This past week, my housemate's mother visited. Like most parents, she was worried about the living environment she would find her daughter in. I am happy to say, she was more than pleased. After sharing over dinner how impressed she was to see that we did not just live as coworkers, but as family, looking out for one another, I asked if she would jot down her thoughts. I wanted to share her experience with you all. Below is her letter. :)
Thanks, Michelle!
To all of the parents and loved ones of Global Brigades
I wanted to reach out to all of you and give you my impressions of the Global Brigades in Honduras.
As a parent I was tremendously concerned about my daughter going to and living in Honduras. I wanted to encourage her to follow her heart, but at the same time was worried sick about her. Would she be mugged, kidnapped, raped? Where will she live, what will she eat, what kind of illnesses will she get? All parents can relate to these concerns.
So, what did I do? I decided to go there and see for myself.
What did I find?
The most amazing, courageous, caring group of young adults that I have ever met in my entire life. They share the same passion and values with each other. They talk of their experiences and how they have impacted their individual lives. Every time the conversation in the ‘house’ strays from the Global Brigades, invariably it turns back to the group and how they can improve it. Each one of these young adults brings to the Global Brigades individual experiences that they each thrive and build on.
For all of the parents and loved ones who have not or maybe can not have the experience of coming here I want to let you know that each and every one of these young adults cares for and looks out for each other. They know that there have been gun point robberies, and murders right around the corner from them. So (1) they do not go out alone, (2) they do not carry anything with them, except some cash in their pockets, so that if they do get mugged the robbers are happy with some money. The rest of their money goes into their personal areas on their bodies, (3) they never walk anywhere at night, they always take a cab; they each have various cab driver’s telephone numbers (just in case).
In other words they have come together to protect each other, to live in a very poor city, and make a difference in this world. They have become a family here. You parents and loved ones should not worry about them.
I am very comfortable now with where my daughter works and lives. I am so very proud of what she is doing and the rest of this group. I wish that more of us had the courage that these very special young adults have. They truly feel that they are making a difference in this world, and I think that they are, one little village at a time.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Hurricane Matthew leaves Teguc alone, but unfortunately leave its mark in other parts of Latin America
Hurricane Matthew left Tegucigalpa alone. In fact, I believe that if anything, it sucked in the moisture from our air and left us with less rain than normal. Everything is fine and well here, however, I cannot say that for all of Honduras. Some Northern areas have been left flooded. You'll see, the article below discusses La Ceiba, which is a city on the Northern Coast.
"Tropical Storm Matthew is dumping torrential rains over Central America, after killing seven people in Venezuela.
U.S. forecasters say Matthew lashed the northern coast of Honduras Saturday morning. It is expected to cross Belize and Guatemala Sunday and Monday.
Thousands of people have been evacuated in some parts of the region, where officials fear the storm will cause severe flooding and mudslides. It is expected to produce up to 25 centimeters of rain across the region and even more in isolated areas.
Matthew's winds diminished to 65 kilometers per hour Saturday, and the storm was expected to continue to weaken.
On Friday, Matthew drenched parts of Venezuela, sparking flood waters that swept over a slum in Caracas, killing seven people."
To see full article click HERE.
"Tropical Storm Matthew is dumping torrential rains over Central America, after killing seven people in Venezuela.
U.S. forecasters say Matthew lashed the northern coast of Honduras Saturday morning. It is expected to cross Belize and Guatemala Sunday and Monday.
Thousands of people have been evacuated in some parts of the region, where officials fear the storm will cause severe flooding and mudslides. It is expected to produce up to 25 centimeters of rain across the region and even more in isolated areas.
Matthew's winds diminished to 65 kilometers per hour Saturday, and the storm was expected to continue to weaken.
On Friday, Matthew drenched parts of Venezuela, sparking flood waters that swept over a slum in Caracas, killing seven people."
To see full article click HERE.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Tropical Storm/Hurricane Matthew
Maybe you've seen on the news, there's a tropical storm heading in my direction. HAVE NO FEAR! It's hitting the North East coast line (of which I live in the South West). We'll probably get heavy rain, which still isn't great. People live in really unstable homes here, and sometimes there are landslides. That aspect is scary to me. It's a terrible reality here. The infrastructure can simply not take the weather this country has. However, you do not have to worry about me. We're on stable ground in a structurally sound building.
I will add that we MAY lose internet for a little while, so if you don't hear from me over the weekend, do not worry. I will check up whenever I can. Again.. No worries.
You can check up on the storm if you'd like HERE.
Where the storm is looking to effect:
Where I live:
I will add that we MAY lose internet for a little while, so if you don't hear from me over the weekend, do not worry. I will check up whenever I can. Again.. No worries.
You can check up on the storm if you'd like HERE.
Where the storm is looking to effect:
Where I live:
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Boast, Build and Sell
This stuff makes me excited about the possabilites of humanitarian work :)
By: Nicholas Kristof, New York Times
9/22/2010
"The U.N. set eight landmark antipoverty objectives in 2000, so this year’s General Assembly is reviewing how we’re doing after a decade. We’re off-track on most of these Millennium Development Goals, so let me offer three suggestions for how the humanitarian world might do better in framing the fight against poverty:
First, boast more.
Humanitarians have tended to guilt-trip people and governments into generosity by peddling emaciated children with flies on their eyes. But relentless negativity leaves the inaccurate impression that Africa is an abyss of failure and hopelessness. And who wants to invest in a failure?
In fact, here’s the record: antipoverty work saves around 32,000 children’s lives each day. That’s my calculation based on the number of children who died in 1960 (about 20 million) and the number dying now (about 8 million a year).
Twelve million lives saved annually — roughly one every three seconds — is a reminder that global poverty needn’t be a depressing topic but can be a hopeful one. Ancient scourges like Guinea worm, river blindness and polio are on their way out. Modern contraception is more common than a generation ago. The average Indian woman has 2.6 children now, compared with 5.5 in 1970.
That doesn’t mean overselling how easy it is to defeat poverty. In their zeal to raise money, activists sometimes elide the challenges of corruption and dependency — and mind-boggling complexity. Helping people in truth is far harder than it looks.
For example, it’s easy to build a school, but it can be tough to make sure that teachers actually show up afterward; they may live 100 miles away in the capital, receiving their pay for doing nothing. Or kids may be “enrolled” but miss months of school during the harvest. Or they may attend school but lack pencils, paper or books. Or they may be too malnourished or anemic from intestinal worms to learn anything. And Western aid to education sometimes just displaces domestic resources, which are then diverted to buy weapons instead.
In short, building an educational system in which students actually learn is difficult, and it takes more than money poured into broken systems. But it’s also true that literacy rates and school attendance are rising sharply. More than three-quarters of African youngsters are now enrolled in primary school, up from 58 percent in 1999.
My second suggestion is to focus not just on poverty relief but also on wealth creation. The best way to overcome poverty isn’t charity but economic growth, trade rather than aid. That’s why East Asia has raised its living standards so much.
There, too, there’s progress. We’re seeing economic engines revving up from Africa to India. For the last decade, per capita G.D.P. growth in Africa has averaged more than 3 percent per year — faster than in America or Europe.
Wealthy countries could encourage prosperity creation by opening their markets wider to exports from poor countries. The United States has a program, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, that is an important step in that direction and should be expanded.
My third suggestion: punchier marketing. Humanitarians tend to flinch at the idea of marketing, thinking that’s what you do with toothpaste. But it’s all the more important when lives are at stake.
This United Nations summit meeting is marked by the publication of tedious reports on poverty that almost no one will read, when it might gain more support with, say, a music video. After all, one of the most powerful tools to spread the word about educating girls was a “Girl Effect” video designed by the marketing geniuses at Nike. The first Girl Effect video went viral and has been watched by about 10 million people; its successor was released this week.
My hunch is that the most effective way to market antipoverty work in coming years will be by rebranding it, in part, as a security issue. Rich country budgets are so strained that it’s unrealistic to think that governments will approve much new money — or endorse the excellent suggestion of a financial transactions tax to pay for global health programs — just to ease suffering.
But hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent fighting terrorism and bolstering fragile countries like Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan. We should note that schools have a better record of fighting terrorism than missiles do and that wobbly governments can be buttressed not just with helicopter gunships but also with school lunch programs (at 25 cents per kid per day).
International security is where the money is, but fighting poverty is where the success is."
View article HERE.
By: Nicholas Kristof, New York Times
9/22/2010
"The U.N. set eight landmark antipoverty objectives in 2000, so this year’s General Assembly is reviewing how we’re doing after a decade. We’re off-track on most of these Millennium Development Goals, so let me offer three suggestions for how the humanitarian world might do better in framing the fight against poverty:
First, boast more.
Humanitarians have tended to guilt-trip people and governments into generosity by peddling emaciated children with flies on their eyes. But relentless negativity leaves the inaccurate impression that Africa is an abyss of failure and hopelessness. And who wants to invest in a failure?
In fact, here’s the record: antipoverty work saves around 32,000 children’s lives each day. That’s my calculation based on the number of children who died in 1960 (about 20 million) and the number dying now (about 8 million a year).
Twelve million lives saved annually — roughly one every three seconds — is a reminder that global poverty needn’t be a depressing topic but can be a hopeful one. Ancient scourges like Guinea worm, river blindness and polio are on their way out. Modern contraception is more common than a generation ago. The average Indian woman has 2.6 children now, compared with 5.5 in 1970.
That doesn’t mean overselling how easy it is to defeat poverty. In their zeal to raise money, activists sometimes elide the challenges of corruption and dependency — and mind-boggling complexity. Helping people in truth is far harder than it looks.
For example, it’s easy to build a school, but it can be tough to make sure that teachers actually show up afterward; they may live 100 miles away in the capital, receiving their pay for doing nothing. Or kids may be “enrolled” but miss months of school during the harvest. Or they may attend school but lack pencils, paper or books. Or they may be too malnourished or anemic from intestinal worms to learn anything. And Western aid to education sometimes just displaces domestic resources, which are then diverted to buy weapons instead.
In short, building an educational system in which students actually learn is difficult, and it takes more than money poured into broken systems. But it’s also true that literacy rates and school attendance are rising sharply. More than three-quarters of African youngsters are now enrolled in primary school, up from 58 percent in 1999.
My second suggestion is to focus not just on poverty relief but also on wealth creation. The best way to overcome poverty isn’t charity but economic growth, trade rather than aid. That’s why East Asia has raised its living standards so much.
There, too, there’s progress. We’re seeing economic engines revving up from Africa to India. For the last decade, per capita G.D.P. growth in Africa has averaged more than 3 percent per year — faster than in America or Europe.
Wealthy countries could encourage prosperity creation by opening their markets wider to exports from poor countries. The United States has a program, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, that is an important step in that direction and should be expanded.
My third suggestion: punchier marketing. Humanitarians tend to flinch at the idea of marketing, thinking that’s what you do with toothpaste. But it’s all the more important when lives are at stake.
This United Nations summit meeting is marked by the publication of tedious reports on poverty that almost no one will read, when it might gain more support with, say, a music video. After all, one of the most powerful tools to spread the word about educating girls was a “Girl Effect” video designed by the marketing geniuses at Nike. The first Girl Effect video went viral and has been watched by about 10 million people; its successor was released this week.
My hunch is that the most effective way to market antipoverty work in coming years will be by rebranding it, in part, as a security issue. Rich country budgets are so strained that it’s unrealistic to think that governments will approve much new money — or endorse the excellent suggestion of a financial transactions tax to pay for global health programs — just to ease suffering.
But hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent fighting terrorism and bolstering fragile countries like Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan. We should note that schools have a better record of fighting terrorism than missiles do and that wobbly governments can be buttressed not just with helicopter gunships but also with school lunch programs (at 25 cents per kid per day).
International security is where the money is, but fighting poverty is where the success is."
View article HERE.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
10 things to know about life in Honduras
One of my housemates, Jennifer, has a family member flying in tomorrow. In preparation of their culture shock, Jennifer sent her this hilarious and DEAD ON look into our daily lives. I hope you enjoy. :)
"As you prepare to embark on your first ever voyage to Central America,
I would like to inform you of a few things that you should keep in
mind. I hope this sarcastic, yet serious list will accurately inform
you of the experiences yet to come...
1) You will be welcomed into this country with open arms!!
...Not really- in fact, people will harshly stare at you, and will not
break eye contact even if you stare back. Blonds are like alien and if
you proceed to speak in English, they will stare even longer. You may
experience men yelling to you "Oye linda, lava mi ropa" which means
"Hey pretty lady, wash my clothes"... I don't know why they say this-
apparently it is some kind of horrible pick up line.
2) Plumbing is exquisite here!
...That is a dirty lie. The plumbing is so bad that you can't even
flush toilet paper down the toilet. And if you make this mistake, you
will be reprimanded immediately as the water flows up over the toilet
bowl and you are standing there thinking about how you are going to
explain this predicament to someone who doesn't speak your language.
KEY POINT: Don't throw toilet paper in the toilet, no matter how
smelly it may be after you wipe your ass- it will smell worse when it
comes back up...
3) Geckos, tarantulas, and scorpions are your friends.
...Don't mess with them and they won't mess with you... the geckos I
mean. As for the scorpions and tarantulas- kills those @#$% #$%^&s!
4) There is plenty of healthy food options here!
...As a matter of fact, EVERYTHING is either deep fried, soaked in
lard, or contains so many starches that you will be stocked up on
carbohydrates for the next month after you leave here.
5) There are no bugs here.
...Actually those bastards will even find you in your sleep and you
will wake up scratching in the middle of the night. Sorry there's no
AC option so this is the trade off for the open windows.
6) Rain? What rain?
...You will most likely experience your first official flood while
you're here- don't be alarmed... only PART of the stadium fell apart
this week due to the high winds and serious saturation. Most of it is
still standing.
7) Hot water is abundant here.
...Actually, say goodbye to hot water coming out of faucets. It's
unheard of here.
8) You will always feel clean on the streets.
...In reality, you will probably discover that sweating problem that
you never knew you had. And whenever you walk on the streets or ride
in a taxi, those lovely puffs of exhaust smoke that you see billowing
from the cars will surely make your clothes reek for hours after.
There's something to be said about emissions in the States.
9) Nothing is more refreshing than a nice glass of tap water!
...This is only true if you want parasites. If so, then drink away!
Otherwise, it's bottles and bottles of water. And oh yeah- surprise!
They don't recycle here...
10) And lastly (this one is actually serious) you are about to
experience a part of my life that I hold so dear and I am so proud of.
You will see poverty, malnutrition, and very sick starving dogs on the
street. We will be in the city mostly but it is not easy to forget
that less than an hour away there are people without running water in
their homes and children who run around with no shoes. In the short
amount of time I've been here I have come to love this country and the
people. I am so excited for you to come see my new life here. After
all, you have been my biggest influence in helping me get here and
become the person I am."
Hope everyone's having a great week!
LOOoooOOoVVEEeeEEe,
Hollie
"As you prepare to embark on your first ever voyage to Central America,
I would like to inform you of a few things that you should keep in
mind. I hope this sarcastic, yet serious list will accurately inform
you of the experiences yet to come...
1) You will be welcomed into this country with open arms!!
...Not really- in fact, people will harshly stare at you, and will not
break eye contact even if you stare back. Blonds are like alien and if
you proceed to speak in English, they will stare even longer. You may
experience men yelling to you "Oye linda, lava mi ropa" which means
"Hey pretty lady, wash my clothes"... I don't know why they say this-
apparently it is some kind of horrible pick up line.
2) Plumbing is exquisite here!
...That is a dirty lie. The plumbing is so bad that you can't even
flush toilet paper down the toilet. And if you make this mistake, you
will be reprimanded immediately as the water flows up over the toilet
bowl and you are standing there thinking about how you are going to
explain this predicament to someone who doesn't speak your language.
KEY POINT: Don't throw toilet paper in the toilet, no matter how
smelly it may be after you wipe your ass- it will smell worse when it
comes back up...
3) Geckos, tarantulas, and scorpions are your friends.
...Don't mess with them and they won't mess with you... the geckos I
mean. As for the scorpions and tarantulas- kills those @#$% #$%^&s!
4) There is plenty of healthy food options here!
...As a matter of fact, EVERYTHING is either deep fried, soaked in
lard, or contains so many starches that you will be stocked up on
carbohydrates for the next month after you leave here.
5) There are no bugs here.
...Actually those bastards will even find you in your sleep and you
will wake up scratching in the middle of the night. Sorry there's no
AC option so this is the trade off for the open windows.
6) Rain? What rain?
...You will most likely experience your first official flood while
you're here- don't be alarmed... only PART of the stadium fell apart
this week due to the high winds and serious saturation. Most of it is
still standing.
7) Hot water is abundant here.
...Actually, say goodbye to hot water coming out of faucets. It's
unheard of here.
8) You will always feel clean on the streets.
...In reality, you will probably discover that sweating problem that
you never knew you had. And whenever you walk on the streets or ride
in a taxi, those lovely puffs of exhaust smoke that you see billowing
from the cars will surely make your clothes reek for hours after.
There's something to be said about emissions in the States.
9) Nothing is more refreshing than a nice glass of tap water!
...This is only true if you want parasites. If so, then drink away!
Otherwise, it's bottles and bottles of water. And oh yeah- surprise!
They don't recycle here...
10) And lastly (this one is actually serious) you are about to
experience a part of my life that I hold so dear and I am so proud of.
You will see poverty, malnutrition, and very sick starving dogs on the
street. We will be in the city mostly but it is not easy to forget
that less than an hour away there are people without running water in
their homes and children who run around with no shoes. In the short
amount of time I've been here I have come to love this country and the
people. I am so excited for you to come see my new life here. After
all, you have been my biggest influence in helping me get here and
become the person I am."
Hope everyone's having a great week!
LOOoooOOoVVEEeeEEe,
Hollie
Monday, September 20, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
We're leaving for El Salvador TODAY!!!
I've been counting down the days for nearly a MONTH now. I can't believe it. We're having a staff vacation in El Salvador; both American and Honduran Staff are coming. :) Today, Carter, my housemate, sent out this message, and it made me realize how real this trip IS!!
I'M SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!
This is where we're staying:
DO YOU SEE NOW WHY I'M EXCITED??!!!!
It's all inclusive too.... AHhhhHHhhHhhhHHHHhhhHH!!!
Get back to you later!
LOVE,
Hollie
Hey guys,
I'm sure you all already know this, but Ben asked me to make sure that you all bring your passports on our trip. Otherwise, we'll leave you at the border.
I'm excited! (For the trip, not leaving people at the border.)
Besos,
Mom
I'M SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!
This is where we're staying:
DO YOU SEE NOW WHY I'M EXCITED??!!!!
It's all inclusive too.... AHhhhHHhhHhhhHHHHhhhHH!!!
Get back to you later!
LOVE,
Hollie
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Staff Brigade in Danli
On September 4th, the day before my birthday, my coworkers and I went to a small community by the name of Danli, which was recently affected by some heavy seasonal rains. In this community several hundred people were left homeless after landslides swept away their houses. Once there, we set up a small clinic for the day, offering free doctor and dentist consultations, as well as medicine. I was left speahcless and in awe of the experience. The people of this community were so kind, patient, thankful, and all around beautiful people. I played with the children on and off throughout the day, playing school yard hand clapping games, dancing (Shakira's Waka Waka choreo of course), and singing songs like Mi Niña Bonita (mentioned in my salsa blog post). I especially bonded with a brother and sister; they actually were twins. While we worked, the kids begged for our attention, so whenever I got a moment we played. We were all more than happy to offer them a fun afternoon to easy their minds.
Families have been offered shelter by the mayor, however up to 6 families live in a large brick storage facility with a leaky roof. Thin mattresses with no sheets were propped against dirty walls, and every day a local organization brought everyone plates of rice, tortillas, and some sort of meat. I was told by my coworker that they should have homes in a few months. How life changing. Three weeeks ago they had homes, and everything seemed so normal...
I talked with the little boy I bonded with and asked him where he lived (at the time I didn't realize his home was gone). He said he lived where we were, in the large room shared by 6 other families. He looked at the wall at our banner and read, "Global Brigades," the name of the organization I work for. I looked at him and asked if he could read. Obviously, he could, but it caught me off guard even though he was 8. I said I worked with Global Brigades in Tegucigalpa, and we were here because we wanted to help his family. He looked at me with wide surprised eyes and said "Mi familia??" I said, "Sí." He smiled at me with the most excited and humble smile and said, "Qué bueno..." I can't imagine feeling that kind of pressure and worry for your family at that age. I am so thankful we were able to help, even in the smallest way.
When we left the kids told us they would remember us always.
I love my job. :)
Thursday, September 2, 2010
One Big Happy Family
I have found there is no such thing as having a single title here. We're coworkers/family/housemates/friends. I love it. Nearly all paid staff live in-country now, either in Honduras or Panama. Some are travelers, like my CEO Shital Chauhan, always traveling back and forth from Chicago, Tegucigalpa, and San Francisco. Others US staff work from Dallas, San Francisco, or Seattle.
However, currently so many people are visiting. We're one big, happy, and united family. For example, every Wednesday we have a Travel Team conference call. Members Skype in from all over North America to communicate and touch base on our the Travel Team's progress and the work yet to be done. This week, we sat in a room simply talking. No internet required. It was amazing!! Several minutes in, we skyped Jackie Hyland, currently in Panama. She was our only member not sitting in our presence. I don't know when something like this will happen again. We took a group photo to mark the moment. :)
However, currently so many people are visiting. We're one big, happy, and united family. For example, every Wednesday we have a Travel Team conference call. Members Skype in from all over North America to communicate and touch base on our the Travel Team's progress and the work yet to be done. This week, we sat in a room simply talking. No internet required. It was amazing!! Several minutes in, we skyped Jackie Hyland, currently in Panama. She was our only member not sitting in our presence. I don't know when something like this will happen again. We took a group photo to mark the moment. :)
Team members (left to right)
Top row: Kim, Travel Team (Iowa), Me, Travel Team (Oregon), Liz, Student Advisor (Chicago)
Middle rowt: Emily, Travel Team (Ohio), Shital, CEO (Chicago), Danielle, Travel Coordinator, my boss (Dallas), Jackie via Skype, Travel Team (Dallas), Jennifer, Travel Team (Conneticut), Nancy, accountant (Honduras)
Bottom row: Michelle, Director of Student Affairs (San Francisco), Danny, Travel Team, Microfinance Coordinator (Dallas)
Top row: Kim, Travel Team (Iowa), Me, Travel Team (Oregon), Liz, Student Advisor (Chicago)
Middle rowt: Emily, Travel Team (Ohio), Shital, CEO (Chicago), Danielle, Travel Coordinator, my boss (Dallas), Jackie via Skype, Travel Team (Dallas), Jennifer, Travel Team (Conneticut), Nancy, accountant (Honduras)
Bottom row: Michelle, Director of Student Affairs (San Francisco), Danny, Travel Team, Microfinance Coordinator (Dallas)
From this group, I live with Emily, Liz, Jennifer, and Danny. We make up 5 of the 10 individuals in our house. Oh, also, in this picture we are sitting in our upstairs living room, connected to our kitchen and balcony.
Yes, the organization is young, but it does so many amazing things. I am more than proud to be involved.
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