Nourish goes to Honduras

Big news! Chuchi, the unofficial pet dog of the FIPAH office in Otoro has given birth to puppies!  The strange thing is that during the whole visit, we were all perfectly unaware that she was with chil… uh, pup.  While contemplating this happy occasion, I began to wonder what else was growing in Otoro without us knowing, and realized that much of our work there was all about beginnings.  We taught English lessons with the intent to inspire the youth to continue in their education, we cleared land that I’m sure already nurtures the seeds that mean vitality for so many people, and we started relationships that are sure to continue for a very long time.  I’m beginning to understand that although we still have much work we would like to do with our partners at FIPAH, much of our project this year was about the unseen.  Sometimes the best things need a little time to grow, and I believe that the seeds planted in Honduras and within all of us will continue to surprise us in beautiful ways as they mature and bloom.

It has been awhile since we last checked in and much has happened.  Our project for this summer came to a close with a really touching going away ceremony where Diana and I got to show off our dancing skills to the whole FIPAH community, including our other half from Otoro.  I won´t go into to the somber goodbyes and the striking absence of our dear friend Francisca, whose baleada making skills (unrivaled by any) personally sustained the Yorito group for 5 weeks.  We spent some time evaluating our project while lounging around which is where this post really comes to a head.

During the evaluation there were (of course) differences of opinion on a variety of small issues but one thing stood out: the team´s commitment to working towards continuing Nourish´s relationship with the wonderful people at FIPAH.  All of us were continually impressed by the level of integration FIPAH has with each community in which it works and the excellent work guided by consideration of all possibilities to help better those communities.  At the moment we are preparing a report that will go over what we did this summer and some ways to continue our work which we hope to have posted on the blog by the end of the month.  Until the fall we will continue discussing the direction of this partnership before presenting it to the UNC International Projects Committee.  Regardless of what happens, we will continually remember the people of Yorito and Otoro and the invaluable things we have learned by living and working with them.  Such things do not escape you.  For example, on a bus in Guatemala yesterday I couldn´t help kicking my foot back a bit and mouthing the words to “Mi Vecinita”, one of my famed dance numbers courtesy of Rio Arriba.  I´m finding it hard to wrap anything so special up so I´ll leave it at this - ¡Que le vaya bien!