to her early on Monday morning. The entire house got up to give her teary hugs and to watch her drive away in a taxi.

The other person who'd been trying to leave wasn't actually a volunteer at all. Jenna had been the project manager last year and was the one who'd taken in our household dog, Gilbert, and nursed him back to life. She was trying to find a job in Guatemala and had come so that she could collect Gilbert. Little did she know, she would be stuck here for over a week. When Kathryn left, she'd taken a plane from La Ceiba to the international airport in San Pedro Sula. Because of the dog, and because of her destination, Jenna needed to get driven to Copan -- the Mayan ruins on the border of Honduras and Guatemala. However, that seemed almost impossible and extremely unsafe given the current situation. About a week after she was supposed to leave, and a mere day before she began her new job in Xela, Guatemala, Jenna and Gilbert were finally able to get a ride from one of our trusty taxi drivers to the border seven hours away. Gilbert had been a part of the HCA family since my second week here and even though Jenna had only been here for a little over a week, she had fit in perfectly. Saying goodbye was hard, as it always seems to be.

Saturday morning breakfast with Sophia and Yamit

This week was our second week of VAP and it was also "Animal Week". One of the volunteers had planned classes filled with fun animal-themed games and art projects. The kids loved making animal puppets out of brown paper bags, imagining their own animal and forming it out of homemade Play-Doh, and playing loads of Duck, Duck, Goose and Cat and Mouse.

We also began planning our Concurso de Talentos (Talent Show) which we are having on December 21st. Each class is going to do some sort of fun performance in front of their families, friends, and the students in the other classes. We've got everything from a play, to drumming, to gymnastics. Children can also choose to do smaller performances in groups of two or three. Most are interested in singing and dancing. The volunteers have an act in the works which we will perform, as well. Even though it's more effort, I'm very excited to see the finished product and I think it will be a great way to begin the holiday season and say goodbye to El Porvenir.

Word of the week:

Un naipe: a deck of cards

Yamit quote of the week:

"I can't move because there's a stupid lion in the way!" exclaimed after spending an extensive amount of time working on the Safari Rush Hour game we have in one of the classrooms.