All Soul's Day

All Soul's Day (Dia de los Muertos), which is usually celebrated on November 2nd is a big deal in Spain and the Central American countries. In Honduras most people celebrate by going to their family members graves for the day to share stories and meals with one another. It's like a picnic set up for the day.

The last few years Santa Clara has had the day off, but this year we have already missed so much school that Peggy just gave everyone a half day. I think most of the North American volunteers were happy with that, so we wouldn't lose as much instruction time. The Hondurans on the other hand were anything but happy. They really wanted their day off! It's hard, because I can understand why they want the whole day off but it's also tough to miss so many days of school. I guess that's part of the challenges of teaching in a bilingual school with American and Honduran teachers.

I was really interested in learning more about "Dia de los Muertos" and the different traditions people have, so I asked Rosita what she would be doing after school. She told me she was going to "visitar a los muertos" -- "visit the dead". I told her I knew that but wanted to know where she was going. She is from a town called Catacamas. I wasn't sure if all of her deceased family members were there or elsewhere. She told me she would be visiting the grave of Valeria's father. I thought she was talking about another staff member, but I didn't recognize the name. When I asked who it was she said "You know, Valeria Michelle who is in our class". When she saw the shocked look on my face she preceded to tell me that he had been gunned down the night before in Catacamas. I had just met Valeria's dad last week when he came to school to see how she was doing -- I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Apparently Rosita had witnessed the whole thing on her walk home, so she was positive. I can't even explain in words how heart broken I am for this little girl. People are murdered here pretty frequently. It's usually over some illegal activity going on. It's sad, because most of the parents at our school involved in this kind of stuff do it to send their kids to a nice school in hopes that they can make a better life for themselves. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, just fact! But regardless of why, there is now a six year old who will never get her dad back. I wish I could wrap her in my arms and take every ounce of her pain away!

It's been a hard day...

Please say lots of prayers for Valeria, her family, and an end to corruption in Honduras and all of the other countries around the world experiencing similar issues.

Life is so precious!

"I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now" -Mercyme