INCOMUNICADO?

I got an e-mail a few days ago asking if I was well. The person, whom I don’t know, hadn’t seen a post on this blog for about a month and was concerned. 

I was surprised – and, at first, a bit suspicious. But now I am grateful. Someone was concerned about me – since I hadn’t written anything since July 31. That day I wrote a very somber post, reflecting on the plight of migrants. It was a very difficult time for me. I made an appointment to talk with my spiritual director and spoke with her on August 10, the feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. 

The first half of August I found myself a bit busy, with meetings with catechists in distinctive parts of the parish as well as meetings with the social ministry coordinators in several parts of the parish. These were opportunities to connect with leaders, listen to what they were doing, and discuss what we can do in the next few months. 

Last year much of our parish was affected by the two hurricanes around the beginning of November. Most of the aldeas suffered loss of electricity and water. In various there were very serious damage – with houses and fields lost to landslides, collapse of the earth, and geological faults. We weren’t very well prepared. Here are a few photos from last year.

The forecast for later this year is not good. There could be more hurricanes or serious storms. Climate change could wreak more havoc. 

I told the social ministry leaders to think of what they could do to prepare their communities. At the parish council meeting, the pastor called for a special meeting on September 1 of the leaders of the sectors in our parish to consider what could be done to prepare. A few days before the meeting, he and I met; he asked me to prepare something. He expected to do the first part, in which the people would share what was their experience last year and I would work with them on ways to analyze the situation and prepare responses. 

I few years ago, when I was helping with the diocesan office of Caritas, there was a program to train communities on community -based reduction of the risks of disasters. I found the manual on line and prepared my presentation based on that process.

 The day went well. The pastor had other commitments and so I ended up leading the whole process. He came at the end and spoke about the need to prepare ourselves in all the communities. I may end up having to go to some places and help them get organized. 

Between the parish council on August 17 and the workshop, I got rather sick – congestion, cough, and a low fever. I went to a doctor in Dulce Nombre who gave me medicine to clear up my chest and deal with other aspects. After taking the medicine, I lost my voice for two days. As a result I stayed home. I had hoped to take a wheel chair to a distant community but had to beg off. I hope to be able to take it this week. 

I was better by August 27 and 28, when I baptized nine kids in San Agustín on the feast of Saint Monica and nine more on the feast of Saint Augustine. 

The next day, Sunday, I ended up baptizing a young man who had been preparing during the early stages of the pandemic but had not been baptized. He had been faithful, attending Celebrations of the Word in his village. He was about to leave for the US and had asked for baptism. The pastor approved and I went out on Sunday. I gave him a rosary to pray with on his journey and told him that if he was in any need to look for church people who aid the migrants. 

I don’t agree with the massive emigration from our area, but I kind of understand it. But my first priority is to provide pastoral care and advice for those who are migrating. (I often tell them that I don’t think it’s a good idea – but it is part of our faith to care for the immigrant.) 

On Thursday, I went to San Pedro Sula to give a ride to one of the Dubuque Franciscan sisters who was returning from the US. It was good to be able to do this – and to have the time to talk with her. But the trip back was awful. The road from San Pedro Sula to La Entrada, just north of where I live, is the worst I have seen it in more than ten years. There are potholes that would ruin a car’s suspension and places where you have to swerve to avoid them. There are places where the earth has sunk or the road has been washed away.

At one point, because of a sunken highway, where it took an hour to go two kilometers! Not fun. But I got sister home safely and I made it home before 9 pm.

In the parish, we are preparing for the feast day of the Holy Name of Mary (Dulce Nombre de Mary, in Spanish) next Sunday, September 12. 

The parish is also doing a lot of construction work, partly financed by a contribution from a family at our sister parish of St. Thomas Aquinas in Ames and partly financed by the people in the parish. 

Every Sunday night a group of women prepare food for sale before and after the evening Mass. 

The work now is pouring concrete for the floor of the new area for gathering and educational projects. It will need innumerable bags of cement and so people are being asked to donate money for a bag of cement. 

We originally had hoped to have the church consecrated on the feast day and the new gathering area (to be called Aula Santo Tomás de Aquino) to be dedicated, but that is not possible. So, we are planning those celebrations for January. 

There is enough to do. I still feel a little under the weather but hope to be recuperated by the feast day. After that, there will be work with the catechists as well as with social ministry. We also plan to train missionaries for a mission week in October. 

I hope to also have a different kind of mission week in October, as I am planning to make an official visit to St. Thomas Aquinas at the end of October. 

So goes the ministry. 

I’ll try to write more regularly in the next few months to keep you updated. In the meantime, pray for us.

Summer, Lent and life in the parish

SUMMER 

Summer is here in our part of Honduras. Here we have two seasons – summer (the dry season) and winter (the wet season). 

In our part of the country, in the mountains in the south of the country but on the Atlantic side of the Continental Divide, we have a short dry season – usually from February to May. The rest of the year is the rainy season. The dry season is usually the hottest time of the year. The sun is strong and it seldom rains, which makes for dusty roads.

This year, after all the rain in the middle of the year and the heavy rains of the two hurricanes that hot Honduras, it is a welcome change to not have to worry about wet, muddy, slippery roads.

AFTER EFFECTS OF THE HURRICANES 

A few times in January, I thought I wouldn’t be able to get up a few hills that had become very slippery, with just a little rain. A few times I thought I wasn’t going to make it or would get too close to an embankment. But, with the help of God and a few friends, and the fancy tools of the new parish car, I got where I wanted to go. 

The other day, meeting with catechists in one sector of our parish, we were sharing how we felt about this past year. I realized that I was not really fearful of COVID-19, although I am extremely careful and share my concern with others. But I realized that I really am a bit afraid of getting stuck in the mud – again! 

One day I had to go to a distant village where I had gotten stuck trying to go up a small hill and, for a few moments, I hope the meeting was cancelled. I didn’t want to get stuck. But I went there with no problems. 

But going around to a few distant aldeas (villages), I noted the effects of the hurricanes, especially roads that are very narrow because of landslides, including some that may suffer more damage when the rains come again in late May. It’s been three months since the hurricanes and still there are roads that have not been repaired or have only had minimal repairs.

The after-effects of the hurricanes are still wreaking havoc in Honduras and people are still suffering.

In our parish we are working with one community which will probably have to relocate most of the houses. They have organized a committee to oversee the work and have prepared a report and a map of the situation. Out of the 131 houses in the village, 5 sere destroyed by the landslides and land settling and 40 more were slightly damaged or are at risk. We hope to help them as they rebuild or relocate.

Last Friday I took a friend, a Dubuque Franciscan sister, to San Pedro Sula to pick up their community’s car which had been in accident.

The traffic into and out of San Pedro Sula was terrible. But what really shocked me was what we saw at the entry into San Pedro. The roads from Santa Rosa de Copán and from Tegucigalpa come together just as one enters the city. Recently an overpass was built to ease traffic. 

Now, there are more than thirty tents with people displaced by the hurricanes – three months after these disasters. When will the government do something to respond to theses needs? Money has been promised and some has come in – but will it be siphoned off for enrich corrupt politicians and their allies? And, since this is an election year here in Honduras, will aid be politicized, going to party followers and not to those really in need? And will the aid be publicized as gifts from a politician or a political party, rather than the money which has been designated by donors or governments for the good of those affected? 

THE COFFEE HARVEST 

In our part of Honduras, coffee is harvested between November and March, depending on the local climatic conditions. For your information, coffee “berries” (which have the coffee beans inside) mature at different times on the same coffee bushes; thus, they have to be collected three or more times during the harvest season.

This year many people are reporting good harvests. There are some people whose harvests are poor because of coffee rust (la roya) or the loss of fields by landslides. 

We have had several good harvests of coffee in the parish coffee field. I help a little with the harvest but I cannot harvest even one-fourth as fast as many people who have been harvesting since they were four years old. But I do transport the volunteers who come in from distant villages and often help bring the lunch prepared for them by women here in Plan Grande. There should be at least one more harvest later this month.

PROJECTS

For at least eight years, the parish of St. Thomas Aquinas in Ames have been providing partial scholarships to high school and middle school students in a distance education project in four places in our parish. This year about 150 students were helped. The program, called Maestro en Casa (Teacher in the Home) or IHER (Honduran Institute of Education by Radio) meets a need, mostly for those who live in remote rural communities who would otherwise have little or no access to study past sixth grade. They listen to radio program, have workbooks, and meet once a week with a teacher. It may not be the best option, but it does help.

About seven years ago, after a visit from Fr. Jon Seda from St. Thomas Aquinas parish, a group of small coffee farmers began working together to improve the quality of their coffee and to export quality coffee to the US through St. Thomas Aquinas. Now a separate group, El Zapote Café, is importing coffee from this association which now includes twenty-one members, two of whom are women. 

Working with some foundations here and with the help of the Iowa group, the association is building a processing facility which will help them to cut costs, improve the quality of their coffee, and uses processes which do minimal damage to the environment. It has been a great joy to see their growth.

Moises, the president of the association, with his son

After the second hurricane hit our area, we began receiving assistance from other parts of the diocese – mostly in terms of food stuffs and clothing. We have been able to deliver these to rural communities. On Ash Wednesday, I combined taking 56 bags of provisions to a community with presiding at a Celebration of the Word with distribution of ashes and communion.

The work on murals in the church continues. The chapel with the Blessed Sacrament is being painted now with images of Saints Francis and Clare.

Work on the other chapel will probable begin in March and will include images of Saints Isidore and María, patrons of agricultural workers, and Saint Nunzio Sulprizio, a 19 year old who was recently canonized (on the same day as St. Oscar Romero and Pope Saint Paul VI); he was an orphan who was maltreated by an uncle and died about much suffering. He also was a blacksmith; in Dulce Nombre there are many blacksmiths, mostly making horseshoes and so his image will remind them of the dignity of their work.

PASTORAL WORK

We are slowly and cautiously opening up in our parish pastoral work.

We had our first Parish Council meeting in January. We have our second this Saturday.

The pastor, assisted by a recently ordained transitional deacon and a seminarian in his year of pastoral experience, have been visiting many communities for Mass as well as visits to the sick and the sacraments of baptism, confession, anointing of the sick, and a few weddings.

I have begun to visit communities on Sunday mornings several times a month to preside at Celebrations of the Word with Communion. Sometimes I will also visit the sick.

Last Sunday I visited, bringing communion to four persons in three homes in a community. It has no communion minister and so there are few occasions when they and a neighboring have communion. The pastor gets out there every two months for Mass, but I think I’ll try to get out there about once every two months or so. I was reminded of the importance of this when a catechist in the village told me that Don Efraín, who is partially blind, asked her when I was coming to bring him communion.

I have begun meeting with small groups of catechists in the rural sectors of the parish. It has been a very good experience because this has provided a space for me to hear how they are feeling, to help them think through what they might be able to do now and what they might be able to do in the future. I have come away from them with a sense of hope, since I see their enthusiasm but also the growing ability of some to make thoughtful decisions on their own, not referring every issue to the priest or deacon.

I’ve started the meetings sharing how we are feeling after all that has happened this year. I hear some fear of the pandemic as well as some depression because of the isolation, some sadness because of the suffering of people as well as some spirit of struggling to go forward as we can. I heard of efforts to help others in the community as well as efforts to pray in family groups. After I’ve visited all the areas, I need to plan how to go forward – with great care, but helping the catechists develop a strong pastoral sense and a capacity to carefully discern what can be done.

I’ve also had some meetings with people preparing for baptism or marriage. There will probably be more as Lent ends and people prepare for baptisms of children and for marriages after Easter. 

I had one last baptism before Lent last Sunday in Dulce Nombre.

THE PANDEMIC

The pandemic is still here and recently it seems to have affected our parish more than before. 

There is one community that has been severely affected and there have been cases even here in Plan Grande. Here, the families of those affected have mostly been very cautious and have avoided contact with those outside their households. 

There are also continuing cases in the town of Dulce Nombre. 

Santa Rosa de Copán has been affected quite a bit. This week a priest of the diocese died as a result of COVID-19.

When will the vaccine get here? The President had said that we could expect it n the second half of February but now the government is saying the first vaccines will get here in March. We shall see. But what will really be important is careful attention to how the vaccine is distributed. There is a great danger of politicization and favoritism. 

 

LENT

Lent will be different this year. 

We won’t have village-wide Stations of the Cross on Fridays or the large parish Stations on the Friday before Holy Week.

Ash Wednesday was much like it was in the past, since it is largely decentralized. In the morning, we had a Mass at 10 for the Delegates of the Word from more than half the villages. The blessed ashes were shared with them for distribution at a celebration in their communities.

In addition to that Mass, Padre German, the pastor, had at least four other Masses. Fernando, the transitional deacon, went to two villages and I presided at three Celebrations of the Word with Ashes and Communion. 

My last was here in Plan Grande. The surprise for me was the presence of at least twenty of those who had come here to Plan Grande to work in the coffee harvest. Most were young people from Esperanza, Intibucá. It was a joy to see them present for the celebration of Ash Wednesday with members of our Plan Grande community. 

DUST 

 “Remember that you are dust and to dust you have to return,” I said many times on Ash Wednesday as I traced a cross on the foreheads of many people.

As I prepared for preaching, I began to think about this.

According to Genesis, human beings were made from the dust of the earth. What a miracle. God transforms dust into a living being in God’s own image. 

Yes, we will die and return to dust. But God will transform this dust into the new creature, resurrected in and with Christ.

There is hope – though it looks as if evil and suffering will triumph. But our God is a God of miracles and transformation.

Last Friday, talking with Sister Pat in the car on the way to San Pedro Sula, she asked me for some references or ideas about the Cross and Resurrection, as she prepares a presentation for a congregation of sisters. I was inspired and said that that it is important to consider “the transformative power of suffering-with.” Note that I didn’t say “suffering,” but “suffering with.” 

As we talked, I realized that this is part of my understanding of the power of Jesus. He suffered with us; he suffers with us – and this is transformative. 

I need to develop this and will try to use this Lent as a time for reflecting on this, especially in light of the hymn in Ephesians 2 that reminds us that Christ Jesus humbled himself and took on our humanity, to the point of suffering with us. By this we are saved.

There is hope. There is resurrection.

Migrants, caravans, desperation

A new migrant caravan gathered yesterday and this morning in San Pedro Sula. They are hoping to pass the Honduran-Guatemalan border and proceed to Mexico and even to the US. 

Some have hopes that US policy will change with a new president. But I believe that many are leaving out of desperation. Reacting to this, I decided to write a few scattered thoughts on what may come. 

I expect there will be many who will flee in the coming months, some in caravans, others in small groups, or alone.

Honduras has been buffeted by the pandemic COVID-19. The economy has been severely affected, most of all the informal sector.

Then the hurricanes hit. Many communities on the coast have been inundated; people have lost all they had. The photos from places like La Lima, Cortes, near San Pedro, have been heart breaking. When I went to San Pedro Sula last month, my heart ached as I saw people living under bridges and ramps. 

In our area, people have lost homes and some crops have been devastated, mostly because of the landslides brought on by the rains, in areas that were already in peril.

Honduras has become a nightmare for many people. 

Poverty has been compounded; corruption has increased. People feel robbed of hope. 

All this came home to me about a week ago when I went to baptize in a rural community. 

After the Celebration of Baptism, I talked to a young man whom I knew. He had fled with his wife and child from the community where he lived when his home was destroyed by a landslide. We talked and he mentioned that he was thinking about trying to go to the US to find work. His family is living with a relative in another village and he sees no way to find the funds to get land for a safe place to build and to buy the supplies needed for a home. We talked and I told him that the parish is looking at ways to help people rebuild. We hope to have a small project.

These months in our area people are working in the coffee harvest. But in late February, when the harvest is mostly over, I expect that there will be more people who will leave. 

I’m hoping that we can do something significant that will offer alternatives to at least a few people. I’d like to start in one community where many people have been affected and which will probably need to be relocated. That will be a big project. But there are also some families, without resources, in other communities who will need to find land and rebuild. I’m beginning to speak with folks in those communities to see how much interest and support we can get in the communities. Our dream is not to build houses.

The dream is to build community, which means building houses but much more. Too many come in and give people things, creating dependence and stifling initiative. Our hope is to work in the communities, generating processes of working together.

I'll try to follow up on this.

Another week in the parish in Advent

First, a unique phot of me - with botas de hule, rubber boots.

It's been a busy week - one of its highlights was the completion of the mural in the apse of the church, which I wrote about a few days ago.

Last week there were two ordinations of diocesan seminarians to the diaconate – as a transitional stage, since they hope to be ordained to the priesthood sometime next year. Although I am a permanent deacon, indeed, the only one in the diocesan, it was important to be present to welcome them to the order of deacons. The first one, of Alex Ayala, was in Santa Bárbara, Santa Bárbara. I was surprised when he quoted me in his remarks at the end of Mass. He specifically noted my remark on the Eucharist as thanksgiving.

One of the priests at the Mass approached me afterwards and told me of a remark I made in a homily I gave at the seminary in 2016, that the deacon is a minister of the Blood of Christ and has a special relation to the chalice. I had been asked to give a talk to the seminarians and preach at one of their Mass, a feast of martyrs. I cannot remember mentioning this, but it is part of my spirituality of the diaconate. I am grateful to be reminded. On Saturday, the church celebrated the ordination of another seminarian, Fernando Nuñez, who has been serving in the parish since early this year. It was a solemn occasion and his proud parents were very involved in the preparations and in the events of the day. What was striking is that the bishop was celebrating with the marvelous mural surrounding us.

On a personal level, it has been a week with many diverse activities. Last Sunday, I did the final pre-marriage interview for a couple in San Agustin. The young woman has been a catechist for many years; the young man was received into the church at the Easter vigil a few years ago. It was a privilege to interview them and their witnesses. Tomorrow, I’ll be going to a different community to interview two couples and their witnesses. Interviewing the couples and participating in some of their wedding Masses has been a joy – and there has, surprisingly, been a lot this year, despite the pandemic. On Monday there was work on the parish field and I went to a nearby community to bring workers. After going to Santa Rosa for some business, I returned and gave the volunteers a ride to their community. There’s another workday tomorrow and I’ll be up early to give a ride for some of the workers.

On Thursday I went to Vertientes, a community with much damage due to the hurricanes. I managed to get stuck in the mud at one point, but someone who has more experience rescued me, driving my truck up the muddy hill. I got to the church where we were going to distribute boxes of provisions paid for by donations of Hondurans in Madrid. The distribution was very well organized; the church committee had sought out those most in need and provided a list. What a relief to have some organization in the community. On Friday, I was at the church helping out in a few ways to prepare for the ordination. It was also the day the pastor gave me the keys to the new parish car, donated for my use, by an anonymous donor in the US. At one point the pastor asked a favor – to go to a distant community to bring a volunteer to help prepare corn and beans for the Saturday celebration. I said yes and went, for the first time, in the new pick up. I’m still trying to get used to it. Today, Sunday, I had planned to go to a community to meet with children, aged 7 to 12, who were prepared for baptism. I presided at the Celebration of the Word and brought Communjon. Afterwards, I spoke with the young people as well as their parents. We set a date for their baptism, next Tuesday. Saturday night I missed a call from the pastor and saw his WhatsApp audio message late, asking me to go to a village today. I didn’t hear the message well and he sent back a message with the time. I also missed that is was a funeral – so I arrived on Sunday morning about 11:30, thinking it was a Sunday Celebration, but learning it was a funeral. Thanks be to God I had a missal with the readings, but I had to improvise the rites. One of the delegates of the word met me by the church and we went to the house where we would have the celebration. He was one of the children of the ninety-five year old man. The man, Vidal, who died had been working in the fields until recently. His wife of 65 years, Alejandrina was there (only 83 years old!) I chose two readings and improvised a homily, recalling that the deceased man’s name, Vidal, is related to VIDA – life. Since I was unsure of the details I asked if the wife was still alive. When she stood up, the only thing I could do was go over and give her a hug. (Side note: I had brought masks and so most had masks. But I find it hard not to hug family members at funerals.) I also asked about the family. The couple had 12 children, 70 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren, and a few great-great grandchildren. They have a legacy in the village and the world. After the funeral celebration, I left quickly for San Agustín for Mass. It would be the first Mass there in which Fernando would serve as a deacon. He has been in other communities, but I couldn’t make the other Masses. Tomorrow, will be another busy day. Not only will I bring some folks to work on the parish coffee field and do two sets of pre-marriage interviews. I’ve been asked to bring some donated provisions to a community. The needs which the hurricane exposed and made worse will need a lot of work – not just the immediate needs but the rebuilding of major parts of Honduras. We’re hoping to develop a project to help build homes for the most-needy who lost their houses or whose houses are in danger. But the problems of rebuilding the infrastructure will test the country. Sadly, I fear that aid will be politicized, especially since next year is an election year – for mayors, legislators, and the president. In addition, the levels of corruption are so intense that, unless there is serious oversight, funds will be diverted. I try to write more later, but I have to pray, read a bit, get some sleep, to wake up for a new busy day.

Thanksgiving in times of hurricanes and COVID

It's Thanksgiving in the US, but I will give thanks here.

Honduras

1992 was an extraordinary year in my life. It was a time of grace, a time of learning to say “gracias a Dios” – thanks be to God. 

I had managed to persuade the parish of St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Catholic Student Center in Ames to provide sabbaticals to lay employees and I was the first to take advantage of the opportunity after eight and a half years of service in the parish.

But I took a different type of sabbatical. Instead of going off to study in a university. I spent almost seven months in El Salvador, serving for most of the time in the parish of Suchitoto. The parish, at that time, was served by a Salvadoran priest and had five US sisters working there, mostly in the countryside. 

I arrived in time to celebrate a ceasefire and the peace accords that brought an end to a bloody civil war, in which many perished at the hands of a US-supported military. The war also precipitated the displacement of hundreds of thousands.

I ended up in Suchitoto thanks to my connections with the sisters – four Dubuque Franciscans and one New Jersey Sister of Charity, who had served the area during the war. They ministered to the many communities that had returned to the countryside and lived in precarious situations, not least of all war and poverty.

Dubuque Franciscan Sisters Nancy, Pat, Kay (RIP), Carol

The pastor and they sisters ended up sending me to a remote part of the parish. It was a four hour walk to get to the community where a family took me in. I stayed there usually for four or five days at a time, participating in the life of the village, visiting other communities – training catechists and other pastoral work. 

I stayed with the Clavel family in their provisional housing, that Esteban, who had to flee the country to escape being killed, had fashioned out of the cattle stalls that once stood where he, his wife Rosa Elbia, and their children lived. I brought along a hammock for sleeping so that I wouldn’t displace anyone from their beds.

Esteban and Rosa Elbia

Life was simple. A makeshift latrine, water brought by the family from a stream about thirty minutes away, bathing in the stream, eating tortillas and beans (often very salty) with the family. The housing was so provisional that during the rains water streamed in under my hammock. But, in the midst of this, I experienced the grace of God. Almost every morning in that simple home, I woke up in my hammock with the words, “Thanks be to God,” on my lips and in my heart. In that poverty, sharing it with good people, I experienced the giftedness of God. The only appropriate response was thanksgiving. 

Today, Thanksgiving in the US, I find myself giving thanks. I had plans to spend Thanksgiving with the Dubuque Franciscans (two of whom I know from Suchitoto) but the access to a major bridge between Santa Rosa de Copán was washed out and is provisionally repaired. So, I’ll have a different Thanksgiving. This may help me recall how I have been blessed to serve in rural Honduras. 

I don’t live nearly as poorly and simply as I did in Suchitoto 28 years ago. But we are in the middle of a pandemic that has restricted my ministry. Also, we have been buffeted by two hurricanes that have left villages in the parish isolated and many places without electricity for several days. Many villages also lack water because the water lines from the springs up the mountains have been broken. 

But God is good. And people have responded to the needs.

Local people have collected clothing and basic grains to share with those who have lost their homes or been displaced. Others, including some Hondurans who live in the US, have sent money to help buy basic food stuffs and cleaning supplies. Two friends are sending some money and our sister-parish, St. Thomas Aquinas in Ames, will be sending money for reconstruction efforts and may have a fundraiser for our needs. Today, God willing, I'll be going with the pastor and others to take food, clothing, and more to a village that has been isolated since the first hurricane. It may be a grueling trip since we will probably have to take the highway to La Entrada and then the highway toward Copán Ruinas, since there is no access to that part of the parish from Dulce Nombre. 

But I am grateful that we can help. 

This will be a different Thanksgiving, perhaps getting to the essence of what this day should mean – recognizing the graciousness of God, remembering that all is gift, and responding in joyful love. 

Thanks be to God.

ETA - tropical storm, hurricane, and more

A hurricane is about to hit Honduras.

Since March we have had limitations on the days of circulating and in access to banks and stores, based on the last number of our identity cards. It was not easy, but it was an effort to cut down the agglomeration of people in public spaces. 

This week the Honduran government had called for the Feriado Morazanico, five days of free circulation throughout the country. This was touted as a way to benefit the tourist industry. Some of us believe this is ill-conceived and could open us up to further dissemination of COVD-19. But Tropical Storm Eta, which will probably be a full-scale hurricane, is coming and the government has postponed the feriado. 

The weather has been very strange this year. It’s been hotter than usual the past few months and we have had more rain than normal. The rain has resulted in terrible roads and in some landslides. 

Two weeks ago, a landslide destroyed a house in one rural community, while the family was inside. Thanks be to God they escaped. But it has been raining almost continuously for the past few days and we have rarely seen the sun. As a result, the roads are even worse and the danger of landslides is high. 

On the northern coast the situation is serious with major flooding in Tela, Atlantida, and other communities. 

What will happen when Eta comes into Honduras? 

 Some are suggesting that this could be very bad, as when Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in 1998, which brought about 7000 deaths in the country. 

The roads here are treacherous in some places. The torrential rains are complicating a situation of roads that have deteriorated due to the earlier rains and the lack of maintenance. Massive ruts make driving an obstacle course and wreak havoc on the vehicles. Even in some cases when there have been repairs, the lack of putting down gravel has led to slippery roads. 

It rained almost all of Sunday night and Monday morning. I had planned to accompany the pastor to a 7:00 am Mass in the cemetery of Joyas Galanas and Plan de Naranjo, about an hour from where I live. 

When I got up at 4:30 am (since I couldn’t sleep), I wondered whether I should go. But I left at about 6:00 am. All went well till I got to a place a few kilometers before Joyas Galanas. 

A few weeks ago I had passed through here and taken a picture which I sent to the assistant mayor of Dolores. When I approached the site, I saw that they had done some work there. I thought I’d make it up the hill, but then I started slipping, although I was in four-wheel drive. I found myself straddling the road. After some efforts to more the car, with the help of someone who had come along, I saw the pastor’s car come up behind us. He ended up getting the car into a driveway nearby and I proceeded up the hill with him, though I felt at least once that we were “slip, sliding away.” 

We got to the cemetery, where the people had prepared tarps for the Mass. All went well until we went to leave. The pastor’s car got stuck and it had to be pulled out of the mud by the people in the community. 

He left me off where we had left my pickup and I proceeded home safely. 

I decided to spend today at home – reading, writing, praying (for the US on election day), relaxing. It’s been raining almost continuously since last night and so I didn’t want to venture out. 

I’ll go out tomorrow since I need to have the pickup looked at and since I need to pick up a few things in Santa Rosa. Thursday and Friday should be the days when Eta most affects our area. We have a wedding scheduled in a rural community but the roads are fairly good to get there. 

 Please keep all of us in Nicaragua and Honduras in your prayers. A major tropical storm only makes the situation worse. 

One note. If you want to provide assistance, be very careful. The corruption and the inefficiency will most likely run rampant – as they did after Hurricane Mitch. This is especially problematic since the election campaigns are beginning and aid is often manipulated by the ruling political party. In addition, some international agencies prioritize their goals, instead of responding to the needs and goals of the country. A detailed study of this can be found in Jeffrey T. Jackson, The Globalizers: Development Workers in Action, published in 2005. (I read it in 2013.) 

On a personal note. I am doing well. I have enough food in the house and enough propane for the stove. I am at the top of a hill and so there is little risk of flooding. The pickup will be checked out tomorrow. The only serious concerns for me are the status of the roads and the availability of electricity and the internet – very much first world concerns. But my neighbors and others are not so privileged and so I’ll try to be available to help as I can.