A Gentle Breeze

We’re in the midst of our brigade season. We started February with UHMLA’s tremendously successful surgery brigade in La Esperanza. At the same time we welcomed the Brown / Wingate team to their clinic in Guachipilincito. Dr. Harris came a week early for that trip, and Dr. Tanksley has stayed on and will be there until May. The small MSHEC brigade, that I’ll speak about more, came just as the first two brigades were leaving. VCU / Fairfax / SAGE is presently working in Pinares. Board members and a whole bunch of good hearted individuals interested in assisting us in our education and nutrition missions are arriving this week. When they leave, we’ll transport our new mission partner, Ohio State University, to Santa Lucia for their generous medical mission. When they finish up, Wyoming will travel to their clinic in Agua Salada. That gets us finally to April, and Laura and I will finally breathe.

Health Fair at San Juan de Dios
Health Fair at San Juan de Dios

Don’t get me wrong, all of these people are incredible and they do incredible work. It’s just that we find ourselves a bit overwhelmed in February and March with the barrage of these groups. And where everything is new for all of them, Laura and I find ourselves doing the same things over and over for two months straight. It’s oddly ironic that this onslaught corresponds with the start of February and Groundhog Day. We pick up, transport, and drop off the various groups that all begin to look the same. We give them the same orientation, the same history of Shoulder to Shoulder, and when we answer the same question for the twenty-seventh time, we do our best to make it seem like we’ve never heard the question before, “Is it safe where we’ll be staying?” But these people have generous hearts, they are providing invaluable services, and just because things are commonplace to us, we need to be aware that these are once-in-a-lifetime experiences that inspire, enrich, and enliven those who come here and those whom they serve. We do our best to keep that attitude in the front of our minds. Still, we find ourselves yearning for the unique experience that can touch us as powerfully as it touches them and those they serve.

Dr. Kyle with a patient
Dr. Kyle with a patient

And how will that happen: with a lightning bolt, or by way of an earth shaking event? Elijah looks for God in the strong wind tearing apart the mountains, then in an earthquake, and then in a fire. God is not there, but God is found in a gentle breeze (1Kings 19:11-13). MAHEC came to Camasca and every afternoon they sat on our porch. Ostensibly, they came to use our internet that by luck is better than any internet available in the town. But for us, their daily presence was a gentle breeze that reminded us that there is a sweetness to life that should not be sacrificed for all the tremendous work that we are given to accomplish. It was an opportunity for us to find something much more profound than all the important work that we do. We became invested in coming to know a few very special people. It is the gentle breeze of friendship.

Braxton at the bilingual school
Braxton at the bilingual school

There were only seven of them: doctors Keith, Kyle, Winona, and Amy; the pharmacist Irene, the pharmacy student Melissa, and Amy’s 13 year old son Braxton (who spent his days at our bilingual school). They were humble and unassuming, four of them veterans to Camasca and the MAHEC brigades. They fit in to Camasca as if they were already residents and family of this town. Because they were so unassuming, it would be easy to forget the great service they provided. Every day they went off to the surrounding communities with Dr. Rolyn, the medical director for Shoulder to Shoulder here in Camasca, to provide field clinics and home visits for many who had not even seen doctors for years. They held a health fair in San Juan de Dios and that community received them with music, food, joy and appreciation. Braxton had a great time with the younger children at our school. On Saturday we brought  them to the waterfall just over the border in El Salvador. On Sunday, Laura joined them on the climb up the Cerro Brujo (Witch’s Mountain). But every afternoon, they sat on our porch, stretched out in a hammock, and watched folks pass by on the main street below our house; a gentle breeze that softens and sweetens life.

Mahec with friends at the waterfall
Mahec with friends at the waterfall

For Laura and me, MAHEC gave us a great gift by the ease of their presence. We want to thank them. For Camasca, MAHEC’s service was exceptional. But here too, I think it is the gentle breeze that will be missed. Amy, Winona, Keith, Kyle, Irene, Melissa, and Braxton are friends of so many here in this small, quaint town of Camasca. The only payment for friendship is friendship. It is not something achieved, but only enjoyed as a gift of the heart. I walk out on my porch every afternoon and I feel their absence. I smile to know that they will return again. The gentle breeze focuses me on what is truly important.

 

Fun and Fulfilling

Over the course of twenty-six years, thousands of individuals and hundreds of professional and academic associations have shouldered the mission of improving the quality of life on the Frontera by visiting Honduras on service trips. They have paved the way for the ongoing provision of quality health care and established the infrastructure to support that ongoing care. Through dedication and commitment, through the sharing of expertise and knowledge, these associations and individuals have uprooted the embedded poverty that denied people basic health care and planted systems of sustainable empowerment. People live longer, healthier, more productive and fulfilling lives in strong communities. These individuals and groups will continue to visit and support and grow this sustainable system of quality health care delivery. Shoulder to Shoulder will support their dedication, commitment, and service.
Shoulder to Shoulder has become an expert in receiving medical professionals and students, sending them out to treat the people, and coordinating that service in relationship to our ongoing heath care service delivery. We’ve done it for so long, it’s become second nature. However, we are yet inexperienced when it comes to receiving and utilizing groups coming specifically to assist us in our evolving mission of education.

Papa Grande with the kids
Papa Grande with the kids

Laura and I nervously awaited the arrival of Genesee Valley Presbytery who came to visit us in Camasca. Though they came as a service group, they had no medical expertise and had no intention of providing health care. They came to exclusively work at our bilingual school. Laura and I know how to manage medical teams. Also, the medical teams have an inherent focus on their service in providing health care. But what would this group do, and how would we organize their efforts? In part it was a construction brigade to establish a rain water collection system at the school. In part it was a school brigade where they would offer games and exercises with the children. In part it was a resource brigade to stock and organize the shelves of our library. Their focus was disparate as were their personalities. In speaking to them on their first night in Honduras, I realized they were all different individuals and no one principle gave them a coherent organization. Some were here because they liked construction, some because they enjoyed singing and celebrating with the kids, and still others wanted to catalogue books. How would I do this? How would I herd these cats? My anxiety rose.

Constructing
Constructing

It was needless anxiety. I soon realized that there was indeed a common organizing principle to their service mission. It wasn’t a professional principle, though it was clear that the contractors, engineers, musicians, and teachers knew their stuff. It wasn’t so much a drive to realize specific objectives, though they accomplished incredible things. The organizing principle was much more profound than this. They all shared a generous spirit, a willingness to serve no matter what need was encountered, a singular respect for the people they met, and a driving desire to come to know in a meaningful way the children of our school and the people of Camasca. This was what we might call charm and grace. They had loads of it, and in six days they found a place of welcome in the hearts of our children and the people of Camasca.
I could simply focus here on what they accomplished because it impressed me beyond my expectations. They built a quality water collection system in about two days, making me scramble to find additional construction projects to keep them busy. They added six hundred books to our library, and organized a eclectic mess into an efficient store of knowledge and literature. They enlivened and enriched our students with song and spirit each morning. They visited other area schools, gifting them with their presence as well as with books and clothes. This success would certainly have been sufficient, but there was more.

Chris and Jan in classroom
Chris and Jan in classroom

They did it all and had tremendous fun doing it.

  • “Papa Grande,” aka Adam, played his guitar, sang his songs, and corralled the smiles of our children.
  • “Gopher,” aka Tony, busied himself in digging holes.
  •  Andy was forever ready with the right tool for the job.
  •  Jeff, the still, but deep waters, was always ready to help.
  •  Bill drew up plans and designs.
  •  Chris may have found a new vocation as a librarian coding books and stacking shelves.
  •  Whitney mastered the troops.
  •  Lori provided for all needs from a bottomless purse.
  •  Jan articulated the sacred privilege of reading.
  •  And as all this business went on, we found time to barb one another with groaning puns. Pat provided the ultimate symbol for this in carrying “Donkey Hotey” back to the states.
  •  We followed Dan’s challenge to us all by “super-sizing” our generosity and realizing the super-sized response in the appreciative embrace of the people of Camasca.
Whitney and Chris
Whitney and Chris

What wondrous things Shoulder to Shoulder has achieved over the course of twenty-five years in the dedication and commitment of professional service teams. True enough. I am certain that just as we have established a sustainable system of quality health care because of the generous service of medical mission teams, so too we will establish quality, sustainable education on the Frontera as we develop relationships with groups and individuals to shoulder this mission. It is always so impressive to see what we have built and accomplished. It is, however, so much more impressive when we find meaningful connections that bind us to the best of who we are. This is grace.

Happy Birthday, Estados Unidos

Feliz cumpleaños, Estados Unidos! On Monday, July 4th, the American volunteers (Matt, Kate, Ben and Mr. Yon) thought that a lesson on U.S. independence was in order. Accordingly, the four of us spent the day going from class to class offering special lessons on why the United States celebrates the Fourth of July.
The kids had a great time with the special activities. With the chiquitinos (youngsters) in Kindergarten, we had a special lesson on the American flag. The kids, who are very proud of their recently acquired familiarity with the English color spectrum, memorized that the flag is red, white and blue in a heartbeat. Next, they got to show off their artistic prowess and drew their best rendition of Old Glory.

Presentation of Flags
Presentation of Flags

Since the flag activity was such a hit, we did the same with the first graders. We also thought that we would test their arithmetic, as we challenged them to tell us how old the United States was this year (they were mind-blown when they figured out that the Fourth of July was the U.S.’s 240th birthday—que viejo!).
With the second and third graders, we pursued a different activity. We had them play the “Game of Georges,” in which half of the class got to pretend that they were Englishmen and the other half American colonists. The pseudo-Englishmen had (probably too much) fun bossing around their colonial counterparts, and the American colonists clearly felt some just satisfaction in declaring their independence at the end of the game. Throughout our lessons with the older kids, we were sure to draw upon the similarities between the Anglo/American divorce and that of Spain/Honduras.

july4activity3

It was a fun, educational Fourth of July, and the kids walked away with a good history lesson and some even better artwork.

Volunteers

We presently have five volunteers at our bilingual school. Thabi, Ben, John (Mr. Yon), Kate, and Matt are having a great time and an incredible, meaningful, life-changing experience. We are tremendously proud of them and grateful for the incalculable gift  they give to our students. Our children will remember them as friends for a lifetime and they will learn to converse in English. Our volunteers may never truly understand the significance and value of the time they have given.
Thabi and Kate will be with us through the end of the school year in November. Matt will soon complete his five weeks with us and we will dearly miss him. It has been all too short and we hope he can return. In mid August, Ben and John will complete their tour with us. On the day of their travel, Alex will be arriving to join Thabi and Kate for the remainder of the school year. We have had an incredible year with volunteers of all ages and backgrounds. What they have had in common is a generous heart open to enriching, life-changing experiences. We thank them!!

Volunteer Matt Tibbits
Volunteer Matt Tibbits

If you would like to read about Matt’s experience at the school, he posts a blog at Backpack Matt.
We are in need of volunteers at our bilingual school for the 2017 academic year from February through November. Find out more about our volunteer opportunities at https://www.shouldertoshoulder.org/volunteer-opportunities. You can also write us at Paul and Laura with any and all inquiries.

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