March 18, 2009 Wednesday
7:30AM We have no morning meetings scheduled; we were simply going to deliver some supplies. But Fernando called last night to explain that he needed to be at his daughter’s kindergarten at 8:30AM. There is a “Day of the Fathers” celebration and his daughter will sing a song. He has asked that I go with him and insisted that his daughter had specifically asked if I would come; so, I went. His daughter seemed genuinely glad to see me. It was a typical kindergarten show; two verse songs, 4 line poems. Some kids sang too loud, others mouthed the words; everyone was charmed. This kindergarten is not your typical Honduras school. Parents make up the upper level professional and business community of Nacaomi. Reminds me of the kindergarten my daughter went to in Tucson, Arizona; enclosed compound, brightly colored classrooms, sturdy playground equipment, well-maintained hedge rows and flower plots.
10:30AM At the Claro phone company office to get the stand-alone computer modem installed. The same clerk we talked to last Friday told us we can’t get a modem (remember, my translator isn’t that good at keeping me in the loop and my Spanish is not good enough to for close-in negotiations). It turns out the available arrangement she is explaining is totally different than the other day. Today’s plan will end up costing us $12 per month more than the package offered the other day and we would still pay for minutes over one hour per month. I am betting this small rural office doesn’t sell many modem setups and I’m losing confidence in their ability.
While waiting for the manager, who is the only one who can set this up, Fernando asked me why we don’t simply buy a new phone ($40 to $100, depending) and keep the plan we have. I agreed with him that $150 per year is a lot just so I have the convenience of wireless while in Nacaomi, but not having email access is a real frustration. He said we could load the modem system we already have and use it. I said that was tried in the past and we couldn’t get it to work. He asked who tried (I thought he had) and suggested we go to his house and see what he can do. Sure enough, he successfully loaded the program and I have wireless access at the motel in Nacaomi! The system is several years old and, I am sure, is much slower than the latest model but then, I’ve got all evening, every evening.
12:30PM As everyone knows, there are a million varieties of bean soup. Fernando invited me to his house for lunch of bean soup. For me, bean soup is like applesauce; it’s always good, no matter how it is made. Black beans, rice, onions, eggs, bell peppers, lightly seasoned with a not-too-thick broth. The eggs were put into the cooking soup as one would poach an egg. Interesting combination; very good.
2:00PM At Rincon for our annual Parents Meeting. The Rincon community has always been active in the school and it always shows; a big gathering of parents. After our discussion, we opened the floor for questions. One mother asked about kitchen utensils. I reinforced Fernando’s explanation by saying the L4L has a standard issue for kitchen utensils and cup, bowl and spoon for each student. L4L will replace worn out or broken items that are returned to us. One mother said that some children don’t like to take the vitamin and tell others that the vitamins are old and out of date. After some discussion, I commented that growing children require a large range of minerals and even the best of diets can lack one or several of these; the daily vitamin assures a constant supply of these minerals for the children. I made the observation that the children’s attitude reflects the attitude of parents and teachers. If you know of a parent who doesn’t see any value in the daily vitamin, talk with the parent. Then it occurred to me that I may not be talking to a group of believers and asked if this group saw a benefit to the daily vitamin. The place erupted! Parents and teachers were very enthusiastic in their strong support of the value of the daily vitamin. I think this issue is a minor aggravation; a part of community life. A mother had prepared a dessert of sweetened and thickened rice and milk; reminded me of tapioca pudding. A good time was had by all.
5:00PM At the river with Fernando. From here he is headed to a parent’s meeting at his daughter’s school. I have come to understand why this river bottom is such a popular place during the dry season; it certainly is with me.
6:30PM In the compound. End of day. Some observations from the day: At three schools, I have noticed that the name of the child is painted on their respective bowls, and each bowl is kept in the student’s desk. Makes sense; the bowl can stay with the same kid for 6 years (7 yrs where there is a kindergarten). Actually, I have noticed this procedure at more schools since I wrote this. It continues to intrigue me that, somehow, we were lucky enough to make a bunch of right choices during the first several years of the L4L program and, somehow, continue to build our knowledge base fast enough to avoid major wrong turns. Since our total roll count is about 1,050 students, Fernando and I have been spending some time checking out communities that have requested assistance. It seems that the communities have a few too many nice houses, some with cars in the driveway (pickups are one thing; they are utility/work vehicle, cars are another). While Roxana took us into the poorest of the poor, most of the schools remaining on her list don’t appear to have the same level of need. To accept a school into the program, we expect at least 60% of the families to be in need of the program. There are desperately poor at all the schools but I don’t see the 60% range at these schools. After many long discussions with Fernando and others, I am confident that I am not alone in my observations.
This search to find schools where we will have the greatest impact is taking us further into the mountains and that’s ok. As we move further out dirt roads, even walking paths, we increase the number of miles, hours, fuel, etc, per child -- the reason PRAFF doesn’t expend many resources out here. These areas are made up of very hard-working subsistence farmers that simply can’t grow enough to feed their family for the year. This is not a significant change for L4L, more like a clearer view of where we are going; this is where we belong. We will not simply pick two or three schools. Fernando will evaluate several rural communities to determine a significant level of need, a well-managed school, and a strong mothers’ group. School size won’t be an issue, though I expect most will be smaller. If an elementary school we select has more than one satellite kindergarten school, we will include them.
In the US, from the beginning of the Bureau of Indian Affairs through the late ‘50s, our philosophy was the “they” should be like “us.” Indian kids on reservations could only speak English while on school grounds, had to wear standard issue clothes, could not observe Indian customs or holidays at school, etc. Only in the early ‘60s did officials realize that the Indians, and by extension, we, lose something significant through this process. Nothing so aggressive happened in Honduras. The Linka Indians were simply ignored or abused. (The clan that make up the barrio that Anabel comes from moved into those abandoned government buildings when their village was burned down during the 1963 “Soccer War.” Whether it was burned by the San Salvador army or the Honduras army is lost to time.) Schools spoke Spanish, all commerce and records are kept in Spanish, marriage between different peoples is very common, so the Indians, or Mestizos, came into the “Spanish” culture. Most Indian traditions gave way to “progress” as CA-1 road became paved and commerce increased. However, if you get far enough off CA-1, you will find remnants. I came into one. Possibly it has to sneak up on you, as this did on me, perhaps you have to be there but I was struck by the simple elegance of this custom and will try to explain it: When a child, from the time a child can walk until the age of 6 (not 6.5 or 7, but 6), comes into a room with an adult (or when an adult enters a room with a child) the child walks up the adult looking straight ahead (not at the floor or up at the adult’s face; just straight ahead) and stands there. The adult then turns his/her total attention to the child, puts his/her hand on the child’s head and says something positive about the child directly to the child, such as “what a pretty shirt” or “your braided hair is beautiful,” or “you are getting to be such a big boy.” In this simple process, the child is required to recognize the status of the adult but the adult has an equal responsibility to reinforce the child’s self-image. This process is not regimented or forced; it just happens every time a young child meets an adult in a room; any room. If the world is to become a kinder gentler place, possibly the roots will be found in cultures other than ours.
This visit turned out to be the ideal time to spend with the Fernando, Roxana, school principals, and the basic program. No time was spent meeting with our many friends and officials in Teguci. I will follow up with emails of apologies and attend to the Taguci circuit on my next visit. I think visiting each school with Fernando early in the year sets a good tone for the year. These things always take a little longer than one expects but I believe it is time well spent. The officials in Teguci are important; but so is time on-site.