Allen & Marcel Volunteer in Honduras

  I am not usually a last-minute person and normally start thinking about sending Christmas cards sometime in November before Thanksgiving. There are probably not a lot of us sending Christmas cards anymore as many people are moving onto digital cards which Allen and I have been receiving more frequently. Printed Christmas cards are starting to seem a little old school but somehow still feel more personal to me, especially when I can add a hand-written note directly to my friends and family. Plus, a lot of the recipients of my cards are my age or older and more used to physical cards. My Favorite Santa Last year I did not send Christmas cards because it is difficult to mail them from Honduras and they probably would arrive several months late if at all. We were able to get two packages from the US early on that only took 2 months, but I am still waiting for a letter from a friend for over 6 months. In retrospect, last year would have been a good year to switch to digital cards,...

Allen and I had one more week of vacation to use in these last few months at NPH and decided to explore the neighboring country of Nicaragua. Some of the other volunteers had been to Nicaragua and were able to advise us on how to get there and what to see and do. Although the rainy season which starts in May is probably not the most ideal time to visit, it worked best with the other activities here and with our schedule. Iconic Picture on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua Like our trip to El Salvador, we were able to take a private bus (Ticabus) to take us from Tegucigalpa across the border into Nicaragua. Tegucigalpa to Leon would normally take about five and a half hours, but the border crossing can take an extra two hours as you must go through customs twice – Honduras customs to leave and Nicaraguan customs to enter. We were drawn aside as we entered Nicaragua and asked to show that we had been vaccinated for Yellow Fever. This was unexpected as the online requirements say that the vacci...

  Following on the heels of the Olimpiadas was another celebration close to the heart of me and my coworkers: Padrinos Day!  Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day are well known in most countries and, as I found out last September, there is also a Children’s Day celebrated in many parts of the world. I had not previously heard of Padrinos Day and suspect that it is an NPH construct to honor the sponsors that play a very special and crucial role in this organization. Since sponsors are not actually able to come to the celebration, it is up to the children to celebrate in their place 😊 One of 8 Piñatas Dixiana and Cintia, my bosses, have been busy for several weeks planning games, shopping, and coordinating the day. I helped with the shopping on Wednesday when we went to PriceSmart (Costco for Central America) and bought disposable dishware and snacks for 300. On Thursday the volunteers put together 300 snack bags and organized them into groups for distribution. On Friday our departm...

This weekend was the culmination of the Olympiadas (Olympic Games) on the NPH ranch - the event that we had been preparing for all month. The teams were announced in early May and met for a couple of hours twice a week, then met several hours a day every day last week to prepare a ~7-minute presentation/play and/or dance for the whole ranch. This year there were 14 teams of about 30 people each; each team was composed of NPH children, both on and off the ranch, and adults working in different capacities with the kids. My team (team 14) had the manatee as our “exotic animal of Honduras” mascot and was working up to the last minute on spray painting our shirts, finishing our backdrops, making a flag, and practicing our play and dance steps. Manatee Team Flag The events started with mass early Friday afternoon. The teams sat together and wore their Tshirts. After mass the teams moved their stage decorations, many of them big and quite elaborate, to the school venue where dinner was serv...