my honduran life.

smarreel — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:23:07 +0000

I could probably write for hours and hours about all the things that I miss from home, Nebraska, and/or the States while living in Honduras. I think one of the biggest is being with my family during the big days. This upcoming Wednesday is my Dad’s birthday, two Sunday’s ago was Mother’s day and last Saturday was my little brother’s 12th birthday, he is getting so old. I miss spending time with him, watching him play baseball and hearing about his crazy stories of 6th grade. I’m super excited that I get to hang out with him everyday, all summer long. YES.

smarreel — Sat, 15 May 2010 23:18:44 +0000

Summer vacation, will it ever get here?!?! Just a couple of weeks left of classes and I couldn’t be more ready. The last month of school is always the toughest, the kids have been checked out for the past month so of course that means more behavior issues and teachers have to deal with the end of the year busy work stuff.

In Honduras, life at the end of the school year can be a bit more stressful for teachers than in the States. Here, if a student fails the year (that is all 4 quarters averaged together) they have the option to take a “recoup” (a test) over the quarter(s) that they failed. That means that the teacher must write a new exam that can be finished within an hour and can not be longer than 5 pages, testing that student over the entire quarter or quarters. If a student takes that test and still fails, they will get the chance to take another test which the teacher will have to create another test for this one individual student. Some students will have to take a “recoup” test(s) in more than one class.

Here in Honduras, the law believes in chance, after chance, after chance. No way does this make for good education. From what I have learned thus far is after the second “recoup” exam, a teacher and school’s integrity is challenged and many teachers will make the test easier or the grader will ultimately just pass the student to not have to deal with that student again or deal with the lawyers of that student’s family. This law isn’t creating more educated students but lazy and corrupt individuals. Things like this helps me understand how this country got to the place it is at, lazy and corrupt.

monsters v. aliens

smarreel — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:32:32 +0000

Third quarter we made sculptures. One of the projects was to design their own monster and then make that out of paper mache. The kids LOVED this project. Here are a few examples:

Super proud of my students for this project. My maid also LOVED this project, one day after school while cleaning my classroom, she took a break and started playing with them and giving them names.

rain.

smarreel — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:44:05 +0000

We are currently in dry season, which is suppose to go from November through April. Usually the rainfall from hurricane season is usually enough to sustain the country until the rain comes again, that would only be natural, right? Well it must not work that way here, especially not this year, go figure. We had a super dry hurricane season and therefore have been water rationing since February. Coming back from spring break we were told that we might not have running water for 20 days. 20 days?! Are you kidding me, that’s a long time.

One of the memories that I will not forget from teaching here this year is the look on my students faces a couple of weeks ago when it started raining. It was like a kid on Christmas morning, it was so great! They started cheering and ran to the window to watch. Even though it only rained for a couple minutes that day, that was enough for them. Not only did it rain for a couple of minutes that day we have had daily thunderstorms this entire week. It has been beautiful. Maybe rainy season has come early this year? Maybe God knew exactly what we needed?

“And my God will meet ALL your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4: 19

un dia sin zapatos

smarreel — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:57:16 +0000

Many children in developing countries, Honduras being one of them, grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or going to school, these children are at risk:

– A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet. Wearing shoes can help prevent these diseases, and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause.

– 400 million kids are at risk of hookworm which enters the body through the soles of (bare) feet. Untreated, the disease may lead to impaired cognitive development, reduced school attendance and ultimately, decreased productivity as adults.

- Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected.

– Many times children can’t attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don’t have shoes, they don’t go to school. If they don’t receive an education, they don’t have the opportunity to realize their potential.

– Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.

- In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil. Podoconiosis is 100% preventable with basic foot hygiene and wearing shoes.

One Day Without Shoes (April 8, 2010) is a day set aside to spread awareness about the impact a simple pair of shoes can have on a child’s life. One for One.

“Awareness and empathy are the catalysts of change.”

www.TOMSshoes.com

all information from the Tom’s Website

“I’ve got worms….”

smarreel — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:02:32 +0000

It’s been a while, here is a quick update….

1. A weekend in February, I went with 5 other girls to Amapala, it’s the volcano on the south coast of Honduras. You can see El Salvador and Nicaragua while being in Honduras at the same time. Pretty neat. We slept outside, laid on the beach, ate fresh fish and I, of course, was the lucky one to get bit by lots of mosquitos. It was beautiful and very relaxing. This was same weekend of the Chile earthquake, which meant Tsunami warnings for the Pacific, the water that we were in. We could definitely see the difference in the waves but we were just fine.

2. PRAY for Mariangel Madrid, as her mother was killed. A 4th grader’s mother was murdered one afternoon. The men were actually attempting to kidnap Mariangel, when her mother wouldn’t let them take her the men shot her. Five of the bullets hit the little girl. She is an amazing little girl, full of lots of faith. She is now out of the hospital and is hoping to return back to school before the year is over. She will still have to undergo many reconstructive surgeries. Praise God for her healing and her strength.

3. That same week, the swine flu returned. The elementary ended up canceling classes due to the number of students confirmed. We still had school in the high school so we wouldn’t have to go on Saturdays. Hopefully, we are swine free for the rest of the year.

4. “I’ve got worms…” – I have been having minor stomach problems for awhile, not a big deal so I haven’t thought anything of it. A couple of other teachers and I randomly decided that we should take some medicine for worms. Come to find out, my body took differently to the medicine than the other girls. I got a fever, nausea, intense cramping, etc all symptoms of a parasite. The nurse on campus confirmed it, so now I’m fighting a parasite. You maybe be asking, what does that mean? Well it means at the moment, I try not to eat foods that are going to cause lots of cramping or illness as I wait to go home and take parasite killer medicine. Wish me luck.

5. Mexico. Saltillo, Mexico. One of my favorite places EVER which includes some of my favorite people EVER. I have grown to love the people of Saltillo as an extended family. To know that there was a group of people going that I didn’t get to be a part of was very difficult.

R.I.P. Jose. Love him.

6. March 17. My birthday. Let’s just say I wasn’t looking forward to entering the “late” twenties but overall it hasn’t been bad. Birthdays are a really big thing here, so I got lots of love from my students. Every where I went, I had students hugging me, singing happy birthday, giving me gifts and they happened to throw me a surprise party during lunch. My roommates also bought me some beautiful flowers with a card filled with lots of promises that definitely did not come true but still funny none the less.

7. Family Fun Day. Every year the high school classes put on a carnival type atmosphere for the elementary and their families. Each class has two games/activities that they can make money off of, that money will go into their account for their senior trip. I am the advisor for the 8th grade. I’m going to go out on a limb and say, the best grade. I have some of the best students to work with, yet no other teacher would feel the same way. The class is known as a nightmare maybe that’s why I love them. They were naturals for this event, I was very proud of them.

Since we are in an emergency water shortage, our water balloon activity got canceled last minute. So, the kids dreamed up the idea of a tent with black lights, glow in the dark paint that kids would throw at each other. Pretty creative idea.

some of my beautiful 8th grade girls.

the swine is back…

smarreel — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:11:36 +0000

A second round of swine flu has come, lots of students absent. Yesterday, there were 21 students absent in first grade alone. As of today, a first grade class, a second grade class and a third grade class have been canceled for the rest of the week due to 5 reported cases. The Department of Health is visiting tomorrow to tell us what to do for the following weeks.

Please pray for the students, teachers and parents. Pray for health and healing but also so that the Department of Health doesn’t come in and close us down, we can’t afford more time off of school.

let the countdown(s) begin…

smarreel — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:02:20 +0000

I have a “healthy” obsession of looking forward to the next thing. I have complied a list of my current countdowns…

1 day until the weekend

8 days until my trip to the South Coast

16 days until Family Fun Day

27 days until my birthday – NOT looking forward to this.

36 days until Spring Break – Guatemala, here I come…

46 days until Opening Day - Braves v. Cubs 3:00 pm

47 days until 4th Quarter

58 days until the Spring Game – YES!!!

64 days until my friends come.

112 days until the WORLD CUP….SOUTH AFRICA 2010!!!!

120 days until I return to NEBRASKA!!!!

“without LOVE, nothing else matters”

smarreel — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 23:58:14 +0000

So one of my very favorite things to do is to love other people, I’m not great at it but I try really hard or like to think so. Sometimes I find it easier to love the people I don’t know rather than loving the people I see every day, like my students and fellow teachers. One of my constant prayers for myself is that I can be an example to my students and my prayer for them is that they learn to love one another.

This week, I have been reminded that that will constantly be a battle over and over. Whether it’s been the books I’ve been reading, the boy coming into my classroom saying, “friendship sucks,” the girl in tears over reading something about what another girl wrote about her in the bathroom or the countless other conversations with students. I have found myself frustrated at the lack of desire and lack of understanding for the need to love the people you encounter everyday. Maybe we just don’t get it…

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not LOVE, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not LOVE, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames but have not LOVE I gain nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

as you read this next passage, pause after each phrase, let the words sink in…..

“LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. LOVE does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. LOVE never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and LOVE. But the greatest of these is LOVE.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-13

that is powerful, that is challenging. I pray that I can LOVE my students everyday, that my students can learn to love each other. In reality though they have a hard time loving each other because they don’t really love themselves and they don’t understand that the person sitting next to them was created by the same God that created them. That the same God that loves them, loves their enemies just the same. It’s probably even bigger than that. They probably haven’t experienced how great God is and the fullness of His love.

“Jesus said the world is going to recognize you as His by only one sign: the way you are with one another….EVERY day. You are going to leave people feeling a little better or a little worse. You’re going to affirm them or deprive them….if we as a Christian community took seriously that the sign of our LOVE for Jesus is our LOVE for one another, I am convinced it would change the world.“ - Brennan Manning

I guess it’s pretty simple. The ugliness of this world can be cured by a four letter word…LOVE.

LOVE God. LOVE people. Be LOVE.

TIH

smarreel — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:56:21 +0000

Only in Honduras can my last couple of weeks include the following…..

1. Water Rationing. We have now entered into the dry season here in Honduras, meaning not much rain if any. The rainy season was not so rainy so we are currently in a HUGE drought. The city of Tegucigalpa has low water supply which means we only get water every three days between 6am and 6pm. We have that time to fill our tanks of water and hope that that will last us until they turn on our water again. It makes life pretty difficult while working with clay sculptures in Art class.

2. Mosquitos. The mosquitos have come out, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I thought the mosquito population increased with humidity but obviously not here. Anyway, with the increase of mosquitos there is the increase of disease (especially here in El Haltillo, again doesn’t make sense), the big one being Dengue Fever. So the Honduran Department of health ordered that the school fumigate. They came in on Saturday to spray. I’m thankful for this as the night before I received at least 7 bites, for some reason mosquitos are very attracted to me.

3. Relampago 2010. Last Friday was Relampago (meaning lightning in Spanish). Every year the sophomore class puts on a soccer tournament to raise money for their grade. They will later use that money for their senior trip. Relampago will be the biggest fundraiser they, as a class, will put together. It is a lot of work. They invite the other bilingual schools to come, get sponsors, and get lots of food donated. It is almost like a small fair. The rest of the school looks forward to this day, only half day and its soccer. Here are some pictures:

the Juve boys coming out to wave to the fans (a soccer tradition)

a kinder class cheering (they are so cute)

GOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!

as tradition would have it, this boy is taking off his shirt after scoring

me with the coaches for the Honduras World Cup team – they came to watch

VIVA HONDURAS!!! SOUTH AFRICA 2010!!!!

4. 27 January 2010. Inauguration Day. Which meant a couple of things here…

Pepe is NOW the new president.
Mel Zelaya was escorted to the Dominican Republic (with free passage, facing no charges). His parting words, “We will be back.” Encouragement to strike a little fear into the Honduran people, but he is FINALLY gone. The Brazilian Embassy also pulled all its workers and are no longer working in Honduras.
and of course, NO SCHOOL!!!