Scott in Tela
The sun was coming up over the horizon, Scott was writing in his journal and I had a thousand thoughts swirling around in my head. Had I made the right decision in bringing Scott? He was only 9, well…just about 10 but still young to be coming on such a trip. And I had decided fairly last minute about going so we really hadn't had that much time to prepare. Was he going to be ok? Would he be okay with the work? the food? Would he get along with everyone? Would he actually enjoy it? All these questions popped into my mind for fleeting moments. The answers were always yes. He was going to be ok, it was going to be ok. Having traveled a bit in the third world on my own, the one thing I did know in my heart was that this was going to be a life changing experience for him. Not to mention for me.
We were on the plane to Honduras to work for a week for the Hands to Honduras Tela project.
The Hands to Honduras Tela Program is a partnership program bringing together North American and Honduran communities to provide educational, technical, cultural, and humanitarian assistance to the Atlántida coastal region. The program is organized under the charitable wing of the Charlotte-Shelburne Rotary - by a committee of - Al Gilbert, John Hammer, Sam Feitelberg, Linda Gilbert, Colleen Haag, Dorrice Hammer.
Watching the sun rise from the air was inspiring, amazing. The clouds below looked like a sea of small waves shimmering the warmest reflection of red/orange I'd seen in a long time. Every once in a while I'd lean over and ask Scott if he was excited. "Yes", he'd say. And I'd wonder if he really knew what to expect. What were his expectations? What did he think it was going to be like? He of course had no pre-conceived notions of what going to a 3rd world country was like. He knew it meant that people were poor, but he had no real idea of what that would look like. Or, at least that's what he told me.
I knew I was excited. We were on an adventure, just Scott and I.
We arrived at San Pedro Sula in the warm afternoon sun and dressed in our Vermont winter attire, we were hot! We all piled into vans and headed north to the coastal town of Tela. Scott got to sit in the middle of the front seat of the van, while I was further in the back. Al was to his left driving and a soldier with a gun and no "pointer finger" was to Scott's right. He was in 7th heaven. He thought this was just so cool - to be in the front and next to a soldier! I smiled and felt a sigh of relief. Scott was going to be just fine. He was chit chatting with Al the entire drive, asking questions, watching, looking, soaking it all in and not seated by my side. A surge of emotions almost brought on tears. I was so proud of him. And to think, this was just the start. Not a day would go by without these feelings.
Watching Scott interact with other volunteers - ruthless teasing with Michelle, asking Butch to come work with him at the PT Center, snorkeling with Tim, going on an adventure with Collin, carrying on conversations with Liz and Nancy, riding the waves with Nancy in the rain, learning how to make rebar squares from Michelle, doing his Math homework with Charlie, Painting with Jeri always sitting in the front seat of the van with Al, discovering a huge frog with Kim, telling Linda about his day, sorting stuffed animals with Will, handing out lollipos with Colleen, etc. The list goes on. He made relationships on his own with each and every volunteer!
Having been born in Switzerland, surrounded by many different languages when he was young, I really thought he wasn't going to be that intimidated by the language. I was wrong - he did feel insecure - at least at first. But by the third day he was ordering and paying for his own drinks in the hotel and by the 4th day wanting to venture off by himself to Mario's to check out the machete that he really wanted to buy. It's amazing how a couple of days gave him the confidence he needed.
Every day we went to a different place to work: Cuatro de Enero to scrape and paint, Jubilados & the PT Center to make rebar and cement and Inhfa where the plan was to make a new playground including a soccer field. And each day brought new experiences, adventures and children. They were so endearing, even to Scott. He somehow managed to make a connection with at least one child at each place we went. I suppose that the curiosity was two-fold: from Scott to the Honduran boys and from the boys to Scott, who were probably wondering why on earth this boy was here working on their school? These boys worked hard, They were all wanting to help, sharing jobs with Scott, sharing work gloves, pushing wheelbarrows of rocks, and even sharing water and food. Once again, whenever I took a moment to watch Scott, those emotions would swoop on in and I'd have to fight back the tears brimming up in my eyes.
Scott also gained a huge appreciation for how hard it is to build anything with no machines. Everything was done by hand. Sawing the rebar, bending it, cutting the wire, putting it all together, sifting sand, making cement, carrying water, shoveling cement into buckets, carrying cement block etc. The list goes on. Everything was done by human hands, everything was slow and everything was not perfect. But that was ok. We both felt that the Hondurans really appreciated what we were doing and we enjoyed every minute of it.
Each and every day had brought something new. Going with the flow, having a layed back attitude and no personal agenda we never knew what each day would bring. Not only did we learn about a new country, its people, culture and language, but we also learned how to communicate, build relationships and work with others in a relatively short period of time. We also gained a new understanding and appreciation of how hard life can be without the help of machines and modern technology. Life is very different without the materialistic things we fill our lives and homes with. Do we really need all the things we have to be happy?
Those ten days away were the most rewarding ten days I have ever had. It wasn’t just the experience of being in Honduras, working there, and befriending all the other volunteers that was so incredible. But, it was also the opportunity to spend that time alone with Scott and to watch him grow and mature right in front of my eyes. I will treasure every moment, every memory from our trip for years to come.
