Wednesday, October 17th 2018
We visited El Obo today. Even thought it was the smallest village so far this week, and not as far of a drive, the people of El Obo had similar problems and the same primitive lifestyle we saw on Monday and Tuesday. Because of the smaller group of people, we finished clinics about lunchtime.
Several group members played some games with the children with the extra time we had. Katie had the idea to teach them how to do the Hokey Pokey dance, and our wonderful translator, Bill, instructed in Spanish. The kids caught on very fast and some adults watched from nearby. The adults were too cautious to try the dance, but everyone had big smiles once they understood what we were doing. Some things in life just transcend language barriers, and apparently the Hokey Pokey is one of them.
Something that's been in the back of my mind all week is a question that I actually heard several times in the United States: "Why would you go to a different country to help people? Why can't you just stay here?" I agree that helping those in your own community is important and necessary. However, here in Honduras they are so far behind the rest of the world in infrastructure, healthcare and education. The people here deserve the same good quality of life as your neighbor in the US (or anywhere else) where we have resourses for those in need. Every single person has a basic human right to be informed about how to take care of themselves and their family. When people ask me why I traveled so far to help others, I think it comes from a place of ignorance rather than malice. At the end of the day, people aren't that different from one another. Every single person everywhere deserves love.Maybe if we set aside the fear of those who are unfamiliar to us, and all just learn to do the Hokey Pokey together, we can foster more understanding and love in the world.
We visited a local cocoa farm this afternoon. Even though it was a warm day, we got "real" hot chocolate, which was delicious. Back at Casa de Alfredo, we enjoyed an early dinner and a great after-dinner time of devotion and discussion on the day's events. A few team members shared meaningful stories from their day in the village, and now we're all getting settled in for another productive day tomorrow.
~Molly Rhodes
I'm personally very excited to get started tomorrow, and I think everyone else feels the same. Stay tuned for more updat
