Cofradia, Honduras - An experience in true multicultural education (BECA)

NOT JUST ANOTHER BECADO VISIT

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 02:01:47 +0000

The little house was made of dust-scarred cement and sat on a very uneven surface of loose rocks, surrounded by alpine peaks of assorted garbage-plastic bottles, candy wrappers, food scraps, shards of metal. The air smelled of crushed dog feces, spilled soda, and tattered dreams. I called out to the mother I hoped would be inside, and a faint, pasa, por favor, emanated from the back of the dwelling. I stooped to enter the low doorway, only to encounter an orderly, clean interior that stood in stark contradiction to the unkempt and chaotic external environment of the house. There were two rooms, both quite small, divided by an impromptu curtain made out of bed sheets; I could only survey the main one. There was a shiny wooden cabinet to the left adorned with sentimental trinkets and a few grainy photographs in tenuous frames; a fat television set crowned a low plastic table placed right in the middle. A faded but charming little couch and two plastic chairs were the only other visible furniture., and these all faced the television dutifully, like loyal deputies under the spell of an imperious marshal. Not a speck of dust or hint of dirt could be seen anywhere. From behind the curtain to the second, mysterious feeling room, emerged a young woman with a very old face, brown like a coconuts skin, blazing ebony eyes alight with expectation and a little nervousness. She was beautiful in a rough-hewn kind of way-too much unspeakable deprivation and extended bouts of misery etched creases into her eyelids and wrinkles into her cheeks. She did not smile, nor did she frown. She did not speak right away. Only those blazing black eyes communicated something; clearly, she was waiting for an answer I could not give yet.
I was on a round of becado visits, that is, I was visiting the houses of families who had applied for a scholarship for their kids to attend San Jeronimo Bilingual School. These scholarships are funded by the collective tuition paid by 75 percent of the students in the school; a quarter of each years total matriculation must be young people getting either half or all of their tuition paid for. The becado process creates economic diversity and gives some kids from the most desperate neighborhoods the chance to take classes in English in an intimate, participatory educational setting. I would ultimately decide who qualifies for scholarships or not, and I did not want to wield this sort of economic power lightly.
My conversation with this proud and tough-looking mother began like they all do-an awkward attempt on my part to make small talk. Its hot, isnt it?, which in Cofradia is almost a cliché. How old is Reina and what grade is she going to enter?, even though I already knew. A quick glance at those grainy photographs-Is that your mother and father? The ice was not being broken too well and I felt like maybe it was best to just get down to business. The gulf between her and I was far too great to overcome with some gratuitous words about empty trivialities.
I took out the standard questionnaire form that I use to evaluate a familys qualifications. Do you own the house? Yes, with my husband. How many people live here? Just three. What is the family income? About U.S. $200.00 a month. What do you and your husband do? I work in a maquila, the all-day shift. My husband just left for the United States. He will try and enter the country and find a job. I took notes about the general condition of the property-clean and orderly, but sparsely furnished, and in poor shape externally. I asked the final question-What do you want to do for your compromiso (in exchange for getting tuition paid for, each becado family must commit to a certain form of service for the coming year)? I can come into the school and clean. And then, as quickly as the visit commenced, it was over. I shook the mothers hard palm and wished her all the best. I told her that I would let her know soon about my decision regarding the scholarship, even though my mind was made up the moment I entered her dwelling. I walked out of the house through the low doorway and turned once, to see this beautiful, time-worn woman smiling at me awkwardly, that nervous glimmer of hope in her eyes. She could definitely look forward to another year of her kid being sponsored to get a high-quality bilingual education from a dedicated volunteer teacher who will struggle, as I do, to understand what life must be like for most Hondurans. We will struggle to better grasp the daily cruelties of seemingly insurmountable economic injustices, the hurtful physical separation from loved ones, the attempt to make a dignified home amidst the trash and filth...

Jonathan Power
BECA Program Administrator, 2006-2007

Cusuco, Polvo, y los Gringos

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 00:47:00 +0000

Our triumphant arrival at the waterfall
After one month of summer camp, we officially wrapped things up with a dust covered trip to Cusuco. For many of the kids and some of the adults it was their first visit to the nature reserve. We had a wonderful and at times hysterical trip. It was a great way to conclude the summer camp.

Thanks to the generosity of the “Ingleses” and Operation Wallacea we sprinted up the steep dirt road in powerful 4x4 trucks. We left Cofradia at 10:30 and by the time we made it to pineapple shack a half hour later, our human cargo had transformed into a bunch of dust bunnies. The look suited Mrs. Jaime particularly well. Sporting Lydia’s diamond encrusted-dinner-plate-size-sunglasses Mrs. Jaime looked more like a stylish dung beetle than anything else. We had a good laugh and then the kids promptly decided the adults should ride in the truck bed while they sat securely in the air-conditioned cab.

Upon arrival Maxcito’s mom, Juana, and Willito’s mom, Mirna, handed out their delicious bounty of baleadas and arroz con pollo. After lunch, a guide from Operation Wallacea named Justin took us on a tour of the bosque nublado (cloud forest) which culminated with our arrival at a pristine waterfall. Despite pleas of mercy and shouts of “miiister, I can’t do it!” all the students survived the strenuous forty five minute hike to the falls. Huffing and puffing all the way back up the mountain Lydia declared, “I am going to return home skinny and my mom is going to ask, ‘where did my daughter go?’”

At the base camp a scientist named John took time to show the kids live newts, frogs and snakes. When he pulled out the tarantula the kids let audible gasp and took a huge step back. As he prepared to pull the tarantula out of the bag, everyone screamed “no mister no!” Ever curious, the kids did a great job putting their English skills on display, peppering the guides with questions about the wildlife and the Cusuco nature reserve. The staff at Operation Wallacea was so impressed that they are eager to employ the older students as translators.

The trip would not have been complete without our victorious return to Cofradia. After fighting valiant but ultimately losing battle with the dust we returned to Cofradia covered head to toe in dust. Now on full display, it was as if we were the arriving circus and the dust covered gringos would be the main attraction. Practically the entire city got a chance to have a hearty laugh. On the way back to town we heard shouts of, “mira los gringos” and “hay que sucio.”

After arriving at the center of town, we began the walk of shame back to the volunteer house. In the three short blocks back to the house, we attracted enough attention to warrant a mobile salesman announcing over his loud speakers that, “los gringos están VERY sucios.” I have rarely laughed so hard in my life.

It was a wonderful trip and a great way to end the summer camp. The trip would not have been possible without generous contribution of Operation Wallacea and Dan Thoms who coordinated the trip. Here is to future collaboration between BECA and Operation Wallacea!

-Nick Zosel-Johnson
Summer Camp Director

Banner Day

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Fri, 05 May 2006 23:34:00 +0000

Hello friends,

Today was a banner day.

I just had to at once inaugurate myself immediately into the blogging world to let everyone know! Its been a while since anyone from the team has blogged- sorry about that- things pop up, priorities take over, and life can be very difficult here in Central America, etcetera etcetera, blah blah blah- OK so maybe its just HOT and Im LAZY Sue me!

By no means will my first blog be as eloquent and heart-felt as that of my roomies, but more from the hard plastic chair that my bum is tired of sitting in, la hora tarde, and through my scratchy, allergic-reaction-suffering and glossed over eyes will I speak to you about how today absolutely ROCKED

It all started at 6:30 in the AM when I reeeeally didnt want to get out of bed. It happens I guess. Then Jasmine, Erika, and I scored a ride to school with Don Max. An omen. The day instantly got better. It helped further that I was transporting a brand-spankin new soccer ball to school its kind of a big deal around here.

A day of stress began as soon as the 7:15am bell rang. I missed my Honduran breakfast Baleada (a severe NO NO) and found myself running around in the heat first period with my four layers of clothing on (by four I mean jeans, idiotic long-sleeve button down, undershirt, and boxers; tucked in this creates quite a heat wave around the crotch and bum region). Anyways, I was giving a Science exam today to my 8^th graders and still had to make the copies for them because the day before there had been what Ill call technical difficulties with the copy shop. My roommates might call it me being lazy. Later on, my 8^th grade and 6,7^th grade classes were giving final presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint and I had to ready the computer files and high-tech TV connection. Once again (perezoso), I should have found the cables the day before. As you may have heard, this week we have a traveling volunteer group here with us from the states and also two friends volunteering from England. Through the LEAPNOW program, these college-age students come out and help with a great number of things, from being teacher-aides to reading buddies to manual laborers. This particular, along with Hazel and Linda (our British friends), they are setting up an Art Garden under a shade of trees out in the yard. I ran around all morning trying to scrounge together what paint and brushes we might have had for the decor. Theeeen, I was running around between other classes trying to publicize and help set up a big soccer match we were going to have between the LeapNow group/gringo teachers and the students/Honduran teachers at the end of the day. I also threw in a little trash talking in there. Oh boy I sure told those second graders!

Well, the exams went amazingly well. After being a little disappointed in my 8^th graders all last week with their work ethic and having a little heart-to-heart, they all studied hard and did extremely well. The PowerPoint presentations turned out to be excellent, somewhat inspiring. Seriously folks! A year ago our computer lab consisted of a closet room with a bunch of decrepit purple-colored Macs that didnt work. Early this year they were moved to a bigger and more Feng Shui library classroom, but were stolen in November (too bad for those guys). Recently, the community came together with six donated computers. Not many, but these things are awesome! They have typing games, encyclopedias, Microsoft Office and actually turn on! Needless to say, we learned PowerPoint and the students gave some very professional presentations with pictures, maps, and animations- a far cry from the old ways of duct taping some poster to the wall and reading from it.

That being done, I went to check out the Art Garden creation in progress. Led by second-time SJBS visitor Adam and co-leader Allyson, the LeapNow group has far-exceeded my expectations for this little project. Theyre still finishing it up this week, but by the end we will have an area in the shade blocked off by colorful rock pathways, complete with a large table, 3 smaller tables in a circle with seats, a vegetable patch, a wood stove, and a mural! It is located right next to our kindergarten/pre-school classrooms and will be a fun place to have lunch, hang out, or go crazy with class outside. I have to say also that Fermin, Lisas boyfriend, has been doing all the masonry work on the tables and preparing the mural and he is quite simply THE man. I think we are all thankful for his presence.

OK. At this point in the day Im sweating profusely and I smell. And not the kind of smell you get from roses or other pleasantries. Things proceeded to more serious matters the soccer match. Dubbed Honduras vs. Extranjeros. A lot of smack was exchanged between the Honduran folk and the BECA teachers all day. There had also been a rumor floating around of our Honduran Director Mabel hiring on some ringers from the local pro team. Sallie and Lisa even stayed after school yesterday to do soccer drills in preparation. I know, youre thinking WHOA GET OUT OF TOWN!

Team Foreigners huddled in the library for a pep-talk by Sallie before running out on the field in our knickers chanting things like GO USA and I EAT THIRD GRADERS FOR ALMUERZO. Nathan and I did push-ups. Erika tried to do one. Personally, I was ready to rip some heads off. We were greeted by thousands or dozens of screaming miniature fans. The entire school was there to witness this spectacle- one which had the power to give us newfound glory and respect among the people or send us home in our previously obvious unathleticism.

The referee broke out the shiny new soccer ball to the excitement of the crowd. I told you- huge deal, Huge. Before this weve had maybe 3 soccer balls all year- for 150 kids to play with. It was then that we looked up and realized we werent playing who we thought we were playing. WHAAAAT?! On the other side of the field was not the girls and boys from fourth through 8^th grade and Honduran math teacher/high-heel wearer Miss Kenia, but rather at Centermid- Jose Geronimo- 65- from Cofradias pro team Maraton, Andres Geronimo- so tall you could stack 3 Eduarditos next to him, Teacher Mr. Danilo(who usually goes to his other job at lunch but skipped it to play- how convenient dice), Wilmer- 40 year old vigilante with a shotgun, Eloisa- a fearless teacher aide with nails who hadnt been around in a while but somehow heard about the game, 5. Don Chevo-40+ years of age, I dont even understand what this man is saying half the time hes so scary. He has facial hair. Sprinkle in the best of the best eight grade boys and you get the point. I feared for my life.

For some reason the student crowd cheered entirely for Team Honduras. I guess maybe because theyre all Honduran. We didnt stand a chance. Sallie did manage to trick some of her 1^st graders into cheering for just her, but it wasnt enough as the Hondurans went up 2-0 early on. Im going to brag here, I came up with our first goal with an accidental knee-ball that rolled in the goal. Unfortunately, it turned out to be our last and we lost 3-1. Some of us stooped so low as to say we let them win as if it was for the kids. In the end, it was good fun that saw the school in one of its more together moments. Everyone was laughing the rest of the day.

I went home with that kind of feeling. So tired but so satisfied. Ill throw in a cheesy thought and say that has been a theme for me this year. Sometimes not wanting to get out of bed, being very stressed, being very tired, talking smack to small people who dont quite speak my language, but in the end feeling some great feeling. One of exhausted victory. One of sacrifice in defeat on my bodys part and on the part of my teammates, but a big win for the kids.

I said this was a banner day didnt I? Well, I went home, took this $50 donated from Jasmines friend Sue and bought two used bicycles. This is very awesome for our house. Lisa and the roomies made from-scratch pizza for a candle-lit dinner on the back porch and we finished the night watching a documentary film called Rize on a laptop. The film is about Krumping, a new dance form that developed in Los Angeles recently where dancers dress up as face-painted clowns and battle each other by gyrating their limbs and back ends extremely fast at each other, symbolizing some kind of harmonic expression. Practicing El Krump, as we have named it here in Honduras, has become the latest obsession within our house . We have cast aside the learning of lesser Latin dances. If you find the opportunity to visit the dusty roads of Cofradia in the near future and happen to see a group of gringo women aggressively battle-dancing El Krump in a back alley or truck bed, dont be alarmed, its just the BECA volunteers.

-dave

Yahoo! Mail goes everywhere you do. Get it on your phone.

The Legend of Don Max

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:51:54 +0000

For me, Don Max is greater than the sum of his parts, more than the average character that you will find lurking in the open fields and hidden banana groves of a cheated country. With his sweat-scrunched NASCAR cap, oversized palooka nose, and generous Santa Claus paunch, Don Max makes an irresistible impression on everyone he meets, and has a particular fondness for the cadre of foreign volunteers who, in his words, are here to help us and our children. Don Max drives a battered but charming Land Cruiser that is caked with rust and smeared with pride. He carries locks of favored mujeres' hair in his wallet, which he regards as saintly relics. Don Max, like most Hondurans it seems, has multiple revenue generating activities: he directs a construction crew that builds houses for wannabe expat gringos, owns a modest finca that produces different types of bananas, coffee, cinnamon, and other crops, and helps run the family pulperia with his loyal wife Juana. Don Max claims to be a Honduran Republican because having a strong national defense is important to him, but then in the next breath, he will castigate Jorge Arbusto for waging an illegal war to seize oil resources in Iraq. He likes to eat yucca with chicarron, bought at unassuming roadside puestos where a woman labors over a hot pot of food for ten hours a day, every day. Don Max fights with close relatives over petty issues and brags about the number of icy cold Barrenas he can down in a single sitting. He will never forget the day at his sisters finca when I drank some tamarind juice and my stomach suddenly decided to impersonate a roller coaster. Don Max is the essence of unconditional generosity (at least towards the gringo volunteer team in Cofradia) and wants to buy the volunteers a washing machine because doing laundry by hand is algo pesado, in his earnest words. In sum, Don Max just might be the best friend we could have in a strange new land where few things work like we have been spoiled enough to expect in our own native United States.

Guillermo's visit

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 21:25:51 +0000

Guillermo Anderson came to visit the school today!
We were having our school despedida—the first in what I'm sure will be
a series of good-byes. My kids made mosaic frames for their school
portraits and I walked through the tables like I always do, saying
good job and reminding them not to put glue in their hair. Glue away
and my address copied in all their journals, we headed out to the
pasillo for a concert.

Guillermo was great and inspirational and the kids loved him. He sang
about animals and conservation. He sang about trees and asked each
child to plant one. "Who's going to plant a tree?" he asked, and they
all raised their hands. "You're almost finished with the year" he
said "and when you come back after the summer the trees are going to
be bigger than you and they'll keep growing and always be there." My
students surrounding me and Ninsy in my lap, I got the shivers. When
I come back to visit, both the trees and the kids will be big. The
school will be different and I won't be the teacher anymore.

As we head out the door and a new set of volunteers head in, it's hard
to set aside what has been my life for a year. It's exciting to think
that new people with fresh energy and new ideas are coming to build
off of what we started. It's scary to think of passing my students,
my children on to new hands. Onward and upward.

--
Lauren Fisher
Bilingual Education for Central America
www.becaschools.org

Work Day

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 00:29:31 +0000

I think one of the things I've liked best about being at San Jeronimo Bilingual School has been the ever-present sense of team. It has truly been a team effort among the volunteer teachers, Honduran community members, and supporters in the U.S. that has made this school a reality. One great example of all the teachers coming together occurred Monday this week. Our library had recently been painted and "remodeled" by a volunteer group of college students from the U.S. The shelves had been put back, but the books needed to be reorganized and sorted. In addition to the books we already had, a book drive in the U.S. had produced 1,000 more books for our little library that all needed to be stickered, sorted, and shelved.

One by one, the volunteer teachers began to trickle into the library after the last bell had rung on Monday. We all had a fun time hanging out with one another while working. After nearly 4 hours of work in the un-airconditioned library, the library looked marvelous. All of the books were sorted and put in their places. There were shelves that had been empty before that were now weighted down with books. We had also organized some of the books by topic, so that teachers could more easily find books that pertained to the topics they were teaching. All in all, our library was not only prettier after being remodeled, but was more functional as well.

Just seeing what an impromptu work session could produce with teamwork was so special and uplifting to me. A bunch of tired teachers on a Monday afternoon staying after school until 6pm without overtime pay, or any pay at all, was such a testament to me of the power of teamwork. Everyone working for the common goal of making our school a better place for our children for years to come. Don't get me wrong- I hope that a year from now the library looks nothing like it does now. I hope that future volunteers continue to change it, continue to add to it, and continue to improve it for the betterment of our students.

Erika Sturm

Durham, NC

5^th Grade

18 March

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 19:47:18 +0000

Walking by my door at San Jeronimo Bilingual School you can see my kids´ recent illustrated poems.

"I´d like to live in the city. I´d walk in the park and I´d go to restaurant..." "I´d like to eat a baleada. I´d put chees and beans in my baleada. I´d like to drink coca cola with my baleada..." "It all started one day, September 11 2001, when two invaders attacked the twin buildings of New York City..."

While Henry Salomon, the author of the historical narrative, did not exactly follow my example for the "I´d like to" poems to practice the conditional tense, I could hardly stop him. I helped him a bit with historical details, pointing out that not 500 but 3,000 died, and the second building was not bombed. But it was one of those nice times in the classroom when the talent and creativity suddenly goes far beyond expectations.

Of course, nine year old Salomon was soon in trouble for repeatedly poking classmates with a pencil. That'd be fourth grade.

Mr Nathan

Last week's weather was perfect—not yet steamy hot...

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 01:32:24 +0000

Last week's weather was perfect—not yet steamy hot and with a
beautiful breeze. Beach weather. Friday afternoon Miss Jasmine, Miss
Sallie and I ran away for a quick vacation. We tried a new spot, a
Garifuna village called Tornabé. The bus ride from the coastal city
of Tela to Tornabé is different from bus rides in the rest of
Honduras. Everybody greets each other, the kids bounce from seat to
seat, everybody is loud and friendly and the punta music is loud. The
bus dropped us off at a collection of straw cabanas. It was perfect.
The top half of the door to our little cabana opened to the ocean view
and the beach started at the doorstep.

We spent Saturday alternating between sunbathing and swimming till all
three of us looked more like lobsters than gringas. By nighttime the
freshwater was still not running, so we opted for ocean baths and a
bucket rinse. Floating on my back, looking at the stars and flipping
to duck under waves, I felt very lucky. Lucky to be in Honduras,
swimming in February. Lucky to feel like the work I'm doing is
important and my vacation is well-deserved. Que buena onda.

--
Lauren Fisher
Bilingual Education for Central America
www.becaschools.org

Mr. Fabrizio

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 19:11:00 +0000

Cofradía. February, 10^th, 2006

When the preparation for the opening of this current school year was about to start I felt like we were going through harvest time. Those who were part of the first team to start San Jeronimo Bilingual School last year have gone through a lot of struggle and hard work to get things started and lay the physical and technical base of this young institution; All the way through last academic year ( 2004-05 ), the main motivation in each of us was that feeling of certainty that every little drop of sweat shed for the cause was worth shedding and we would be able to see some immediate results the following year: The Improvement has been immense and this current school year has started and is going great. So it has been worth it !

I am very glad to have seen and still see the school growing day by day; to see always more kids around benefiting from our service, and to witness that the quality of the education offered is the best in the local area. San Jeronimo Bilingual School has firmly established itself in the history of Cofradia. Its roots are growing, expanding and strengthening more every day.

The process is not easy and smooth at all, there are many challenges and obstacles that we face and try to overcome regularly; for instance there was the loss of all our computers, listening center, and microscopes, which were stolen from the school last October. After three months without computers, now the school has finally managed to buy 3 brand new desktops and have another 3 donated, so it was possible to resume computer classes recently.

BECAs teaching team consists of full or partly qualified teachers, who are energetic and devoted to the mission of improving the quality of education in Cofradía and Honduras itself. I am personally working with Mr. David teaching 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade: English Grammar and Language Arts, Health, Music, Physical Education, and Italian ( 6^th and 7^th grades only ). I also give music classes in first grade twice a week.

I really enjoy what Im doing. Just to let you know, this is my fourth year here in Cofradía. I started in august 2002 and year by year, different things have managed to keep me here.

I am thankful to BECA for this great opportunity I have to be working as a teacher.

When I first applied I did not have much experience with kids and with teaching. Here I worked my best to learn and stretch myself to my full potential. When I received the invitation for coming down here to teach kids in Cofradía I was unsure if I was qualified enough for the position, and, as a matter of fact, I dont think I was really up for it in the very beginning. I had to study and work hard to be able to cope with the task; day by day I was building up experience and knowledge until I started to feel I was able to manage a class and pass all the knowledge I wanted to pass to the kids the most receptive and constructive way.

Observing the former and present teachers ( including me ), what seems necessary for success here in Cofradía are qualities like dedication, stamina, spirit of community, willing to succeed and flexibility, on the top of theoretical preparation. We need to be open to respect the local culture and challenge ourselves within it; theres definitely a lot to learn here, never mind your age and the path of life youre coming from .

I personally think that before any personal aims of gains,the main aim that should drive new teachers and helpers to join in and move to Cofradía, should be that of wanting to help locals to better their present condition by making ourselves available to Hondurans in their process of building and bettering their country.

The community is really open to receive anyone, who is willing to come here, immerse themselves in the life and enjoy their time here. I am, in my own way, an example of it.

Mr. Fabrizio

12 February

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 19:42:29 +0000

Six months here turned me at least enough Honduran so as to come home on a rainy Sunday and crave pollo y tajadas – fried chicken and fried plantains. Pollo y tajadas are right behind the 35 cent glass bottle sodas as a reason for friends to visit. In terms of density the dish is somewhere between mercury and lead; the fried plantains served are the unripe kind, making them like the serious older cousin of french fries.

Last night David and I went to a free concert and saw the bachata group "Aventura" along with a few friends from Cofradia. This is the group whose song "Obsecion" was a big hit a few years back, and whose song "Solo por un Beso" resonates at any given moment from people's stereos in Cofradia. It wasn't totally free; one had to buy a Coca Cola to enter the old San Pedro soccer stadium. The theme of the concert, and perhaps Coke's new advertising slogan for Honduras, was "El País de Optimismo 2006." Thus the concert's crowd leaders and bands would consistently give the audience messages about how important it is to be positive, and what a fantastic country Honduras is. Superimposed on the big screen images of the stage were psychedelic floating Coke bottles and the red + symbols, standing for optimismo and positivismo but making it seem as if the Red Cross was a co-sponsor.

While vague nationalistic messages steeped in commercialism only leaves one bewildered and skeptical, it feels good to be part of a project that gives authentic optimism. In a recent article in the newspaper La Prensa, the newly elected San Pedro mayor mentioned our school as the model he will promote to spread bilingual education to the Honduran poor. During any random conversation on the bus, when I explain what I do in Cofradia, the response is invariably positive: "es como un trabajo social? Que bueno…si, quiero que cuando se hace mayor mi niñ o pueda asistir una escuela bilingue." And in my own teaching, 2006 has brought reasons for optimism, with six brand new computers and a new projector that makes school more fun and interesting for my 13 fourth graders and I. We can look at animated visuals of the moon's orbit for our science class; while conducting their interviews with classmates for an English project they can reference my own interview with Miss Lisa projected on the whiteboard.

For the next few months I think the tajadas will keep me from being skinny, Aventura will keep the bachata rhythm in my hips, and the continual growth and betterment of our school will keep me optimistic about Honduras' future.

Nathan

--

Nathan Paluck
31 Rodney St
Hartford Ct 06105
860 232 7151
www.becaschools.org

Idealist Fair

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 00:33:02 +0000

Many thanks to those of you who stopped by our booth at the Idealist Career Fair in Boston today. We look forward to continuing the many conversations we started with those of you who may be interested in volunteering with us in the future.

Volunteer opportunities available

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 22:55:00 +0000

Hello friends! Due to unexpected circumstances, we have an immediate vacancy (from now through the remainder of the school year) for a first grade teacher. If you are interested in joining our team - please see the "volunteer to teach" section of BECA's website. When submitting your application, indicate that it is for the opening that is available now. Thanks!

Welcome to the BECA Volunteer/Friend blog!

BECA - San Jeronimo Bilingual School — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 20:06:00 +0000

We've created this blog as a way to keep you posted on life - teaching, learning, living - in Cofradia, Honduras. We hope you enjoy our postings and will check back often to hear how things are going!