Carol in Honduras

An hour on paved road then up, up, up the hill into the rural communities to reach the community of Cuchilla Zapa where a year ago we provided seed money for computers. The people from the department of education we’re excited about the possibilities. They visited Santa Cruz where the mother program is and implemented the program. 24 students graduated from Grade 7 last November. This year the numbers doubled with the entry of new Grade 7 students and our Grade 8 class.

I brought greetings from a Better World and told the students that education was a major focus of the organization. We asked the students as a group why they like the program. Responses generally included accessibility and lower costs.

So many questions. We had questions about costs, how many kids weren’t accessing the program for lack of funding and the vision of the program for the future. We interviewed the kids separately and together about what they would like to improve. The Minister of Education, the Plan International Director and Education Worker, and the superintendent of Education were there to answer questions, to observe and to look at some options for the future.

Courtney and Kevin observing the program materials:

Cake is always a hit! I like to bring something celebratory when I visit the projects and cake is rare here so very special.

We spent some time at Casita Copan today.

Visiting with the kids. They were just getting ready to do some painting. The older kids were in school

And discussing the future plans of Casita Copan with Emily

How many tortillas does it take to feed the kids at Casita Copan. This woman and another will finish soaking the corn, grinding the corn and making 300 tortillas…. that would be for each day.

We arrived in Nueva Armenia after two hours of jolting around on the bad roads and 4 stops to deliver Influenza vaccine, syringes and sharps containers to clinics along the way. What a welcome. The heads of many of the communities, and the health committee greeted us and treated us to a lunch of fried chicken. Beats Kentucky fried. and an air of excitement around the future of the clinic. There were speeches of gratitude

Unfortunately the consensus was that they would open the clinic when the dormitory was finished. That might not be for a year or two. After considering “my role” and “rights” to have an opinion I suggested we open the clinic now. A beautiful facility, lots of room, but a change in the original thinking and plan. Some dissension, but lots of support. The clinic is pretty much done and ready to go. More discussion will have to happen.

There is good work being done in this community. They anticipate 15 students from the community moving up to seventh grade next year, and have had an outpouring of interest from surrounding communities to participate in the program. Our meeting yielded a few decisions… a proposal being written to A Better World to buy more computers, a commitment to analyze the final numbers of how many of the original students complete the program and what their grades are like. The school year ends at the end of November.

This map shows the location of Cuchilla Zapa from La Entrada

The computers are available from 1:30 to 6:30 6 days a week. The majority of students work in the morning and attend school in the afternoon. The Superintendents have chosen to divide the time into two sessions. We discussed having the school open into the evening also. The problem is the facilitator who is there to answer questions, and assign marks. They had a donation to provide an honorarium for this person over the last year, but are wondering how to continue covering costs. The students pay 50 Lps a month (about 2.50$ US) and that money has covered any computer repairs that have been necessary. We discussed the possibility of raising the fees but 2.50$ represents a half days wages for them. We brainstormed several ideas including partnering with a technical school to do computer repairs.

A questionnaire will be constructed for the students to assess their satisfaction of the problem and get their feedback. One or two questions like… would you recommend the program to a friend, and do you like the program and will you continue with the program… will be asked.

• Can we do something to expedite the opening of the clinic?
• Can the clinic be named something other than that of the “chair” of the Health committee?
• Can we have a guarantee of staff and equipment?

After giving it a lot of thought last night I felt I had to pursue answers to these questions. A meeting was arranged and this drawing taken to the meeting to help illustrate my point that there is plenty of space available on the existing site to warrant opening the clinic.

After much discussion we have a plan in place. Three nurses will be hired to staff the clinic, and at the meeting on November 22 the equipment needs established and hopefully guaranteed by the government.