Looking Back

Jacob and I have been in the States for more than 2 months now, and while I have spent some time in and out of the hospital, it still feels like the land of milk and honey. Peace Corps has taken excellent care of us, and it is difficult to think we will not be an active part in the Corps again. I should be without crutches within a month... just in time for my 30th birthday :)

Looking back, we are both quite proud of our time in Honduras and our ability to live and work under adverse conditions. Had the incident not happened and Peace Corps not closed the post, we'd be back there in an instant. But, that isn't the case, so we have to move forward. That being said, this isn't the end of international work for us.

Most of what I miss is our daily existence at site. We knew many of the locals by the end of our time, and our integration was pretty solid. Jacob and I could both carry on conversations in Spanish, and we'd adapted to power and water outages, holding some woman's infant in your lap on 8 hour bus rides, the Honduran lifestyle and food, etc... I had made a point of building relationships with the women leaders in every village I traveled to so I always had someone I could trust and rely on, and I often saw them in the state capital. It was somewhat of a symbiotic relationship; they provided me with more credibility, and they seemed to like being seen talking to a gringa. I miss seeing and talking to them about their children, their villages, the local gossip... Before we knew the post was closing, Jacob and I thought we'd be able to come back. Needless to say, I cried horribly when I found out that wouldn't be the case.

The hardest part is the feeling that we left behind all of our counterparts, the Honduran Peace Corps Staff, and the local people; all of whom are great people. Peace Corps made the correct decision, of course, but the guilt is still there. Hondurans don't deserve what is happening to their country.

Anyway, we just wanted to thank everybody for reading our blog, sending us care packages, and giving us so much support over the last year. I doubt we'll post to this blog again, so I'll leave with some of my favorite photos:

Home... we loved this spot.

Our view every morning and evening from the back porch.

Community meetings.... and the dogs.

Translating. One of my craziest experiences was the day I spent

translating for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Blake from TOMS shoes.

Work. We traveled to some of the most remote (and beautiful) places on earth.

The daycare. The day before the incident, Jacob went out and bought/decorated a Christmas tree for me. I never got to see it, but he took it to the daycare a week or so later and shot some photos of the kids with it. They had never had a Christmas tree, so it was the very least we could do.... wish we could have done more.

The Lencan women. Some of the strongest women I will ever meet.

The artisan works.

Pig roasts. We planned on writing a blog post about it, but ... We hosted a Thanksgiving pig roast and about 30 PCVs came from all over Honduras. Even the locals loved it.

The colors. Nobody does it like Honduras.

It was great, guys. Thanks for reading.

-Paz

Jacob and Lauren Roberts

Unexpected Changes

Well, as much as we hate to say it (and most of you already know), it looks like Jacob and I are officially being medically-evacuated. But, we will keep posting to the blog (probably mostly consisting of pictures of food and stores we'll visit in the States that we haven't had access to in 10 months) trying to look on the bright side and make the best of our situation. Small daily victories will be our priority, and we will update in further detail on a more private channel.

We will miss Honduras, our wonderful fellow PCVs, the Peace Corps Staff, and the lovely Lencan people.

All the best to everyone.

Lauren & Jacob

Days Like Yesterday...

... are why we are Peace Corps Volunteers. Whereas Wednesday was a bit frustrating, yesterday felt like a golden moment of development and progress.

Before Jacob and I left on vacation, the daycare staff asked if I could give them some more packets of seeds to plant in a neighbor's backyard. I admit I was a bit skeptical if they would every be planted, but handed over 10 packets of seeds anyway. I went into the daycare yesterday to get some papers signed, and they said they wanted to show me something down the street... They had started their very own bio-intensive garden! It wasn't perfect, but the seedlings were doing very well, and the neighbor whose yard they were using owns a restaurant and plans to add the veggies into the daily lunch she serves!

I thought such progress would only come near the end of our service, but it was incredible! Not only did they take amazing initiative to begin another garden, they showed such deep concern for the well being of their community as a whole. Even just the thought of growing them to sell as part of a meal in a restaurant, I was so impressed!

It makes me very proud to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. You always hope that your projects are sustainable and can grow and be managed without you. And that is exactly what the staff has accomplished. I didn't expect it so early on in the process, but am incredibly excited that it has happened.

But, I shouldn't have been so surprised, these women are all incredibly intelligent and motivated, even if they've never had the chance to advance their educations. They live to the fullest each day, caring more about others than themselves. These women work so hard to make their community a better place, despite the fact that they are denied common human rights that we women enjoy in the States. They are truly an inspiration.

Honduras Wins Again...

"Honduras wins again" is a phrase we PCVs love to use when, for whatever reason; be it that Hondurans will only come to meetings when snacks are involved (and PCVs don't have funding for snacks guys, sorry), a meeting that was pressed upon you to start at 8am maaaaybe starts at 10am (when the snacks arrive), or the mayor of your town storms out of a medical brigade because he wasn't properly depicted in a construction paper mural which causes general chaos, etc... (all personal experiences).

For whatever reason, we use this phrase to help us cope with the differences that exist between our world here, and the world we are used to at home. Just as "fijese que" used to sound like nails grinding on a chalk board, it now only brings a general eye-roll (fijese que basically means "The thing is..." followed by a lousy excuse about something that should have happened, but clearly won't be happening now). When these events happen, we are now pretty used to them, and the matter can be summed up in 3 little words. Honduras wins again.

People often ask me what my day is like as a PCV. Every day is different. I don't have an office let alone a desk at my counterpart agency, so I work alot from home. But, I try to make it into the office a few times a week to see where I can be of assistance on various projects. Between the Family Health Initiative, my work with the local daycare, my youth group of girls and nutrition classes, I'm rather swamped.

I certainly don't want to use this blog as an outlet for frustration, and I hope no one sees it that way. But, I thought I would share some of the set backs that come with progress and development. It's never a straight line froward, but one that ebbs and flows, moving ever so slowly in the right direction.

On Sunday, Jacob and I returned from a wonderful and much needed vacation in Belize with my parents. I saw Sandra (my counterpart) on Monday, and she asked if I could assist with a baby weighing and nutrition project happening in a nearby village today. Of course I'll help! I've been rather busy lately with the Family Health Manual and finishing up a gallinera (chicken coop) proposal and haven't been able to venture out with my counterpart much, so this seemed like a great opportunity.

This morning I get to the office at 8am and everyone is leaving to go to an NGO meeting outside of town... Hmmm.

"Aren't we going to the village to weigh babies???

-Oh, Sandra said you could go by yourself (she hasn't made it into the office yet).

-Umm, no. You know I don't walk to villages by myself. Let's call her and see what her plans are for the day."

I never walk to villages by myself for security reasons, no matter what the event is or how close it may be, and I made that very clear after a few attempts by my counterpart agency to leave me in villages alone. Jacob will sometimes travel with me as a last resort, but I hate to take him away from his own work. Anyway, we call her and she tells me that 2 nurses and a doctor are going too... go to the Health Center and there should be a car waiting for you all. Great!

(enter nurses' station)

"Hey, Tavo, are you guys going to weigh babies today?

-Fijese que, no hay transporte. (The thing is, there's no transportation.)

-Why not?

-The mayor is using the vehicle and said he didn't have to time pick us up (He was going to the same village for the same reason).

-Oh. Can't we walk there together? It's not too far...

-The doctor and nurses don't want to walk.

-Oh (internal eye-roll). Well, give me a call if anyone changes their mind.

And, by 8:45 am I am back home. Honduras wins again. I have no idea who is going to weigh babies now or if the nutrition presentation will happen, which was planned in one of the most malnourished villages I know. But, one thing is for sure... they will get their snack.

Thankfully, I still have plenty of work to do.

Transplanting Day at the Daycare

A side note: In light of the 7 billionth person being born, the World Food Program has compiled 7 suggested readings on food security and hunger. The articles are available here.

After 4 date changes and a hurricane that brought 10 straight days of rain, we finally transplanted the seedlings for the daycare on Monday. Because of the date changes, only one father was able to help with the planting. Thankfully Sam and Jeff, a Peace Corps couple from Olancho, traveled to help us. Sam wrote her dissertation on biointensive gardening, so we definitely took advantage of our resident expert (that's how we roll in Peace Corps).

Originally, we wanted to formally present the biointensive model to all of the parents and the staff, but we ended up keeping it rather informal. So, the 4 of us gathered on the spot with the 1 father and 2 staff members (the 3rd was watching the children) and explained what we were doing and why we were trying out a new method. Sam explained some of the many advantages of biointensive gardening, and everyone was on board.

One of the ways we adapt and integrate into our sites is to identify how our communities learn best. I've discovered, at least in my site, that when presenting information lecture style I lose my audience within 5 minutes. So, gathering right on top of the planting spot, explaining the major ideas and then moving right into step-by-step demonstrations worked really well. They weren't nearly as intimidated by the new information, and we weren't towering over anyone at a lecture stand spouting off ideas that they couldn't visualize.

We marked off four 4 meter x 1 meter beds, and Jeff moved right into demonstrating the double-dig method. (You can read a basic description of Biointensive Agriculture here.)

Once we had the idea down, we divided up among the 4 beds and began preparing the beds. The soil was an incredible deep brown with few rocks, so the digging went much faster than planned. In 3 hours we had all 4 beds ready to go.

But, the day wasn't without any setbacks. I knew that the spot we were using used to be the Health Center's backyard. They moved about 10 years ago to a larger building across town, but may have still been using the backyard to burn biohazard materials. Anyway, the image above is just a small portion of what we found in the soil. Some bottles were dated as late as 2003! (Welcome to the third world.) We carefully removed what we could while trying to avoid needles. Thankfully, the Health Center now uses receptacles for this sort of thing instead of burning or burying it all.

Unfortunately, with so many hazardous materials, we shut the gate so the children wouldn't enter. We originally wanted to let them help, kids love this stuff! But, we didn't want them potentially hurting themselves. Still, they got a good look at the seedlings and were very excited about having a garden.

Once the beds were prepped, we started planting the 300+ seeds that germinated. We were able to take advantage of companion planting, and planted anywhere from 2 to 4 different kinds of seedlings in each 4x1 meter bed. The only pair that we had to really separate was onions and potatoes, so they are currently at opposite ends of the garden. One of the many advantages of this type of planting is that we can plant the seedlings closer together, most being anywhere from 20-40 cm apart. (Above) Jacob planting cabbage and cauliflower with the daycare Director.

Once Jacob and Jimmy (the father who came) disposed of all of the bio-hazardous materials in a deep pit they had dug at the corner of the yard, we let the kids come in to watch. They were so excited!

While I was conducting research on the best way to prepare and plant potatoes, I got fed up with the variety of answers. So, I called up my grandfather, who has been planting potatoes for much longer than I can remember. Some of my best childhood memories are helping dig up potatoes with him and my great uncles. I think he was thrilled that I called, and he gave me some great advice. And, with the double dig method, you can plant them as you dig, saving a lot of time in the process.

Anyway, we ended the day about 2 pm and went for a much deserved lunch. My original plan was to give each Honduran participant a packet of seeds to try the method at home. But, because Jimmy was the only one who came, we ended up giving him 8 packets of seeds and the leftover seedlings that wouldn't fit in the beds. Hopefully, he'll tell the other fathers and next season we'll have a much bigger crowd :)

The fruits (or veggies) of our labor!...

Repollo rojo (red cabbage)

Brócoli (broccoli)

Zanahoria y un gusano! (carrot and a worm!)

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Meet the kids of Hogar Comunal del Niño, the local daycare at site:

The approximately 25 children who come daily range in age from 2 to 8 and live in the surrounding villages. They come each day to receive 2 meals, breakfast and lunch, meals they would not receive otherwise due to extreme poverty.

Our municipality is one of the poorest in the nation; 70% of which lives on less than 1 USD a day. The inhabitants are primarily Lencan, an indigenous group that has been residing in the region for hundreds of years. Running water and electricity in homes are the exception, and most of the families live a subsistence lifestyle, sell homemade food and artisan items in the local markets or work as day laborers for the local coffee or lumber producers. While the food is delicious and artisan items are beautifully made, they often don't provide enough income to truly increase their standard of living. Too many times, the market is over saturated with women selling the same food and/or artisan items in the same small area (this is a whole other blog post, better written by the business guru, Jacob, so I'll let him tell that one).

A side note: Several local and international NGOs in the area have been working with the local villages to improve the standard of living for many in the region, but the process is slow: 2 steps forward, 1 step back kind of situation. So, while this post may seem a bit depressing, progress definitely has been made in the region... now back to the story.

Our host mom is the director of the daycare and she has put her heart and soul into improving the center, traveling monthly trying to recruit donations and necessities like shoes and clothing for the children.

The first month we were at site she invited Jacob and me to the daycare, and we were met with beautiful smiles and hugs from the children. She showed us the dilapidated facilities, and while there is a roof over their heads (which is not the case in some places), it is nothing compared to a daycare in a more developed country.

Breakfast (like in the photo above) is usually rice milk, made from grinding the rice and running it through a sieve in water (a pound of rice is less than half the price of a carton of milk) and a single pancake per child. Lunch is often rice pudding (which sounds lovely, but has hardly any nutritional content), or rice and beans with a tortilla and sometimes eggs. Unfortunately, the price of eggs just went up .5 lempiras this week, making it even harder for the daycare to purchase protein for the children. On special occasions they'll make chicken and rice soup.

I asked her if they had tried to start a vegetable garden, and she said they could not afford the seeds. So, not wanting to cough up my personal funds (which as a volunteer are tiny anyway), I spoke to my boss in Peace Corps and was put in contact with a Rotary Club in California. After a few emails, I received a certified box full of 250 packets of vegetable seeds, all donated to be used for the daycare. It felt like Christmas!

I brought the box to the daycare and the 3 ladies who make up the staff were elated. We wrote out a plan for the coming months, pinpointing dates to start an abonera (organic compost), to plant the seeds, and to transplant. Unlike most of Honduras, our region gets relatively cold (high-30s to 40s) during December and January. So, we chose mostly root vegetables and hardier crops to withstand the temperatures.

Side note #2: USAID has initiated a program this year throughout the Western corridor of the country, called ACCESO. Focusing on food security, the program, among other things, is intended to diversify the rural Honduran diet through gardens and provide assistance for marketing and selling the surplus, etc...

So, with that in mind, the staff, Jacob and I made the decision to research bio-intensive gardening, as it promotes growing a diverse range of vegetables all within a relatively small space. Only if the garden is so successful that they have a large surplus will we move onto selling the vegetables. That's where Jacob's business skills will come in to play.

Regardless, with bio-intensive gardening we can produce more food in a smaller space by using open pollinated seeds, a double-dig method, companion planting and organic composting. (It's much more complex, but to get the basic idea). We aren't making use of commercial fertilizers for many reasons, one of the main being that they simply can't afford to purchase the fertilizer when they need to purchase necessities and pay the electric bill.

The hardest part will be getting the parents to come and help with the digging and planting. Of course, all of the parents work when they can and taking a day off isn't really an option. The daycare staff thought that the best day to begin digging would be on a holiday when the parents are off. I hope they're right. To compensate for their time, we plan to give a packet of seeds to each family so they can try out the model in their own home, and encourage seed exchanging among their neighbors to further diversify their gardens. Much of the time will be spent demonstrating the double-dig method, creating fresh compost for the spring, and trying to explain why bio-intensive is better to people who have been using the same method of planting for many generations.

I was incredibly surprised to find such a low rate of family gardens when arriving at site. I assumed in my naivety that every family in a developing country has a garden and lives off of it. But, this is not the case, and many people go without vegetables on a daily basis. When families do have a garden, often times (at least in my region) they grow a large amount of a few crops and then sell them at the market. They then use those profits to buy more seeds of the same crop (further depleting the soil). Instead of buying other vegetables at the markets, they usually use the profits to also purchase items such as soft-drinks and processed foods like baloney, chips and candy for their families to show the local community that they are good providers. While being a good provider is very admirable, it doesn't help the family in the long run and only exacerbates chronic malnutrition in the region.

With this model, the parents won't need to use very much space and can add [more] vegetables to their family's diet, still being able to sell the other crops they have been selling. And, hopefully with nutrition classes, maybe they won't use the profits to buy soft-drinks and candy for their children quite as often.

So, how does our garden grow? Well, we've only started composting and have planted 350 seeds, most of which have germinated. We plan to transplant the last week of October and watch the garden grow through the holidays.

The Director of the daycare at left and staff member at right working on the abonera.

I purchased a plastic seed bed holding 200 seeds for my personal use, but decided to break it in using seeds for the local daycare. A plastic seed bed costs roughly 75 Lempiras ($3.96) and is too costly for many here to purchase. So, we gathered up some empty (and free!) egg cartons from around town and are using these as well. Each carton holds 30 eggs, so with 5 cartons we added another 150 seeds to be planted.

Because Jacob and I travel for business/health presentations and trainings, we made a green house to retain moisture, etc... when Jacob and I are away from site. It's our first green house, don't be too harsh :) The staff decided it was best to leave the seedlings at our house, so 50 little hands could get into them, lol.

This process will probably take a full two years to create sustainability. The garden won't truly be bio-intensive until then, but we'll get there. We'll harvest everything shortly after the beginning of the year and have our next compost ready for a spring planting of crops which can tolerate the heat (beans to help bring back nitrogen, peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, etc...) We plan to add gardening, seed saving and nutrition classes for the parents of the children at the daycare each month. When the harvest is ready, I also hope to teach a healthy cooking class for the parents using some of the vegetables we grew. Next year we can continue on a similar rotation, giving the staff and parents plenty of repetition to work from. At some point I hope to bring in someone from USAID to present to the parents and staff, but first we need to get the project off... or better yet, in the ground. Baby steps :)

Our Home Sweet Home in Honduras

We've been at site for over 4mths and are just now posting pics of our house. Oh, well... here they are!

The front porch, complete with a little moat. It comes in handy during the rainy season, believe it or not.

The back.... our landlords love yellow. All of the wood on the first floor is used for our fogon (below)

Our fogon... and the other half of the kitchen below. The fabric for the curtains was given to me by our host mom.

Dining area (Jacob's recent birthday present in the foreground)

Guest bedroom

Our bedroom. Jacob bought the bedspread for me at the local Lencan market. The woman who sold it to him said these types of quilts are traditional Lencan wedding gifts. Love it!

The view from our back porch

Our neighbor. I started feeding him our old bread, and now he comes up to the fence every time he sees me outside expecting to be fed. I have created a monster. The USA canisters can be found all over our backyard and around town. They housed food donations several years back, and now mine hold sage!

And, last but not least, an updated photo of our local waterfall. It will continue to grow in size until about mid-November when the rainy season lets up.

Have a great week everybody!