Resistencia is a word that has many meanings in Spanish- resistance, resilience, perseverance, tolerance are some of those meanings. After 9 months here at NPH Honduras and almost 10 months in Honduras, I continue to learn everyday about the ‘resistencia’ of the people and country as well as put my ‘resistencia’ to the test on a daily basis. The 2 months have been no different with many ups and downs but I am so grateful for everything I am learning, skills I am developing and the people with whom I get to share this experience.
Two weeks ago, I took my first real vacation in the 9 months of living here, going for a week to El Salvador (a neighbouring country to Honduras). Internationally, El Salvador has a very negative image - drugs, gangs, crime. But the current reality is very different. Being in San Salvador (the capital) was such a contrast to capital here in Honduras. The infrastructure was good so good I felt like I was back in Johannesburg (the city in which I grew up). We really enjoyed exploring the wide variety of churches, local markets and eating the local food. A popular traditional food of El Salvador is called the 'pupusa'. Pupusas look like pancakes made of maize corn flour filled with cheese as well as a variety of other fillings such as garlic, jalapeño, chicken, pork or my favourite squash. Over our time in El Salvador we ate countless pupusas as they are really cheap, taste so good and easy to find. We also ate a lot of fruit in season from the markets such as litchis, bananas, apples and a fruit that looks like a little mango but with a sourer taste (I can never remember its name though).
We travelled a large part of the north of the country in our time using only public transport. This allowed us to see and explore both local and touristy areas as well as interact with the locals. The public transport system in El Salvador is made up of multiple old school buses from the US that have been painted and decorated as you can see in the pictures. The transport system functions so well with every bus having its destinations written in big letter on the front and tariffs were regulated and very cheap... a trip of 2 hours being $1.
But definitely one of the best parts of El Salvador was the beautiful nature... volcanoes and lakes everywhere as well as a beautiful coastline of black sand and pebbles (from the 20 volcanoes in El Salvador). A big highlight for us was climbing to the top of the Santa Ana volcano. Inside this volcano we got to see a beautiful emerald turquoise lake which obviously was very hot. There was also a fantastic view of another active volcano close by.
We also made a stop in NPH El Salvador (the same organisation in which I am working). It was so lovely to see the similarities and differences between NPH Honduras and El Salvador. However, what remained the same was how welcome we felt, the amazing family atmosphere and the amazing work they are doing. NPH El Salvador only had about 80 children living in their home with majority of their focus on providing education and support to the local communities to prevent children being placed in the situation where they need to be removed from their homes. They had beautiful facilities including a big school. There are no volunteers currently at this home, making it special to share dinner with the children and see how surprised they were that we could speak Spanish.
If I were to sum up my perspective of El Salvador in one word it would be ‘resistencia’. Through talking to the locals, learning the history and seeing where they are now El Salvador is a country that is extremely resilient and resistant – despite constant natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcano eruptions as well as a very complicated recent history, the people are extremely friendly, they keep getting back up, rebuilding (including all the churches, beautiful government buildings etc) and remain positive, trusting in God and His plan for them. It was truly a privilege to be able to experience and it will definitely not be my last trip to visit there!
One day back in March, one of the caregivers in the home I spend my evenings and weekends messaged me and asked me to ask if we could move one of the broken NPH school buses we have outside the home and convert it into a space for the children to enjoy. I obviously was at loss for words and had no clue how to get this done – thank goodness for another volunteer who got it all organised and moved this bus outside our home. Since then we will often spend afternoons in the bus with the children who absolutely adore being in the bus. The caregivers have been working for months to improve the bus, moving the seats, painting, building a ramp so it can be wheelchair accessible as well. They have done this with whatever resources they can find lying around from other building projects. This past weekend they finished majority of the work and it was a great privilege to help put the children’s hands on the wall and claim it as their own. What was even more special was the beautiful smiles and how happy they were. For me this bus is just a beautiful example of how much love these caregivers have for the children. This is just one of the many reasons I love what I am doing here and feel so privileged to be a part of this.
Life back here on the ranch in Honduras remains busy as we start to finish off the year. With only a few more weeks of school left and the end of the year fast approaching, no matter where you are in the world there is a need for ‘resistencia’ right now. I pray God may be with you all in this time and I hope you will all keep me and the people here in NPH Honduras in your prayers.
God bless,
Christine