Volunteering - Three learning weeks in Santa Barbara

The lovely city of Santa Barbara with the wonderful bakery (their "quesadilla", a savory-sweet cheese flavoured crumbly cake that got me returning day after day), small city centre (Parque centrale) the fast internet connection shop, the resto with the fresh passion fruit juice, and the orphanage were my home for the 3 weeks that I spent there. One thing I won't miss is the constant and rather degrating "kissing sound" men make on my walk from the orphanage to the city centre (about 5 blocks)!!

The orphanage at Santa Barbara started out being a location for the impoverished kids (range between 30-45) to come and eat the biggest meal of the day, shower (as some people do not have running water at home or electricity) and receive some bible readings. The location later turned into a temporary orphanage as the real orphanage (outskirts of the city) cannot hold more kids. The building is owned by the government however, it lacked lots of fundings as it was forced to close back in March 2010. From my understanding, the place lacked fundings and workers as well. The fund situation were so bad that the workers had to knock door to door in order to get some help from the local community as the government did not follow up after purchasing the location. So, whenver I can, I make some purchases to fill in on what is missing.

Occasionally, they also receive fundings from American christian groups to come down and help, such is the case of the 2 groups that I have met, one from Berries Spring, Michigan, and the other from Wedding, California.

Learnt a lot about local Honduranean life, the dnagers of San Pedro Sula (big city), the harsh and difficult conditions of poverty which is often the underlying reason for low education, how machismo is still very prevalent in the country and particularlly on the countryside. I've of heard several stories of men who do not respect their women, leave them for another, or even a story where a husband would lock his wife in her room while he leaves to visit his mistress... Countless stories of men abandoning their wives and leaving them with no financial aid for the kids that stayed with the mom.

Met the 3 lovely ladies that work at the daycare/orphanage:

• Doña Miriam: Chilean fair-skinned lady as the main cook for the 40 or so kids that come to eat everyday. Our goodbye was short and sweet as I may get to see her again in Bolivia, where 2 of her daughters live.
  
• Doña Glofia: darker complexion Honduranian lady whose main role is to ppass the teachings of God to the children after lunch through bible stories. Her hobby? Read the bibble, which she wasted no time in sharing it with me on a daily basis that God loves me as well. Gloria seem to have a particular affectio towards asians and did not fail to demonstrate it with me. I-ve even got to speak Mandarin with her son, whose probably the only Honduranian currently studying in a Taiwanese univesity in nuclear enginering! He happened to be on vacation from his studies and popped home for a visit.
  
• Doña Mirna: a tall beauty showing a constant smile that eminate love and affection beyond bonds. One of the few people I've met who gives love without boundaries, shares, cares, thinks for others before herself. She almost single handedly raised 8 children on her own and even after her daughters's 21 day old coiffure shop was robbed, faithfully remained at her duty at the daycare to be the guardian for the 2 orphans instead of demisioning the job to go and spend time with her daughter despite the fact that she does not get the minimum wage she deserves due to a lack of funding. (pic of my living quarter with the 2 girls and Doña Mirna. My bed is in the center, the one with the yellow sheets)
  

Interesting encounters & events:

• Met David, a Jamaican nurse turned English teacher with whom I've cooked with one night for the kids. We wanted to share the wonderful world of spices in the Honduranean kitchen (instead of the usual non-spiced rice, beans, pasta, tortillas, baleadas etc.) He and I raved about food (Jamaican cuisine, as I-ve come to learn, consist of a fusion of Caribbean with Indian and Chinese influence, thanks to the numerous immigrants)

• I've also gained some insight into the troubling conception of the mountain folks who still believe that having sex with a young virgin girl cures AIDS and even the village folk frown upon the use of contraception as it is seen as a mistrust in the other partner... thus, the village abounds with kids and girls are expected to be married by latest 20-21 years old.
• Had my share of white river rafting in the river behind the orphanage for... ever. Day after day, I see the kids, as young as 7 yrs old rafting down the river ingeniously on inner tubes while using flip flops as a paddle. That sounds alright, except they do it without life-jacket during the rainy season where the river runs on strong! I had my chance to try it with the 2nd group of Americans from California and literally 30 secs after getting on the tube, got caught in a whirlpool... managed to scramble out for a gulp of air, and then got caught again, went back spinning in the water, the 2nd trial for air, got a full gulp of water instead. Somehow, the water gave me an ounce of air but I was about to wonder how long I can keep swollowing water, that's when I felt a body and gripped to it with my dear life. I doubt i would be able to make it back alive if it wasn't for Caleb, approx 6"2 and sturdy body, who pulled me out of the water... closest near death experience I've ever had. Although once out of the whirlpool, we rafted down the river still and it went without any incidents. It still puts me off for rafting for awhile... I could barely sleep that night and thought about how careless we were, going into the river without life jackets and without knowing the conditions. I count my blessings.

This experience is the most contact I've ever had with children! Not only playing with them but living with them. It was a very rich experience, and one is affected by the degree of openess one has. I left the orphanage because I started to feel restless again. As much as it was an experience for me, I could not shake the feeling that I need my own personal space and never before, had I had so little for such a long strech of time. I kept telling myself this is the way lots of peole have to live, as some housing situation only allows the whole family living in the same space, but after 2 weeks, the feeling of uneasiness kept on creeping up on me. To the point where I had to force myself mentally to shake it off, which affected my state of being of calm, as well as my interaction with the kids. It was a difficult decision to leave as they all wanted me to stay, whether for companionship or the growing affectionate bonds. They were comparing me with the last 2 girls who stayed here for 9 months and how come I am staying so little time. (Not reproaching of course but made me felt a lil uneasy). But I had to make a decision, as much as I have been able to help and want to help, this trip is a learning experience for me and I couldn't find a way to remove the chocking feeling that was growing within me. I realize that I wasn't ready for a complete immersion or simply I can only take in a little at a time. Actually it affected me so much that I didn't find the energy to write, which explains the length of time it took me to publish my post.

Luckily enough, I left without first-hand experience of lice! As just about all the kids have lice, somehow I was able to excape it. How do I know? I had two girls checked for me, a routine checkup for the locals. Not a problem!