What am I even doing here?

At some point in my first week here, I was having a bit of trouble adjusting and I remember emailing my best friend and asking her, “What am I even doing here??” She answered me but in true fashion for me, I ignored her and instead sat there and contemplated if I was really cut out for this or not or if I’d made a colossal mistake. A few days later, we were Skyping and she brought up Cecil the lion, to my great annoyance. You see, I’m of the opinion that while it wasn’t right to kill said animal…it’s an animal. There are people dying all over the world every day of things we could totally help prevent, but we don’t seem to care. But a lion is killed and everyone seems to think the world is coming to an end. Wait, what?? Come on guys, you’ve got to be kidding me. 

This somehow lead me to the soap box that I love to get on about how it is vastly unfair that most Americans seem to think that just because they were lucky enough to be born in America, they win. By that I mean that basically anything to do with immigration or helping other countries generally turns into a bunch of rednecks yelling about their country and how they pay taxes and they shouldn’t have to pay for a bunch of people who aren’t from ‘merica because that’s not fair. Hmmm, ok. I’m of the opinion that we’re all just citizens of the world as a whole. We’re all people and deserve the same opportunities no matter where we’re from. Governments and countries are just entities of the people. It’s vastly unfair that just because someone is born in a different place than me, I have more opportunities for an easier life. Granted, I’m not saying I have any answers or that anything will ever change, it’s just how I see things. Karman calmly listened to me and nodded her head as I ranted and then said to me, “That’s why you’re there, all of that.” And I suppose she has a point. Even if I can only do one little thing to help a kid here have a better future, I’ve done what I set out to do. I’ve been especially grateful over this past week to hear those feelings echoed by my coworkers.

Mildred started the school 9 years ago in her house. She just wanted the kids of her community to have better options than running a pulperia or selling drugs. Her goal is to see her students go to university and use what they learn to better their country. This woman amazes me! She loves all of her students so much and has put so much work into making a brighter future for Honduras.

Jacqueline is a mother of 5 grown children and a grandmother of 14. She left her job in England when she felt that it was no longer doing anyone any good because it was becoming too political. Now she’s here in hopes of doing the little bit she can to give these kids the chance they deserve in life. That is so amazing to me!

Shane, Lisa, Katrina, María José, Yubissa, Jenny, Jacenia, Claribel, Sofía, Juliana, Fanny, Bedi, Ulises, Victor, and Skarlet are all amazing human beings who work so hard to make their school a great place for students to learn and grow and prepare to change the future. I am honored to work alongside each and every one of them.

This past week has been full of preparation for the new school year. From building a schedule to decorating classrooms, everyone has been hard at work. Tuesday we will open our doors to students and parents as we have our open house. I’m a bit nervous but very excited at the same time. The stack of math books that I need to make lesson plans for is daunting but it’s a challenge that I know I can handle with a bit of hard work. Just another new adventure I suppose.

Now that I feel like I know what I'm  doing here, I'm ready to really get started!

Thanks for all of your love and support on this journey! Say a prayer for the kiddos and the school and we get ready to roll. 

Talk to ya soon, world!