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. :)