A Visit to Honduras and HPH (Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos™ Spanish for Our Little Brothers and Sisters)

Looking down the valley at Tegucialgapa, the capital city of Honduras

The end of the runway!

Precision landing by talented pilot

            A short three hour flight (from Atlanta) ending with a harrowing decent and a ninety degree turn took us into Tegucigalpa Airport where I easily spotted the tallest gringa in the crowd, Claire, my dear friend's daughter whom we came to visit, greeting us with her beautiful smile.  

She quickly introduced us to her van driver, Melvin, and various other friends she has acquired in the past six months by frequenting the airport weekly.  Walking through the parking lot to the van I  felt as though I had landed on another planet where the eighty plus degree Fahrenheit temperatures and warm sunshine backdropped the cacophony of sights and sounds I had never experienced previously.  The beds of pick up trucks were filled with luggage and people exiting into a seemingly chaotic flow of traffic.  
Making our way precariously though the crowded city streets where it seemed you could purchase anything and everything out of an over filled bed of a pick up, we made our first stop at the mega super market easily finding what we needed to tide us over for our visit.   Leaving the stacked cinder block multi colored flat roof homes of the city below us, we headed north up the P15 out of Tegucigalpa and into the mountainous area where the views were stunning, but the sights along the road were baffling to my senses.  The road side stands selling fruits and vegetables, a horse standing alone two feet from the road tied loosely with a single rope around its neck, children playing in the shoulder with miscellaneous debris from the road, and a man with a broad brimmed straw hat leading his ox carrying supplies strapped over its backs seem to be from a century past.  I may have been holding my breath as I witnessed vehicles driving three abreast on a two lane highway speed up a hill into a turn.  

Common Tuk tuk 

I was told not to worry because all the other drivers see this as normal and expect these shenanigans.  Just before we reached the turn off for the town of Telonga, the NPH Honduras Rancho Santa Fe appeared on the left.  We had safely arrived where Claire is volunteering for a year.

        The ranch itself is comprised of a couple thousand beautiful acres of land housing over three hundred children and countless adults supporting their care, a fully functioning farm to provide goods, a state of art medical clinic (with the head doc Dr. Merlin Antunes, a former resident), school, church, and even a pool/swimming reservoir and soccer fields.  Not really knowing what to expect, several things I saw on the initial tour made big impressions on me. The first was the newly constructed medical center designed for meeting the needs of the local community with the help of volunteer medical brigades from around the globe.  The second was the school which includes a library with a "wall of fame" (as coined by Claire) with photos of former residents who have graduated from college and graduate school and, most importantly, empty frames for current residents to be on the wall in the future.  The students understand that hard work and effort in school pays off for a meaningful, independent future.  This was my introduction to NPH Rancho Santa Fe Honduras.

Massive gardens

The view from the walkway by our accomodations

         As I walked through the ranch I could feel His love in the rhythm of the ranch where the children and adults politely greet every person they see with a smile and many times a hug to go along with it.  The ranch is run as one big family with everyone, even the toddlers, participating in some way to support the overall efficient functioning of the ranch.  For the most part it is a self sustaining operation, from gardens, pastures of sugar cane, milk cows, and various livestock.   It really is incredible to see all of this in action. 

These guys greeted us as we toured the farm

     Seeing Claire immersed in this culture, fluently speaking the language, and selflessly giving of herself day after day, loving every bit of it, was worth the trip.  It's one thing to spend a few days experiencing the simple life of rice, beans, veggies, less than warm showers, hot days, no A/C, no TV, lots of cockroaches and other critters making strange noises at all hours, but to actually sign up for it all in the name of making a difference, one child at a time, well, that is to me awe-inspiring. 

     Every evening after a long day at work, Claire and the other volunteers (who happen to be from all over the world), head to their respective hogars (houses divided by gender and age groups) for dinner, playtime or studying, and bedtime with their children.  This happens to be Claire's favorite part of the day.  Wow.  After just my first evening spent in the hogar with her twenty five chicas, I was completely exhausted.

Healthy happy kids abound at NPH

     As I think of my time in Honduras, I feel blessed by the experience.  Twenty five girls' faces, aged 9 to 11 year old, keep popping into my thoughts.  We shared so many hugs, smiles, and laughs in such a few short days. We played games, practiced our limited Spanish (giving joke material to the group), tie dyed t-shirts, shared meals (and food), sang goofy songs, cheered, and worshipped together at Mass. 

The Ranch Church entrance

I love these two chicas!

What became crystal clear to me as I sat in the beautiful sanctuary listening to a language I do not understand is that we humans share communication universally. A smile shares love, a fart shares humor (especially among children during the sermon), a tear shares sorrow.  

The simply lovely sanctuary

All of this is accomplished through the power of our Creator.  I did understand the message of the sermon.  Jesus Christ is forever important in our lives.  This is seen every minute of every day of every year on this ranch.  And that folks, is why I feel blessed by my short but impactful visit to NPH Honduras.
 " We promise to nurture and care for these new children. We promise to form them, educate them, guide them and love them as we follow our founder’s example, responding to the needs of abandoned and neglected children as best we can and providing them with love, security, hope and family. This is why we are here, and this is what inspires us to push forwards, even in the most challenging of times and places." -Stefan Feuerstein, National Director, NPH  Honduras

Hijas de Maria chicas - I miss them already!!

If you're interested in the complete NPH story, visit https://www.nph.org