New Adventures in Honduras

On January 4th 2010, a team of 13 students, faculty and staff, will head to Embarcadero, Honduras for our third trip in an ongoing partnership with this village. During our week in the village we will build relationships with our host families, and we will build as many Latrines as possible.

Communities engaging for the purpose of healthy change through learning, practicing, and partnering.

This project falls under the mission of Jewell’s Center for Justice and Sustainability. Our goals are to act thoughtfully and responsibly as we address societal, economic, and ecological challenges as we encounter them. Through this project we have broadened and re-defined what it means to “Serve Abroad.”

Students step outside of their own cultural experience, and engage in community led projects designed to meet specific needs for the Honduran village. Students and faculty will dialogue and reflect, enhancing the students’ academic and practical grasp of the challenges faced by developing communities. This project is becoming a model for campus-wide initiatives engaging global cultures.

Immersed in Rural Honduras

This year we will take two trips to Honduras. The first will be in January and the second during Spring Break. Participants will stay in the small village of Embarcadero, Honduras. Lodging will be in the school house, and each student will be adopted by a family in the village. We will share meals together and learn from our hosts.

As a community the residents have set priorities to improve the health and well being of their village. The first issues to be addressed include improving the water supply (wells) and providing healthy, sustainable waste systems.

To those ends, this year’s effort will be to work alongside the residents to build a latrine for each family in the village (19 families). Last year’s group did education work and completed the first two latrines. Since that visit a third latrine has been completed.

Matthew 25 Project: Lending a hand, where a hand is needed most...

In Kansas City’s urban core, one zip code was dubbed “The Murder Factory” in a January 2009 series of articles in the Kansas City Star. 

Author Tony Rizzo writes, “No other ZIP code in Kansas City, St. Louis or any other part of the state comes close. Though its 26,000 residents make up about 6 percent of the cities population, it accounts for 

20 percent of Kansas Citians in prison for murder or voluntary manslaughter.” In the midst of this neighborhood, WIlliam Jewell College has forged a strong partnership with the staff and volunteers at the Palestine Neighborhood Development Center. Among many of the good things they do for their neighbors, once a year they partner with Jewell, selecting homes to be painted during the Matthew 25 Project.

A qualifying home owner receives paint donated through the Kansas City Paint Program and Jewell provides the volunteers by inviting churches, schools, and other civic groups from all across the metro area. Volunteer groups sign up to serve for one day during the week. This year because of the extreme heat, crews started pretty early, around 7:00 am, and worked until noon or 1:00pm. In four days, 17 crews completed four homes, and by Friday, as we were gathering equipment and cleaning up supplies, homeowners were ecstatic about the facelift their homes received.

 During the course of the week one volunteer, who had been pondering the plight of the neighborhood, was thinking out loud and asked me, “Do you really think that painting this house will make a difference?” We visited for a few minutes and determined that each resident will definitely benefit from having a newly painted home. The next day his question was answered very clearly when DeWayne Bright, Coordinator of the L.I.N.C. Program at the Center, relayed the following story.

One of the residents of a street where we were painting 2 homes, told DeWayne how much she appreciated the work that was being done. She shared how a year ago, family members on that same block had been arguing and fighting with one another and the situation had escalated to some minor violence involving calls to the authorities. She told DeWayne that over the course of the week those same quarreling family members determined to work together to do some yard work and made plans to make some long past due minor maintenance projects on their own homes.

Each day new groups would arrive at the homes ready to get as much done as they could before the scorching heat sent their weary, sweaty bodies home at mid-day. Equipped with paintbrushes, scrapers, ladders and water bottles they worked in the morning sun and whatever shade they could find to beautify the resident’s home. In many instances they also made some minor repairs and yard work to help spruce up the finished product. One homeowner complimented a group, telling them they were “Angels” because of the work they had done.

One of the key partners in this effort is Major Gene Bresino and his summer ROTC Cadet program of Central High School. This summer Gene is coordinating five crews of 10-12 students each. His teams and their sponsors will work most of the summer painting other homes that qualified for the program. Each week they also spend a day in class learning about character development and receiving leadership training. Many of the Cadets live nearby and know the residents whose homes they are painting.

The Matthew 25 Project is working to make a difference in “The Murder Factory.” With more partners in this grassroots effort we hope that the biblical mandate of serving others, found in Matthew 25 can become a reality in the heart of Kansas City.  Find out more how to get involved at: www.matt25project.com

BEFORE & AFTER shots of one of the houses...

Meeting in Embarcadero

We arrived on Saturday in Embarcadero at about 11 am. We drove two vehicles, a Hyundai Santa Fe and a Toyota four wheel drive pick up. When we got to the river, it was not much more than a mud puddle, but the folks in the Toyota convinced us to leave the rental car behind and climb into the pick up to cross the muddy depression. During the rainy season (December & January) the water flows nearly as deep as the wooden footbridge on the left. Access by vehicles is often limited to the village because of this unpredictable drainage. 

Once we crossed the mud puddle and made our way into the village we were greeted with smiles and hugs, mostly from women and children because we learned the men were in a Co-Op meeting in the school house. We were able to walk around and visit and get a look at the latrines our team built in January. The folks of Embarcadero had built a third latrine near the church. I put a 

picture of one of the latrines on my last post. We were very encouraged by the way the community has embraced the value of the ecological, composting latrines. They prevent pollution of their water source and provide fertilizer for their crops. 

A little later in the afternoon we were able to hold a meeting with the

 

folks of the community in the school house pictured here. Our

discussion covered three primary topics. First we wanted their feedback on the latrines and we wanted to hear what they felt would be best for their community.

Men and women from the community expressed their appreciation for the latrines and also related that because

 of the education offered last Januray's visit, they no

 longer wanted to use the "Pit Latrines" because they understood that those would contaminate their wells. They are eager to enter into a partnership that will provide a "Composting Latrine" for each family in the village. When you include the church and the school, this will require the building of approximately 25 more latrines.

The second topic we discussed was the logistics of our on-going partnership between William Jewell College and the village of Embarcadero. Our goal in this partnership is best expressed through the phrase: 

"Communities engaging for the purpose of healthy change through partnering, learning and practicing."  

As we discussed ideas for our next trip to Embarcadero we arrived at the following model. A group of no more than 15 will travel to the village in January of 2010. They will sleep in the school building and each participant will be "adopted" by a different family for meal times eating what the family eats, when the family eats. Our group will cover the expenses of the extra meals and lodging in the school building. This plan helps meet our goals a number of different ways. Students will truly be immersed in the local culture, also we will be very close to our work sites as we build more latrines. Also because we will be right there with them we will have so many more opportunities to get to know them and learn from them. Building these relationships will be a great benefit to both of our communities.

Finally we discussed the best way to move forward in our plan to construct latrines and engage the folks of Embarcadero in the process. We talked about the need for resources to build the latrines. Materials for each one costs about $300 USD, which translates to just over 5,600 Lempiras. The average annual income for an agricultural worker in Honduras is only $450 per year or 8,500 Lempiras. They are committed to providing labor, along with our teams. We are also negotiating how housing our students can also be seen as an investment in the project. Each family will also plan and prepare the ground for the site of their family's latrine. 

In the coming months we will be raising funds for this project, but in our discussion with our partners we both agreed that we want both groups to contribute equally to the project. It is important that we continue to support and encourage their community as they strive for healthy change. 

Tim McNeely is serving at Proyecto Alcance in La Masica and teaching school in San Juan Pueblo. He is works with David and Dialis Romero, who have been our partners for the past 5 years. Tim will continue to visit Embarcadero every 3-4 weeks and keep our communication current as we move forward in our planning. Tim will be instrumental in getting supplies and building materials to our partners as we move ahead on this exciting project.

More next time about the great potential this project holds for participants from William Jewell.   Mucho Gusto - Jeff

Village Partners in Honduras

FRIDAY

Our day started at 4 am traveling to KCI where we would board a 6am flight to Houston, and on to San Pedro Sula Honduras by 11 am local time (Noon CST)  Our driver, WJC Chaplain, Dr. Andy Pratt, braved the early morning hours to take Campus Minister, Jeff Buscher, Chemistry Professor, Dr. Lori Wetmore, and Alumni Mark Buhlig to the Continental gate and send us on our way. 

( Photo - Latrines built by our group in January )

Our flights were both early, in fact the pilot on one flight joked, “So the next time you are delayed you owe us 20 minutes before you can start complaining!”  Upon arrival something totally unexpected occurred – 2 out 3 bags arrived – somehow mine did not make it.  They knew it was missing before we got to the counter. Mmm?  Anyway we submitted a claim and they indicated it would be delivered to our hotel the next day?  We’ll see how that goes.  I was truly surprised because over the last 5 years we have never lost a bag on this leg of the trip.  As I write this I realize that our video camera and my medicine is in that bag… I’m sure it will arrive tomorrow… Now that I'm posting this note - Everything arrived just fine. In fact the good folks of Continental delivered my bag to our hotel in La Masica - Three hours away from the airport. Thank goodness, another day in those clothes would have been challenging.

Renting a car was an adventure: Avis said their car was not working, so she took it on herself to send us next door to “Econo-Car” Where they rented us a Hyundai Santa Fe for the same price we were quoted by our friends at AVIS. We signed some papers and we were pleasantly surprised with a shiny new Hyundai. It had a few dings and scratches, but it will be ideal for touring this part of northern Honduras. The important thing is that the AC worked just fine. We then exchanged our cash and made our way to La Masica.

Following Thursday’s earthquake the drive was not too bad. There were back ups at the Bridges. The bridge near El Progresso was the worst damage we saw.  As we approached the bridge there were some cracks in the highway. We crossed on the good bridge and made our way toward San Juan Pueblo where we would stop in and pay a visit in the colonia where we have built homes and a church over the last 5 years.  It was great to see the families that we have worked with over the years, including the high school student – Rosita, who our CSM group sponsors by sending funds for her school supplies each year.

From there we drove another 15 minutes into La Masica where our base of operations… Hotel Media Luna  (Half Moon Hotel) stood waiting for our arrival.  After a few minutes of tracking folks down at Senior Antunez Hardware Store, we finally found a fellow that could hook us up with keys for the rooms.  And we got settled in for the night.  I have to stay up and wait for Donette, Tono, and Dani to arrive from Guatemala. They finally arrived around midnight. 

Some of the things we will work through on this trip:  How do we appropriately assure that our partnership with the village folk of Embarcadero is intentionally reciprocal and can we ask our partners to be vulnerable with us by telling us their story. And then how do we communicate the big picture of our Village Partners Project?  I look forward to re-connecting with the folks in Embarcadero tomorrow – For now I think our friends have arrived, I’ve got to give them their room keys. 

More Manyana - Jeff

 

EarthQuake in Honduras

Hey Friends,

All reports indicate there was scattered damage from this morning's earthquake. The village of Embarcadero is about 10 miles from the north coast of Honduras, and about 60 miles west of La Ceiba. I'm sure they felt the quake, hopefully their homes are still standing. We leave in the morning (5/29/09) and will return on Tuesday June 2nd. We understand some bridges were damaged, but it appears we can still get to La Masica before nightfall.  I will be blogging while we are there if possible, a primary internet line was severed, so I'll do the best I can to keep folks posted on the progress of our visit. 

Here is a link to the BBC story about the quake: 

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8071568.stm

Serving Others...  Jeff

Headed to Honduras

Greetings Friends,

It's been awhile since our last adventure. We have wrapped up another great school year, and in just a few days a small group from Jewell will be traveling to Honduras to do some logistical work with our village partners near Esparta. The village is called Embarcadero and last January a team from Jewell partnered with some folks from Guatemala to introduce and build 2 composting latrines. We are going to see if they completed the third latrine and visit with them about the future of our partnership.  Pictured here is one of the homes in Embarcadero. Our plan for our next trip is to stay in the village 24/7 with our partners. Possibly camping out in the school building. With no electricity and no clean water, we will be doing some extensive planning to assure a safe and productive time while we are there next January.  Our upcoming trip will be from May 29 - June 2.  I look forward to sharing more about the trip soon.  Olah,  Jeff

The Matthew 25 Project

We are very excited about this year's Matthew 25 Project. 

Our goal is to recruit approximately 45  Kansas City area churches to assemble crews of about 10 folks and work on a house painting project for one day during the Matthew 25 Project.

Dates: Monday - Thursday,   June 22-25

(We will use Friday as a make up day in case we get rained out during the week)

More information at the Website: www.matt25project.com  

As churches register for the project they will be assigned to a specific house and work day and they will also be paired with another church from the Kansas City area. Monday through Thursday each of the six homes we will be painting, will have two teams working together for the day. 

Visit the website and/or contact Jeff Buscher  (816-415-7560) at William

Jewell College for more information.   Last year was our first y

ear for this project and we were structured more as a

 residential camp/missions experience with stud

ent groups staying at the college. (See article posted on a nearby blog)   Th

is year we are inviting local churches to get involved 

and serve locally and build relationships with churches from all across the metro area.