Celebrate!+Solidarity

The first Friday of September was the “Feria Gastronómica” (food festival), which I described as a “potluck” affair in my last post...yep, that was my preconception of the event. I anticipated that the women would gather again (although in greater numbers since several communities were invited), bring the food they had prepared, there would be a brief devotional/prayer, and maybe a short charla by a representative from the office of health (if they ended up accepting the invitation to come), and everyone would eat and chat and that would be it.

I love potlucks. Whether it’s with my church (Lutherans are infamous for their coffee hour…but their potlucks are just as good, if not better!), my family, or just friends, it’s a great way to get together with your community for conversation, and the best food around! But our gathering in the Cedral community – I don’t think it's fair to call it a potluck. The people from the communities went all out for the event, and it was quite the party! Here are some snapshots….

Lupe (El Cedral) preparing the nutritional soup. It smelled (and tasted) delicious!

Erasmo jamming out on his guitar
(he was really bummed I didn't know how to
sing any of his songs...)

"What was your favorite food that you learned in the workshop?"
- "Carrot Fritters!"

Women from El Profundo hard at work preparing soy milk and soy chorizo.

Maira and company (El Pino) preparing green tortillas

A band showed up to serenade the women while they cooked!

We began the festival program with a devotion by one of the community pastors.

Singing the National Anthem of Honduras

Presentations by the women on what they had learned from the workshop (Pictured here: El Profundo)

Members of El Cedral sharing the benefits of each ingredient in the nutritional soup.

Students shared poetry....

...as well as songs.

And the band continued to play!

"Buen Provecho!" (Bon apetit)

People of all ages came out for the fun

We expected 100 people total to attend the event….there were 190, and that's not including all the kids! I was worried that there wouldn't be enough food for everyone, we hadn't expected so many community members to show up! But it ended up being a real loaves and fishes experience - somehow there was plenty of food, and even leftovers! 

The best part of the feria was seeing how the nutrition workshop had given the women not only ideas for healthier eating, but also empowered them in other ways too! The presentations by the women, for example, were awesome...it gave them a forum to share what they had learned and teach others who had gathered for the feria. In short, it provided them an opportunity to be LEADERS. The women from El Profundo were especially inspiring, after their workshop they organized themselves into a group called the "women who know how to cook" and it was powerful to see how something as simple as a food workshop could generate this kind of solidarity. They even shared with us a fantastic original song they wrote about who they were as a group, what they had learned, and expressed thanks for CASM's work in their community!

This Friday we will have another Feria with another group of communities who have also received the workshop in the past. It will be hard to top my first Feria experience, but I have high hopes!

Pastel de Zanahoria (Carrot cake)

This past week was also filled with celebrations for a very special someone's birthday - my Honduran brother! His "cumpleaños" (birthday) was somewhat of a week-long affair.... the weekend prior Delmis and I tested out baking my mom's carrot cake recipe (my brother specifically requested this for his birthday) - it was a delicious success! 

His birthday was the 10th of September, the same day as El Dia del Niño (Children's Day), a holiday which all the kids celebrate in the schools here in Honduras with games, piñatas, cookies and other treats (think elementary school field days!). Unfortunately, I missed out on the Children's Day festivities here in the communities as I needed to make a trip to the city to request a visa extension (lame!). 

But at least I was able to enjoy my brother's birthday festivities, as the party continued over the following weekend in Tela with family and friends...

Knock the bottle over with the ball - didn't quite make the mark,
but great effort!

Balancing stick competition

Team races

Pinning the bow on the "Meekah" (aka Minnie Mouse)

I promise they had a good time! The kids were just way more
interested in the pinata than taking a picture!

Feliz cumple hermano!

Birthday boy gets the first bite of the cake...

Finally, yesterday was Independence Day for Honduras (as well as most of Central America). September 15th marks Honduras' (as well as Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala's) independence from Spain in 1821, after which it became a part of the Central American Federation. However, this date is a bit of a misnomer, as the declaration of independence didn't actually declare independence - but rather postponed the decision for a Congress that would meet in March of 1822 (and never did). In short, the Bill of Independence of 1821 was just an aristocratic maneuver to prevent a full-blown revolution that was brewing...aristocrats wanted to maintain the colonial regime under the same authoritarian rule - just without being accountable to Spain! 

In 1822, Honduras was annexed by the Mexican Empire with the help of the aristocracy, which they arranged in order to maintain their privileges (which a true democratic and republic revolution threatened). Then, July 1st in 1823, Honduras won independence "again" from Mexico, and became part of the Federal Republic of Central America. The Republic was supposed to be a federation of states - similarly organized into a democracy like the United States. But, once again, it experienced strong opposition from elite conservatives who wanted to preserve the oppressive caste system of the Spanish colonization. This resulted in a civil war, and General Francisco Morazan, the head of the state of Honduras, before later becoming president of the Federal Republic, led the fight against the anti-democratic reaction . Still remembered as a national hero today, Morazan was executed by a firing squad in 1842, and the conservatives won (We'll be celebrating Morazanwith another national day, Soldier's Day, on October 3rd). What follows is a long history of repression, violence, neoliberalist subordination (for the benefit of United States banana companies), and, sadly, an utter lack in independence for Honduran people. Even today there continues to exist internal corruption in the government (remember the Golpe del Estado of 2009 from one of my earlier posts??), but bit by bit Honduran people are demanding transparency and the protection of their democratic freedoms.

Having learned more about this "day of independence" makes my human rights work with CASM in the communities all the more exciting. Sometimes it's challenging working with this issue; human rights is a pretty abstract concept...although they exist according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948 - United Nations), these rights are constantly violated all around the world. But my hope is that knowledge of our history can help us to make changes for a freer, more equal, and more just world in the future! 

So maybe September 15th wasn't really a day of liberation. But hey, we partied it up anyway! I celebrated in Trinidad - sadly, my camera battery was being finicky, so I'll apologize in advance for the lack of pictures! There were torch processions and fireworks the night before, and a huge march the morning of the 15th, involving all the schools, elementary to university levels (You will see pictured below the youngest groups)! La Siembra also participated in the march, dancing along on their stilts to the music of the high school bands that played in front of them. The march really brought me back to my high school days with the Cave Spring Marching Knights!

"We the children want peace for Honduras"

My counterparts at CASM have assured me that there will be many more festival days to come during my time in Honduras. In fact, today is "Teacher's Day" and all the teachers and students have the day off! Likewise, the women in the communities are already planning and preparing for the the "Day of No Violence," which will be celebrated locally here in the Nueva Frontera municipality next week.

A close friend of mine told me the other day that I have "one of the coolest jobs ever" and I couldn't agree more. My time in Honduras as a solidarity worker is truly a one of a kind opportunity, and I am super grateful for everything that I am learning, experiencing, sharing, and celebrating while here. I keep warning myself how difficult it is going to be when I have to leave come December! But I'm not even half way through yet, so instead of dreading the end of this chapter, I'm trying my best to just enjoy the present moment! 

Salud! (Cheers!) and thanks for joining me virtually for the party!  

In Solidarity,
Malinda

Regroup+Solidarity

Is it really already September? August was very busy, full of all sorts of new experiences, challenges, and opportunities as I continued my solidarity work with CASM. It’s hard to believe that already two months have gone by since I landed in Honduras. And since I am now 1/3 through my stay as a solidarity worker, this past month has also been a good time to regroup, review what I have learned, and make plans for the remainder of my time with CASM. 

But first, I owe you an update on the women’s project. Long story short, the mayor of Nueva Frontera chose one of the women from the OMM (the women’s committee that I was previously accompanying on visits into the communities to organize women) to be the new coordinator, and said that if this woman didn’t accept the position she would find someone else to fill it instead. Her reasoning was that she needed someone in that position with whom she trusted/could work effectively with. This led to a meeting with OMM and CASM regarding how to proceed….there were three options: 1) Accept the mayor’s decision 2) Reject her decision and continue with our plan to hold an election, dealing with whatever conflict that might result or 3) Legitimize the mayor’s decision by having it approved by the OMM committee and the communities.  Eventually it was decided by the OMM that the woman who was chosen by the mayor was indeed qualified for the position, and had the respect and trust of the OMM, as well as many of the women in the communities (some of which had already asked her to participate as a nominee for the election). It was also discussed that the filling of the women’s coordinator position was not a political issue, but a woman’s issue, and that perhaps an election would only create division within communities, rather than solidarity, as they form their women's groups. 

Now the task of the OMM is to return to the communities we visited previously and explain to them this new situation, and make sure that the women are in agreement with this change. They have had two reunions in the communities so far, both of which were positive responses to the idea of this woman as the new coordinator.

When I first heard about this new development, I was frustrated – we had worked so hard to meet with and organize women in the communities! But regrouping with the OMM and CASM reminded me that sometimes our plans don’t always work out the way we want them to… but we can always choose how to respond. (During my college days on the lacrosse team we called this, “controlling the controllables”). My hope is that the energy the women had for the election can now be channeled into the strengthening of their women’s organizations and the petitioning of the municipality office for future development projects. CASM is still committed to assisting in the future organization of the women’s groups, and will continue to accompany the work of the OMM and the new coordinator in whatever way it can.

Delmis discussing early childhood nutrition with the mothers

In other news - at the start of the month I assisted in a food and nutrition workshop in a community called Brisas de Rosarios.  The purpose of this two-day workshop is to educate mothers the importance of infant/early childhood nutrition, and to practice preparing foods that are both nutritional and accessible to families (for example, vegetables and fruits that can be grown in subsistence gardens or found growing wild nearby). I’d like to stress that the point of the workshop is not to teach women how to cook (which would be pretty presumptuous), but rather to provide suggestions for how they can improve the nutritional quality of meals.

Finding foods that kids enjoy can be
 a challenge in any cultural setting. 

Children are often malnourished in their earliest (and most important) years of development. For example, a common practice is to serve young children rice with the seasoned water reserved from cooked beans, which, consistency-wise, does make easy baby food!  But families do not realize that this water lacks practically all the nutrients of the actual beans. In the workshop we propose the preparation of purees for very young children (fruits, beans, vegetables, etc...who needs Gerber's? We’re talking homemade, all natural baby food here!). In addition, we taught mothers several recipes, which incorporate foods rich in additional vitamins that are important for childhood development (and just good in general too!).

Other communities have already received this workshop, and this Friday we are going to have a food festival in which each community will bring a different prepared recipe, potluck style! I can’t think of a more delicious way for the communities to share and review what they have learned from the workshops. More news of that to come in the future…stay tuned!

Peeling ayote for the nutritional soup

Having a good time while preparing carrot fritters

Grinding chaya (a kind of spinach) and other vegetables

Green tortilla mixing

"Is it time to eat yet?"

The ladies were very impressed that I already new how to form tortillas by hand.
What can I say? I learned from the best! (Thanks, Delmis!)

Finished green tortillas - mmmmm so good!

Cesar (CASM staff) defying gender norms by helping us with the soy milk.

Sometimes solidarity work involves fine dicing.

Packing provision bags 

 While we’re on the subject of food, CASM has a new project they have never done before– food provisions. The project, funded by Church World Service and churches in the USA, was implemented this year as a form of humanitarian aid for families who have been most severely affected by the coffee rust plague, a fungus that has desolated coffee production in Central America. The rust first appeared in Guatemala in 2010, and by 2013, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador had all declared national states of emergency due to the effects of the plague.

Roya

I don’t consider myself a huge coffee drinker back in the States (now I think I average at least 3 cups a day!), but I often wonder how it is that I spent the past four years on a college campus without ever hearing about the coffee rust problem? Sure, it’s hard to stay current with the entire state of the world, but surely a Spanish/Sociology major, studying things like social inequality and Latin American culture, and well caffeinated for her 8AM exam, should have caught word of this agricultural disaster south of the border? But perhaps it is only now, several years later, that we are hearing more about the effects of the rust. You tell me – has the price of coffee skyrocketed? Sadly, this may be our first clue to a disaster occurring in another part of the world. We may even grumble about that pricey latte, without even considering the coffee growers struggling on the other side. Personally, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to drink coffee again without thinking about the people whose livelihoods depend on it.  

Hermano (Brother) Julio, helping to load the provisions for delivery!

But back to the food provisions. As part of the effort to combat the negative economic effects caused by the coffee rust outbreak, CASM spent several days this past month packing 260 provision bags filled with rice, beans, corn, butter, sugar, and salt to give to the hardest hit families in the communities. Once again, many hands made light work, as we were very blessed to have the assistance of the Association of Pastors in Nueva Frontera, who let us store the food stuffs in their churches, and also helped out packing and distributing the provisions too!

Provisions ready for the communities!

Like I said, this is the first year that CASM has given out provisions, and only because of this emergency crisis. Our other projects focus on capacity building; rather than simply giving donations we provide training and the tools to help families sustain themselves for the future. One problem we have encountered with this new project is that people hear that CASM is giving out food donations, and they come to us feeling entitled to the provisions. That is not to say that these people don’t actually need the help… to paraphrase what one of my counterparts has said, “Everyone is poor, but there are still some poorer than others.” Our technical staff goes into the communities in which we are currently working and determine where there is the greatest need in order to distribute the provisions. This past month we have received several visitors to our office, inquiring (sometimes demanding) about the donations…it’s hard to turn people away, especially knowing that there is so much need. But our focus right now is in the communities in which we are currently working (CASM capacity builds in a community for a total of 5 years at a time), and to the people there who have been most affected by the rust.

Nevertheless, despite the conflicts this project may involve, the families that have received the provisions have been SUPER grateful. “God has listened to our prayers!” was the comment of one woman, Doña Olimpia Castilla, from the El Profundo community.

This month I will be *virtually* walking a Crop Walk with my Lutheran campus ministry group back home. Crop Walk is a fundraiser for Church World Service (CWS) that helps to make the work of CASM and its many projects possible!  It would be AWESOME if you would join me in solidarity and make a donation to our team. As I said before, there is a LOT of need, and so these Crop Walks are really important for the work of CASM and other organizations supported by CWS!

You can access our team page at:

http://hunger.cwsglobal.org/site/TR/CropWalks/General;jsessionid=68E7028206F3BD67B75C514A129E47F4.app223a?px=1866962&pg=personal&fr_id=19854

You may have heard the phrase, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This is pretty much the idea when it comes to the rest of our projects here at CASM. In fact, in the past few months, several communities have been trained (quite literally) in fish farming! And after building their respective fisheries, this month CASM delivered a primary donation of tilapia to the new fish farmers to get their livelihood started. (Okay, so maybe we are technically giving out fish…but training/capacity building definitely comes first!)

 

Beti releasing her fish. - El Pino

Our other building projects are currently in the works….the month of August was spent largely buying and delivering materials to the communities for the future construction of latrines, fuel-efficient ovens/stoves, chicken coops, and water basins. It’s a big endeavor to get these heavy building materials (cement, concrete blocks, bricks, tubing, metal sheets, etc.) to the communities, located far out in the mountainous campo (countryside) and reachable only by rugged roads. It’s also difficult to find transportation that is willing to make these heavy loaded deliveries, and at a reasonable price. Just being able to reach the communities is a challenge of community development work here in Honduras that I didn’t think about before…and with the coming rainy season this challenge will only be more difficult. Fortunately, almost all of the materials are either in the communities already, or ready to go out from our office! I’m really looking forward to seeing the building projects in action this September.

 

Some of our lighter loads to the communities!

The theme of this post is regroup, something I have had the opportunity to do this month. I have listened, learned, and experienced so much already… and it’s only September! It has been a blast accompanying CASM in their various projects and getting to know the people in the communities. But now that I’ve had time to settle in, it’s time for me to start contributing more independently to CASM. In mid-August I had an important discussion with my counterparts about how I could best collaborate with them in the coming months. Together, we decided that I will start giving charlas (talks) in the communities, focusing on the topics of human rights (especially in regards to gender equity) and environmental conservation. These charlas will be given in the schools (grades 3-6), as well as with adults in organized reunions. While I am not necessarily an expert in these topics, I am enjoying the challenge of utilizing the resources available to me and coming up with creative, interactive ways to present this information in the communities.

My first charla group! These women were awesome.

At the end of August, I was able to give my first charla on human rights to a group of women in the Cedral community. It was a great first trial run! While there were definitely some moments of confusion between me and the women gathered, I was very grateful for their patience, as well as the assistance of César, one of the CASM technicians, for helping to clarify certain points. By the end, I had gained all sorts of ideas on how to improve the charla and make it better for the next group! But all in all I would say that it was still a success... afterwards I was able to ask some of the women how they felt about the charla, and was encouraged to hear that, even despite the bumps here and there, they really enjoyed the discussion and looked forward to the next meeting. One woman’s story, in particular, reminded me of how valuable these talks could be simply on a relational level… a single mother with two children, her parents have both passed away, and she often feels isolated and alone. She told me, “This charla opened up my heart, and cheered me up.” Her comments reminded me that while the topics I am sharing are important, simply creating a space for people to discuss and feel that their thoughts and opinions are valued makes a deeper difference – it helps to foster solidarity within their own community! 

Let’s see, is there anything else I can catch you up on? In my last post I mentioned that we were going to have a cat in the office…unfortunately this never worked out. Apparently the cat was “walking sadly” the day before it was going to be given to us, and passed away. So sad! Suffice it to say that we have managed to rid ourselves of the mice by other means…but I’m still hoping for a cat in the near future!

Finally, I have one piece of exciting, personal news. This past weekend I accepted an invitation to serve in the Peace Corps next year! I am scheduled to leave in March for El Salvador, and will be working in community development projects. I have to say how truly grateful I am for the experiences I have had living in Honduras and working with CASM thus far, as it really helped to affirm my decision to commit another two years volunteering abroad.

Wow, that was a lot to regroup! I will try my best to write more often and not so lengthy in the months to come. Thanks for continuing to follow me and my experiences in Honduras. I also really love hearing from you too, so please feel free to comment below if you feel so led!

In Solidarity,

Malinda