Hello to all staff, counterparts, volunteers, parents, boys and girls! I would not like to end this cycle without giving you all a huge Thank you - Gracias!
Thank you for teaching me that through a noble heart and helping others we can improve the conditions of a family, a community and a country.
Thank you for allowing Progressio to help you, and thank you for opening your homes and communities to our volunteers.
Our time in San Benito is coming to an end and it’s quite strange to think that soon we will be returning to our lives in the UK, and further afield, leaving behind a community we have lived in for three months now. It was quite a daunting experience to go into, as it’s not only the last cycle in San Benito but also the last cycle for Progressio ICS in Honduras. I felt the pressure as a Team Leader to leave a good impression, not just for the current team, but for every volunteer that had ever supported San Benito.
As our time in San Benito draws to a close, I sat down to reflect on the last eleven weeks and our time in this quite special little community. Little it may be, San Benito is a village of only a couple of hundred people, however, the sense of community this place has is something on a much grander scale. From the day we arrived in this rural village, we have been embraced with open arms and have made a second home.
The scene is familiar, running to the mirror to do our hair, changing our outfit three times, wishing our shoes were a little cleaner. But despite what it looks like, we aren’t getting ready for a night on the town, we are going to church.
The idea of living with a host family can be quite a daunting experience and is one that we were all quite apprehensive about. Sometimes, it is hard enough getting along with your own family, let alone a family who live on the other side of the world, with different cultural norms and a completely different language. Despite these initial worries, there was also a sense of anticipation and excitement to what the eleven weeks living in a new home would entail.
A few weeks ago, whilst attending pre-departure training in the UK, I had to make a decision on which community I wanted to work with. On paper, Valle de San Antonio was more urban, had actual pavements made of cement, a park with free Wi-Fi and the school, Almilcar Calderón, has 400 children. San Benito is the rural younger sibling, no internet, dirt roads, nothing to do and the school, Arely Azucena, only has 80 children. The decision was easy; #letsgotoSanBenito.
GleeFest
El día 4 de noviembre fuimos a Tegucigalpa. al teatro Manuel Bonilla. para participar en el concurso de baile y canto, en la cual participan todas las escuelas de Honduras, las cuales son apoyadas por Glasswing y tienen el club de Glee. Fue algo muy bonito para la comunidad de San Benito y La Villa de San Antonio ya que era la primera vez que se participaban en algo así. En dicho evento pudimos deleitarnos con presentaciones de danza folclórica, dramatizaciones y otras actividades que fueron muy bonitas.
Honduras: Una calurosa bienvenida
Durante esta semana tuvimos las siguientes actividades: fue nuestra presentación con los maestros y niños de la escuela y padres de familia. Tanto maestros como padres de familia se sienten entusiasmados con los nuevos proyectos que vamos a realizar en este tercer ciclo, en lo cual estamos muy ansiosos de llevarlos a cabo.
To celebrate International Volunteer Day, the UK San Benito volunteers, reflected on their progress, not just with the work they have done, but by the difference the experience has made for them and for those around them. Here are some of their thoughts:
Harry
1 December marks World AIDS Day, and to acknowledge the significance of this day, I decided to look into the affect that HIV and AIDS has on Honduras, as well as the impact it has here in the rural community of San Benito. I first began looking at some facts and figures that reflected on the country as a whole, comparing this where I can with the situation in the UK. The statistics make for an interesting read and below I have highlighted some key points.
