S-K-I-T

Say ’s-ay’ (s in Spanish) at Camp Alabanza and you’ll have a large crowd of kids chanting in seconds as they join in and continue the chat for a skit (“S-K-I-T”). This might progress into pleas for ‘Hombre de Duct Tape’ (Duct Tape Man), ‘Capitana Honduras’, or ‘Incredibile Chico’ (IC). Last week, we were visited by both Hombre Duct Tape and IC. Hombre de Duct Tape saved the day when Matt ‘lost his eye’, while IC made a quick intervention when some kids were fighting over a soccer ball. Good thing we have super heros at camp.

Our first ‘Friday Fun Day’ was carnival day. It was as I remembered it as a kid, clutching prizes and food, running smiling and laughing from booth to booth, only this time I was not the kid. Instead, I had one of the best seats in the house, watching the action and seeing the smiles close up from my perch at the face painting station. We had everything from fishing, to ballon animals, hoop tosses, to apple bobbing.

Apple bobbing was definitely a big hit, especially because the kids got to keep the apple after the game. And so, we had about 70 kids, quickly moving from station to station collecting tokens for
prizes (dried beans) and carrying bitten apples in ziploc bags. To hear the shrieks of joy that day was really something. Spirits of both kids and leaders stayed high, despite one of the coldest days in Copan (that’s right, cold here is possible), and the involvement of a ’semi’ leader dunk tank.

And finally, props to the youth leaders, who helped make that day so memorable for the kids. Even with only two weeks of summer camp and their involvement in a program that is totally foreign to most Hondurans, the leadership that these youth show is amazing. Imagine what next year will be like!

Words from a Volunteer

Looking into the depth of their eyes, we have found hope, trust, an amazing ability to love, and a desire to be loved.  It is in this moment, when words are not necessary.  Only here with a simple glance the words of the soul speak louder than any voice.  At “Camp Alabanza” (“Praise” in English) God has given us the opportunity to hear this call.  It is here where children can be children, where social status doesn’t exist, where race carries no meaning in their minds, where imagination has no limit, and a child’s worship flows like a river through the streams of the heart.

In Luke 18:16 Jesus said, “Don’t stop them” referring to the children.  That’s what I saw on Monday the 23rd.  Kids from different areas of Copan coming to the site of our second Vacation Camp Program, ready to start “Camp Alabanza”.

Pretty soon the place was full of laughs, screams, running legs, hugging arms, giggling faces, and a lots of love.  This is what “Camp Alabanza” is about.  Having fun, worshipping the Only One who can bring peace, joy, love and life to our hearts.

Every moment, minute, and second at “Camp Alabanza” is priceless.  Somehow even when we think only we are giving something, we are not.  On the contrary they too bring so much to our hearts.

To Him Be the Glory

Belky – Volunteer from Tegucigalpa, Honduras

When I Grow Up

In 1893, Chicago enjoyed the honor of hosting one of the largest public gatherings of all time, the Chicago’s World Fair.  Under the leadership of architect David Burnham, the Chicago’s World Fair welcomed a record attendance of 27 million (equivalent to about half the US population) and brought together America’s most elite engineers and architects for the construction of what would become known as “The White City”. The Fair introduced many household names such as Quaker oats, Hershey’s chocolate, the Ferris wheel and Aunt Jemimah’s pancake mix.

The Chicago’s World Fair was grander than anything the American public ever dreamt possible. Never had a public exhibition brought together so many people, so many countries, ignited such creativity, and generated so much revenue in such a short amount of time.

The foolish leader and creative genius, David Burnham, that dreamed all of this possible said,

“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.”

Last week the children of Camp Hope sat patiently as Mr. Matt explained the next activity. Ready to go, with pencils in hand, they listened as he asked them to complete the sentence, “When I grow up…”

“Doctor…teacher…mommy…veterinarian…president…gardener…” one after another they drew, wrote and shouted into the air! It was music to our ears!

Then came the response of 12 year old Patricia…“I want to work with kids, and I want to be like Mr. Matt, Ms. Kourtney and Ms. Rachel…”

What grand plans! The children of Camp Hope are teaching us a lesson! Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood! How awesome it is to watch hope develop and see their dreams grow!  Camp Hope, our first and very successful after-school program, sadly came to a close this week. We went out on a high note though, holding an all-parent dinner as well as finishing the last day with a trip to a local Water Park! Honduran public schools will have their “summer” vacation from November-January, so we are now preparing and gearing up for our first 4-week Public School Vacation Camp!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for those connected within our community. Thank you for impacting the lives of children in Copán Ruinas and inspiring the dreams they were meant to dream!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Probably my favorite part about working with kids is getting to hang out with them after the program ends for the day.  There’s no schedule to be on, no lesson I have to worry about how to communicate in Spanish, no madness of keeping the peace between kids. When the program aspect is over relationship building can flourish with these kids, figuring out what makes them tick and just having fun.

This past weekend we took out a group of older girls from Camp Hope. I was excited for this trip because there is a butterfly house in town that I’d been trying to find an excuse to visit, and I assumed these girls would be able to share my love for fluttering creatures.  The butterfly house itself was rather small and almost disappointing.  And one can keep kids occupied with butterflies for only so long, even when they land on you and it’s magical. The best part of the whole event was reading about the hundreds of types of butterflies found in Honduras, some of the rarest can go for $900.

After an hour or so I asked myself two questions. One: What are we going to do with these girls now that they’re bored with this butterfly house? And two: How do I find a $900 dollar butterfly? So I asked the girls. They didn’t know or care about the butterfly, but they did want to go over to Kourtney and Alex’s house. Simple enough, so that’s what we did.

We came up with the idea of cooking peanut butter cookies, but weren’t totally sure how peanut butter would go over with Honduran taste buds. However, the girls were insistent that they loved them.  By the time we were finishing the cookies, lunchtime had arrived and we couldn’t just eat cookies for lunch. We hadn’t expected for the day to go so long, so we really didn’t have much to offer them… Except peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Better than nothing, right?

Not according to Hondurans. The girls managed to force down half a sandwich, I think mostly just to not be rude. I was wondering that if they couldn’t handle a peanut butter sandwich, what chance do cookies have? But on the other hand, how can a child not like a cookie? That goes against the secret child code, that they like and will eat anything with sugar in it.

I wish I could describe the disappointment that spread across the faces of these precious girls when they took that first bite of those peanut butter cookies. There are not English words to do it justice. So I’ll use a Spanish word, which is one of my favorites: “Huacala!”  Just the sound of that word sounds gross. These poor girls, who were starving, had to force their way through a horrible peanut butter sandwich, to finally get to eat this wonderful cookie they had spent so much time and effort on, only to find it tasted horribly of peanut butter as well. I can just imagine what was going through their heads, “What’s wrong with these white people? All their food tastes like terrible peanuts.”

It’s all good though. They spotted some oranges and nearly trampled each other to gorge themselves on something familiar.  After entertaining us with some skits, they left for home. Over all it was a really fun day. When we hang out together its hard to not have fun, even if you have to eat gross and extremely disappointing food.

Nosotros Tenemos Gozo!

During Bible class, the kids were learning about joy. Matt came up with a brilliant game involving a large purple die and prizes wrapped up, appearing to be all different types of goodies, but that were really all the same item. If the die rolled to a 2,3,4, or 5 then the kid chose a prize from the center pile but wasn’t allowed yet to up-wrap the newly acquired goodie. However, if a 1 or 6 was rolled then they could choose to either take someone else’s prize or just take one from the center.  If the prize was taken from another kid, then that kid would say “Yo tengo gozo” (I have joy), and roll again to get a new prize.  We played this game for several rounds, all the while trading our ‘gifts’ with others for packages that were sometimes smaller or looked less interesting.  At the end of the game, they all opened up their gifts, revealing an equal prize in each.  The lesson?  We can choose joy in every situation.

The kids really understood this concept.  Now, when the kids share with one another, after giving the object, they say “Yo tengo gozo”. The other day, as we were eating snack, one little boy said “Yo tengo gozo” and offered me a banana from his table.

The kids have so much joy in their hearts.  What an amazing gift from God.

Building a Community

The past few weeks have brought us into a world of connections and networking.  On September 21^st our third volunteer arrived to Copan.  Francisco Obando, from Toronto Canada, adds more life and experience to our team.  The following weekend we all had the opportunity to attend a conference here in Honduras to which many different types of organizations from all different parts of Honduras attend with the purpose of sharing the work being done for the development of this country.  We made some significant connections that will serve to help us learn and grow as we pour into Honduras.  Immediately after the Honduran conference, Blair traveled back to the States to be part of the Missions Week at Baylor University.  During his time there he had the opportunity to speak in several different classes, sharing our work and our vision for Honduras, tapping the interest of future summer interns.

Through all these events and through the daily conversations we have with kids and families, the UrbranPromise Honduras community continues to grow and deepen.  The building of community is the heart of the work in which we daily invest ourselves.  Some moments the work is tiresome, the days are frustrating, and the situations are discouraging.  But we have only to look around us and see this amazing group of people that are becoming the family of UrbanPromise Honduras and we are filled with motivation, life and determination to press hard and smile continuously.  Helping with homework, playing soccer, and attending conferences are the tangible ways that we live out what makes life real and meaningful: the growing and nurturing of a community full of trust and love.  Witnessing that community come into reality is a great joy and a true honor, and we share that with you.

Discovering Camp Hope

Once a week at Camp Hope, we have Discovery class.  Discovery can encompass a wide variety of activities, but the main goal is to get the students thinking outside the box.  This week was the students’ first experience with Discovery and we did the “Tallest Tower” challenge.  The students broke into groups of 2 or 3, were given simple supplies, and were told to build the tallest tower they possibly could that stood on its own using only the supplies given to them.

At first, the students looked at the paper, tape, popsicle sticks, and straw, and then looked at me with completely blank faces.  “Build a tower?  But we don’t know how!”  I told them to just start experimenting and doing whatever they could to turn those things into a tower.  Pretty quickly, the class of older students got to work tearing and rolling up the paper, taping things together, and hiding their designs from the competition.  When it came time to measure, each group in the older class had a free-standing tower.

For the younger class, this task was a little more daunting.  The blank faces didn’t change as quickly, and one young boy, Milton, looked up at me and said, “I can’t build a tower,” in a tone that suggested the task was ridiculous.  I knelt down next to him and assured him that he could, but he continued to insist that it was impossible.  He and his partner, Alduvin started to fold the paper with doubtful looks on their faces, and each time I passed by them, Milton looked up at me and reminded me, “I can’t build a tower!”.  Each time, I affirmed that he could.  Eventually, Milton and Alduvin had a design in progress that was standing on its own and climbing at the same steady rate as Milton’s confidence.  By the end, Milton was beaming as he looked around the room, noting that his tower was significantly taller than the others.

When it came time to measure all the towers, Milton and Alduvin’s tower was the tallest in the younger class, and even taller than the tallest from the older class.  As I announced this, Milton’s eyes widened and his grin broadened.  At closing, he made sure everyone knew that his tower had been the tallest of them all, very proud of his great accomplishment.

As he walked out the door at the end of the day, I looked down and said, “See, Milton, you can build a tower.”  He smiled back and me and said, “The tallest one!”

Why Not?

In 1921, Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw finished his masterpiece, ‘Back to Methuselah’. In this play, which spans from the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden, to four thousand years in the future, Shaw analyzes society and the things that propel us to perfection in life. In this play, he is quoted saying,

“You see things: and you say ‘Why’…But I dream things that never were: and I say ‘Why not?’.

Wednesday marked another day of the UrbanPromise Honduras dream becoming a reality. Guided by Matt, Kourtney, and Alex; Camp Hope officially opened its doors to the children of Nueva Esperanza.

“¡Mister Mmmmateo!”…“¡Miiiiister Mmmmmatteeeeoo!”…“¡Adios, Mister Mateo!”…“¡Nos vemos mañana!”

… children were cheering happily as I approached Camp Hope in the final minutes of the first day.

One year ago we saw needs in the lives of children here in Copan Ruinas and opportunities to meet them. A dream was born and we are now living it out.

These are exciting times here with UrbanPromise Honduras. God is working and there is more to come. Children and youth are beginning to flood our days! Love and joy are in the air!

It all started with a tiny vision, dreaming of transformation and the audacity to ask, ‘Why not?’           

Listen to the words of George Bernard Shaw and view our world in this way.

Not to be seeing injustice, oppression, apathy, and suffering while asking, ‘Why?’, but rather to be envisioning justice, freedom, passion, and joy…and asking, ‘Why not?”

Changes

A lot has happened this past week, the two biggest things being the move into our office and the arrival of two amazing volunteers who have come to help us. We were originally under the impression that we would be moving into our office at the beginning of July. However, after waiting for the landlord to put on a new roof, put in a new window, re-do the wiring, paint, fix the leaky new roof, paint again, install the internet, commission a carpenter to make tables, fix the leaky roof yet again…we were finally able to move in last week. And besides the occasional power outages (which are normal for Copan) it’s great to finally have a space to ourselves that we can use for work, storage and hanging out with kids.

In celebration of our new office we bought 100 oranges – for 60 Lempiras (about 3 dollars).

New Arrivals…

Last Friday our first two full-time volunteers arrived to help us run our Afterschool Program for the next couple months.  The program will run until the end of the school year in November.

Kourtney is from New Jersey, but spent the last year living and working in Mexico.  Alex is a former UP Vancouver intern on her way to medical school. Both have a lot of experience working with kids, are eager to start and will be huge assets to our team for the few months that they will be here.

Our first afterschool program is going to start September 16^th in an area called Nueva Esperanza, one of the areas in which we did our pilot program in February. The community has a lot of needs, but the people seem to really be on board with our program. There is a lot of excitement here as we get ready for next week.

The End of Chapter One

Camp Joy, the first official UrbanPromise Honduras program, is in the books.  Four weeks of laughing, running, singing, and growing came to a climatic end, leaving every child and staff member in great anticipation for Camp Joy of Summer 2010.  Camp Joy imprinted intself on our hearts in profound ways that we struggle to express with words.

Aside from the intense games of  ”Capture the Flag”, the sporadic visits from “Capitana Honduras” and “Duct Tape Man”, and the engery of singing at the top of our lungs, Camp Joy has given us something deeper and more significant than we could have ever anticipated.

Few things in life are as inspiring and powerful as witnessing children discover true freedom to express the joy, energy and creativity they carry inside their hearts.  Many things in this world work to stifle, discourage, and contain their beautiful and unique spirits.  Yet there are moments, situations, and environments when children find the confidence to let go of fear and forget apprehension.  They are alive and beaming with an untainted reckless joy.

This summer the children of Copan Ruinas found that sacred confidence and allowed their spirits to pour out of their laughter and into our hearts.

The completion of our first summer camp program came faster than anticipated and signified more than imagined.  A great work has begun here, and the excitement in the air is thick and contagious.  Chapter One concludes with an exhausted and content smile, but leaves a hunger and anticipation for more.  And so we eagerly embrace the beginning of Chapter Two.