Exit Survey

While doing a Google search I accidentally stumbled across a blog from a girl who served in the Peace Corps, so I thought I'd borrow her "exit survey" questions that she posted which is a good chance to sum up the good and bad of my experience:


Name: Kelly Theresa Glenn


Site: just outside of Tegucigalpa, Honduras


Nicknames: "Kellin" (they thought that's what my name was), "Profe" or "Profita" to the students, "amiga," or "gringa" for people who didn't know my name


Biggest accomplishment: not once getting Monteczuma's revenge


Biggest disappointment: not getting to spend much time in the actual garbage dump


Biggest regret: regrets are stupid


Biggest fear: not having access to toilet paper (it happened; I improvised)

Defining moment: There wasn't really one moment that defined my experience. It was a pistache of really small moments.

Things you will miss most: the AFE kids and teachers, soccer fanatics, speaking Spanish, Jessy's cooking, kissing everyone on the cheek, being surrounded by people of faith, warm weather, thunderstorms, writing a blog, doing dishes while talking with Elise


Things you will miss least: mosquitoes, heavy and greasy food, sketchy bathroom situations, the smell of pot across the street, crazy drivers and thinking I was going to die several times per car ride


Biggest Irony: eating a lot of Chinese food in Honduras


Worst illness: I barely got sick, so really the worse thing that happened was having a runny nose and having to use notebook paper because I was at AFE and ran of tissue


Biggest freak-out: I'd tell you, but it's probably better if you didn't find out.



Most useful things I brought: digital camera, Power Bars, and Spanish dictionary


Least useful thing I brought: lots of old work clothes which made me look like a missionary


Favorite activity when bored: updating blog, eating ice cream, and reading


Weirdest thing I did when bored: went outside and started washing all of my clothes by hand, because I realized it was fun.


Favorite Hondureñismo: Que barbaridad!


Greatest lie I told at my site: That I didn't remember how much my plane ticket had cost.


Favorite Honduran inquiry: "What is your last name?" -Glenn- "And your second last name?" - I don't have one. "You don't? Why not?"


Best Honduran gesture: puckering and pointing with the lips instead of the finger when you want to point to something or someone


Favorite CD/song during service: “Deja que tu rio fluya" - worship song.. and Black Eyed Peas in the car, because Elijah likes Hip Hop


Song I would be content to never hear again: It was all pretty good music.


Favorite book(s) during service: Deep Justice in a Broken World; Good News or Good Works: a theology for the Whole Gospel; the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership; and any book that would calm my kindergarteners down


Favorite Honduran fashion: the feminine shoes and/or soccer jerseys


Worst jalón: Riding in the back of Michelle's pickup truck in Danli. The truck had been sitting in the sun for so long, that it burned me just to sit on it, so I had to do this weird squat thing the whole way while trying not to fall out!


Best bus ride: The bus was packed, as usual, and I was sitting down holding onto a handle on the back of the seat in front of me. A bunch of other people, crowded in the aisles, were holding on too- there were about eight hands on that thing. Then Roger, as a joke, reached out and grabbed my thumb- I was totally confused! I followed the arm up into the tangled mass of people, but I couldn't figure out who it was. Then I saw him laughing.


Worst bus ride: The one that was so crowded that I couldn't turn my head because someone's butt was right next to my cheek the whole time.


Favorite food: The plato tipico with tortillas, beans, fried plantains, that weird dry cheese, and meat. And of course, licuados. (Pupusas, actually, do not make the list- but I still enjoyed them.)


Worst thing I ate: Some small, yellow, berry-like fruit purchased from a street vendor... I saw people eating them all the time, but it tasted like it had fermented. Gross.


Worst thing I smelled: the dump


Stupidest thing I did: Me? Do something stupid? ha!


Untrue fact told to you as undeniable truth: That Olimpia is the best team ever... obviously it's Motagua!


You know you’ve been in Honduras too long when…: you hear loud bangs outside and do not assume that they are just fireworks. And you hesitate before throwing toilet paper in the toilet.


I never thought I would…: consider a Honey Bucket a step up from bathrooms I was used to.


When I grow up I want to be…: someone who loves God and loves people.


If I had to do it all over again I…: would spend more time in prayer.



Favorite Ropa Americana T-shirt: A Honduran wearing a shirt that said "I survived a mission trip in Honduras!"



Favorite animal story: One day, Elise and I took Elijah to the zoo. Right off the bat we could tell it was kind of a sketchy situation because the cages looked like something out of a horror movie, and there were monkeys running around wild. At one point we stopped to admire a monkey who was hanging out in a tree right outside of his cage. Just then we heard a loud ruckus a few yards away. We turned to see three antelope/goat- like animals tromping through the zoo, followed by a pack of men running screaming after them with ropes. Apparently they had escaped from their cages and were being chased down?! A few minutes later, they had all been returned to their cages- Much to everyone's relief.


Best habit acquired: Going with the flow, not being so concerned about time.


Worst habit acquired: Eating ice cream every night! (it was hot and ice cream was cheap!)


Thing you missed most from the US: family, friends, church, running, healthy food


Thing you missed least from the US: materialism, safety regulations, cold weather


Favorite location in Honduras: home, Jeony and Jessy's house, downtown, AFE


Things you’d wish you had known before you came: Um, you're going to be teaching kindergarten at AFE. Have fun!


Best advice for others coming to Honduras: Take in every minute, strive to make friendships with locals. Suck it up, and do whatever needs to be done.

Reflections on a Transformation of the Heart

Can you remember the last thing that you worried about? Are you worried about anything right now?I’ve never been a big worrier in life. When I face stress or struggles, I’ve gotten really good at relying on God to take care of them.

So far, that’s worked well for me. But recently, I’ve had a number of experiences and conversations that have shaken up ideas about God that I’d had since I was a child, and made me wonder if maybe reading the Bible from inside a safe, suburban home growing up had caused me to misunderstand a few things. Let me explain.

When I wanted to help the poor, I would go to feed the homeless, but I would make it all about me. I would go to bed feeling good about having volunteered and thinking about how much God would bless me for it. I would not lose sleep worrying about where the homeless people I had met would lay their heads that night.

Why was I so sure that God would take care of my every want, need, or desire, when I didn’t give a thought to how he took care of my homeless neighbors across town?Somehow, I grew more comfortable with the image of God as one who would bless me for doing good works than one who desperately cared about the poor and wants us to do the same.

When I got into my first choice college, when I could afford to go to physical therapy for my knee because we had health insurance, I assumed it was God’s blessings that had allowed me do those things, as if he was rewarding me for being a faithful follower to Him. There’s just one thing wrong with this view: the unstated assumption. The assumption was that those who hadn’t been blessed like I was must not have deserved it. Most people would never admit this out loud, but it seems that the way we live confirms that we think we are more deserving than other “less fortunate” people.

It is true that God cares for me, but what about the refugees of Darfur, the starving in Haiti, or the struggling inner city student in Detroit? I have to think that God has an even greater hand of protection over them, yet their struggles continue. Does this mean that God is taking better care of me than of them? I beg to differ. Maybe I have been taking too much for granted, writing it off as God blessing me for being such a great person, when really it’s only because I’ve been fortunate enough to be born on the right side of certain political, economic, and social structures. I don’t deserve that, it’s just the way it’s happened. So we must realize that God wants to bless the struggling, oppressed people of the world as much as he wants to bless us, and if something is prohibiting them from drinking safe water or working under decent conditions, it’s probably because of our greed, even unknowingly.

I fear that we have become very complacent as a culture. We justify our comfortable lifestyles unnecessary spending by quoting verses that say that God loves us and wants the best for us. But chances are, those verses were not written to the “salaried and caloried” part of the world, as one writer put it, but to people who were poor, abused, and oppressed. It is true that I work hard and God wants me to take time for myself. But how much harder do the hundreds of scavengers in the dump work every day, looking for food? Why did I always put my needs before theirs?

It makes me sad when I realize that even though I do make a point of giving to the less fortunate, I still live at a level that is above 95% of the world. I am not, as Michael Miller put it, “giving until it hurts.” As the saying goes, there is enough for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed. And I cannot possibly justify my greedy behavior by saying that God loves me, when there are others out there hurting who God loves just as much. It is only through reading the Bible from their perspective- on the fringes of society- that we will ever begin to wrap our mind around how much God loves and cares for the poor and hurting of the world. Let us strive to understand that, to live it out, and to never forget it.

These are just some things I have been thinking about lately. I plan on continuing to write a little more over the next few days, so keep in touch!

La Despedida

Tonight is my last night in Honduras- for this year, anyway. Since I have been trying to enjoy quality time with Rey, Elise, and Elijah tonight, and still haven't packed, I haven't had time to write tonight. But I definitely still have more to write about my last couple of days here and reflections on my experience in general. So, please check in on Wednesday to see my final blog posts for this trip! God Bless!

Last Day at AFE

Yesterday was my last day going to AFE. While I knew I was going to miss everyone, I wasn't prepared for how emotional it would be. The pictures will tell the story best:

During class (it turns out we did have class!) I let the kids play more than usual. These pictures perfectly illustrate the difference between boys and girls! Here are the girls coloring (behind Paola are Jenny and Jasmine, the new girls)....

And the boys are playing with trucks, running, crashing, and making loud truck noises.

I tried to enjoy my last few minutes with the teachers... (here is me with Iris and Wendy)

and Roger, who I spent a lot of time with riding the bus back to the city from AFE...

And some of my friends, 3rd graders Genesis, Leyby, Abby, and Marla.

Here is us playing some kind of a blind-folded tag game

Me and Jaime

I think I took more pictures yesterday than I ever had in a week! It was a fun day of enjoying time with the people I've come to love. I also especially enjoyed reminding the Olimpia fans that Motagua, my team, had beat them 2-0 the night before.

Later that morning as I tried, unsuccessfully, to get the kindergarteners involved in a relay race during class, an older student came in and told us that everyone was to meet upstairs in the the big, empty room we use for assemblies. As we walked up, I noticed that nobody was outside walking around like usual- they must have already been at the assembly, and we were last. As I got closer to the door I heard a bunch of "SHH!! Shhh!!" and then walked in to find all of the students sitting on the ground, facing me, and clapping! They had organized a surprise goodbye party for me. I was a little overwhelmed and didn't know what to say! All of the classes then proceeded to do some kind of a performance:

The first grade class gave me a puppet show...

Then everyone gave me cards, and we had lots of time for hugging.

It felt strange having so much attention on me, and the truth is that I really admire their ability to make someone feel special. People like Jeony and Jessy hardly get recognized, and yet they were there long before I arrived, and they'll be there long after I'm gone. Somehow they understand that it's not about who gets the credit, which is a lesson I could learn. But it was a fun time to look back and reflect on the past 2 months, and I know for sure I'll be back.

Here are some more random pictures of AFE and its surroundings:

Up on the hill is the pulperia, a store where students buy snacks during recessMaria, one of the cooks

Reading, Writing, and... Really good soccer

Elise, Elijah, and me looking over the city from the hill of the Christ statue (naturally, I am sporting my Honduran jersey)

I just looked back on this past week's postings and realized it looks as if all I do here is watch and play soccer. While I would be lying to say I'm not watching soccer right now (Motagua just beat Olimpia! ha!), it's only as a way of relaxing after a fairly long week.

Today was my last day actually teaching at AFE- we are celebrating Dia Del Nino (Day of the Child) tomorrow, and Monday is Independence Day, a national holiday, then I leave. So I've been going through a whirl of emotions: trying to make the most of my last days here, but missing home; trying to have fun with the kids, but wanting to teach them something at the same time.

me with Profesora Iris at AFE

We got two new girls in class yesterday- sisters Jenny and Jasmine. They are so cute, but it was hard to figure out how to teach two students who came in two months before the year ends who aren't as excited to participate in class activities as the other students. Another student, Milton, who had been absent for almost 3 weeks, just came back! So my cozy group of 3 that I had grown pretty comfortable with just doubled, and I can't count how many times I've said "Who's listening? Are you listening? Show me that you're listening" in the past week. But thanks to a couple of extra long recesses this week and some special treats like candy (ok, bribery), we've all been able to keep our sanity.

Unfortunately, though, Milton's 3-week absence for being "sick" points to a big problem that AFE faces in getting kids to come to school: motivation and support from home. While most of the AFE kids love coming to school and seeing their friends and teachers, some kids, like Milton, would rather stay home and only come when they feel like it. In Milton's case, his mom does not force him to come to school. It worries me because if he will not even come to kindergarten to begin to learn how to read, he will never have the opportunity to make anything of his life. However, he has been in class every day this week, so I hope that this is an indication that he'll begin to take school more seriously.

On a happier note, I was also able to go out and purchase some new school supplies last weekend thanks to a donation by some members of my family. It's amazing what a difference a few pencils, pencil sharpeners, and a garbage bin in the classroom can make! Also, I bought some construction paper so we were able to do some really cool crafts, like snowflakes which I hung from the ceiling (but hey, they don't have to know they were snowflakes; after all, it's 85 degrees and they don't even know what snow is).

Milton, Josue, Paola, and Carlos with the new school supplies: "Hey, let me take your picture. Look excited!"

And yeah, we watched Honduras completely dominate Jamaica in soccer last night! Here are some pictures from the past few days:a special "Dia del Nino" lunch at AFE: tortillas, rice, fried plantains, beans, and meat. A nice, typical Honduran meal. (This was my meal; I didn't just take a picture of some random kid's food)In case you were wondering, this is kind of what Hondurans look like when they start to get excited about their team (except for the jumping up, screaming, and taking their shirts off part)

This is the bridge into downtown that we pass through on the way home from AFE every day.

Ganamos!

Yesterday was another big soccer game as Honduras took on Canada in the World-Cup Qualifiers. Even though there are many games to go, everyone felt the importance of winning this one after our loss to Mexico. The whole city was excited about it, as usual- everywhere you looked there were blue and white soccer jerseys to be seen, flags, waving from cars, and people dodging cars in the streets as they sold soccer souvenirs.

This lady was selling Honduras flags to cars in the street

By halftime, things looked bleak. Canada had scored early and we were down 1-0. They even had a commercial on TV at half time saying that 10 major restaurants in the area would be giving away free food today if we won. In other words, no one thought it was possible. But Honduras pulled through, scoring 2 goals in the next 15 minutes. The rest of the game was tense as we feared Canada would score again, but we held out! With that win we're in 2nd place behind Mexico in our group of 4. It was great to see everyone in such a good mood today!

With that note, we're off to get some free food!

Here are some more random Tegus sightings:

downtown

trying to give Elijah a piggy-back- but he refused!

Yes, they have Chinese food in Honduras!

A pinata stand

Thursday Night Lights

In the absence of any deep, pensive reflections this week, I thought I'd give you an update on... soccer in Honduras! Yesterday night we went to the inaugural game in the National Stadium since it reopened from remodeling. Motagua (my team!) was playing a team called Arsenal from Argentina in the Copa Sudamericana, so my fellow Motagua fans and me- Jesi and German- went to root them on, dragging a few Olimpia fans with us too- Rey, Jeony, and Roger (who, I'm happy to report, couldn't help but cheer them on as they represented Honduras. heh heh).

Me, Jesi, Jeony, Roger, and German

The stadium was a whirl of flashing lights, decked-out Motagua fans, shouting Coca-Cola vendors, and loud BANG!s that made Rey and I jump at first, until we realized they were just fans setting off fireworks and were not, in fact, gun shots. (we don't think). The section over from us was occupied by a barra called "La Revo," a group of wild, die-hard fans. (It turns out, our section, the "safe section," was fenced off with barbed wire to protect us from the riots and sometimes deaths that occur during games against our main rival, Olimpia.)

La Revo kept busy the whole game cheering, jumping up and down, and displaying their huge black flag which covered the heads of everyone in the entire section (they didn't keep it up for long, however, because I'm guessing you can't see the game under a huge black piece of fabric).

This is the flag that La Revo held up, which took up their entire section.

They played well, and scored the first goal of the game. Unfortunately, Arsenal seemed to win the favor of the referees and ended up scoring two goals, one on a penalty kick for a Motagua foul that, mysteriously, no one saw. The entire stadium was screaming at the refs. They must have known it too, because they got escorted off the field at half time by four cops in full-out riot gear.

Despite that, we had a great time taking in the atmosphere of soccer in Tegus!

Me and the mascot. What else is there to say?

Website!

We are proud to announce that the AFE website is now up and running! Elise has been working hard and now you can check it out at:
www.afehonduras.org

En la Casa de Dios

Me with Josue, Paola, and Carlos

What's your view of heaven like? Maybe you imagine the streets of gold and big pearly gates. Maybe you dream of floating around on a cloud or just constantly worshipping God. Perhaps you haven't thought about it much or don't believe in heaven.

If you're like me, you've thought about it a lot. I had it all planned out: what exactly my mansion would look like, how many rooms it would have, where the swimming pool would be, and whether I would spend more time skiing or surfing or just hanging out with friends under the palm trees (all of which, of course, would be out my back door). And if I did need to go anywhere, there'd be a limo parked out front, of course. After all, I've worked hard here on earth, so I'll deserve it. (right?)

Okay, this isn't heaven. But it's a nice view from outside our door here in Tegus.

I had it all planned out, until God intervened and messed some things up. Sometime in the past few weeks, it dawned on me that maybe that's not how everybody thinks about heaven. Maybe heaven is not just about getting everything we thought we ever wanted; maybe it's about enjoying the constant presence of our heavenly father and getting to spend time with our brothers and sisters in Christ. I wondered how much my view of heaven had been influenced by the materialism of our Western culture, and I was curious whether a person who had grown up in humble circumstances around the Tegucigalpa city dump would have different ideas than me.

So the other day in class, I decided to try out my idea with Josue and Paola. Instead of drawing a picture of their favorite animal or what they like to do when it's sunny outside, I asked them to draw a picture of what they thought heaven would be like. I didn't expect them to draw Ferraris or anything, but I thought maybe they would draw their family or something like that.

Instead, I was surprised to see each of them put a small house at the center of their papers with a brightly colored sky in the background.

"What's that that you drew?" I asked.

"A house," Paola replied.

"Whose house is it?"

"God's."

"Oh. And what do people do at God's house?"

"They play with God."

It brought a smile to my face as I considered heaven from the viewpoint of a six-year-old from Honduras. Heaven wasn't about what we're going to get out of the deal. It was about hanging out with God.

As another thought, I'm not sure if heaven will have electricity or not, but AFE sure does! Check out the light in our classroom that finally got hooked up (and our spontaneous photo shoot following):

Light!

I told Carlos to wait until the photo took (it was on a timer), but I guess he didn't grasp the concept.

Don't Rain on my Corn Fair!

Today I had a really special opportunity to travel to Danli, a city about two hours away, and visit a family that I met on my first trip to Honduras two years ago. I met up with my friend Michelle, a missionary who hosted our team in 2006, who has been helping me stay in touch with Jenny, Isis, and their family by delivering letters between us.

Tegucigalpa is the red square in the middle of Honduras, and Danli is directly to the right of it.

The family first touched my heart two years ago when Michelle told me of their tragic circumstances. There were six kids: Jason, Oscar, Edward, Isis, Jenny, and Yadira. The mother had been a prostitute and had died of AIDS. None of them had known their fathers. The five youngest kids lived in a humble shack right next door to the church and were looked after by their aunt. But besides extreme poverty, Michelle feared that these kids had seen and experienced things that no human should ever have to go through. I had been writing to the girls off and on since I'd met them, so I was excited for the chance to see them again.



The annual corn fair was in town, so we figured it would be the perfect outing to take the kids on. Yes and no. When we got into town, it was great because the streets were covered with sidewalk vendors, decorations, and people on horseback. People ran amuck selling everything from candy and soccer jerseys to bras and pupusas. It was a really festive atmosphere and everyone had fun walking around and taking in the sites.

Next, we took the kids to eat lunch along the row of food vendors near the entrance to the fair. I don't know why, but everything I did seemed to be strange and novel to them (okay, maybe I do know why). They all got pupusas, I felt like tamales. This was strange. Why was I eating those for lunch? They ordered banana soda, I asked for water. Why was I drinking water? They put chile sauce on their pupusas, I put chile sauce on my tamales. What are you doing? Tamales are sweet, you're not supposed to put chile sauce on them...You get the picture. haha.

We kept walking, taking in the sights of the fair, enjoying the sounds of the marching band in front of the soccer stadium (there was a Motagua game going on.) That's when it started to rain. At first it didn't bother us much, so we kept on going. But the rain fell a little harder, a little harder.... we were forced to duck under the nearest shelter we could find, a tiny food vendor booth where a couple of women sat peeling potatoes. Within a matter of minutes, it was a full-fledged downpour. Rain fell in diagonal sheets from the sky, and a river began flowing down the center of the street, sweeping up anything in its path into foot-deep, muddy water. I'd never experienced rain like this before- they're even saying it was the tail end of Hurricane Gustav. Somehow, I ended up being the only one in the group who wasn't soaked to the bone (oh well, I'm from Seattle- I've had my fair share of rain, right?)

We were under that shelter for a good hour- so unfortunately, it put a damper on our plans to ride rides with the kids (literally). However, the kids didn't seem to mind. I think everyone enjoyed the time we did have at the fair.

I'd like to say that things are all better for Jenny and Isis now since the last time I saw them. Unfortunately, they still need a lot of prayer. Their baby brother, Jason, died about a year ago, and all the kids, especially Isis, struggle with anger and hurt in their hearts. However, there is definite evidence that God is at work. Compassion International recently replaced their lean-to shack with a sturdy house made of brick. And Edward was chosen to be a sponsored child. So somehow, despite the hardships, God is making things work out for these kids and showing them that there is always reason to hope.

Here are some pictures I took with them at their house. I would have liked to have taken some at the fair, but I already stood out enough so I wanted to avoid looking like a tourist.

Me with Jenny and Isis's two cousins

Isis's self portrait. Pray for this face!

The Calix family: Oscar, Isis, their cousin and aunt, Jenny, Yadira, and Edward. (Jenna, Jenny is holding one of the boxes of crayons that you sent with me as a donation!)

Honduran Politics

Yesterday was a historic day for the country of Honduras. We didn't know it as Rey, Elise, and I set out for the movie theater, excited to finally get the chance to do something together for Rey's birthday while Elijah was home with the nanny. But driving through downtown, we noticed there were a lot more people out than usual. "Oh, no, another protest," Rey said. Protests and strikes are a common occurence here and a common reason for getting caught up in traffic. The farther into the city we got, the more we saw streams of people in every direction, many carrying signs. But they seemed to be in more of a celebratory mood; not angry enough for it to be a protest.

Then we remembered the news we had heard the day before: Honduras had just decided to join ALBA, (The Bolivian Alternative for the Americas), an organization of countries from the Latin America and the Caribbean. The President was set to make a speech and sign the official documents, and now, thousands of people streamed in, apparently in support of him.

It seemed we had picked the wrong time to come downtown. As we noticed a group of cops walking through the crows with riot gear, and a camouflage-colored army tanker parked in the middle of the street, we decided we had better get home before we got caught in the midst of anything. "The Mummy" would have to wait.

When we got home we did some research about it online, but it is hard to get unbiased sources for these kinds of things. I read that ALBA is committed to putting poor people first by opposing things like free trade which are known to be oppressive to smaller, less powerful countries. It all seemed simple enough. Of course, I knew it wasn't. A lot of people are concerned about it, and I wanted to find out why.

When I saw the list of other countries which currently make up ALBA, I understood where some of their concern might come from. Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela, Dominica, and Cuba- all very left-leaning governments. Still, if it helped the poor, what was the problem? I had an interesting talk about it today with my friend and fellow teacher at AFE. She is concerned that the promises of the government are simply a bunch of lies and that abolishing free trade would hurt the poor in Honduras more. This goes against many of the things I've learned about free trade, but it was interesting to hear her side. As for the thousands of supporters who had come out yesterday, she said that many of them were peasants who had been paid good money by the liberal party to act like they were in support of the treaty. She's also concerned that Honduras will be pressured to form military alliances with the other countries in ALBA, which might eventually be harmful to them.

I don't know how informed she was about the situation, and I don't know enough details about the situation yet to say whether I am for or against it. But it has been interesting to see the political process at work here, and sad to think how the government continues to use "primero los pobres" ("the poor first") as little more than an attractive slogan while the workers of the dump continue to scavenge each day for food.

Leaving Comments

My mom just brought it to my attention that some of you have been wanting to leave comments on my blog but aren't sure how. Sorry for ignoring that detail!

• To leave a comment, just look at the end of this post (or any other post that you want to comment on) where it says "1 comment" or whatever number it happens to be. Click on that, which will bring you to a new page.
• On the right there will be a white box to leave a comment.
• Finally, decide on a way to sign the comment. The easiest way is to click "anonymous" and just make sure you tell me who you are when you write your comment. You can also do "open ID" and just ignore the URL box.

Hope this helps! If all else fails, you can e-mail me at glennk@seattleu.edu

Hope all is well with you! And thanks for keeping up with my blog.

Keep on Truckin'

The deceptively beautiful scenery looking away from the school, up to the dump.

I mentioned before that one of my goals my time here has been to nurture dreams in the hearts of the kids which God has planted to inspire them to strive to get out of the trap of the garbage dump. Today I tried to continue this by reading them a couple more books, "I want to be a nurse" and "I want to be a truck driver." As I read about the nurse they were all silent as they stared at the pictures while I read descriptions about what nurses do and who they help. If that wasn't good enough, the book about truck drivers was a huge hit! The boys, Carlos and Josue, asked me to read it again, and again. By the third time I sent them off to look at it on their own because Paola (and I) lost interest. In our culture, which measures success by income and prestige, a truck driver isn't a profession that many kids aspire to be. I'm not sure what the determining factor was- the chance to travel and see new things; the possibility of playing an important part in the delivery of food and goods; or maybe just the chance to drive a big, shiny truck. But they were hooked. It was a cool thing to witness.

The wall of postcards

Going along with that, all of the kids at AFE have just been given a chance to learn more about the world. When Courtney Haynoski visited the school with the Washington Cathedral mission team last week, she brought with her a stack of postcards she'd collected on her journeys backpacking through Europe last month. Today a group of teachers and students spent the morning with some gluesticks, scissors, and construction paper to create a beautiful display showcasing the colorful scenes from Greece, Italy, Belgium, and various other countries across the continent. I could see curiosity sparked on several of the students' faces as they glanced at the postcards in the hall after recess. It's simple things like postcards and books that are expanding their world, showing them that, yes, there is another world out there that's yours to explore and be a part of. Whether they become nurses, truck drivers, or travel agents, they'll be doing something that interests and inspires them. Please continue to pray that God would use people in Honduras to bless these kids and help them defeat what is perhaps the sharpest blade on poverty's multifaceted sword- hopelessness. And thank you for the support you've already given!



But all is not well, however. Dreams alone won't get kids out of the dump- it will take hard work on their parts and on the parts of the teachers, pastors, and prayer warriors working with them. One problem with this is that AFE has not been able to keep a steady teacher for the kindergarten class. Today I realized with sadness that even though I've started to really feel comfortable with the kids, I'll be leaving in only three and a half weeks. Please pray that God would send the right person to teach the class after I've left, and that they would commit to staying for at least a year. If the kids do not feel a need to go to school when they are young, they may stop coming and never come back. I'm already concerned about two students, Joselin and Milton, that haven't been to school in at least a week and a half.

Thank you for all your prayers, comments, and continued support. If you're reading this and haven't commented yet, I'd love to know who you are so I know who's reading this. Dios les bendiga!

Look at the progress being made on the kitchen and cafeteria!

Total Surrender

In spite of all the work God is doing and the hope that exists here at AFE, I worry that my blog entries, especially the last one, might be giving the mostly North American audience who is reading this a false sense of comfort with the way things are. Some of you have been to the dump yourselves and seen the misery, and some have heard about it through others. But I wanted to give everyone the chance to take a little dose of reality and see some images from the dump with the following videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWn4zkND0mc&NR=1 (8 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYzQgPMX9IY (2 min).

One Spanish word for "dump" that I recently learned is "crematorio." The first time I heard it, it sent chills down my spine. Keep in mind that the majority of the AFE kids no longer work or live in the dump. Most of them live in communities down the street. However, about 40% of them (60 kids) still do, and that is 60 kids too many.

I know you have probably seen those child sponsorship videos on TV that are supposed to make you cry and feel guilty about yourselves. I didn't make these videos, and that's not my intent. I know that we all have problems as well, including financial struggles, and that there are a million other worthy causes out there that you could give of your time and resources to. And if your favorite cause is homelessness in Seattle or education in the inner city, that is great too. I don't want to take you away from those causes; it is just important to dedicate yourself to something in the name of Jesus. The more I learn about God, the more I am convinced that he wants us to give not just what is convenient or comfortable for us. He wants all of it. He wants us to give more than we feel is wise. He wants us to pray more than we've ever thought to. But he wants us to do it out of love, not guilt or obligation. I've still got lessons to learn from this, because I still lead a pretty comfortable life in the States. But in the meantime, I am trying to live by Jesus's words in Luke 9:23: "If anyone wants to be my disciple he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it. But anyone who gives up his life, for my sake, will save it."

It seems that people are naturally drawn to risk, at least in our culture. Shows like "Fear Factor" have been pretty successful. Problem is, eating bugs and jumping off buildings aren't making the world a better place. What if we all decided to take a risk in giving of ourselves and our money to see what God would do with it? We probably spend more on lattes, fast food, health clubs, and other items that we "need" for our own well-being than these workers in the dump, the homeless in Seattle, or the unemployed immigrants all around us make in a day. What if we took a risk and gave that up, just to see what would happen?

Futbol

On a lighter note, Honduras plays Mexico tonight in the World Cup qualifiers. The whole city is excited and we are going to Jeony's house tonight to deck out in our Honduran soccer jerseys and cheer them on. ¡Que gane Honduras!

Also, a couple more pics of the kiddos:

Carlos posing in front of our number wall

Beyond their Wildest Dreams

I am absolutely exhausted right now as I rest up from the past week. But we had a great time with the mission team and they helped us out so much, creating wonderful memories for the kids. Let me share with you one of those memories.

On Friday, we got up at 5 am, packed 150 AFE kids into two school buses, and drove for 4 hours to Los Delgaditos, a beach on the south coast. It was by far the biggest field trip we had attempted with the school, and for most of them it was the farthest they'd ever traveled away from home. Most of them had never been to a beach before and didn't know what to expect. Some of them were glued to the windows on the bus ride, intrigued by landscapes and sights they'd never seen before.

Excitement building on the way to the beach

R0ger, Maoly, and me dancing in the aisles on the bus ride!

Imagine the excitement that overtook them when they stepped off the bus, walked over the sandbar, and met with the sight of the Pacific Ocean in front of them, stretching as far as they could see. For a kid who had lived their entire life in the garbage dump and the surrounding area, this was a dream I couldn't imagine. Yes, there was another world out there! You could even see El Salvador from where we stood. A beach, an ocean, another country! One boy looked at the waves and asked Jeony what was making the water move back and forth.

Leyby, a girl from my group

Before leaving we had brainstormed ideas for other activities to have available at the beach- frisbee, sandcastle building, group games. What a joke that was! We spent the entire time in the water, and had to drag them out for lunch. We splashed, we swam, we jumped waves. It was a lot of work to continuously count and make sure that the 5 kids from my group were still there. And at the end of the day we were exhausted, but it was completely worth it.

Some of my students: Paola, Carlos, and Milton. They weren't in my group for the day, so it was kind of fun to be able to see them there and interact with them without actually being in charge of them.

I think our lives are a bit like this. The kids at AFE had no idea what to expect when we went to the beach, because they had never experienced anything like it, so they had nothing to compare it to. How much more does our God have in store for us! His plan for AFE, for our church, for his children all over the world is greater than anything we've ever imagined before. How much would we be missing out on if we didn't want to join in God's plan because we didn't believe? God has extended his invitation to us. It might be a long journey, worse than 4 hours on an unairconditioned bus. But won't it be worth it in the end?

Playing in the water

Mi amiga Susan, who is also a teacher at AFE