A Taste of Honduras
Claudia Binet
October 14, 2011

Every year, the Guatemala and Honduras interns have the amazing opportunity to visit one another and spend a few days getting to know the program in the other country.  Ali and Shannon, the Honduras interns, came to Guatemala last July, so it was now our turn to visit them in Ciriboya. I absolutely loved it.

After an interesting meeting at the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala City, where Mafe and I got to speak with the new Canadian Ambassador (and invite him to the closing ceremonies of the program in November!), we took a bus to La Ceiba. We spent one day in the city, mainly running errands, before heading the next morning to the field with Elmer, the Honduras Country Director. After another 6 hours on the road, I was more than happy to finally make it to Ciriboya. The first thing that struck me was the incredible beauty of the place.  Ciriboya is by the ocean. There is a very long gorgeous deserted beach. Horses (my favorite animal!) are wandering everywhere. I was stunned! Ciriboya is a lot less developed than Comitancillo or Todos Santos. There are a few tiny stores here and there with basic supplies, and that’s about it. Now I understand more why Ali and Shannon were saying Comitancillo was “urban”!

We visited a community and attended a leadership class. To get there, we first drove for about 30 minutes on a dirt road, and then we had to take a small boat for another 30 minutes. I felt exactly like I was in the middle of the Amazon: a brown river bordered by tropical vegetation, and the sound of exotic animals. The purpose of the class was to discuss the community project they were going to do, which is when the women get to apply in a real life situation the skills they have learned during classes. I found the women very engaged, energetic and warm. Some of them were joking around and they were so funny they made me cry with laughter! The Garifuna culture is totally distinct from the Mayan culture and it was extremely interesting to see the various differences.

The following morning, we got up at 5:00 AM and went with the interns’ neighbors to the yucca field. It was raining cats and dogs but this was nothing to stop these strong women from cutting the plants with a machete and digging up the roots (yucca) from the ground. By the time they had finished, they were covered in mud but it didn’t seem to bother them at all! The product that they make with the yucca is called cassava, and this is their main source of income. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to witness the whole cassava making process, but they explained it to us it really sounds like hard labor! Then, we hiked through the “jungle”, crossed a river barefoot (I had forgotten my rain boots…) and encouraged some women who were trying  to pick grapefruits from huge trees, using a very long stick. It was so much fun!

I knew that the life of Garifuna women (and of the interns working in Ciriboya) would be distinct from the life in Guatemala but I was surprised about how different everything was. I am so glad I got to experience a little bit of Honduras and it opened my eyes to a new fascinating culture and reality.