The Christmas Pig

Christmas eve night, or “Noche Buena”, is a time in Honduras to celebrate with family and friends. Although tamales are popular, some rural families will raise a pig to butcher and eat on this night. It is a rare treat that most only get once a year. Many rural families can’t afford new clothes throughout the year, but it is a tradition to wear new clothes on this night. The verb used is “estrenar”, which means “to wear for the first time.” And don’t expect to have leftover pork to eat the rest of the week. Some is given to neighbors and friends, but the rest is eaten that night. The celebration goes on into the wee hours of the morning, with the 25th reserved for sleeping.

 

 

Frijoles

“If you are too lazy to plow, then you should never expect a harvest.” ~Proverbs 20:4

It’s bean harvesting time. Red beans are a staple food in Honduras, and some families in the rural areas are able to grow their own. But there has to be a better way to get to the final product than just sitting down and shelling out each individual bean pod. This family thinks they may have an idea.

First, the pods need to be dried in the sun. On an afternoon in the tropics, this doesn’t take long.

Next, let’s put the bean pods in a sack and try beating it against a tree trunk to break the beans free from the pods.

That was fun! Let’s see how well it worked.

Ok, they are all out, but how do we separate them from the chaff? How about wave a metal sheet while pouring from one container to another.

Ok. We need more air. Let’s try the fan

Wait. It’s getting in my eyes. And it’s still full of chaff.

Oh, well. I guess the time-tested and time-consuming method of shelling each pod individually is still the best way.

After a long day, a sack full of beans makes a good bed.

 

 

The Lodge at Pico Bonito Closing in April

It’s sad to report that the Lodge at Pico Bonito will be closing its doors for good in 2 weeks. Here is an article from HondurasTips that describes the situation.

One of the owners died in 2017. He was an strong advocate of conservation and ecotourism for the Pico Bonito National Park. But the remaining owners do not share his vision. The plan is to remove the exiting infrastructure, and some say, create a palm oil plantation in its place. The local wildlife will then have to vacate the area.

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The Lodge is adjacent to the 218 square mile park, one of the richest wildlife sanctuaries in the region. It provided employment for local young people as birdwatcher guides for clients who came from all over the world. They will soon become unemployed, but they have indicated they would like to continue offering their services…somehow.

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There is one option remaining to save the Lodge. It is being offered for sale for $4 million until the doors close in April. Here is your chance to save the Lodge and continue its great work…if you have $4 million dollars to invest. Otherwise, Honduras will be losing one of its greatest draws for tourism and a strong advocate for conservation and protection of its natural environment.

Unrest in Honduras Brings New Hardships

After weeks of tense waiting, the results of the Honduras presidential election on November 26 were announced. The incumbent Juan Carlos Hernandez of the National Party defeated the outsider, Salvador Nasralla, of the newly formed Alianza de Oposición (Alliance against Corruption and Opposition to the Dictator). Reports of irregularities in the vote count sent the Nasralla backers into the streets in protest. For weeks now, the main highways and bridges have been block by the protesters using trees and burning tires. There was a recount supervised by the US and the European Union confirming the results. But rather than easing the tensions, it only led to stepped up protests.

A twitter campaign by university students called for a paralyzing of the entire country on December 11 by blocking roads, ports, bridges, etc. It said, “If we don’t fight today, who will fight for our kids?”

Although the major protests are confined to the large cities, the rural population has had to face many new hardships. People who don’t work locally can’t get to their jobs. Drivers – truck, bus, taxi, etc. – are out of work. Grocery stores and gas stations can’t restock. Local pulperias (small neighborhood stores) are closed. Those who cook on gas stoves are out of gas and have to resort to cooking outside with firewood. And this being the rainy season, that is particularly unpleasant and difficult.

A barber shop owner said, “Usually everyone gets there hair cut and trimmed nice for the holidays, but this year they are not showing up.”

Two reasons for this, they haven’t been able to work and don’t have the money, or they simply can’t get there because of the closed roads. She says she has loans to pay back and the loss of business has her worrying about losing her shop altogether.

Families are worried about their own survival and do not see an end to the problems any time soon. Their lives have been affected by government corruption for so long. People are saying it runs so deep that only God can help them now. The protesters are causing more hardships for their own daily lives, but they say now is the time for change no matter the cost.

 

Lempira, National Hero

Every year on the 20th of July, schools around the country of Honduras celebrate their national hero, Lempira. He was a warrior in the 1500’s for one of the native people groups, the Lencas. He led the fight against the Spanish armies who were trying to conquer yet another piece of the earth for themselves. Lempira managed to hold off the advances of the Spanish conquistador’s in 1537 for a number of months, and he was able to do this by bringing together and unifying 200 opposing Lenca tribes. He was killed in battle later that year and his people surrendered. But he is regarded as a great native Honduran hero and is celebrated as such.

Combined with this celebration is a day of national identity. Mothers of school children buy new material and hand make dresses for the girls to wear, representing the style of each of the 18 departments, or states, of Honduras. This work by the mothers is a sacrifice of both time and finances. They can spend weeks and over $100 making one dress. They have embroidered designs and painted scenes. The boys wear costumes that may include a white shirt with a red bandana and a cowboy hat, or a loincloth representing Lempira.

There are also samples of food representing each of the departments-another job that falls on the m

others, with the help of their kids. It usually requires working all night before the event to finish every detail.

What a celebration! But now its time to get back to math and science.

“New Life Handbags”

 

Ana, her husband and their 8 children live in a small, rural village in Northern Honduras. Local families struggle to feed their children and send them to school. An education is necessary to move out of the cycle of poverty and food is necessary to be able to concentrate and learn. She says, “I just can’t send them to school when they haven’t eaten. It would be too painful for them and they wouldn’t be able to concentrate anyway.” Ana’s husband works 6 days a week and only see the family late in the evenings and on Sunday. But even with a full-time job there still have been days, sometimes stretches of days, when there was no food in the house. And recently they have taken in 2 more children from another family to care for.

Eight of the kids in the house are of school age, but to be able to enroll, they must be able to pay the tuition, buy uniforms and black shoes, buy notebooks and other supplies, and pay fees that come up throughout the year. Without extra income, this is not possible.

In the last 5 months, Ana and the older children have begun making handbags to sell. They are crocheted using used, plastic shopping bags. The “yarn” is created by cutting strips from the bags and tying them together into long lengths. Here, a youth group in Virginia is helping to cut the bags. The strips will soon be taken to Honduras to Ana’s “factory” on the front porch where they will be given new life.

The designs and uses are many – purses, backpacks, shopping bags, beach bags, etc. The sale of these bags brings some hope for the future now. The old plastic bags that were ending up along the road or in the landfill are now finding a new life, and so is Ana’s family.

One of Ana’s children poses in his school uniform.

And here are some samples of completed bags.

And Ana tirelessly working. She says they are busy “weaving like spiders.”