During the last two weeks of February 2008, sixteen St. Thomas parishioners traveled back to San Pedro Sula, Honduras to spend a week at Nuestras Pequenas Rosas (Our Little Roses) Home for Girls. For half of us, it was our second trip to Our Little Roses (OLR), the rest of the team were “first-timers”. Preparing for the U2charist service, which benefited Global Outreach and took place two weeks before our trip, served as a wonderful “team-building” exercise for our mission team. However, try as we may, those of us who had visited OLR before could not prepare the new travelers for everything they were about to witness or the depth of emotion and spiritual awakening it would stir within them. From person to person, the reasons for going on the first trip were similar; to experience a third world country, gain a perspective on poverty, help the girls, and respond to a calling to serve God.
As our plane landed in San Pedro Sula, the familiar sights immediately warmed my heart as I said a silent prayer of thanks for our safe arrival. I took in the breathtaking backdrop as we boarded the OLR bus: the sun was beginning to set behind majestic mountains in the distance and the sky was a vivid deep blue. But the scenery quickly changed from vivid tropics to poverty as we neared the compound. Children as young as toddlers walked on dirt roads, some naked, some half clothed, without an adult in sight. Trash was piled high, and chickens, dogs, and ponies roamed freely. A young girl cooked over a piece of tin on a metal drum filled with trash that had been set on fire just outside her one room house made of rotting wood, clay, and a sheet metal roof. A torn sheet hung over the entranceway. Rickety wagons pulled by tired malnourished ponies and driven by young boys sold fruit on the side of the road. The heat and humidity made the air feel thick and dusty steam rose off the ground around us. Then just up ahead, we could see the bright gold walls of OLR towering above the trees. The green gates opened in anticipation of our arrival. While some of us were re-united with hugs and smiling faces of those we had grown to love during our previous visit, others were struggling to pronounce unfamiliar Spanish names for the first time. Evenings were spent listening to music, playing cards, making crafts, playing soccer, and getting acquainted and re-acquainted in the outside play area. The well-lit play area is surrounded by cement walls topped with barbed wire and electric fencing and policed by armed guards, a constant reminder of the extreme struggle for survival that exists beyond the walls. Each morning began with wild roosters crowing and the sounds of little voices while the younger girls began getting ready for school. During our stay Melissa Von Stade and Juan Colina attended OLR board and advisory meetings (Melissa serves on the board of directors and Juan is an advisory committee member); we traveled to see the progress made in the building of the retreat center; and we sanded and painted a rusted stairway, which was our service project during this trip. Of course the primary purpose of our visit would be simply to be with the girls. That may seem like an obvious and somewhat simplistic idea, until you think of our visit from the girls’ perspective. They share their bedrooms with their “sisters” grouped by age and headed by caregivers, referred to as a “Tias” (Spanish for aunts). The Tias are the glue that holds the OLR “family” together. They are in every way surrogate parents - responsible for all aspects of the girls’ upbringing from making sure homework gets done to providing encouragement, love, and discipline. Although the girls have been rescued from the most extreme poverty, neglect, and abusive situations, they have very little contact with the world beyond the walls and steel gates. Their world is focused primarily within the three-acre compound. The outside world and the extent of God’s love is brought to them by the mission teams that visit them throughout the year. That’s the key to what makes our visit and the excursions we take them on even more meaningful. The transition house where 7 recent OLR graduates live independently is within walking distance of the compound. This home provides a supportive and safe transition for the young women continuing their education at the University or entering the workforce. The girls pay for rent, utilities and food while working and going to college full-time. This truly illustrates the success of the program that nurtures them from infancy to independence as they mature into young women, ultimately benefiting their families, community and country.
One of our excursions this trip was the tree canopy adventure. Ten of the older girls were invited, based on merit, to come with us to sail through the jungle (a former coffee plantation) on zip lines hundreds of feet in the air. For some of the girls, this experience was not only invigorating but left them with a lasting feeling of confidence as they learned to face and overcome their fears and soar to new heights. This very theme of “soaring” was carried over into a mural that was later painted in the girls’ living room back in the OLR home. With the help of a few of the most artistically gifted OLR girls, our mission team painted a beautiful 10 x 12-foot mural specifically designed to encourage and empower them to reach for their dreams. The mural (pictured below) includes the following quote, “Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.” The completion of the mural was celebrated with an evening of fun and home-made s’mores.
Contributions from the St. Thomas’ “Croc Drop” totaling $1,400, allowed us to purchase 70 pairs of Croc shoes for the girls, all of which were packed into our suitcases and extra duffle bags. We watched with delight as girl after girl skipped and danced with joy sporting their very own pair of brightly colored new shoes, which were perfectly suited for their climate and activity level. Saturday morning we loaded 30 girls onto a bright yellow school bus and traveled 2 hours to a private beach. Upon arrival, the girls darted immediately to the sand (brightly colored Crocs on foot). We enjoyed lunch together and watched them jump waves for about 2 hours before asking if anyone felt like going to the water slide at the pool. The girls screamed with excitement, and so for a small additional fee, all 30 girls were given pool access. The screams and giggles from the littlest to the oldest girl, the smiles, hugs, and laughter were a priceless experience for all of us. It was a wonderful day, but the best part, by far, was the girls’ smiles and the looks of love and appreciation in their eyes on the bus ride home. A long, hot bus ride home was made to seem even longer as Spanish pop (“reggae ton”) music at head pounding volume blasted from the bus radio. As I looked out the bus window and watched the sun setting in the distance with one of the girls sleeping on my shoulder...Allie Colina screamed from the back of the bus, "Pam....listen to what’s playing....listen, oh my gosh, listen"....I turned around and first noticed the tears in her eyes, and then heard why she was screaming. The U2 song entitled "Beautiful Day" was playing loud and clear! Amazingly, in and amongst nothing but Spanish pop music playing for well over an hour, out of nowhere, suddenly U2 was playing. And the very song that was playing happened to be the song that was sung weeks before during the procession at the U2charist service. Our day at the beach had been a "beautiful day"...the most beautiful day for all of us, especially the girls. And we (the mission team) all began to sing along with U2, at the top of our lungs we sang, “It’s a beautiful day. Don't let it get away.” When the song was over, the radio went right back into another Spanish pop song, and not another American song was played the rest of the way home.
That night, back in our living quarters during our evening prayer and reflection, there was not a dry eye in the room. Once again, there at OLR, we not only felt God’s presence, but this time we heard him loud and clear. A famous quote from Bono (the lead singer of the band U2) at the National Prayer breakfast came to mind. He said, "The poor are where God lives. God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives and God is with us if they are with them.” All of us riding the bus back from the beach that Saturday afternoon know that this is in fact true, as there were quite a few times during our trip where we witnessed God’s love and presence with great clarity.
A wise man once said, “Don’t ask God to bless what you are doing. Get involved in what God is doing because it’s already blessed.” If God is with the poor, then that is what God is doing. That is what he called us to do, and those of us who traveled to OLR to answer His call have, without a shadow of a doubt, been truly blessed.
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