Honduras played Canada last Saturday so a group of us headed to Ceiba to watch. The game was a home game played in San Pedro Sula, the second largest City in Honduras. Honduras played awesome and won 3-1 so there was a huge celebration in Ceiba and as usual it was very eventful. They played Jamaica last night (we didn´t go into town because it was a school night) and lost 0-1. Honduras now needs to either beat or tie Mexico in November to be in the running for the 2010 World Cup. They play at home, here in Honduras in San Pedro Sula, and I and some other volunteers are for sure going to go and watch it! The Honduran couple I live with are already SO emotional just thinking about the game and trying to plan everything so that we can all go.
School and the kids are doing well. We have the most volunteers now that we have had since I have lived at the Hogar. There are 4 (including myself) living at the Hogar and 3 that live at the volunteer house a mile away that come for the mornings. We had a meeting yesterday and we are going to start doing English classes and computer classes in the afternoons. It is so nice having more volunteers to help share the load and it is nice for the kids so that they are all getting more attention. The board members for the organization are coming into town this next week and we will be having a party on Saturday followed by volunteer meetings next week. I am personally very excited to be able to talk with the board about all of my concerns with the organization and how the orphanage is ran. Hopefully we will be able to make a lot of improvements while they are in town.
As for the kids... They are doing well. I was doing exercises last night while the kids ate so I got my dinner late and went into the dinning room and everyone was done eating and Moises was cleaning. i told him I would help him with his chores if he sat with me while I ate. He came over and sat down with me and we talked our normal conversation. He asked me everyone´s name in my family and all there ages. After finishing my meal I asked him what he wanted me to do. He grinned and said I had to mop. So I mopped the dinning room which now gives me more respect for the kids and the chore they have to do. It is a large room, and a large mop, and by the time I was done I was exhausted!
Ruth, my favorite little girl who is in first grade punched another boy for teasing her and so I put her into time out for 5 minutes. I have never punished her, mostly because I have such a soft spot for her, but also because she usually behaves. Tears started rolling down her eyes and she gave me this look I cannot get out of my head, like someone killed her puppy. She hasn´t talked to my since this happened. This just happened this morning so hopefully when I get back she will be fine, but I still cannot stop thinking about the sad face she gave me for getting upset with her. I am going to be such a pushover as a mother!
I hope all is well. I miss everyone! I really really miss Frank´s cheesecakes! I am going to head back to make sure Ruth isn´t still mad at me!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Runaway and Tooth Fairy
Tomorrow night Honduras and Canada play so I am heading to La Ceiba with a couple of other volunteers to go watch the game. It will be nice to spend a bit of time away from the orphanage. Although things had been going really well the oldest girl who is 16 years old tried to runaway on Wednesday. They found her with her boyfriend trying to get onto a bus to head to another village. Unfortunately they think that one of the live in Tias helped the couple plan their escape. I do not know all of the details yet but possibly the girl and her 2 sisters may have to go back into government custody. A couple of the other volunteers and I are going to try and get a better understanding of what exactly is going on and if the organization has a say in what happens to the girl or if it is just in government hands now. I think this really goes to show that the kids need to be in a public school in the city as opposed to a private school on the property of the orphanage. I think what would be best for the kids is to be interacting with other kids in a more social environment. The girl slept in the volunteer room when she was returned and I sat with her trying to talk to her as best as I could to understand how she was feeling. She just said she loved the orphanage, the kids, the people, the food, but didn't feel that she had enough freedom. I think every 16 year old girl can understand this, but also, most 16 year old girls have mothers they can go home and talk to and who are always there for them. This 16 year old girl sat on a bed in a room with 2 volunteers from foreign countries who weren't speaking their native language who have families they will eventually go home to, trying to console her. Thinking about this I knew there wasn't really anything I could say to her. I have no say in what happens to her and even if I sympathized with what she did it was still wrong and something out of my hands will still happen to her. I just knew if it was me and I was feeling as she was, the comfort of my mom would make all of the pain go away and she does not have that same luxury. Instead she has always been the tough one that her two younger sisters have depended on. I just held her while she cried until she told me she was ready to go to bed. I crawled into my bed and laid there listening to her cry herself to sleep. This happened Wednesday evening. Today is Friday and she is still at the orphanage and hasn't been sent away yet. There are still waiting to hear back from the government organization as to if/when she and her sisters will be leaving... It will be interesting to see what happens and how long it takes to happen. This girl had just aced her English test a week ago today, last Friday, and as a present I made her a necklace. Also, she eagerly ran with me Sunday in her sandals due to her infected ingrown toenail...
On another note, talking about moms... I want to thank my mom. I am the designated tooth fairy and living with 20 kids it seems I find myself having to stay up late every other night to put money under pillows! I usually get up around 5:30 am and I am in bed around 9:30 pm. The other day a boy came to my door and said he and another boy had lost their teeth 3 days prior and hadn't received any money yet. I hadn't been notified that they had lost their teeth so I said we should write a note to the tooth fairy. We wrote a note to put under the pillow with the 2 teeth. They boys asked me what would happen if the tooth fairy still didn't come even with a note... I said that I would call her manager if she still didn't come. All the kids loved this, knowing that I had the tooth fairies manager's telephone number! Needless to say that night a very tired tooth fairy arrived and left money under the pillows. I had to wait until all of the boys were asleep which wasn't until 11:30!
I hope all is well! Sorry this is short we are headed to get some licuados!
On another note, talking about moms... I want to thank my mom. I am the designated tooth fairy and living with 20 kids it seems I find myself having to stay up late every other night to put money under pillows! I usually get up around 5:30 am and I am in bed around 9:30 pm. The other day a boy came to my door and said he and another boy had lost their teeth 3 days prior and hadn't received any money yet. I hadn't been notified that they had lost their teeth so I said we should write a note to the tooth fairy. We wrote a note to put under the pillow with the 2 teeth. They boys asked me what would happen if the tooth fairy still didn't come even with a note... I said that I would call her manager if she still didn't come. All the kids loved this, knowing that I had the tooth fairies manager's telephone number! Needless to say that night a very tired tooth fairy arrived and left money under the pillows. I had to wait until all of the boys were asleep which wasn't until 11:30!
I hope all is well! Sorry this is short we are headed to get some licuados!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Running!
I was leaving to go running Saturday morning alone and two of the boys, Daniel who is 10 and Francisco who is 11 asked me if they could go with me. I wasn't really in the mood to run alone so I went and asked Julio the onsite head Tio to see if it would be ok. Julio looked at Daniel and Francisco who were already dressed in their best attempted running gear and said yes, that we could run to the next village, Cacao and back (about 1 mile away). The boys were so excited to be able to leave the orphanage grounds! They were so well behaved and cute it was a blast, much better than running alone and they were both actually able to run the entire time! We ran to Cacao to the volunteer house and got them a glass of water and I let them lay in the hammock there and then we returned. When we got back I was bombarded with kids that wanted to go running. I told them I would take 2 kids a day. I got harassed by the kids all day with different kids wanting to go so Sunday I made 4 trips and took 8 kids running to Cacao and back! I took 2 boys, 2 girls, 2 boys, then 2 girls! I was dead! Even the younger kids want to go. Angelo who is 6 almost started crying when I told him I thought he was a bit too young to go, although he is one of the better soccer players. I will probably give in today and take Angelo running.
The one bummer is the kids don't have running shoes. Well some of them do. Francisco wore his black school shoes, and a couple of the kids wore their soccer shoes. I am going to head to town and see how much it would be to get the kids some decent tennis shoes becuase they are now really eager to run but I know they cannot be as comfortable as they claim they are. But Sunday was a really good day! Although I was exhausted (it was also our first day without rain in weeks and it was hot) it was defintaley worth it! None of the kids complained! They all ran with huge smiles!
The one bummer is the kids don't have running shoes. Well some of them do. Francisco wore his black school shoes, and a couple of the kids wore their soccer shoes. I am going to head to town and see how much it would be to get the kids some decent tennis shoes becuase they are now really eager to run but I know they cannot be as comfortable as they claim they are. But Sunday was a really good day! Although I was exhausted (it was also our first day without rain in weeks and it was hot) it was defintaley worth it! None of the kids complained! They all ran with huge smiles!
Friday, October 3, 2008
It has been a while, but all is well.
The past 2 weeks have been awesome!!! For some reason when I got back from Guatemala it seems everything just has kind of fallen into place and improved. When I got back from Guatemala I was once again the only volunteer living at the orphanage. I decided to adjust some of the rules. I decided to store all of the toothbrushes and toothpaste in my room for the 10 youngest kids. So now every morning and evening they come in and I give them their tooth brush and toothpaste and can keep better track of who is/isn't brushing their teeth. Also, the four youngest kids, I help them brush their teeth. Also, after dinner I decided not to let any of the kids play with ANY of the toys from the volunteer room unless they had all bathed. While I was away the showers for the kids and volunteers were fixed which has made this much easier. I was able to get into the storage room and get some soap which I keep in my room to make sure if the kids don't have soap I can provide them with some. This has really helped the hygiene issue immensely!
Last weekend on Saturday the director of the program took the kids on a field trip to a lagoon which is a nearby animal refuge. Another volunteer and myself went along as chaperons and had a blast. He and I had more fun than the kids. We drove about 30 minutes outside of La Ceiba, took a small train about 30 minutes and then boarded on these little boats, 12 people in each and floated around a lagoon. We got to see manatees, crocodiles, monkeys, snakes, etc. It was super fun! I got eaten alive by mosquitoes (we left at 5:30 am so I didn't take the time to grab mine) but it was still a very nice day away. The kids crack me up though. I thought they would have loved the animals and the boat but the majority of them slept on the boat. Surprisingly, well I guess it isn't surprising, but what the kids found the most excited was an exotic fruit that the guide found and picked for the kids. They all attacked the guide trying to get more, claiming he hadn't given them any. The kids are hilarious about food! He stopped twice to pick them some fruit and both times they showed SO much enthusiasm all fighting to try and get more than everyone else and then putting the fruits into their pockets andcounting them over and over... I got about 4 from the kids who were kind enough to share. After the lagoon we walked about 15 minutes to swim in the ocean before heading back to the Hogar. Even the youngest boy who is 3 can swim like a little fish!
I had talked to the director about a week prior asking if I could take kids one or two at a time into town to spend some time with them away from the Hogar. He said it had never been done before and asked me about my intentions. I explained that the kids act much differently when they are away from the orphanage and when they are one on one, and that I would like to treat each one of them to a meal and either a soccer game, a movie, clothes, or a little something extra. He said he thought it was a good idea but would have to check with the board... I knew it would take about a month before I got an answer so Saturday I sat with him on the way too and from the lagoon to talk to him about it. By the end of the day he gave me the ok to take 2 kids into town the following day. I talked another volunteer into going into town with us to help alleviate any issues/stress that may arise amongst the board. WE took Ruth who is one of my students in the first grade (crazy little 8 year old girl who I have come to really love) and Carolina, the youngest girl who is 4 years old. I asked the girls first thing Sunday morning what they wanted to do. Both said that they wanted to go to Pizza Hut and get ice cream. So off we went on the bus to La Ceiba. We took them to Pizza Hut which was hilarious! It was my first Honduran Pizza Hut experience and it was actually really fun. The girl right off the bat dumped a ton of the Parmesan cheese onto their plates and licked their plates clean about 5 times before the pizza arrived. Then each of the girls ate about 4 pieces of peperoni pizza. Both girls wanted to save a piece to take back to the orphanage to share with their siblings. We told them it was their day and that we would take their siblings as well... This made them feel less guilt so they were able to eat the last of the pizza. I asked them what they wanted to do next and they wanted to go play at Wendy's on the jungle gym. Again my first Wendy's experience in Honduras we went over to Wendy's and let the girls romp around for about an hour! I had never seen either of the girls laugh so hard in my life. It was too adorable! After Wendy's we went to the mall and bought both of the girls a banana dipped in chocolate. Both girls again wanted to save their last bite to take back to their siblings at the orphanage. We let them play on a couple of little rides at the mall and then with good intentions took them inside one of the shops to buy them an article of clothing. The girls ran around like crazy saying they wanted EVERYTHING. I don't know if this is all kids or just these kids but they could not decide on anything and it got to the point where we were going to miss the last Sunday bus. My brother, Ryan, knows about the Sunday buses, they are VERY unreliable. We told the girls to give us some ideas of what they liked, which they had given us about 100 ideas by that time, and that we would come back and get them something and surprise them. On the way home we asked the girls if they had fun. They looked up at me and just kind of shrugged, this is actually what I expected, but I knew to wait until we got home before feeling any bit of offense. As soon as we got to the orphanage the girls ran up to the other kids explaining what they did and how much fun they had. All of the other kids ran up to us to see when it would be there turn. I had so much fun spending both days Saturday and Sunday with the kids. I went to bed Sunday almost in tears, it had been a really good week.
Monday we got a new volunteer at the Hogar and she, another volunteer and I totally rearranged the volunteer room (now housing myself and the new volunteer) and totally cleaned up all of the kids toys. I didn't want to leave my room all week because it looks SO much nicer! Currently there is a volunteer from England and myself living at the Hogar and then all of the other volunteers (there are 3 that come help) live in a house about a mile away, a volunteer house. The project just hired a new live in Tia who brought her 1 year old son. She has been living with us only about 4 days and has been doing a great job helping out with the kids! Also, another woman is sleeping and working at the project with her 2 kids Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays which is really helping as well. Both of these women are Honduran and can communicate with the kids better than any of the volunteers and thus far have been helping out immensely!
Overall things have been going really really well. For that reason I haven't had much of a need/desire to come into town. Today we didn't have class because of a Holiday so I was able to sneak away. I have even found a couple of volunteers I was able to talk into running with me which has been going really well also. Although the run yesterday made me feel really old! I was running with a new volunteer from a different project that I had just met. She was asking me my age and she said, "Gees for being 26 you are in good shape. I am only 18 and I cannot run as far as you." I know that she meant for this to be a compliment but it just made me feel really, really old! The only downside is that rainy season is upon us which means it rained everyday this week! Today is the nicest day it has been about about 11 days. I feel like I am back at home with the rain, although it is a constant 80-85 degrees here, even with the rain.
I am trying to think if there is anything else that I should update people on... I really miss Guatemala and cannot wait to go back someday. It was amazing! I hope everyone is doing well. I am currently about 3\4 of the way finished with the book Three Cups of Tea and I really recommend it! I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all. I really miss ice cream as well. And my grandma's cooking! Oh also, I have still been helping the cooks out as much as I can which I love! They are hilarious and love to teach me new little tricks which I cannot wait to hopefully use when I get home. The two new Tias we have made got up at 4:30 am on Wednesday to make homemade donuts which were amazing as well! I told them I wanted to learn and they said I would have to get up at 4:30 the next time they made them... So I may sit the donut lesson out.
Take care,
Mary
PS I have tons of pictures that I will try and put up soon. When I put up my last set of pictures I somehow manage to delete every picture I had taken! But I promise I will put more up soon.
Last weekend on Saturday the director of the program took the kids on a field trip to a lagoon which is a nearby animal refuge. Another volunteer and myself went along as chaperons and had a blast. He and I had more fun than the kids. We drove about 30 minutes outside of La Ceiba, took a small train about 30 minutes and then boarded on these little boats, 12 people in each and floated around a lagoon. We got to see manatees, crocodiles, monkeys, snakes, etc. It was super fun! I got eaten alive by mosquitoes (we left at 5:30 am so I didn't take the time to grab mine) but it was still a very nice day away. The kids crack me up though. I thought they would have loved the animals and the boat but the majority of them slept on the boat. Surprisingly, well I guess it isn't surprising, but what the kids found the most excited was an exotic fruit that the guide found and picked for the kids. They all attacked the guide trying to get more, claiming he hadn't given them any. The kids are hilarious about food! He stopped twice to pick them some fruit and both times they showed SO much enthusiasm all fighting to try and get more than everyone else and then putting the fruits into their pockets andcounting them over and over... I got about 4 from the kids who were kind enough to share. After the lagoon we walked about 15 minutes to swim in the ocean before heading back to the Hogar. Even the youngest boy who is 3 can swim like a little fish!
I had talked to the director about a week prior asking if I could take kids one or two at a time into town to spend some time with them away from the Hogar. He said it had never been done before and asked me about my intentions. I explained that the kids act much differently when they are away from the orphanage and when they are one on one, and that I would like to treat each one of them to a meal and either a soccer game, a movie, clothes, or a little something extra. He said he thought it was a good idea but would have to check with the board... I knew it would take about a month before I got an answer so Saturday I sat with him on the way too and from the lagoon to talk to him about it. By the end of the day he gave me the ok to take 2 kids into town the following day. I talked another volunteer into going into town with us to help alleviate any issues/stress that may arise amongst the board. WE took Ruth who is one of my students in the first grade (crazy little 8 year old girl who I have come to really love) and Carolina, the youngest girl who is 4 years old. I asked the girls first thing Sunday morning what they wanted to do. Both said that they wanted to go to Pizza Hut and get ice cream. So off we went on the bus to La Ceiba. We took them to Pizza Hut which was hilarious! It was my first Honduran Pizza Hut experience and it was actually really fun. The girl right off the bat dumped a ton of the Parmesan cheese onto their plates and licked their plates clean about 5 times before the pizza arrived. Then each of the girls ate about 4 pieces of peperoni pizza. Both girls wanted to save a piece to take back to the orphanage to share with their siblings. We told them it was their day and that we would take their siblings as well... This made them feel less guilt so they were able to eat the last of the pizza. I asked them what they wanted to do next and they wanted to go play at Wendy's on the jungle gym. Again my first Wendy's experience in Honduras we went over to Wendy's and let the girls romp around for about an hour! I had never seen either of the girls laugh so hard in my life. It was too adorable! After Wendy's we went to the mall and bought both of the girls a banana dipped in chocolate. Both girls again wanted to save their last bite to take back to their siblings at the orphanage. We let them play on a couple of little rides at the mall and then with good intentions took them inside one of the shops to buy them an article of clothing. The girls ran around like crazy saying they wanted EVERYTHING. I don't know if this is all kids or just these kids but they could not decide on anything and it got to the point where we were going to miss the last Sunday bus. My brother, Ryan, knows about the Sunday buses, they are VERY unreliable. We told the girls to give us some ideas of what they liked, which they had given us about 100 ideas by that time, and that we would come back and get them something and surprise them. On the way home we asked the girls if they had fun. They looked up at me and just kind of shrugged, this is actually what I expected, but I knew to wait until we got home before feeling any bit of offense. As soon as we got to the orphanage the girls ran up to the other kids explaining what they did and how much fun they had. All of the other kids ran up to us to see when it would be there turn. I had so much fun spending both days Saturday and Sunday with the kids. I went to bed Sunday almost in tears, it had been a really good week.
Monday we got a new volunteer at the Hogar and she, another volunteer and I totally rearranged the volunteer room (now housing myself and the new volunteer) and totally cleaned up all of the kids toys. I didn't want to leave my room all week because it looks SO much nicer! Currently there is a volunteer from England and myself living at the Hogar and then all of the other volunteers (there are 3 that come help) live in a house about a mile away, a volunteer house. The project just hired a new live in Tia who brought her 1 year old son. She has been living with us only about 4 days and has been doing a great job helping out with the kids! Also, another woman is sleeping and working at the project with her 2 kids Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays which is really helping as well. Both of these women are Honduran and can communicate with the kids better than any of the volunteers and thus far have been helping out immensely!
Overall things have been going really really well. For that reason I haven't had much of a need/desire to come into town. Today we didn't have class because of a Holiday so I was able to sneak away. I have even found a couple of volunteers I was able to talk into running with me which has been going really well also. Although the run yesterday made me feel really old! I was running with a new volunteer from a different project that I had just met. She was asking me my age and she said, "Gees for being 26 you are in good shape. I am only 18 and I cannot run as far as you." I know that she meant for this to be a compliment but it just made me feel really, really old! The only downside is that rainy season is upon us which means it rained everyday this week! Today is the nicest day it has been about about 11 days. I feel like I am back at home with the rain, although it is a constant 80-85 degrees here, even with the rain.
I am trying to think if there is anything else that I should update people on... I really miss Guatemala and cannot wait to go back someday. It was amazing! I hope everyone is doing well. I am currently about 3\4 of the way finished with the book Three Cups of Tea and I really recommend it! I hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all. I really miss ice cream as well. And my grandma's cooking! Oh also, I have still been helping the cooks out as much as I can which I love! They are hilarious and love to teach me new little tricks which I cannot wait to hopefully use when I get home. The two new Tias we have made got up at 4:30 am on Wednesday to make homemade donuts which were amazing as well! I told them I wanted to learn and they said I would have to get up at 4:30 the next time they made them... So I may sit the donut lesson out.
Take care,
Mary
PS I have tons of pictures that I will try and put up soon. When I put up my last set of pictures I somehow manage to delete every picture I had taken! But I promise I will put more up soon.
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