Where do I start - today?

During this lock down, I continue being well, staying at home, for the most part. I got to Santa Rosa last Wednesday (to do some grocery-shopping) but probably won’t get out of Plan Grande until Wednesday, June 10.  (We’re restricted in circulating in vehicles depending on the last number of our ID.)

Yesterday was my seventy-third birthday. Not much of a celebration, but several phone calls, e-mails, and WhatsAp messages, as well as over 225 Facebook greetings.

I took part in an internet class for two hours in the morning. Then I went out to take a walk and went to the parish coffee field, where volunteers (as well as the pastor) were cutting down the weeds and fertilizing the coffee pants. Then back home and a one-hour Zoom session with some folks on Catholic Social Thought.

It’s been raining a lot, which means that the rainy season has arrived. We need the rain since it has been very hot and dry for several months.

But what else is up?

COVID-19

COVID-19 is devastating the world. Many people are confined to their houses. Here in Honduras it’s almost a complete lockdown, though they are beginning to allow some openings for businesses in stages, based on the number of positive cases of COVID-19, population density, capability to provide medical attention, and economic relevance. The four municipalities in the parish (Dulce Nombre, Concepción, Dolores, and San Agustín) are in the first group of 238 municipalities (out of 298 total).

There is even a plan to open churches. I need to study the document before commenting.

We cannot go out during an overnight curfew, which is stricter in some areas, especially the cities where COVID-19 has affected more people. We are limited in how often we can circulate in vehicles or go to banks, gas stations, or supermarkets – once every two weeks, dependent on the last number of our identity card.

This is not hard for me – since I am able to go in my truck to Santa Rosa de Copán and buy groceries. But the lack of public transportation makes it impossible for most people in the countryside to get out of their villages.

We are also supposed to wear face masks outside. Because of the failure of many to use masks, they have recently placed a fine on not wearing masks. In Santa Rosa masks are common, but in Dulce Nombre and in the villages, there are many who go around without masks.

There are nightly announcements on the number of persons tested and the number of cases.

The number of persons being tested daily has increased but the total is only 17.908 out of a population of almost ten million. Yesterday 575 test results were announced. In total, there have been 5,362 positives and 217 deaths. See more statistics here.

Most of the cases of the corona virus have been in the two most populated areas, centered in the cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. But there have been cases in almost all parts of the country.

What concerns me is that since many areas have not seen cases of COVID-19, either because of the lack of testing or the efficacy of preventive measures, some people are lax in their adherence to security measures.

The ability of the public health system to respond is questionable. The lack of medicine, the lack of sufficient intensive care beds and respirators, as well as the corruption that makes it difficult to get enough medicine and equipment, make the country vulnerable.

The other problem is that many people have no or a limited source of income. Many people survive by what is often called the “informal economy,” street vendors and small sidewalk stands. I think of a woman who sold vegetables on a street corner in Santa Rosa de Copán; I often would buy strawberries or papaya from her, but now she is nowhere to be seen.

The government has had two distribution campaigns of “bolsas soldarias,” with some basic foodstuffs as well as soap and bleach. I accompanied the two distributions in our municipality where it seemed to be done efficiently and without corruption or political favoritism, trying to meet the needs of the poorest. There have been major complaints in other areas and cases of elevated prices (corruption) and political favoritism (giving only to those connected with the party in power). In some areas the distribution has been politicized with the presence of political leaders. In addition, in a few areas the distribution is being done by the military.

There have been a number of efforts by non-governmental groups as well as donations by individuals and businesses to help. Yet there are concerns about hunger.

It is important to remember that the pandemic of COVID-19 is, as Pope Francis has said, only one of the pandemics that devastate the lives of the poor. As I see it we need to work to alleviate the pandemics of hunger, lack of education, corruption, and more.

When the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, we have our work to do.

SEXUAL ABUSE

A few weeks ago, I saw a note of a four week on-line course -  a diplomado, a certificate program – on the Intrafamiliar Abuse, run by a center of the Mexican Pontifical University. I knew of the center, CEPROME, because of its programs for the prevention of the abuse of minors and those in vulnerable situations in the Catholic Church. So I went forward and signed up. We’re about two-thirds through the program which has been good.

Yet in the midst of this, I just read on the website of ERIC-SJ and Radio Progreso that the proposed new penal code in Honduras will reduce the penalties for crimes of sexual violence. This is despite the continuing number of cases. According to a National University of Honduras report, between January and December of 2018, there was an average of 248 legal complaints per month. 87.4%of the victims were female and 69.1% were between the ages of five and nineteen. And this, of course, doesn’t include the number of cases not reported.

From time to time I hear of cases in our area and there are situations that seem to indicate some type of abuse. I need to be more attentive and we need to take more measures of prevention, as well as formation of people in ways to respond to the cases and to respect and protect others from any type of abuse or violence.

We have work to do.

AND MORE

For the last few years we have had all-night Pentecost Vigils in the parish. I ended up spending three hours, praying, reading, and writing on Saturday night and two hours on Monday morning. It was like a min-retreat, but with concerns about COVID-19, the plight of our people, and the events in the US framing my prayers and reflections.

Today or tomorrow I will try to put together some of my thoughts on what is happening in the US – in regard to the killing of George Floyd, the responses to the killing, the protests as well as the polarization wrought by some groups and some politicians, as well as my thoughts on violence. But I need more time.