Give Thanks+Solidarity

Okay, a Thanksgiving post was just a must have right? And that’s all I want to do here – give thanks. Because there is a TON to give thanks for, I’m just going to let my stream of consciousness run free for this one….

I’m thankful for my family. For my family in the States – Mom, Dad, Allen, Louisa, Grandparents, Karin, Cousins, Uncles, Aunts, pets – all the people who I am missing like crazy today and can’t wait to see in a month. For my family in Honduras, for welcoming me into their homes and into their lives as if I were one of their own, family I have come to love in Trinidad, Tela, or right here in Trascerros with our unconventional family of coworkers, kids, and nanny during the weekdays. Also for the Siembra theatre group, who might as well be family too! And finally, for my host family in Ecuador, especially for mi ecuamadre Magi, who I think of often and don’t talk to nearly enough as I should. Really hoping to visit her soon!

I’m thankful for Bridgewater College. For all that it taught me, for the people I met there and for the experiences we shared. For the opportunities it gave me, expanding my horizons, and transforming me as a person. For my professors and my mentors and, most of all, my friends!

I am thankful for my friends. Yes, I said it twice. Friends from babyhood (Katie, I’m looking at you chica! YJDEK). Friends that I still have from highschool that remain in touch because we’re worth it to one another (Smelliot George you earn a special note here for most likely to keep in touch with me despite being at another university, or in another country for that matter!). For housemates (Kristi and Corlita I can’t wait to see you for New Years!!!! Counting down the days :D ) for soulmates (Stina, mi media mandarina, eres irremplazable! No puedo esperar estar contigo de nuevo, gracias a Dios tenemos todas nuestras vidas para tener adventuras juntas! tkm) and for the friends that have inspired me, that I have treasured, and who are far too numerous to all be listed here (and yet must be mentioned as best as possible…Loganne, Matt, Alicia, Rim, Kelly, Bethany, Aislinn, Jesse, Nick, Jules, Lindsay, Nathaniel, JJ, Elizabeth, Emiliano, everyone at NCP in Hburg, Cory, Carolyn, Jen, Emily…and everyone else, you know who you are!).

I’m thankful for music. For the joy that it brings me, for the way it has allowed me to connect to others, for the ability to both listen to and share it!

I’m thankful for my church families (maybe that should have gone in the first paragraph, but oh well!). For St. Philip and for the Thanksgiving feast that they share with the Roanoke community each year, spreading the love of Christ beyond our church doors! For Muhlenberg, who also does amazing work in the community, especially I want to give thanks today for its ministry with Second Home – I pray for that program often and the kids and families remain on my heart daily! For LCM, for the best friends one could ask for in that group. I wish I had spent more time with them during my college years, but am so thankful for the time we did share! Thankful also for the VA Synod and the ELCA, I am so proud to be a Lutheran and give thanks for this church that wants to make the world a better place. Special thanks especially to Dave Delaney.

I’m thankful for all the opportunities that I have had in this life, especially for traveling. For my incredible, life changing experience in Ecuador. For BCA and Daniel Bryan, the best study abroad director there ever was! For Nepal, and for the New Community Project learning tour that opened my eyes to a whole other side of the world, an entirely new extreme of poverty, and a beautiful people and culture, and a fight for women’s justice more than worth fighting for! Also I give thanks for the New Community Project for giving me the opportunity to be here in Honduras to work with CASM, an experience that has impacted me and continued to help me to grow, and without a doubt is preparing me for the next two years I will be spending in El Salvador with the Peace Corps. 

I also give thanks for my country, the United States, for all of the opportunities that it gives to young people. Because despite all of the mess that our government is, I am thankful for the freedoms that we have, the protection we enjoy, and the fact that I feel I can participate and speak my mind about what needs to change without fear.

I’m thankful for the people I have met here in the communities. For teaching me so much through their faith, humbleness, and generosity. For our conversations in the charlas, for inspiring me to continue working for women’s equality in the world…we have a long ways to go still, but I’m thankful to be part of progress!

Thankful for CASM and for all of the ways in which it helps these people, for the work and dedication of my coworkers, and for all that the institution has taught me about community development work. Also for Don Tatlock and CWS, who helped make it possible for me to be here, and for all of the support that they give to CASM and other organizations around the world.

Thankful for Ann Zeigler, for sharing with me her BVS work at the Hogar and for the kids who live there and are given so many opportunities for a better life as a result! Also for Ann’s practically host family who shared a weekend with me, they were absolutely lovely and welcoming and even if I never see them again I am grateful for the moments we shared playing Kims, letting our minds run free between English and Spanish languages, impromptu dance parties, Nutella and other delicious foods, and just kicking back and enjoying one another’s company!

I’m thankful for the fact that I’m here and alive today. That I am healthy, safe, and that no harm has come to me in my travels.

Oh! I’m also thankful for CENIT and my volunteer experience in Ecuador, for all of the volunteers that I was able to meet through that organization and for all the kids that we worked with, their hugs and laughter are unforgettable.

I’m thankful for art and for the people who protect cultural traditions. For good books, for lyrics that carry important messages, for actors and actresses who hope to transform others through their performance (Louisa Britt I know you do this and it inspires me!!!), for photography like Humans of New York that show us a little bit more of humanity each day.

For running, even though I haven’t been able to do it hardly at all in Honduras, it is both a challenge and a therapy to me, and I’m thankful that I still have the health and the knees to do it. And thankful for all of my running counterparts who inspire me to hit the pavement time and time again, especially Katie, Grandpa, and Chum.

For nature, even though we mistreat and destroy it. For all the natural wonders of this world, the ones that I have seen and the ones that I will see, and the ones I will only ever know in pictures. But just thankful that they exist. And praying that we can preserve what’s left. Thankful for the Amazon and for its secrets, for its people and their traditions, and for its supporters trying to protect the land and everything that inhabits it.  Thankful for mountains, especially the Blue Ridge which may not be as big as the Andes or the Himalayas, but will always be the most beautiful and most treasured to me.

For good food, for all the deliciousness I have been able to try here, and for the food that I will get to enjoy again when I go back home. Thankful that I don’t worry about going hungry, and praying praying praying for the people in this world who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, or if it will come at all. I give thanks for the Drumstick Dash in Roanoke and for the Rescue Mission’s work. Wishing I could be there dashing along with everyone this morning, moving our feet so others can eat!

I’m thankful for technology. For the way that it helps me to keep in touch with others. For free promotional minutes to call the United States from my Tigo phone company here. For the wonders of skype and fb messaging. For email. For blogs, that allow me to share my experiences as well as read up on others’. For all the ways that technology brings this globalized world and the people in it together for GOOD CAUSES and creates solidarity despite lines of cultural, social, and political differences.

I’m sure there is more that I haven’t mentioned here, but these are the things I am most thankful for today.

Happy Thanksgiving! Feliz Dia de Gracias!

In Solidarity,

Malinda

P.S. - You might be wondering how I'm celebrating Turkey Day here, the truth is not much other than expressing gratitude to the people around me. Things are also a bit crazy here this weekend as me and my CASM counterparts are traveling to a national conference for all of the CASM employees, but I am hoping to share a belated turkey dinner with my host family the following weekend! 

Educate+Solidarity

Just a short post for today, but worth sharing.

Yesterday I visited a community called the Cedral to accompany an agriculture workshop on organic composting and insecticides. 

BOTH men and women were present at the workshop, and equally invested in learning the process of making these useful materials. It was awesome seeing the entrepreneurial spirit of one woman, who wanted to know if the organic insecticide was something that they could potentially sell! 

Likewise, the community members helping to lead the workshop (they had received the training previously and were now passing it along to others) explained how making these organic composts didn't have to be an individual effort, and that it was better if at least two if not more people got together to make a whole bunch of the material all at once. Yay for collective organization and action!

Finally, there were also several kids present at the workshop, either young ones brought by their families, or curious students returning back home from school for the afternoon. It's cool to see the younger generation taking interest in the workshop, and the hope is that their families will pass down this knowledge to them for a better, more eco-friendly tomorrow! 

Education doesn't being or end in the school classroom. Everyone, women and men, kids and the elderly, took something away from this workshop yesterday. In just a couple of hours, these families learned something both simple and valuable that can help them as they continue to develop their home gardens and farms, promoting better soil conservation and alternatives to chemical products. 

Remember+Solidarity

I sometimes worry when I write these posts that I’m being too positive, or too optimistic. I’ve written about good and bad things that have happened here in Honduras, but most of the time it’s not too hard to find the silver lining.

This past Sunday I realized that I only have 50 days left in Honduras. It was a sad realization, and while 50 days is still a substantial amount (more than ¼ of my total time here) time is only passing faster and faster than before. I’ve started to obsess about how to make the most of my time here, while at the same time think about what I will do when I go back home, how I will readjust my life, prepare for my service in the Peace Corps, etc. These are things that I am even starting to stress over.

I’ve come to really love Honduras, and a piece of my heart is always going to remain here. It has been my home away from home. I can confidently say that I’ve become very comfortable here over time, I’ve grown accustomed, gotten acclimated. It has been a time filled with so many memories, moments I will never possibly forget.

But in the last hour I had a really big reality check.

Some women I have come to know through my work with CASM came by to visit the office today. We shared cups of coffee and cookies together, catching up with how things were going. We discussed the current coffee harvesting that is happening, the bad weather, how the women’s microbusinesses were functioning…And it was there that one of the woman told me that unfortunately the microbusiness wasn’t doing so well, and that she hadn’t been able to participate much in it recently because her son had died. “I am so very sorry for your loss,” I tell her.

 “They killed him.”

That’s when I realize that despite all of the beauty, all of the amazing people, all of the wonderful things I have come to learn and to know in this country – there is still this harsh reality. I don’t know how or in what circumstances her son was killed, I didn’t press for details. But I am overwhelmed by how terribly casual this conversation was…albeit tragic, it is not unusual. In fact, this Sunday, on the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) I spent the afternoon in the cemetery, and there a man told me that he was visiting a friend who had been killed. 

But that is not to say at all that this mother didn’t feel less what any mother feels when a child is taken from her. I am certain that she is carrying an unimaginable pain and loss in her heart right now. I am also amazed by her strength, and her determination to offer the best she can for her three orphaned grandchildren she is now caring for full-time. And likewise, I am sure that that man is still mourning the loss of his friend a year ago. The higher probability of violence and death  doesn't mean people feel any less the hurt it causes them. The pain isn't dulled because it's felt more frequently, if anything, it's even more raw and more painful with each blow.

And then I started to think about all of the violence happening in our world right now, which hardly crosses my mind most days. The fighting and bloodshed in the Middle East, for instance. I’m embarrassed to say that I had never heard anything about ISIS until a friend mentioned it to me in an online message one day last month. But geez, with so much shit going down in the world, it’s easier to just block it all out, right?

Tell that to the people living in it.

I could say that the silverlining to all this is that at least there are awesome organizations like CASM and CWS and NCP and tons of other ONG’s like them doing good work, combatting the darkness in our world. Of course I believe this, and it does give me hope for the future.

Today was the second time I’ve cried since I arrived in Honduras (the first was my second weekend here, the expected homesickness finally kicking in).  I think this conversation just tipped the glass of emotions I have been filling and tucking away, because it’s hard to feel so much every day. I am blown away by how insignificant my problems are, how many my blessings, how much I have to be thankful for, and how little I actually give thanks for it. I am reminded that I need to pray less that God would help me figure out how I can best help people (aka Dear God, please send your best career and future life advice…thanks a million, Father!) and pray more for the people themselves I want to help and for peace itself. I also think I should try feeling more for these people, opening myself up to their pain even if it drains me emotionally too. Because frankly, that’s solidarity.

In other words, even when we are doing good work, let’s not forget the reality that there is still so much left to be done at the end of the day. People are killed. People are hungry. People are hurting. If I really want to be the change I want to see in the world, I need to keep reminding myself what state the world really is in. It’s just so easy to get complacent. To check my Facebook feed before the world news. To focus on these development projects before seriously reflecting upon the reality that makes them necessary in the first place. As well as how that reality came to be, and how I, as an individual with the power to make decisions every second of my life, can contribute to the continuation or the transformation of that reality.

I need to remember the people and their struggles.

I need to remember my human connection to those people and see their struggles as our struggles.

Because if I don’t remember, I’ll just forget. And nothing will change.

In Solidarity,

Malinda