Corona virus and more in Honduras

COVID-19

The corona virus continues to plague Honduras, as it does most of the world. The major cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula are hard hit, as are several of the departments on the north coast. Here in the department of Copán there have been fewer cases, though the situation seems to have worsened in La Entrada and Santa Rosa de Copán.

The president and his wife have been tested positive for COVID-19. He was hospitalized for about 11 days in the Hospital Militar and was released after on July 2. But many people don’t really believe it. There’s a photo of the president getting tested – beardless. He made the announcement with a beard. My guess is that there was sufficient time between the test and getting the results to grow a beard, but what this tells me is the growing lack of confidence of the people in the government.

There have been more tests, up to 2000 a day. Despite major backlogs of testing and reporting results, official reports (as of July 1) state that more than 52,350 tested with 29,262 positives and 542 deaths – in a country of more than 9.5 million people. The neighboring country of El Salvador has tested 170,000 for a population of 6.4 million. The positive rate person 1000 persons in El Salvador from the tests is about half of the rate in Honduras.

There are more and more reports of corruption and malfeasance in the responses to COVID-19. One of the most recent was a shady deal for mobile hospitals which appears to be a clear case of corruption.

There are also continuing pressures on the public health system, with people lining up in long lines at some public hospitals and continuing concerns about a collapsing health system.

ATTEMPTS TO OPEN UP

In an effort to re-open the economy about a week ago, the country had been divided into three types of municipalities (called regions, even though they are not contiguous.) Region one, which includes four municipalities in our parish, could begin opening up slowly. The other regions would have to go about reopening much more slowly. But this had to be revised.  In Tegucigalpa, in region three, they pulled back the small steps that they had taken toward reopening.

In an effort to cut down on the movement of people in the streets, the government proposed a new control mechanism. For the past few months, we could circulate once every two weeks, depending on the number of our IDs. The new proposal would let people go out to banks and supermarkets once every two weeks but in a way that people could circulate in their vehicles only once a month. It provoked all sorts of resistance, including sarcastic memes on Facebook, and only operated for one day. Supposedly the police will be now out in more force, enforcing the circulation of people according to the last number of their IDs. We’ll see.

There are continued serious concerns about human rights violations during the curfew. Also, there are very serious situations in the prisons, including positive cases and even deaths.

THE PARISH

The churches are opening up – but they are supposed to be enforcing strict measures of biosecurity. In the main church in Dulce Nombre, masks and social distancing are enforced, as well as the use of gel. 

Supposedly the churches in the villages, if they are having celebrations, are supposed to do the same. I don’t know what the situation is in other places, but they are complying to a degree here in Plan Grande.

Three weeks ago they were even giving out masks provided by the municipality and the people were told that masks were obligatory. That’s when I began to preside at the celebrations here. The next week I was there and one of the musicians was seated without a mask. I told him that he had to put on a mask; he said he had left it at home. I told him to get it, a bit more forcefully than I should have. He left and sent back a mask for his wife and daughter. There were others who didn’t enter or were told to stay in the last pew because they had no mask. I asked a few and they said they had no masks. I told them to ask the mayor for masks. But I decided to buy some masks when I read that a friend in Santa Rosa was selling them. I got 200 when I went into the city last week.

In the midst of this, the main church of the parish, in Dulce Nombre, has been broken into twice. In the first case, the office was broken into and money and an electric sander were stolen. about two weeks later the church was broken into. The donation boxes were stolen and the tabernacle was broken into. The thieves stole two ciboria, one of which contained consecrated hosts. Thanks be to God, the hosts and at least one of the ciboria were recovered. 

It seems as if the police did investigate and found a larger amount of stolen goods in a house in Dulce Nombre. My guess is that there was enough of an uproar that they had to do something.

NEW PENAL CODE

During this time of pandemic, a new penal code was supposed to come into force, passed by the National Congress which is ruled by the National Party. There are serious problems with the code, including lesser penalties for corruption as well as for instances of domestic violence and sexual abuse of children. The bishops have been rather critical and just recently Vatican Radio had an interview with the bishop who is president of the Honduran Bishops Conference who said that the law favors the corrupt.

But I was surprised a few days ago when I read the Facebook posts of some members of the National Party who work with city halls where the mayor is from that party. The post is below. I hope that this is a good sign of people looking out for justice and not just for their party.

MY LIFE

On the personal level, I’m doing well, largely staying at home, except for the days when I am permitted to circulate in car. However, this may change a bit. The Catholic Church in Honduras has managed to get salvoconductos, safe conduct passes, for clergy. (And this deacon is clergy.) We can circulate for church services Monday through Friday. This will enable me to get to come communities where there are persons preparing for the sacrament of matrimony and who are waiting for the final interviews (which I usually do.) There is a temptation to abuse this, but I am committed to giving the people a good example.

I’m doing a lot of reading and some praying (not enough). I’ve been cleaning the house a bit, finding things I’ve accumulated over the years. I keep trying to find ways to keep my mind active. I took ten hours of Spanish classes by internet and a four-week certificate program on abuse within families (as I mentioned in a previous post). I’ve also participated in a number of Zoom session, two from Maryknoll. I’m also trying to do a little more contacting friends by phone or Skype. A spiritual direction session last month really helped.

I’m also trying to walk out in the community at least twice a week. It’s partly for exercise but it ends up being a way to connect with people. What would normally take 30 minutes walking ends up being between ninety minutes and an hour as I stop and talk with folks, keeping social distance by staying in the road. It’s been a great experience as I hear what people are thinking.

Finally, a surprise. Sunday morning, four men from the coffee association in nearby El Zapote (which exports EL Zapote Coffee to Ames, Iowa) came by and dug a hole (2 meters by 2 meters, with about 1 meter deep) to plant an avocado tree. Since the ground is mostly clay, they added good black dirt, coffee husks (to aerate the soil), and cal. They told me to wait two days before planning the seedling. It will be a few years until I have avocados, but this was a nice generous gesture.

And so life goes on – as the people struggle to survive the poverty and the threat of COVID-19. Please pray for us.

ADDENDUM:

Have I mentioned that two cousins in Plan Grande have a tomato project, growing beef-steak sie tomatoes in a greenhouse. They are great (and cheap - about 45¢ a pound). I just hope that plants keep on giving.

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Statistics for COVID-19, Centro de Estudios para la Democracia  (CESPAD) and an international website, as well as nightly reports from the Honduras Department of Health.

Bilingual kids in Plan Grande

I have a Honduran friend whom I met in my first years here, when I was trying to do campus ministry at the Catholic University of Honduras in Santa Rosa. Erlin Johnny really wanted to learn English and we talked a bit in English. I did kid him that, when we first talked, his accent made my ears bleed.

Through the years, when St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Ames was sending groups to visit, I invited him to speak with the students over a meal, as a way for them to meet someone their age as well as a chance for him to practice English.

His English improved over the years and, because of his intuition that learning English is a useful skill, not only for those who have the money to send kids to bilingual schools or language institutes, he began an institute to teach English at a price that was more affordable for lower middle class Hondurans. He also provides scholarships, now with the help of the local Rotary Club, for girls at a home for those without a home.

We have talked over the years and I find his vision appealing. I also once mentioned that a dream I have is that one day there would be a bilingual school for the poor, perhaps in a community in our parish. But I have not had the time or the expertise to do that.

However, I did float the idea of a bilingual class in Plan Grande. Finally, this has come to pass. Today, Sunday, April 28, he came for the first class for 18 kids from Plan Grande and the neighboring village of Candelaria. The class is not free, but is being offered at a reduced rate. Also, to facilitate this initial effort, a sort of pilot project, I asked St. Thomas Aquinas in Ames to help by subsidizing the cost of poorer students and, for the first year, providing funding for the books and for the transportation of the teachers from Santa Rosa.

So today, 18 kids showed up, most with their parents. I sat in on the class and noted their enthusiasm. It helps that Johnny’s teaching style is very participative, helping the kids learn English with songs, practice, and more.

I won’t be attending every week, but I am glad that this is starting. Maybe, one day, Plan Grande will be a bilingual village.

Here are a few photos.

Celebrating Christ the King

The feast of Christ the King is a big celebration in our parish.

For many years we have had a morning Mass for all the parish in one of the towns or villages of the parish. In the past few years, these have included processions to the site of the Mass.

This year the Mass was held near the village of Plan Grande, where I live. It started about 9 pm with processions from two parts of the parish with people singing and praying along the way – with marching bands (which here they unfortunately call “Bandas de guerra” – war bands.)

The Mass this year was preceded by adoration of the Eucharist. After Padre German offered some prayers, he invited the Delegate of the Word present to offer a few prayers.

Christ the King Sunday is also celebrated as the day of the Delegates of the Word, the men and women who lead Sunday celebrations of the Word in their communities. The movement was started in the mid-1960s to help the many distant communities gather for a Sunday celebration, since the parish priest could not get to all the communities on a Sunday and it was very difficult to get to the main town for Mass.

After the prayer, Padre German took the monstrance with the host throughout the crowd. 

Here, there is a custom of touching the monstrance and then blessing oneself. I don’t know where the custom comes from, though I wonder if it is in some way related to the difficulty many have of going to communion (for any number of reasons). In my mind, it is very much an expression of the desire to touch God – to be in real contact with Jesus. It could at times become almost superstitious, but, watching the devotion, it seems to be the expression of deep desire for God.

After the period of adoration, we had Mass. I am coming down with a cold and so I can’t give a good report on the homily, though Padre German tried to connect the reading of Jesus before Pilate with the reality of people’s lives.

Since I was away all week at a seminar on the protection and care of minors and persons in vulnerable situations, I did not have much of a role in the celebration, which doesn’t bother me. I didn’t participate in the processions, but I did do my diaconal roles at Mass and helped move things after the celebration.

I spent a good bit of time before and after connecting with people, even arranging a few visits to communities in December. I also talked to at least four young people who are finishing high school this December. Several of them want to study in the university but that’s costly. So they may work for a while – or try to find a way to both work and study. There is also the difficulty of not finding the degree they want near here.

While visiting I found out that a neighbor had left for Spain last Sunday. She has a sister there and will probably be seeking work, to help pay off debts of the family. She leaves a husband a a two year old son. I also found out that one young guy who worked on my house was with the caravan. However, he crossed the border on his own and is presumably safe in the US.

The feast of Christ the King is important for us here – not least of all it is a contrast to the politics that we find here and in many places throughout the world. And so it is important to celebrate it – among the poor, who show us the face of the prisoner Jesus before the repressive and violent powers of this world.