Allen & Marcel Volunteer in Honduras

  This week (again) there was a mishmash of occasions for Fiestas. The first was a visit from the Italians. As background, NPH serves children in nine different countries in central and south America and has international offices in almost a dozen countries most of which are in Europe besides the ones in the US and Canada. Although the largest number of donors for the children at NPH Honduras come from the US, the Italian office has the second largest number and has been very active in sending groups of young adults on trips here during their summer break. Last year we got to know one of the Italian chaperones, Enrico, quite well as he stayed for three weeks while three different groups came through and then stayed another month afterwards living in the volunteer house and helping with various tasks. He is back this year with a current group of about 20 young Italians. They work on projects during the day, then spend time with the children in the afternoon and evening. Thursday n...

  The caretakers (Tias) for Allen’s hogar, Divino Niño, wanted to show their appreciation of all the love and support he has given to them and to the children of Divino Niño over the past year by taking us out to eat. At first, Allen was not sure I was invited but later he was informed by the Tias that he had to bring me “or else” with the throat slashing motion if he did not. I love that they not just wanted to include me but insisted on it. Allen has developed a great rapport with his Tias who keep telling him to extend for one more year. At this point I think they are just joking although I am sure they would love it to be true as would many others on the ranch. On Wednesday morning they took us to a restaurant called Los Trupillos about a half hour drive North of the ranch. Although we went for breakfast, the menu was more like dinner options such as chicken or fish platters with side dishes. The restaurant has a huge garden area with lots of covered seating pavilions amo...

  Allen and I only have three weeks left on the ranch and it is going by way too quickly. The weeks seem to be even busier than before. This week we had a Padrinos Birthday outing during the day and a family project in the evening on Tuesday, all day spiritual retreats on Wednesday and Thursday, and a evening fiesta with music and cultural dance Thursday evening.  Honduran Dancing Posting Notecard on the Wall at the Padrinos Birthday Outing It does not leave a lot of time for planning our despedidas or goodbye parties. Everything must be celebrated in Honduras, even (or especially?) goodbyes. Here is a list of must do activities before you leave: Goodbye speech at the last mass ·        Some kind of celebration with our work group ·        A despedida with our hogars ·        A despedida with the volunteers – including adding our handprints to the wall in the salon. Allen and I have...

Allen and I started our long term (13 month) volunteer assignment with NPH Honduras the first weekend in July last year and the latest batch of long-term volunteers arrived to begin July 1 this year. It seems strange to think that we are now the “experienced” ones showing them the ropes. All the volunteers that started before us, even those that extended their service, have left except for Sienna and Christine who have taken on permanent positions with NPH Honduras. Of our original group of eight, only three will be left after Allen and I leave plus the 3 that started in January. We are effectively turning over the volunteer duties to this new group who appear to be more than capable of handling it. In this group of volunteers, there is a retired couple and five young adults most of which just finished college. All but one of the new volunteers are here now; the last one will arrive in late August. Three of the new volunteers are men and Allen is happy to have male companionship at S...

  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...