And then there are moments like these… 7.27.11

Yesterday I had a few surprising moments that made me step back and reflect… this is one of them…

Since I’ve started working in Nacaome there was a boy, about 12 year old looking boy, with a captivating smile and bubbly personality, who came to the office once every 2 weeks or so selling random stuff. One day it was peanuts, the next time is was socks, the next toilet bowl cleaner brush thing-a-magies and I would buy things from him just for the simple fact that he was honestly trying to make a living. After seeing him a couple times, I couldn’t help asking, how old are you? Where is your mother? Do you go to school? Where do you live? I would see him around the streets a few times and have a quick “hello, how are you?” exchange and that was it.

Well until last week when I saw him at the park, it hit me that I hadn’t seen him for a few months now. We talked for a while caught up on life- however much you can “catch up on life” with a 12 year old, and then he asked, “Can I have 10 lmps? I promise I will pay you back, I know where you work, and I’ll drop it off on Monday”. Well, I have been told to be a very naïve person- I choose to think of it as being overly optimistic- and of course I gave him the 10 lmps. He said thanks and went on his merry way and I felt positively sure that I was going to see those 10 lmps again. Then, while walking away from our little interaction, I immediately snapped back to reality and thought, I will never see those 10 lmps again, oh well (totally not complaining about the loss of 10 lmps, it’s like 10 cents, I’m not that broke)!

So Monday came, and the boy and my 10 lmps had vanished from my memory. Another week passed by before I saw him again in the park and the first thing out his mouth was, “I showed up on Monday and you weren’t there! I don’t’ have pisto (money) now!” Me: figures! “It’s ok, next time I see you though, I better get that money!” and I left not giving much thought about the whole thing.

Well a few days pass by and I see him at the park…

Me: “aja?!”

Boy: I have your money!

Out comes the 10 lmps

Boy: Here you go!

Me- AMAZED!!!!

Boy: Thank you

Me- AMAZED!!!

Me: You’re welcome

I could not believe this 12 year old boy actually had the principal… the morality to pay me back the 10 lmps. I was appalled, filled with happiness, amazed… simultaneously! I walked away with a smile on my face.

Just comes to show there is still hope!

Vanessa what are you doing? 7.24.11

Soooo, what the heck do you do Vanessa???

It’s been over a year now (13 months, 22 days, 13 hours, and 62 seconds from my swear-in date… who’s counting?) and I realize that many of you are pondering, so what the heck do you do Vanessa?! So here is a glimpse of what I'm doing in my community of Nacaome, Honduras.

First off, the main project I am working on is the development of tourism in the southern region of Honduras in coordination with the tourism office in the south (tourism office= Don Sergio Lovo, a member of the tourism office). I am currently working with two microbusinesses concentrating in the field of ecotourism. During these past months the tourism office and I have visited both businesses, implemented SWOT analysis, and applied some of our findings during the course of the year. My major contribution for these two ecotourism businesses is creating a brochure for each business. Although it does sound pretty easy, it has been quite a challenge and experience. First being, I’m not at all familiar with the “Spanish selling vocab” required for marketing and two, I’m just not that creative when it comes to creating… stuff. So throughout these months I have made several trips to each business, worked with the members of the businesses, and am slowly but surely creating their first official promotional material. I’ll be posting el producto final muy pronto… ¡si Dios Quiere! (:

I SEE YOU!!! STOP DOZING OFF!

Most recently, I have been working with the RED de Mujeres in Nacaome (Women’s group from Nacaome). I have always been working close with these ladies, on day to day activities, for example writing reports about their activities to send them off via email to organizations that fund them and assisting their seminars. One thing I noticed with these women was that they were so overexposed with charlas about women’s rights, women’s this and women’s that, that I thought it would be productive to do something empowering women and spark an entrepreneurial interest in these ladies. I had already been exposed to the art of wallet making out of snack bags (i.e. Doritio bags), but I never knew how to make them so I decided to take it upon myself and teach myself via youtube how to make these practical yet useful and fashionable wallets and in turn teach the RED de Mujeres how to make these wallets and begin selling them. Below you will find pictures of me teaching them how to make them.

On the side, I teach 2 English classes. One is to a group of about 8 kids in a program called Educatodos. Educatodos is a program for students of all ages who are not able to assist regular school due to work or other circumstances and is also a cheaper route for students rather than the traditional schooling. The other English group is for Intermediate to Advanced English speakers. This second group was formed by me after noticing that many people were interested in simply being able to practice their English.

So there is a synopsis of some of my work, just thought you all would be interested. Hope you enjoyed and below are a couple pics.

Hope everyone is doing well! : )

Besos y abrazos!

Mama and Papa Garcia in Honduras!!! : )

Hi Everyone!!!

Sooo finally after about a month of being out of site I'm beginning to settle back into my little town of Nacaome and start working/saving lives :P jkjk

What have I been doing this past month you ask?? Well, first my parents came to visit!!!

I underestimated their bad- assness! The heat may have been a tad bit overwhelming, especially in my site and public transportation might have

been... interesting, but they made it back home safe and sound!!!

Thank you parents for coming to visit! I had sooo much fun! Love you!!!

Here are some pics of their trip!

Central Park in Tegucigalpa, Honduras Mama Garcia at Breakfast Dad and I at Dinner Ready for some real food!!! YUM Dad: Interesting, Mom: HUH?? Old man Rivers: "mumble jumble mumble"- couldn't understand much, our guide had no teeth!

Copan Ruinas, Mayan Ruines

02.15.11 A day at work!

Hey all,

So here I am, "on sight" (I'm such an idiot, lol), during one of my work days in Nacaome, just one of the projects I am working on. Check it out.

On other news, life is treating me well, possibly taking a trip to El Salvador tommorrow for a few days! ( : AND my PARENTS are coming to VISIT in MAY!!! YAY!! SOOOO excited! I'll make sure to post some pics of their little vk.

Anywho, I really miss you all and I hope everyone is doing well.