Semana Santa (Holy Week)

The week leading up to Easter is called Semana Santa (Spanish for Holy Week) and it feels like Christmas break but in April!   The excitement for Semana Santa builds and builds in the weeks leading up to the holiday.  Schools and the government have the whole week off while most businesses wait until Wednesday at noon to let their employees enjoy their vacations.  Many people take the whole week off to take advantage of the many beautiful beaches in Honduras.  Thousands flock to the coasts in the north and south as well as the three Caribbean Bay Islands.  April and May are two of the hottest months of the year in this climate so everyone switches to shorts and bathing suits to deal with the incredible heat. 

There seems to be some growing concerns about Semana Santa and how its celebrations have evolved over the years.  This Holy Week is essentially a time to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ but more and more Semana Santa has converted itself into Semana Sangana – a week of excessive eating, drinking and parties.  It seems like the original purpose and meaning of Semana Santa has been swallowed up by a kind of Spring Break Gone Wild whirlwind of activity. 

Last year´s service and baptisms at El Boquerón. 

However, there are still many people that celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ during their Easter break.  Many churches hold special services leading up to Resurrection Sunday including a service dedicated solely to the “7 Palabras” which are the last seven words or speeches Jesus made before his death.  In Santa María del Real they continue the tradition of uniting all the churches to have one big service and baptisms at the Boquerón River.  Besides going to church, people also take the opportunity to spend time with their families.  Those who can´t afford to go to the coast make day trips to a local stream or river to splash around, have fun, and eat a tonne of watermelon!

Isaí and I were fortunate enough to travel to Utila, one of the Bay Islands, during Semana Santa.  Isaí lived there for two years before coming to work with Diaconía.  Isaí worked in a hardware store owned by his cousin, Richard, who was anxious to have us over to stay in his home.  It was incredible to meet more of Isaí´s family and as a bonus we didn´t have to pay the premium for a hotel during the busiest week of the year.    Most of the people in Utila speak English as well as Spanish and the culture there is pretty distinct from the mainland.  Once you´re in the Bay Islands (Utila, Roatan, Guanaja & Cayos Cochinos) you hardly feel like you´re in Honduras anymore! 

In the end, we ended up spending more than 20 hours driving to and from the coast but it was all worth it.  We really enjoyed our few days in Utila and I liked meeting some of Isaí´s family and old friends.  It was tough getting back into the office routine but by now we´ve adjusted.  It´s funny how avoiding your email for 5 days leads to 10 busy days recovering from the backlog of work!   

El Coyolar - New West CRC Partnership in Full Swing

Although I enjoy working in all of our partner communities, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for the village of El Coyolar.  My sister, Julie, spent a month there in 2010 working on the water project with the King´s University team so she knows what I´m talking about.  I´ve been fortunate enough to have been working in Coyolar with three teams over the last 16 months and with each visit I fall even more in love with the dynamic and welcoming people who live there. 

It also seems like the members of New Westminster CRC in Burnaby, BC are equally enamoured with El Coyolar too.  Their congregation is in the process of forming a long-term partnership with Coyolar through CRWRC and Diaconía Nacional.  Last year they sent a team of New West youth in March and then an adult team in November.  They must have given a pretty impressive report about their experiences because the youth team was back again a few weeks ago full of vigor to work again and it sounds like a number of adults are eager to make another trip in November! 

I was fortunate to have spent 5 days this March with the young people of New West in Coyolar.  During their week in the community they were able to undertake over 15 construction projects including some long awaited latrines, cement floors, and pilas for water storage and washing.  For some of these youth it is their second or third time serving in Honduras and they´re on their way to becoming experts in cement mixing and excavating. 

One of the great things about the partnership between New West and Coyolar is that they are truly developing a relationship.  They are getting to know more about each other, praying for each other´s needs and realizing the gifts they can mutually offer.  At the end of their week many youth remarked that although they haven´t acquired any great Spanish skills they still feel like they really connected to the people of the village.  They often played games together, sang songs, arm wrestled and played soccer even without a translator to organize the event – they refused to let language be a barrier! 

Now that the young people are back at school in Burnaby and the people of Coyolar are back to their routine one might think that the relationship is all but forgotten.  This is not the case with Coyolar and New West, that´s for sure!  Throughout the year they exchange letters including updates on the hopes, health and happiness in the community and the congregation.  In February, with the funds leftover from the November serve team,  Arturo and I went shopping for school supplies for all 18 children in Coyolar just as they were about to begin a new year of classes.  All the school children from grades 1 through 6 expressed their gratitude for the gift. 

This community partnership isn´t just about a group of youth building latrines for a week in the hot sun – this partnership is about investing in a brighter future and the building the kingdom of God on earth.  I am eager to see what the next 5 years have in store of New West CRC and El Coyolar.  I hope to have the continued privilege of joining CRWRC and Diaconía in this process of transformational development for Coyolar and also providing a cross cultural and edifying experience for New West´s youth and adults. 

Henry Bosch Back in Honduras!

So it seems Honduras has a special place in Henry´s heart considering he takes advantage of about every opportunity to come and visit!  In the past he has led 3 work teams for water projects and housing construction following Hurricane Mitch.  Last year he and his wife, Susan, trekked all over rural Honduras evaluating previous water projects.  This time Henry left Susan in Edmonton (although I´m sure she would have loved to come too) but brought along Don & Eleanor Prokuda from the board of the Northern Alberta Deaconal Conference (NADC).  NADC coordinates the funding and promotion of the annual Honduras Water Project with the King´s University and over 30 supporting churches throughout Alberta. 

I was especially excited to join Henry in his 3-day visit to La Avispa.  My home church of Inglewood CRC is considering a long-term partnership with a community in Honduras and as Henry is on the coordinating committee he opted to check out La Avispa as one of the possibilities suggested by CRWRC.  Along with the Prokudas, Ana Joya from CRWRC Honduras, and Arturo from Diaconía, we explored the various neighbourhoods of La Avispa in order to get to know the people of this remote village.  We held meetings with members of the Christian Reformed Church to discern their spiritual strengths and aspirations and the next day with all the leaders in the community regarding the physical needs and ongoing projects in La Avispa.  We were very well received and the people of La Avispa were eager to share their history especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch and again in 2008 with a severe landslide. 

On March 2^nd we all traveled to El Chapernal to celebrate the inauguration of the recently completed water project.  The whole community put a lot of effort in to the decorations, program and fest afterwards.   The community leaders took turns presenting certificates of recognition for each of the projects contributors including Diaconía Nacional, CRWRC, NADC, the King´s University, the mayor of San Francisco de la Paz, the National Water and Sanitation Department (SANAA), among others.   The school children also contributed to the festivities by performing folk dances and dramas. 

The ceremony was concluded with an elderly woman from the village filling a clay jar from the newly installed tap, placing the jar on her head and smashing it on the ground.  This is a tradition for water project inaugurations and symbolizes the hard work that women endure hauling water to their houses and that never again will they have to place a jug on their head since the water project has been successfully completed.  I can hardly imagine having to carry water on my head – even worse to go uphill or in the mud and rain or under a scorching sun!  But to think that this elderly woman from El Chapernal must have done just that her whole life and only recently received running water in her house. 

All in all, I think Henry, Don and Eleanor all had a great time in La Avispa, El Chapernal and in Honduras in general.  We met a lot of great people, heard some amazing stories and shared delicious meals together.  I´ve come to realize that Hondurans are a noble, hardworking and hospitable people.  The people of Chapernal were incredibly gracious and appreciative in their thanks to God for the tremendous gift of clean, cool water.  And the people of La Avispa were generous, sincere and excited to know more about their brothers and sisters in Christ at Inglewood CRC.  It is always a privilege for me to share in these experiences; it reminds me of why God placed the desire to volunteer in my heart. 

Henry Bosch followed by Eleanor and Don Prokuda
 taking in the sights of La Avispa

P.S. I am also thankful for good health during and after Henry´s visit.  The last time he came I ended up in the hospital minus one appendix! 

Sunday School Seminars

A major factor in Diaconía Nacional´s success with community development is its emphasis on training.  The Spanish word for training is “Capacitación” so it´s no wonder the focus is on capacity building.  The goal isn´t always to teach something new but rather to have participants realize they already have the capacity to do something and haven´t utilized their potential yet. 

Within the credit program we organize training seminars on everything from piñata and jewelry making to self-esteem, household management and domestic violence.  Some of the training objectives for the community transformation program usually revolve around promoting good, strong leadership in the village.  A lot of energy is focused on motivating the locals to take initiative and work towards improving the quality of life in their community. 

Developing lasting leadership in a community generally starts from within the church so Diaconía has a separate program for Reformed Ecclesiastical Training (RET).  RET recently received a $10,000 grant from CRWM (Christian Reformed World Missions) to conduct a yearlong training course for Sunday School teachers in Christian Reformed churches around Olancho. 

I traveled with Arturo, Olancho´s RET and Community Transformation Coordinator, to Mangulile (a community about 4hrs from Catacamas) to assist with this teaching initiative.  The emphasis of the Sunday School programs here go beyond telling Bible stories to little kids and making crafts while their parents are upstairs listening to the sermon.    Here Sunday school is for everyone! 

Many CRC members in Honduras have joined the church later in their lives as opposed to having heard the classic Bible stories and parables that others grew up with.  The congregation breaks up into small groups based on age in order to learn, discuss and discover more intimately what God desires for our lives.  It is an excellent opportunity for all church members to study the Bible and discern what it means to be a Christian within the church community and outside in their daily interactions.   After all, baptism in the CRC church requires a commitment from the congregation to nurture and instruct that child, youth or adult in the faith through every stage of their life. 

The seminars for Sunday school teachers is aimed at equipping church leaders to identify and address the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of their students to encourage them on the Christian path.   We have a lot of people interested in developing these skills and utilizing them in their home communities.  It is really encouraging to see these individuals learning and sharing together.  I am excited to see what we can accomplish together over this year.