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 August 31, 2008
In late July, fellow St. Thomas’ parishioner Melissa Barrett and I joined seventeen other Episcopalians from throughout the Diocese of Washington on a mission trip to Honduras.
I arrived in Honduras with the vague notion of “doing good” for the less fortunate. I expected it to be all about giving -- giving my time and, ultimately, the resources of my parish and our diocese.
Yet, having spent a week in Haiti earlier this year, I knew there was the possibility of experiencing something so much more enriching and transformative. My very brief time in Haiti gave me a glimpse of the richness of a simpler life -- a life that’s much less consumed with material possessions and lofty career ambitions, but much more focused on family, faith, and community relationships.
Haiti completely transformed my perspective. It planted a seed in my heart that I hoped Honduras would continue to nurture.
Our delegation arrived on Saturday afternoon, July 26, and we split up into smaller groups of five or six people to embark specific missions to villages and towns throughout the country.
Melissa and I were assigned to a group that was to visit a tiny Episcopal parish in the village of El Cerron to help build some improvements to their grain cooperative project. Then we would explore a sustainable agriculture and reforestation project near the city of Trinidad with a dedicated Episcopalian named Roy Lara. Finally, we would end our trip by rejoining the larger group to tour the Mayan ruins near Copan before returning to the States on August 2.
EL CERRON
 After a long drive up a dusty, winding gravel road, we arrived in the tiny, picturesque village of El Cerron high in the hills of Western Honduras. Our home was the little Eglesia Episcopal San Mateo -- a small compound with a simple, bright-blue chapel, a matching parish hall that was full of grain silos instead of the usual tables and chairs, and a small white stucco rectory house, all on a hill that overlooked the lovely village and mountains beyond.
Yet, we were there to work, and our goal was to help build a grain-drying patio in two days. Once completed, the patio would provide a permanent way for the parish to dry corn and beans for storage in fourteen zinc silos that were installed in their former parish hall. The operation generates a profit for the parish as they purchase grains at harvest time and store them for several months to wait for prices to rise. Then, if all goes well, they sell them for a profit and raise valuable funds to help cover parish operating expenses.
Additionally, our group was to help teach children’s bible-study lessons in the time left over. It seemed like a lot to accomplish in such a short time frame, and I was a little concerned at first that the trip would be more stressful than my life back in D.C.
Miraculously, the patio was completed in less than two days, thanks to lots of extra hands from throughout the village (our project was the biggest show in town, so nobody wanted to miss out!). With so much competition for a piece of the action, our mission group was able to spend more time on the sidelines with scores of children watching the spectacle.
Our time with these kids turned out to be on of the highlights of my trip. We read stories, took photos of one another, played games, and laughed together. After the days work, we all gathered with the children in the chapel for an hour-long bible-study and art project each day. Father John Graham, rector of Grace Episcopal Georgetown who is as talented a preacher is he is fluent in Spanish, would lead the bible lesson. Then, we would guide the kids in simple art projects to express what they had learned.
It’s always amazing to witness children’s immense creativity, even with limited art supplies. Yet, these kids were overflowing with an enthusiasm and excitement that made these bible-study sessions all the more magical for the rest of us.
In El Cerron, I discovered that simply working and being together, two groups of people with huge language barriers and completely different cultural and economic backgrounds -- our leap of faith provided the ingredients for God to work his way into our hearts and bring us so much closer to him and to each other. Our faith and willingness transformed each of us, I believe.
TRINIDAD CONSERVATION PROJECT
The second phase of our trip took us to the beautiful, historic town of Trinidad where we toured several environmental projects started by a dynamic local agronomist named Roy Lara.
Roy, who is senior warden of the local Episcopal Church in Trinidad, has a rare combination of energy, passion, leadership talent and charisma -- all focused on reversing the rapid deforestation of Honduras while helping local farmers to overcome poverty. He has inspired families, students, teachers and local political leaders to support his causes for years.
Honduras, in addition to being the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has also lost 37 percent of its forest cover in the last 15 years -- more than any other Latin American country. These two problems feed off one another, so forest preservation and reforestation are critical to improving the watershed, soil quality, and ultimately reducing poverty in this country. This is why Roy’s programs are so important.
In 2007, The Episcopal Diocese of Honduras, with the help of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and St. Columba’s Episcopal Church here in Washington, founded the Trinidad Conservation Project (TCP) to support Roy Lara’s efforts.
When our group arrived in Trinidad on Tuesday, Roy was standing in front of his truck by our hotel to greet us and take us on our first project. We dropped off our bags, jumped in his truck, and took off up into the hills to a tiny little two-room school house full of students playing in the yard.
After greeting the teachers and meeting the students, Roy immediately started mixing a chalk-white elixir of lime and other ingredients that we were to paint on the trunks of all the trees in the school yard. This mixture was designed to prevent bugs and other pests from destroying the trees. Roy leads students and families in the region in these painting projects regularly as part of his tree preservation programs. He also leads the students in tree-planting projects up on the hillsides.
 Melissa, I and the other group members started painting the trees, but the students quickly took over our paint brushes and proceeded to coat all the trees on the property as well as their school uniforms.
The next day, Roy took us up into the nearby mountains to the little village of El Tule where he introduced us to his Sustainable Agriculture Development initiative.
Through this initiative, poor farming families are taught skills and practices that permit them to change from slash-and-burn agriculture that destroys forests to planting crops on a single plot of land, year after year. They learn soil improvement practices, contour planting, terracing, and reliance on organic fertilization and pest control. As families demonstrate their use of these practices, they are given choices of other sustainable practices including wood-conserving stoves, moveable chicken coops, and improved vegetable gardens. Other popular projects include small fish ponds, compost projects, small-scale irrigation, and help in growing marketable, non-traditional crops.
The sustainable, organic farming techniques these families learn will improve family health and nutrition and lead to measurable increases in family income.
Currently Roy’s programs receive funding from parishioners at St. Mark’s and St. Columba’s and from a few other non-governmental organizations such as Sustainable Harvest International and American Forests. There is still a great need for more sources of funding in order for Roy and his colleagues to expand their programs.
Working side-by-side with Roy and the young students, witnessing the pride and success of his Sustainable Agricultural projects, and just feeling Roy’s energy and passion, I was quite inspired. I left with a deep desire to see Roy continue to expand his program to more and more families throughout the country.
Having returned to Washington, I’ll have to say that a part of me remains in Honduras. I’ve been trying to figure out what has drawn me as deeply to Honduras as I was to Haiti.
Perhaps it’s that certain sincerity I noticed in everyone we met on our journey -- whether working or worshiping with our new friends in El Cerron or painting trees and visiting farmers with Roy Lara in Trinidad. Everyone seems genuinely happy to simply be with you, share some time with you, and bring you into their lives. Even when you glance at someone, they instinctively return a quick smile that has a deep sincerity and warmth that you don’t find so often back home.
Maybe it all had to do with the simplicity of their lives and the more meaningful priorities that I discovered in Haiti and found again in Honduras. It seems that both Haiti and Honduras, in spite of their economic struggles, share the same little secret -- how joyful and fulfilling life can be living closer to the land, family, community and God, without all of our technological trappings. They seem to understand more clearly how much more valuable human relationships and faith are than anything we can possess or achieve on this earth.
I now feel like I’m in on their little secret, and I’ve returned with a truly different perspective than when I left.
I’d say that this mission trip has been a major milestone in my faith journey -- a major turning point in coming to “know” and “experience” God through the lives and hearts of other human beings who live in a world far different from my own. These wonderful people have given me so much more than I gave them. They took the seed that was planted in Haiti, and they have nurtured it into a thriving seedling that I hope will continue to grow and prosper.
NOTE: If you would like to learn more about any of these projects in Honduras, how you can help, or if you would like to join a future mission trip, please contact Brad Latham at bradlatham@verizon.net or Melissa Barrett at mlb707@gmail.com.Foyer Dinners: Building Community One Meal at a Time
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