March 11, 2009, Wednesday
8:00AM Fernando, Evelin and I drove to escuela Jose Reyes Trinidad. This was a thought-provoking visit. We have to remember that our mission is to feed hungry elementary school children so they have a running start at life; nothing more. Sometimes we have to let things be even if they don’t suit us, as long as we are feeding hungry elementary school children. This is a very small school with only 21 students this year (28 last year; fewer 1st graders, as one family moved to town). There are 10 families with children at school. The school kitchen is run down and not useable; it needs a roof, secure door and secure windows. The walls and foundation are good. A mother cooks lunch in her house. She is one of the poorer mothers and all the other mothers pay her to cook. I am guessing that they pay her $60+/- per month. The school outhouse is a cement pad with two concrete stools, no walls, no nothing. Two years ago I told the principal that L4L would fix the kitchen if the parents would build outhouses. Fernando knows that the parents know of the offer because he reinforced it at one of the annual community meetings. Nothing has been done. I asked why more mothers aren’t involved. Mr. Reyes said the mothers are too busy. I asked how many would go hungry without the lunch program. Mr. Reyes said probably 5 or 6. I think this answer depends on perspective; most of the kids have chocolate brown hair. Both Fernando and Evelin believe the number in need of lunch is far greater than 5 or 6; so do I. This is a subsistence-farming area; the farmers never grow enough to provide for the year. Fernando says that most go to town to work each day. In driving through the school area where the children come from, I see several houses that demonstrate sufficient strength to support the cost of materials for an outhouse. In my world, the mothers would be more involved in the lunch program and the fathers would see that their children had, at a minimum, the privacy of an outhouse, especially, if a functional kitchen came with the deal. It is not my world or L4L’s world. We are feeding hungry children; I think it is best that we leave it there.
10:30AM I’m at the Claro office in Nacaomi (phone company). The phone Fernando uses as a wireless internet connection is 4 years old and won’t charge properly (changed battery, checked charger, etc). We went to check on the practicality of getting a wireless modem and a phone where we simply buy minutes when I’m in town. We presently pay $28 per month for the modem service plus a charge for phone minutes used. The new stand-alone wireless modem is $28 per month and is a much improved system (by all accounts). We simply buy a phone for $40 and purchase phone minute cards when I’m in town. The only down side is that I get another phone number but who cares; just about nobody has my present number. Rather than make a decision, we went to lunch so we could sort things out (for me -- two languages and I’m phone illiterate). I think we’ll trade out tomorrow morning.
11:30PM At motel. Fernando brought the school roll for February, including the number of children at the start-of-year. The number is 1019 students.
1:30PM When days start strange, they seem to stay strange. Fernando, Evelin and I were at Los Almendros to discuss building the kitchen financed through L4L by Mr. & Mrs. Frass. This is one of the smallest schools with 36 students from 15 different families; it is also the most difficult to reach. The Alcalde Valesquez hadn’t arrived by 2:00 which is not unexpected. I must start with some preambles. We have built three kitchens and I assumed all know the drill; not necessarily true. As it turns out, none at the meeting saw or knew where L4L had built kitchens. I assumed that the participants knew we were going to plan the actual building of the kitchen and communicated a certainty for the meeting; not necessarily true. Our meeting included 4 fathers and 8 mothers, plus Ms. Aracely Gonzalez Calix, the school principal in attendance at 2 o’clock when we started the meeting. I started by explaining that L4L had a benefactor who wants to participate in (pay for) half of a kitchen; the Alcalde will pay for half and we expect the community to supply sand, gravel, foundation rocks, and labor. I explained that there are only 4 fathers here and they cannot commit for others. Then I asked, can the community supply the necessary labor? (My translator is actually not very good and I missed a lot of the conversation that followed). The fathers couldn’t commit for others, while there are 30 some families in the community only 15 have kids in school now, and many of the fathers are not in town (either in the US or other cities looking for work). They asked when we wanted to start. I said we would start when the sand and gravel is on site and the laborers are assembled. I asked when they could start. A great deal of discussion occurred, most of which I missed. One of the men mentioned something about expecting to get paid for labor. I quieted everyone down then I explained that having a kitchen would be a tremendous benefit for all families with kids in school now and for years into the future. The community should take advantage of the opportunity, but it’s up to them. I suggested that those present explain the opportunity to the rest of the community and see if they can come up with a sufficient labor pool. Everyone at the meeting agreed that it is a tremendous opportunity and made it clear that they want a kitchen but couldn’t speak for those that are not here. One woman, whose husband is in the US, asked if she could pay for a laborer (apparently her husband is sending money back – actually, a rare occurrence). Meeting ended; I think the impact of actually losing this opportunity was starting to sink into some of the participants. My afterthoughts: Fernando thinks they will form a labor pool and get back with us soon; I’m not so sure. We can’t control what happens behind the scene, but I think it is a really bad idea to sanction paying laborers; we want community buy-in and we should still require that labor be supplied. On the other hand, this is a very small community with a much smaller available labor pool than at other schools. I am a little uneasy about the lack of enthusiasm. We will see.
4:30PM In the motel compound.
6:30PM Returned from San Lorenz for pescado dinner, the one thing I really miss when not in Honduras. End of day.
March 12, 2009, Thursday
Back-to-school attendance for the 2009 school year: We picked up 3 new schools three years ago (this is the start of their fourth year), most of the schools already in the program started two years ago (this is the start of their third year). This year, there are no upper-grade kids left to re-join school and the dropout rate has been adjusted for. There is also a very slow movement of subsistence farmers and families moving to the cities (a really bad thing because there is nothing for them there, either). We budgeted for 1,200 students. I asked Fernando how many more schools he could efficiently handle before he needs a Junior Manager to help him. After a great deal of thought (we ride pretty long distances over bad roads), Fernando said it depends on how far out we go for the schools, he could handle 3 or 4 more if we stay within our present area of operation. We have 12 applications on file, I told Fernando to choose two that have 30 to 80 students and a strong Mother’s Group. He will get Roxana’s input and we will evaluate several next week. The L4L board (in the US) will talk it over during the next month or two; but, if contributions hold together it might be time to get Fernando an assistant.
8:30AM At the Claro store. It seems that the Claro Manager is out until Monday and the clerk can’t sell and initiate wireless modems. I have no idea why.
9:00AM Another 1.5 very frustrating hours at an internet café. Went to Fernando’s house to send out a few emails.
11:30AM Roxana invited us to her house for lunch. Zareth broiled chicken, prepared rice, corn, tortillas. Great meal, great company.
1:00PM On our way to Pierdes Blanca #1 for our yearly community meeting. This is a very well run school with a very strong Mothers’ Group; a great place to start, as they need no prodding. Am glad I went along. We’ll have plenty of time to go over a few small items before our next meeting on Monday March 16. Of course, the meeting scheduled for 1:30PM started around 2:00PM; “es un custombre”.