Visiting Janira in Honduras
1/06/2008
In May last year, Patricia Turner visited her sponsored child Janira in Honduras, where she felt like visiting royalty such was the warm welcome.
The day started at 6.15 am with Maria, my ChildFund interpreter and Carlos, our driver, picking me up for the four-hour drive to the Santa Barbara mountain region of Honduras to meet my sponsored child Janira. Along the way, I saw poverty in the clusters of mud-coloured dwellings roofed in rusty iron and the people shouldering bundles of firewood for cooking fires.
Once we reached Santa Barbara, we drove past homes scattered among the pine trees where the families of ChildFund's Project La Cuesta live. Most of the men work small subsistence type farms and the women (like Janira’s mother, Antonia) weave the hats and baskets sold in the towns and tourist shops of the main city.
We negotiated the last bend and there, stretched across the road was a banner festooned with streamers and with the words "Welcome Patricia Turner". And there was the welcoming committee lined up to greet us. I felt a bit like visiting royalty! School children in their national costumes of long white skirts or trousers, and white shirts trimmed with red and green braid were waiting for my arrival.
We entered a block building that serves as community centre, adult literacy classroom, teaching centre, office and anything else the Project needs. Then Janira burst in and immediately hugged me and chattered away in breakneck Spanish which Maria had to struggle to break down for me.
When relative calm was restored each member of the Parent’s Committee made a speech of welcome and explained their role in the Project. These committees are an absolutely essential part of ChildFund’s work. They are the ‘Johnnies on the spot’ who carry out ChildFund’s policies: they monitor, assess, gather, collate and report. ChildFund field officers make regular visits, but the success of the Projects is very much in the hands of these dedicated and hardworking parents.
The children then lined up with a little bit of self-conscious pushing and giggling and presented their folk songs and dances. It was absolutely wonderful and they performed so well. I loved it.
Before we left, Janira's mother Antonia presented me with a beautiful straw hat with “P Turner” woven into the crown. I felt so sad to have to say goodbye to my beautiful ‘daughter’ who was pleading with us to stay the night, but was so pleased that we had been able to spend this time together. I hope she will remember it for years to come. I know I shall.
