Dia del Ninos & Dia del Independencia

Hey guuuys! SO this past week was Dia del Nino, I remember asking as a kid why we never had a day for kids – because of mother’s day and father’s day. The answer from everyone was always “everyday is kids day” grownups…sigh. Anyway they have kid’s day here and it is AWESOME! Just add it to the list of why I love this country. Monday was the day of the holiday but we prepped most of the stuff the week before in preparation. Sunday night we filled 500 balloons with water. At midnight we strolled over to the kids bunks and the padrino’s home where the padrinos were getting things ready for the midnight firework display. At that time all the kids are asleep (hopefully) and are awakened by fireworks and a dia del nino song from all the grownups outside their rooms. When we started you could hear the littlest ones scurrying to the door. It was really cool to see how pumped all the kids were for the day, they all ran out to watch the fireworks and to give hugs. The fireworks marked the start of dia del nino. 

After the show was over we (only grown-ups) headed to the kitchen where they begin the long and tedious task of making tamales, a Honduran favorite. Since so many people were in the kitchen I went back to bed (lame, I know) so I don’t know how they make them, I just know it is time consuming. I woke up at 6 to serve breakfast the next day. The kids got fruit loops (big treat) and instead of them coming up to get it we had them sit and brought it over to them. We also did all the dishes, and then headed over to their houses where we helped do their chores — like make their beds and clean the houses. Meanwhile, the teachers held a big scavenger hunt and races for the kids. WInners got candy bags and the glory of winning.

For lunch they made fried chicken and fried plantains served with soda. I bet you’re probably thinking that’s the healthiest meal ever. At lunch we served the kids again. After lunch there were more games, but this time there were all water games. At the end we pulled all the crates of balloons to the middle of the field and had a water balloon war. I was soaked. In the late afternoon they set the green area in front of the offices up for a kind of carnival. There were games were kids could win fake money to get real prizes or to “buy” food with. I helped run the dizzy bat course, they didn’t get the concept and instead of spinning around 5 times they just counted to five and ran back. It was fun either way though. I should mention kids from the town joined us for this time period. All the girls were dolled up for the day.

One of the funniest courses they made was for a “horse race” They gave the kids poles with a paper horse head on it and ahead of them was a string perpendicular to them with 10 elastics taped to it. The kids each had a pencil and had to gallop to the string, no slowing down, and try to get an elastic with their pencil. Hilarious. If they won, they got a bandana from a lovely lady and a kiss on the cheek. No one wanted a bandana from me or any other girl volunteer hahahah. It was cute to see the little girls from town give them a peck and the boys were so clearly uncomfortable, not looking at the girls and they scampered away afterwards.

 At 6 we set the dinning room, dressed the tables up making everything bonito with center peices and balloons. We then set the table with the tamales and soda for dinner. The kids all came in and chose their seats carefully. In the middle of dinner they did a slideshow from the past year with music and bags of treats were handed out. We cleaned up everything and set the room for a dance party.The dance party was SUCH a blast and I usually don’t like dancing unless drinking (sorry parents.) I got to dance with a bunch of little kids and some of the older boys taught me the bachata which is slower – don’t worry there was room for the holy spirit. Unfortunately around 8 the electricity went out and then the generator wouldn’t work so we had to stop the party. 

On tuesday since we missed out on some festivities the previous day, they had cake at lunch, got gifts (flashlights LOL) and after lunch they set up the six pinatas and went crazy. I asked the kids how they liked everything and some said it was the best dia del nino they’ve had 🙂

So now I ask you, whyyyy don’t we have kids day? Its fun for everyone!

Yesterday was Dia del Independencia, a day where Honduras celebrate their freedom from Spain. On Friday night they started off like any good holiday, with fireworks and a huge parade. The looks I got from the crowd were hilarious because I’m such a gringa and I was walking in a parade for Honduran pride. This parade was really cool though because it was all the neighboring towns schools and each kid had a hand made lantern, all the lanterns were different colors and they lit up the dark street. There were also marching bands playing music and the sight was just really awesome and unique for me. When you looked down the road all you could see were different colored lights moving and hear chanting and songs.

After the parade there was a short demonstration in the square where people preformed, some of our boys preformed as well. Around 9pm we headed home went to bed, got up early and went to the second parade. All the kids, depending on their school and major wore their school uniform or work uniform. Again there were bands playing/marching and all the little girls were dressed up like queens for the day. After the parade was similar to the night before but they also sang the song of their flag and promised to be good honduran citizens. Afterwards it was a day of just hanging out at the hogar. 

Another update for you guys. We got three new little girls this week because of a family tragedy. They needed a new home STAT, so now we have 6 girls. There are having trouble adjusting but I saw some smiles for the first time yesterday, please say a prayer for them 🙂 

AND I start teaching pre-k tomorrow!! WHAT

 

Back at the Hogar

So all the volunteers just spent the last 4 days in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. We went there mainly to get our residency but also to visit another Home and have some down time. Guess who is a resident of Honduras for the next 5 years? This girl. Watch outtt.

We embarked on our journey on wednesday at 9am and drove to San Pedro Sula, from there we got a bus to the capital. The bus was actually the nicest one I’ve ever been on, so the 4+ hour bus ride didn’t seem bad at all. There was, however, a terrible movie on…which by the way seems to be a theme down here. From what I’ve gathered, Hondurans love crappy action movies. I realize this is a broad generalization and not true for every Honduran but the number is large and astonishing. Anyway, we finally arrived in Tegu at 5pm where we met Suyapa and Lauren. Lauren works at MPH the home we were headed to for the night, she took us to get some dinner at a place she knew and it was awesome. I got something called a Gringa con Pollo, it was basically a tortilla with chicken, veggies and cheese. It hit the spot. We arrived at MPH at night and meet some of the volunteers who have been working there. We learned a lot about the inner workings of the organization and what their jobs were. The sit is pretty well-known globally so feel free to check it out on line. After that long-day of travel we decided going to bed early was a must and fell asleep before 10. 

The next day we got up for breakfast and to shadow a volunteer teacher in her class before going on a formal tour later in the day. Since it was dark when we arrived the night before it was the first time we’d seen the land. MPH is HUGE compared to amigos. I have no idea how much land they have but it’s definitely bigger than Saint A’s. They house about 500 children 6mo-20 years old plus a home for the elderly or dying and have fields for farming. They have many staff members and 16 international volunteers.

Michelle, a volunteer took us to her english class where she teaches pre-k – 3grade. It was great to shadow the classes and get a feel for what should be expected of us in the classroom, especially for Jose and I who are going to be teaching pre-k in English in just a few weeks. The girl we shadowed had some awesome methods to help the kids learn new words so I think we’ll be knicking a few pages from her teaching book. All in all the Ranch (what they call MPH) was great. They have what looks like an awesome school system and the kids I met all seemed relatively happy. That night we all ate with different casa’s. The age groups and sexes seperate for the homes they live in. Kristin and I went to eat with the kids who were 8 and under. They were so welcoming and fun to be around. They ate in a big circle on the basketball court and did some kind of prayer beforehand that was pretty cool. 

On friday we spent the day in immigration, Suyapa helped us with every step and I know we couldn’t have done it without her. She was awesome! Also, my residency pic looks like a mugshot — wonderful, I’ll just add it to the pile of terrible ID photo’s. Funny side story, I’m pretty sure people, especially kids aren’t used to seeing gringos around but I came out of the bathroom stall and there was a boy who was about 8 waiting for his mom and he just goes “wooow,” I couldn’t stop laughing.

For lunch the van driver brought us to a mall and we got Wendy’s…probably the best fast food i’ve ever had probably because I’m so far from home. There is literally nothing like Wendy’s when you haven’t had American food – let alone fast food in over 2 months. We also got 20 mins to shop so I got a pair of pant and 3 shirts for a whopping 47 dollars.  

Today was another travel day, we left at 8;30am and got back to the Hogar at 6:15ish. Coming back here was literally the best feeling ever. We were all Hoagr-sick (homesick) we missed our kids and the small familial feel of Amigos. MPH was great but we are so thankful to be where we are, with the people we work with and kids we have. When we got back we all brought our stuff to our house, everyone was dallying so I got Andrew and dragged him to dinner before anyone else was ready to go because we couldn’t wait to see the kids. A few of them ran up and hugged us when we rounded the corner and for the most part (fingers crossed) the kids were happy we were back.

Tomorrow is the prep day for Dia del Nino. It is a national holiday for kids in Honduras. There are tons of games, good food and parties all over the national. Monday is the day of the festival. Basically what happens is monday the grown-ups do all the kids chores to start with. The kids will get flavored corn-flakes for breakfast (quite the treat), fried chicken for lunch and something good for dinner. There will be pinata’s and candy and cake and so many more goodies throughout the day. In the am there is a huge scavenger hunt and in the afternoon there will be booths and races. Winners will get fake money to win prizes. Apparently, one of the kids told me this, that the kids can get married if they have enough fake money, I asked who they can marry and they said us… I don’t get the point but I’m sure it will be hilarious. Wish me luck. Also the volunteers are running 4 activities, one of which is a water-ballon war. Its going to be the last activity of the day and hopefully it’s really fun and not too violent. At midnight there will be fireworks and before that in the evening a dance party. All the kids from the neighboring town will attend. It’s going to be a great day — in my opinion. 

Promise to take many picture soon and post them! 

This past week was really rough for me. On Thursday Chepe and I went to IHNFA, a state run orphanage to interview children. We travelled with Psico, she’s the psychologist on-site and she’s probably one of my favorite people at the Hogar. We also tagged along with Adonies. Adonies grew up at Amigos and now attends college to get his degree in Psychology so he can work at Amigos after he graduates, he’s pretty awesome.

That morning we left the Hogar at 7am to take a yellow school bus to San Pedro Sula.[ I should note that the driving in Honduras is truly terrifying at times but I’ve never seen a wreck (knock-on-wood)] On the 2-hour bus ride, I studied spanish while Psico, Adonies and Chepe napped because lately I have been feeling inadequate in that department. We got to IHNFA around 10 and were due to meet with some lady at 10:30. When we arrived they had no idea that we were coming – so typical. But after a minute they decided to let us in. I should mention that the road we were on is in a city so obviously paved, sidewalks with pedestrians ect. Two gringos step out of a taxi and all we got was staring. The building we went to was surrounded by 16-20ft wall with a metal door. WHen they decided we were alright, we were ushered inside to the front entrance. 

When we got inside, it was apparent that the woman we were to meet with wasn’t there and at first we were told that she would be there within two hours- Jaw dropped- but came shortly after that. In between finding out when she would arrive and coming through the front door, the activity going on inside the building seemed off, staff members were curious about us but didn’t want us to come further into the building, at first I thought they were going to tell us to leave. But instead of doing that they brought us out back. 

The room we were directed to – and I have no idea why they picked this one – was a room for infants and special needs children. My heart broke a little when I stepped foot over that threshhold. I’ve worked a lot of service sites, I’ve seen many different types of poverty but nothing in my life could have fully prepared me for that moment and at the same time I wasn’t shocked, just disappointed. The room was medium sized and had about 19 cribs and one bed. Next to the door was the bed, in it sat what had to be a 15 year-old boy with mental retardation in only a diaper. In the next two cribs were two 8-12 year-olds with down-syndrome. One of which was rocking back and forth in his crib staring at the ceiling and the other had his leg tied to his crib so he couldn’t escape. A little nugget of a girl was sitting in a stroller in the middle of the room with what looked like the weight of the world on her shoulders. across from that area were the rest of the cribs. There were 5 babies, 3 were newborns and in the same crib (to think someone just abandoned them is so upsetting) one of the other babies we severly malnourished and another was terrified when she saw us. In one of the cribs sat another child with a mental disorder, he wouldn’t make eye-contact or acknowledge our prsence. A few of the other children were sleeping. As we made the loop around the room, I stopped at one crib with a tiny little girl in it. She clearly had no motor control and couldn’t walk/stand. She was laying on her back in the bed and when we came over to her bed she put on the biggest, most beautiful smile I have ever seen and starting punching her fists and kicking her legs in excitement. I just watched her for a while, played with her arms and legs and after a bit moved on to see the remaining children. One of them was a boy with a humongous head, his body was so little but his head was big even for a malnourished child. He was asleep the whole time we were there though. And that brings me to the hardest child to see. It was a little boy, I have no idea what age but the body of a toddler, except mangled looking. His back was contorted and his face didn’t look normal. His eyes were huge and he was nothing more then skin, bones and just a tiny amount fo muscle. He looked like he was writhing in pain in slow motion, his mouth was wide open but no sound was coming out. I’m guessing if he could make noise he would have been screaming. I stop by his crib a while just staring, he just looked so helpless and alone.

The young boy with DS climbed out of his crib anyway and the rope was untied from his leg. He found a ball and was playing with it whn it rolled over to my foot, so I played with his for about 10 mins just throwing a ball around. He was non-verbal and had serious motor difficulty but I think he was just happy for some attention. In the 30 mins we were there I went back to all the cribs to try and play with some of the kids. The boys that wouldn’t make eye-contact played a clapping game with me, still no eye-contact but at least there was a smile. I made sure to check out the little smiley girl again and she was there, smiling away again. And finally ended by massaging the arm of the boy who could make no noise. I think it might have comforted him because he fell asleep after a while but, I can’t imagine what kind of pain he was in. 

When the woman arrived she brought us to her office, where we each grabbed a seat. She lined of some children and we spent the rest of the day interviewing different kids and going though their files. There were kids at the orphanage who had been physically and sexually abused, kids who had been abandonned and kids that were left on the doorstep of the IHNFA. In Honduras it takes A LOT for a kid to get taken from their family. There has to be at least 3 police reports, which puts the person reporting in danger from the accused so the fact that all these kids were there meant they had seriously crappy lives and their parents were much more than inadequate. In total we interviewed about 23 kids, many of whom were siblings. The behavior from the kids was in general not good but is to be expected from a place that is lacking in resources – one of which is emotional warm & love. 

After a long day we made it back to the bus terminal and hoped in a van to head back to Amigos. The hardest thing about this experience was knowing that IHNFA is getting shut down which is why we were interviewing kids. We were trying to find those kids that would be a good fit for Amigos before they get turned out into the street. San Pedro Sula’s, IHNFA may be a shitty excuse for an orphanage but at least there is food everyday, water and place to sleep, God only knows what will happen to these kids when they do shut down, especially the ones with disorders. Disorders here, like in many countries around the world are unwanted and shied away from. I just pray that God watches over them and someone kind can provide for the them. As for the older kids, they will likely be turned back to the streets or to the streets for the first time in their lives. Overall the day was pretty bleak, very eye-opening and I am truly thankful for having gone there. Amigos is such a safe harbor for these kids, compared to the conditions in other orphanages. On the ride home Adonies helped me with my spanish, I got to eat some grapes we bough at the bus terminal and the van was air-conditioned! It was a good way to de-stress a little bit from the day. 

The next day we found out two of our padrino’s were asked to leave and two boys ran away. So that was hard to swallow for all us I think. But was especially hard for me knowing what awaits them outside the confines of Amigos. On the flipside It was great to see how much everyone prayed for the safety of the boys though and made me really thankful for getting to be a member of such a great organization. All the boys treat one another as brothers for the most part, so losing two was hard for them I think. On Friday I was generally just attempting to process the whole chain of events, so I guess you could say that I was al little grumpy/moody. 

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Even with the latter end of the week being mentally draining and heavy on the heart Saturday and Sunday were really great days. Saturday was the Elotada, which is basically a corn festival. We walked from the Hogar at about 10am to head to town and grabbed seats in the field where the stage was set up. From there they had short presentations about the history of Poses Verdes, about some other stuff I didn’t understand (because it was in spanish) and when they were done there was lunch with tamales, some kind of corn fritatta and a corn based drink. It was interesting to say the least. It was cool to see all the people from town and there was a live band playing while everyone waited to eat. It was easily the biggest BBQ i’d been to (minus the BBQ.) I think the first weekend we were in Poses, we attended another party where there were girls seeking to be chosen to be the Queen de Maize, and so in the evening at the elotada the chosen girl had her corination. All the runner-up princesses were recognized and escorted on stage by a gentleman (some of the gentlemen were our boys! They looked so handsome in dressy clothes) and then the Queen was crowned. My guess is it was similar to a debutant ball (though I’ve never been to one) a marching band from Macuelizo came and played and after the coronation there were tons of skits and plays, many of which our boys were in. Kristin preformed in a dance number with 5 boys and one of the teachers, she was awesome! Haha way better than the boys, which is hilarious. I think the town was surprised to see a gringa up there working it. I ended the night early with Rachel and Jen and went home with the younger boys at about 9 while the older boys and staff attended the dance party to follow. I kind of wish I had stayed so I could learn to dance, but I was exhausted and I figured strange men would ask me to dance, since they would stop staring at all of us. Good life choice if you ask me. 

On Sunday, Alan took all of us (kids, staff, teachers, volunteers, padrino’s ect) to this water park thats 20 min away called Splash Water Park. We were literally there for the entire day – from 10-6 — I currently look like a tomato even though I wore waterproof 50 SPF and reapplied 2 times. The park was pretty cool, there were three pools. A kiddie pool, a medium one and a large on with two slides. Overall the day was just really great, I think it was the longest amount of time I’ve been in the water since I was a little kid. I also got the chance to talk to a few kids I hadn’t really been in contact with and hung out with some staff members and I think it was a way for everyone to relax and decompress after A long week and to get ready for the month of September, which I understand to be a huge party month. 

Tomorrow we depart for the capital to visit the Home that Wilson and Suyapa grew up at, as well as to get visa’s! Heck yes 🙂 It will be out first time in that part of the country, I’m pretty excited. Wish us a speedy and safe trip, God bless all of you