Holy Poverty

“Is there anyone here who has the dream of being poor?”

These are the words that began Padre German’s homily on Sunday in El Zapote de Santa Rosa.

The community was celebrating its patron saint, Francis of Assisi, on Sunday, since Padre German had gone to at least two other villages on October 4, the feast of St. Francis.

El Zapote de Santa Rosa Church

Padre German noted that Saint Francis did seek to be poor. He saw poverty as unfastening oneself from things. The Spanish word he used is “desprendimiento” which is sometimes translated as “detachment.” But I think, in the context of St. Francis, it might better be thought of as unfastening oneself.

We fear poverty, Padre German went on, for many reasons. We fear that no one will notice us or take us into account. We fear that we will die of hunger.

In the chapel of the Franciscan Sisters in Gracias 

I think I’d add that we want security, we want to have things our way and so we fear the insecurity of poverty. And so we seek to keep things – and getting more things to keep. An example Padre German gave was keeping clothes that we do not need or have outgrown or even keeping infant walkers even while the kids are 16 years old!

But Francis sought a Holy Poverty.

What was that?

First of all, I think it must be contrasted to what I’d call “perverse poverty,” the poverty which oppresses people, which keeps them down. It’s the poverty I see all around me, the poverty brought on by injustice, inequality, envy, and violence.

I think it must not be reduced to a spiritual poverty, where we only are detached in our minds from things. Nor should it be reduced to a poverty of solidarity.

For Francis, poverty was real. He didn’t go around with a backpack full of supplies. He insisted on working for his food and, when that wasn’t possible, begging.

He insisted on going out to the byways of the world, where people lived, and also to those marginal places, with lepers and other outcasts.

His poverty was real.

What does that mean for people like me?

It means not only solidarity, but also letting go and being concerned only about the necessary.

And what is the necessary here in western Honduras?

Being present to the people.

Being with them as they deal with poverty and violence.

Being with them as they begin little projects to make life better for them and their families.

Being with them and helping the world to see them in their joys and sorrows, in their successes and failures, in their struggles and pains.

What do I need to do this?

Grace.

Presence with the people.

Freedom.

Over the altar in El Zapote, the people had placed three words that struck me as profound:

Francisco, hombre libre.

 Francis, a free man.

Francis was free to leave beyond all, including his social contacts, to live with his brothers in poverty, sharing the Good News with the poor.

Can I learn to be free like Francis?

Queens and horse-riding competitions

I am the type of person that savors solitude but also enjoys being active, especially in projects of service and in facilitation of learning. I also just enjoy being around people, especially kids.

Thus there are some experiences here in Honduras that are somewhat hard for me. They stretch me, partly because they are very closely related to parts of the culture that I don’t understand – and at times don’t appreciate.

Last Thursday was the feast of Saint Augustine and so I went to San Agustín for their Mass. The church was full and it was good to see people I know. I also found the shrine to Saint Augustine delightful - the statue was placed in front of an image of the church.

After Mass there was a special event including the crowning of the queen for the festival. There was a stage and a mesa principal ­– the table of honor. I thought I had escaped being called to sit there – but at the last minute I was called up. I was first seated right in front of the speaker, but someone noticing my distress (I had a headache already) moved me to the other side of the table. So there I was in front of the crowd.

Some children were dressed up in dresses and suits – last year’s queen and her cortege and this year’s, together with two little guys with wooden machetes who served as the guards of honor at the edge of the stage.

In the course of the events, the queen was crowned, with her attendant at her side – both little kids. I don’t quite get this.

The town’s Catholic folk dance group, El Quetzal, performed a few dances, which was a delight.

After the events, there was a lunch for me and Padre German.

But one event at Mass, though uncomfortable, was really a sign of what faith can be.

There's a mentally unstable woman in San Agustín who occasionally comes to the church and will loudly pray, very loudly - even in the midst of Mass. During Mass, Padre German spoke directly to her and even hugged here, before the congregation. He asked her to be quiet during the rest of the Mass which she was. 

She did get onto the stage during the events after Mass but was gently escorted off. 

The lack of social services for the mentally disturbed doesn't prevent them from being loved and treated with a degree of respect. 

Yesterday, the coffee cooperative in EL Zapote de Santa Rosa had a fundraising event – a Carrera de Cintas: a horse riding event in which the rider try to grab a ring with a pencil-like wooden stick.

The “rings” on the rope across the road

Inspecting the rings

Some of the riders

Each time a rider got a ring he was awarded a kerchief by one of the “queens” – who just happened to be some of the young women in the Maestro de Casa middle school on El Zapote. 

After affixing the kerchief around the neck of the winner, there would often be a kiss on the cheek.

One guy was particularly gallant – as he knelt to receive the kerchief.

A friend told me that previously the women had embroidered sashes for the winners and would place these over their shoulders.

The competition started about noon, though it was supposed to start at 10 am. Delays of people coming from San Agustín and other distant places, plus a shower, put off the starting time. It ended at about 4 pm, delayed for about 15 minutes because of a heavy downpour.

Riding to catch a ring in the rain

But they finished up in the rain and the three winners were given the prizes, which included horse vitamins.

The winner

There were a few things that were a little uncomfortable – the young women as awarding prizes together with a kiss was one. The other was seeing two of the riders with pistols – one stuck in the back of his pants.

But I felt very pleased to see that the coffee cooperative had taken the initiative to raise funds for their work, not just relying on help from outside.

Over all, I was glad to be at both events. They will recognize me and those who know me will see that I took the time to be with them. I hope I hid my discomfort or that they just thought that’s the way the crazy gringo is.

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More photos of the San Agustín celebration can be found here.
More photos of the carrera de cintas can be found here.

Learning more about coffee and exporting

I mentioned in a previous post - here - that I am accompanying a cooperative of 15 coffee farmers from El Zapote de Santa Rosa in their efforts to produce high quality coffee for direct exporting to the US.

As part of that effort, I arranged to have four of them go with me to La Unión, Lempira, to see and hear what they are doing there. You can read more about the work of La Union Microfinanza [UMF] on their website here. 

We were there for about 48 hours – well spent, I believe.

We spoke with the team of Hondurans and the US director, Patrick Hughes, when we got there. Our coffee producers had lots of questions. It was great to see such enthusiasm.

The first afternoon we went out to the beneficio, the coffee processing facility that UMF has, partly as a training and experimental center – since it is only used by 4 producers.

Patrick (left) explaining the beneficio

Betio (left) explaining the fermentation tanks

Fermentation tanks

Patrick and Betio explained their facility and emphasized the importance of good processing, clean facilities, and much more.

a solar dryer

After we examined their solar dryers, they showed us their biogestor experiment to process and use the coffee pulp and the residual water (called aguas mieles) without contaminating the environment.

Biogestor

 Patrick, Betio, and others from UMF also emphasized the importance of careful coffee harvesting, emphasizing quality over quantity.

If you want high quality coffee, you pick the mature coffee berries.

Often in harvesting coffee, the harvesters are paid by quantity and therefore they pick green, ripe, over-ripe, and almost ripe berries. These all get processed together and are sold for Honduras consumption. But mixing these together won’t give you good coffee for export.

The second day we visited two producers in their fincas (coffee fields) and talked about a lot of different themes related to quality coffee production. I was very pleased to hear the guys I brought with me asking good questions as well as sharing their experiences.

with Bernardo (left)

A homemade trap for coffee berry borer beetles

The "road" back from one of the fincas

The final day the guys from El Zapote sat at a coffee shop talking about the process of exporting coffee with the staff of Unión Microfinanza.

Lots of information was shared – and many questions were raised. It was a good step to helping advance what could become an important way for these and other small coffee farmers to work together for a better life for their families and their communities.