Welcome to our YALTers (SALT and YAMEN program)

It has been a while since we have written on the blog. We have been busy throughout the last couple of weeks. We spent two weeks in Copan working on Spanish. We were able to take advantage of that time to meet some people at the hostel we stayed at and to see several of the parks in the areas including the ruins of Copan and the bird park that had toucans, parrots, parakeets and macaws.

We returned home to San Pedro Sula to welcome our new group of Salt and Yamen participants.

For those who do not know. Serving And Learning Together (SALT) is MCCs program for younger participants from Canada and the U.S. The idea is that they come for a year and are seconded to work for a local organization, live in a host family and participate in team activities throughout the year. In some ways it is like an internship or Peace Corp with the idea that they will serve but also learn. We believe at MCC that learning about another culture, engaging in local mission and the church and living with the people builds understanding and builds for peace. I would add to that, that where one or two are gathered, there God is, and we gather believers from different parts of the world to serve together, a little taste of what the many tribes gathered will look like in God’s new world. Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network (YAMEN) is almost identical to SALT but is for people coming from countries outside of the U.S. and Canada. This year we have on YAMEN participant from Columbia and two from the U.S. (Baltimore and Boulder). We also have sent, a participant (a doctor) to Guatemala to serve with MCC there. We also have a third program IVEP, which is a one-year program that takes people form outside of U.S and Canada and places them in host stays and volunteer work in the U.S. and Canada. We have a coordinator for the program in this country who gives oversight to the program and helps participants work through the application process, works with in country organizations we partner with to place participants and find host families.

The participants have been in orientation over the past week, learning how to ride the min-buses, catch taxis, know where things are and learn a bit about culture and living in Honduras. This week we are traveling to visit partners in various places in Honduras, so they have an idea of what MCC does. One person will be placed in our office to give oversight to external and internal communications which means gathering stories for MCC and our face book page and MCC and working at communicating to our constituency within the country. Another person will be placed with a school that is a day center and school for children from families who work in the trash dump in Tegucigalpa. The other one will work with an organization fighting for justice for communities to access schooling, education and reduce corruption in the public sector. They are excited and ready to be involved. They all have some Spanish already but will also have two weeks of language study before starting their jobs.

Copan and Lanuage School

Macaw Mountain Park

I was thinking today that there will probably be many pictures of us having fun at some really fascinating places. Honduras is a small country but it has great beauty but also great poverty as we witnessed on our way from San Pedro Sula to Copan for our Spanish language study. Some may say that we don't tough it out like missionaries used to or that it seems like we are on vacation most of the time (I have heard that said of other missionaries). The reality is, however, that most of us take pictures when we are having a good time and that is often when we are traveling or on vacation. This is true of us in the states. So if you should think that we are having a good time, we are, but we are also working as well. But we do want to show you the highlights of life here because we often don't see that in the news. So we will show you some highlights. But know we are also working as well. These two weeks we are in Copan Ruinas, where the Mayan ruins are located near the Guatemalan border. We are here for language study. The climate is cooler and the town is safe and peaceful, yet vibrant with life. It has colonial buildings with tile roofs in the Spanish style. Today we went to see a refuge and sanctuary for macaws, other parrots and toucans, castaways from people who no longer wanted them as pets. We spent the morning walking through forest along a stream mixed with coffee plants and pens where they are kept. Apparently once they are adults they can no longer fly because they have been in cages. The hope is that there children will be able to do so and be released to the wild.

The Language School on the third story of a building

But besides the fun, we are in language study. This means four hours for each of us with an individual teacher in the afternoon. Our brains work hard and we are tired by the end of it. But they are great teachers, friendly and compassionate and we laugh a lot. I am so impressed by the school. We are getting a good education and I know this is important.

Party for Dona Elena (Center under light)

Tonight we celebrated the birthday of the lady who owns our B&B, Dona Elena. She is such a kind and caring soul and she cooks amazing food three times a day with help from a few other ladies. The amazing thing is that both our lodging and the Spanish school business are owned and run by women. I think that is so neat in a very 'macho' country. We celebrated with cake, soda and singing with the full moon over our heads.

Helpful Links

For those of you who will be following us I want to make sure that I clarify that this space is going to for a reflection of our life as a family in Honduras, what we are thinking about, experiencing and learning. However, this may not have as much about our actual work with MCC. It is important that we communicate such stories through MCCs websites in order to maintain integrity both for ourselves and for our partners. For those of you who are interested in the work we are doing I would suggest that you connect to our MCC Honduras Facebook Page for info about service workers, partners and MCC work in Honduras. Or, you can read about work in the Latin America region at MCC LACA (Latin America/Central America)