GETTING TO KNOW SANTA ROSA DE COPAN

This last week I have taken the time to meet a number of people who work here.

This morning, Friday, June 22, I had a good visit with Sor Inez, a Spanish Franciscan sister. Three sisters live in a house with young girls who come from outlying areas but are studying in Santa Rosa de Copán. The sisters are also involved in several ministries and projects in the area. Two work in the jail; one works in literacy and the other in projects, especially with a carpentry shop that has been set up there. They also work with a kindergarten in a neighborhood that lacks electricity. Two weeks from now I hope to accompany Sister Inez one day – to the kindergarten in the morning and to the jail in the afternoon. I also hope to meet the other sister who works with prisoners and with projects in outlying communities, which they call aldeas here.

Yesterday I spent a little time at Hogar San José, a home for malnourished children under five years old, run by the Missionaries of Charity. There are about 36 children there, though eleven were out for kindergarten. I played with the kids fro about an hour and then helped a little at lunch. Since the kids were beginning a nap I left after 90 minute there. Before leaving I helped carry a few to bed and then went around to see them. In the boys’ dormitory there was a tiny infant, two months old but probably just about 5 pounds. One of the women told me that he had been abandoned. My heart was touched. I will return to the hogar about once a week to help for a few hours. Since the workers are all women (except a male cook and male custodian), it might be good to have a male drop by to play every once in a while.

Last week I stopped by Caritas, what might be considered the office of Catholic Charities of the diocese. Caritas has done what we might call charity work in the past but now is concentrating on what we might call development and social justice projects. They have a good number of education projects, including a project with about 1000 students who listen to classes on the radio and then come together occasionally for more formal classes and tests. There is a popular education project which is working with groups to form leaders to do social analysis and to work on what we might call community organizing. One of the main issues they are treating are the mines in the area. They also have a pilot literacy project, based on a Cuban model, that enables people to read and write within three months. There are also programs to support small businesses. And, this is what I really want to see, they are working with six communities in a program they call “Agro-ecological experiences – sustainable communities,” in which they work on techniques, as well as diversification of crops, and natural medicine.

And then there is Padre Fausto, a priest almost 80 years old, who is involved in natural medicine. His group has a shop where they sell organic products and natural medicines. He also has several projects in the countryside that I want to visit some day soon. He and other are promoting organic farming and natural medicine.

Earlier this week I met the director of the local campus of the Catholic University of Honduras. He is a very friendly young man and I look forward to working with him. The chaplain of the university has been hard to locate, but I did spend Tuesday with him though we didn’t talk a lot about what I might do. I think he is waiting for the bishop to return.

There is supposed to be a meeting Saturday afternoon of university students. I will try to locate it and spend some time with them. More on that later.

The bishop has been gone since I got here – first to a meeting of the Honduran Bishops’ conference and then for a meeting of the priests of the diocese. He is due to be back Sunday and on Monday he may preside at a Mass at the Catholic University for its feast day – Our Lady of Peace. I hope to have some time with him next week.