Divertirse+Solidarity

Is it cheating if I use a Spanish verb? Divertirse = to have fun, or enjoy oneself. This is something that I have definitely been doing in Honduras, whether with CASM, the communities, or with my host family during weekend adventures.

A smaller turnout

I have mostly been working with CASM´s women´s project in the past few weeks; we have had three more organizational meetings with the women since I last wrote, successfully involving approximately 100 more women in the movement! My counterpart, Delmis, says that she would love to see the face of the municipality when all of these women we are helping to organize come in mass to Trascerros to elect a women´s coordinator! The coordinator will be both nominated  and elected by the women in a democratic proceeding. Right now, in addition to organizing the women, we are requesting nominations from the communities. The coordinator must not only have the professional skills to work in the municipality, but, more importantly, a passion for the campesino women and an empathetic understanding of the challenges they face. In these meetings the women have emphasized that the coordinator elected must visit the communities and continue training women, not just simply sit in the municipality office. I hope that whoever is elected will be able to truly fulfill all of these qualifications!

"If we don´t defend our rights, no one will!"

During one of these meetings, one of the community women mentioned that she was grateful that CASM was helping to organize them, but more importantly she wanted to continue receiving training in women´s rights, because “if we don´t defend our rights, no one will!” Honestly, sometimes working with the women feels like I´ve gone back in time to the suffrage movement. Not that the women here don´t have the right to vote (they do) but as I´ve written before, their social status lacks the autonomy and liberties that many women, including myself, may take for granted. Poverty also plays a large role in this situation, as lack of resources and education make it difficult for someone to even be aware of their rights or potential for political participation. History also plays a part. This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit the colonial town of Gracias, Lempira (more on this later!) and while in a cultural museum I came across this informative plaque that read,

The role of women has hardly evolved in Coloscua. In colonial society, the center of the family and the person who exercised authority was the man. Women were supposedly inferior and remained under the command of a man for their entire life. Much later, in the fourteenth century, women of upper class were considered decorative items, and learned different arts in order to make their environment more delightful. You may not notice, but the situation of rural women is practically unchanged: they are in charge of the care of the family, of the small animals, and the land closest to their home. They won their right to vote in 1954, thanks to Laura Vigil, wife of President Julio Lozano Diaz.

In short, despite having suffrage since the 1950´s, the situation of women has hardly changed!

Okay, so maybe the status of women in Honduras isn´t such a fun or uplifting subject, but it doesn´t stop the women from enjoying themselves! I think humor is one of the Honduran people´s best qualities. Delmis is especially good at cracking jokes with the community women, and I´ve shared many laughs in our meetings as a result. It´s hard to capture smiles with a camera here (most people prefer to appear serious, especially the men) but I was able to catch a few from our meeting in the Terreritos community….

In other news...I´ve been thinking a lot recently about the DWYL concept that has been trending lately (for you hipsters who are too cool for trendy lingo, DWYL = Do What You Love). To preface, my thoughts have been influenced a lot by this fabulous article about why DWYL is problematic… https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/in-the-name-of-love/

DWYL expresses the idea that what you do for work should be what you love, and that you´ll find happiness and satisfaction in that. It´s something that every recent college graduate sets out to do as they try to find work in their dream job. And it´s something I partially set out to do when I came to Honduras, to find out if community development work would be something I would love and want to pursue as a future career. And since my arrival I have had so many thoughts about what I would do when I get back to the States.

I´m not sure exactly when I had the realization, but now a month into my Honduras experience, I eventually came to the conclusion that my work, be it DWYL or otherwise, is not what is going to bring me ultimate happiness. Maybe it was from being around the people in the communities, whose work is certainly not something that they necessarily love but more a means to survive and provide for themselves. And yet, even despite poverty and insecurity, they seem happy! I think a lot of that happiness comes from their faith…they can rejoice even when they are struggling.

I think the whole idea of "finding happiness" "pursuing happiness" etc. is a myth. You don´t go on the search for happiness and find it somewhere waiting for you. You don´t find it in the perfect job.  You INVITE it into your life, be it through your faith, your daily attitude, through the people that you choose to spend time with, in the appreciation for the small daily things that make you smile. Maybe if we'd stop trying so hard to find happiness we'd see that it was actually there all the time but we were blind to it! 

All that being said, here are some snapshots of the fun I´ve managed to have in Honduras so far...

My little host brother and I dancing in the rain

Weeding in a coffee nursery

Checking out a colonial fortress. Gracias, Lempira

Horse riding in the Barranco community

A visit to the botanical gardens. Gracias, Lempira

Admiring living statues. Gracias, Lempira

Getting to love on community babies like Dalila

Learning how to grind corn for tortillas

"Bridging" the divide between cultures

Meeting inspiring people like Melissa Elvir, a craftswoman. She studied to become a secretary but didn´t like working in an office. Now, in addition to making beautiful crafts with her husband, she teaches art workshops to people with disabilities and children, because art was her refuge when she had trouble walking as a child.
"We don´t use machines. We want to preserve this art tradition, so everything is done by hand." 
- Gracias, Lempira

And, of course, there´s never a dull moment with my zanquero friends! I never could have imagined them as being a part of my Solidarity Worker experience, but I´m really glad that they are! 

It´s hard to believe that a month has already passed since I came to Honduras! Every day I continue to learn something new, and likewise the language barrier continues to crumble as I become more adjusted to catratcho (thats slang for Honduran haha!) slang and idioms. I am getting to know the communities better, and love being able to recognize and greet the people that I have met. I cant wait to see what the next month has in store!

Finally, I have some very exciting news....there is a rat in the CASM office! In fact, I am terrified that it is going to come and get me as I sit here writing this post! Haha just kidding, that´s not actually the exciting news...the exciting news is that tomorrow we are getting a kitten for the office to rid ourselves of the rat and its smelly sinisterness! I am really looking forward to not only be ratless, but also to have a pet to play with and love in the future! Expect pictures soon....

In Solidarity,

Malinda