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In March of 2003 a team of 15 Duke students
traveled to Honduras in conjunction with Heifer International.
Though we visited the Mayan ruins at Copan, the L'Arche community
in Tegucigalpa, the Heifer office, and an organization representing
vicitims of political kiddnapping called COFADEH, the bulk of
our time was spent in a remote mountain village: El Naranjo.
The village asked us to help them reconstruct their church that
had been destroyed 3 times before. Undoubtedly, our construction
efforts were more comical than productive, but we succeeded! |
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| However, our relative success with construction was only
one of many 'successes.' Our real "mission," if you
will, was to live briefly and humbly along side the poor; to
learn from them; to bring their stories and struggles back to
North America; and to understand the interrelatedness of theology,
history, politics, culture, and economics. We were there to
observe and experience the hope, the joy, the hospitality, the
gratitude, the strength, the generosity, the trust and the love
that the poor know best. |
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We began our trip in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Reminders
of the dismal destruction from Hurricanes Mitch and Keith exist
everywhere. In the picture to the right a man crosses one of many
bridges over a dry river bed - Hurricane Keith completely rerouted
the river. |
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were hosted by Tim and Gloria Wheeler of Heifer
International. Heifer helps families and communities in 115
countries by giving them a source of food rather than a short-term
"hand-out." For over 50 years, Heifer has taught sustainable,
environmentally sound agricultural techniques. Heifer animal projects
have helped to empower and organize women, to enabled self-sufficiency,
to improve nutrition, and to give families the pride of 'passing
on' their gifts to others in need. I was thoroughly astounded by
the success of their work in the three communities that we visited.
To see more pictures of the Heifer projects we visited in Honduras,
click
here.
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While in Tegucigapla we visited a L'Arche
community, an intentional Christian community that brings together
people with and without mental dissabilities to live and work together,
as equals. |
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We also visited COFADEH,
an organization of families of people who were detained and
'disappeared' in Honduras in the 1980s. The walls were covered
with pictures of people that the Honduran military 'disappeared.'
Recently declassified materials from the CIA suggest that
the U.S. was aware of the fact that some of our military aid
to Honduras was going towards these purposes and that we nevertheless
continued sending aid and continued to support the military
leaders that were responsible. Future declassification of
CIA materials may shed more light on this accussation, for
better or worse.
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At last, we traveled to El Naranjo! The village was a 2-hr. drive from
the nearest 'city,' La Esparanza. 58 families lived atop this incredible
mountiain vista. The majority of the them lived in houses made of
sticks and mud. They were recently blessed with the luxury of running
water, though electricity still eludes them. We lived in the village
school house. Despite the cultural, geographic, language, and economic
barriers that separated us, the people of El Naranjo never hesitated
to welcome us as if we were visiting family.
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The village cooked us three amazing meals a day. Some of
us even learned to make tortillas and fried plantains! |
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| We found the village women particularly inspirational. They
worked tirelessly - sweat for which they received no gratitude.
They were soft spoken and yet their shy smiles were quick to
brighten a neighbor's day. Their hands were tough and tired,
but their eyes were alive with wisdom and hope. More than anything
they were totally and completely devoted to their families.
They were determined, hopeful, sacrificing, curious, proud,
selfless, joyful, and strong. They were teh glue that bound
the community together. To read about a day in the life of a
typical Honduran woman, Maria, click
here. |
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While in the village we played soccer and read; flew paper
airplanes and made friendship bracelets; chatted and visited
homes; picked coffee and took pictures.
"We do not think enough of Christ as a child. [Children]
love and wonder at the people and the universe around them.
They live in the midst of squalor and confusion and see it
not. They see people at the moment and love them and admire
them. They forgive and they go on loving. They may look on
the most vicious person, and if he is at that moment good
and kind and doing something which they can be interested
in or admire, there they are, pouring out their hearts to
him."
~Dorothy Day
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Also, Dr. Rey Aponte set up a health clinic. He saw hundreds
of patients in El Naranjo and several surrounding villages.
Some families walked 4 hours to see him. 
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On the day we arrived, the church was three blocks high. Five days
later, we were ready to put the roof on. We were told the the village
had traditionally had difficulty garnering community support for
communal projects. We expected to work with only two Honduran builders.
In the the end, everyone wanted to be involved. Women would bring
their children, even carrying blocks with children on their backs.
Even the children tried to add what the could. To see more images
of the church being built,
click here.
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More than anything, it was a blessing to worship with the village.
On our last day we had a beautiful service, thanking God and
each other for the gifts of the week. More images of worship,
click here.
"One must not love oneself so much as to avoid getting
involved in the risks of life that history demands of us...those
who out of love for Christ give themselves to the service
of others will live, like the grain of wheat that dies, but
only apparently...Only by undoing itself does it produce the
harvest."
~The Last Homily of Archbishop Romero
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"Gracias a Dios for Crazy mountains and warm nights and shooting
stars I've never seen, for grassfields and wildflowers and hands
dirtied digging deep in the earth, for laughter and song and inexaustible
passion, and simple yet intensely divine wonderments..."
~Enuma Okoro, 3rd Year M.Div Duke Divinity School
Created by Brandon Little, Duke University 2003.
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Anne Hodges-Copple
Rey Aponte
Kevin Simmons
Wil Weldon
Brian Alberti
Shalimar Holderly
Jane Cho
Brandon Little
Whitney Eriksson
Annie Hundley
Alice Williamson
Anna Bauer
Louisa Watkins
Ashley Carlson
Laurel Redding
Duke Chapel Mission Ministries
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