Jewell's Village Partners Project
January 2010 Embarcadero, Honduras
This past January, boarding a plane to the Central American country of Honduras was just a little too easy, as the snow continued to pile up and temperatures plummeted in the Midwest. Little did we know that even in the warmer climate, precipitation would still affect our adventures in the village of Embarcadero.
Leaving the airport in San Pedro Sula, it was cloudy but no rain was falling. Our local host, Tim McNeely, informed us that it had been raining in the village for four days, and that our chances of getting into town were virtually impossible. That night we slept in the chapel at the orphanage, but as we rested, a steady tropical downpour kept us just a little restless, knowing that our only way into the village is by driving through a small river, that continued to swell with each passing day of rainfall. The next morning, we decided to go and see for ourselves how it looked in Embarcadero.
The drive to Embarcadero usually takes about an hour, but four days of rain changes the landscape in many ways. We drove past small mudslides, pastures that had been transformed into lakes, and the road itself, in many places, resembled more of a river, than a road. When we arrived at our river crossing we learned at its deepest point the crossing was over 5 feet deep. Maximo, one of the leaders from the community road his bike out to meet us, but he was only able to do so because he knew from memory exactly where the submerged footbridge was
under the surface of the flooded stream. We learned that this stream rises quickly, but also recedes quickly, so if the forecast for dry weather held, we would be able to get into the village the next day. The rain stopped and the next day we drove to the river, parked our van, and walked the final mile into the village. Thankfully we had also rented a small four-wheel drive pick up that could negotiate crossing the river. Students trudged the muddy road and finally entered the village of Embarcadero. Junior, Religion major, Abby Pratt describes it like this, “As we walked into the village I remember thinking, ‘what am I getting myself into here? This is for real!’ But when we left, three days later, Icouldn’t help but realize how silly I was and how much I had changed in those three days.”
Our trip had two goals, to start a composting latrine for each family, and to begin building relationships with the members of the community. Materials for building the latrines had been delivered prior to the rains, so once we got into town we were ready to get to work. The first order of business was to gather the folks of
Embarcadero at the schoolhouse and introduce students to their adopted families for the week. Our group slept at the schoolhouse, and shared meals with our adopted families. This proved to be a little uncomfortable at first, b
ut by the week’s end, everyone felt like they were truly a part of their respective families. Our Spanish skills ranged from
none to fluent, so it took a lot of creativity and determination on the part of our students to hold basic conversations with our hosts.
Before nightfall, which means a lot more when you have no electricity, we had started to dig the holes for the foundations of the first two latrines. The work continued the next day as we formed teams with very specific duties. First there was the location team, led by one of the local men named Infriene. He new the exact dimensions and had a system using stakes and fishing line to mark where each latrine foundation should be placed based on his discussion with each resident. Laura Vanbiber, a senior, got to work on Infriene’s team, and she said this about the experience, “ When I approached the group several of the men just looked at me and then went back to what they were doing. I felt like the new kid at school, waiting to see if I would fit in. Then I asked Infriene if he needed my help and he said, “Of course! You are my partner.” That is when I really felt like I was part of the group. After that day, the other men in the town began to treat me like I was just one of the guys. When we were waiting to measure the next foundation, they would ask me questions about my life back in America or we would talk about how to say the names of the tools in English. It felt really good to know that I was able to accomplish these things on my own.”
Our student’s formed most of the next two teams. The rough dig team, and the finish dig team. The rough dig team used shovels to dig about a six inch wide trench just inside the fishing lines left by the placement team. Once they finished a rough outline, they would move on to the next site, while the finish dig team would use hand trowels to clean out the trenches and make sure they were level and square. This prepared the way for the final team, usually consisting of the homeowner and a few of his neighbors. These men worked together to actually lay the cement (mezcla) and place the first course of bricks in the holes. It worked out to be a great system, in two and a half days we were able to start 17 latrines, one for each family in the village.
After lunch each day, instead taking a little siesta, we always found something interesting to do. One day we walked through the palm groves to see how the men of the community work together to care for and harvest the palm nuts from the palm trees. The trees are only about six years old, and so they are only about 6-8 feet tall right now, looking more like palm bushes, than palm trees. The next afternoon, we made our way to the soccer field at the edge of the vill
age, even though it was very muddy, and half of it was still under water, that did not stop some of the guys from a rousing game of “futbol!” Josh Ehrhard, a Jewell soccer player said, ““Who would have thought that a remote village would be able to teach us so much about our culture, relationships, family and stuff.” While the guys played soccer the girls played games with the children. Many of us watched and cheered as players slid through the mud.
Sunday was supposed to be the next to last day in the village, and so we worked together with the residents to share together in a worship service at 1pm. Unfortunately, the night before it had started raining again, causing us concern about being able to get out of the village, in the event the river rose again to an impassable level. We moved up our worship service and quickly dis-assembled our makeshift camp inside the school house. In less than 30 minutes we had all of our belongings stowed in the pick up truck, and drove it out to the river where the water was indeed getting deeper by the minute. As I drove through the river the water was easily four feet deep, leaving the footbridge just a foot above the water level. We parked the truck in a nearby family member’s yard, and Colon and I walked back to join the worship service just beginning.
The service was enthusiastic, and filled with music, scripture readings and of course some energetic Pentecostal preaching. The first speaker was our liaison, Tim McNeely, then from the local pastor, Maximo. Following the service we took about an hour to share formal words of appreciation and thanks from both our students and the men and women of the village. Each student presented their host family with a framed picture of the student with their family. We also gave the children soccer balls, donated by Jewell’s soccer team.
One by one the people of the village stood to express how much it has meant to them for us to come and live in their village. In some cases they addressed their adopted student directly, sharing how much they valued their new friendship, bringing tears to many students eyes. Abby Blevins said, “Each day, eating meals with Maximo and his wife Emelda was an interesting experience. I always invited Emelda to join us, but in their culture, she is accustomed to staying in the kitchen, while the family eats, but I made a point to invite her at each meal. I wanted her to know that I wanted to spend time with her too. At the closing service, when Emelda said that I was like a daughter to her – I totally lost it, I gave her a big hug and I started crying like a baby!”
Our group said our last goodbyes and left the village the same way we came in… on foot, wearing rubber boots, carrying our backpacks, sporting just a few more blisters and bug bites. As we walked the muddy road toward the river, we all knew that we would never be the same. Our partners in Embarcadero were now our family and the memories of being truly immersed into their world will help us make our world at Jewell a better place. We are all looking forward to our next trip in March, and how the Village Partners Project will continue to benefit both communities.
(Note: Sanitario Secos are an above ground, dry composting latrine contribute to the goal of cleaner wells in the village. These are an important alternative to the commonly used “Pit Latrines” that contaminate the high water table in the region.)
