I Hope

December 31^st, 2011

            Every new year people around the world are filled with the hope that they will be able to kick that bad habit or shed those few extra pounds, because as the calendar page flips to a new year they also hope to turn a page in their own lives. I myself could possibly be at a turning point in my life as my loyal blog readers know concerning the recent events in Honduras. For those of you who have made a new years resolution to visit my blog more often (great resolution!) here is a quick update… There is a lot of insecurity here in Honduras right now due to a corrupt police/government in cahoots with powerful drug trafficking gangs. This current situation has led to much violence throughout the country however most is focused in the two main cities of San Pedro Sula and the capital of Tegucigalpa. With all of this violence Peace Corps here in Honduras has decided to pull out all of its volunteers for at least a month while they reevaluate things here in Honduras, meaning that my time here in Honduras as a PCV could be over. That is of course if I did not have hope to return, which as Andy from the movie The Shawshank Redemption reminds us, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Hope is an interesting thing, just as light works best to illuminate the darkness; hope works best in times of great need.

            There is a time of great need right now in Honduras and for many of its citizens there seems to be little or no hope, their government is corrupt, their police are corrupt, their army is corrupt, and the drug running gangs rule with guns and an organized crime mindset and all of the people know it. The situation seems to have no solution in sight, especially with midterm elections coming up in this year which are sure to be ugly. Yet everyday throughout my interactions with these Hondurans, they still have smiles on their faces and an optimistic outlook. Why? Because they have hope, they must have seen/heard the following exchange from Shawshank:

Andy: There's something inside... that they can't get to, that they can't touch. That's yours.
Red: What're you talking about?
Andy: Hope.

The people here know that without the hope that they carry with them they will literally have nothing and they also know that hope for a better future is their best weapon against fighting drugs, gangs, and corruption.

            A few weeks before Christmas, as I was walking around town one day I noticed up on the highest point that overlooks the town a medal structure being erected. I wondered what it was as it seemed like a large medal pole (festivus maybe?), I eventually wandered over there and found out that it was in fact a large medal Christmas tree set up with lights overlooking the town. I enquired as to why the tree was being put up here in this spot and was told the reason was the night before, the retiring Bishop of Santa Rosa (a man who has always spoken up for the poor and hopeless), had given a sermon in which he told the people that they needed a large Christmas tree that overlooks the town for one reason. That one reason being so that people can look up to it and find hope in its light and its message of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ coming for us.

Tree of Hope as I like to call it.

            I am not sure if I will be able to come back here to Honduras to continue to work with, learn from, and help these people but I do know that I have hope that I can return. I have been won over by the people of my town and the people in Honduras in general; they have opened their arms, their doors, and their hearts to me and have accepted me as one of their own. It does not feel good that we have to leave during a time when these people need us most but as Red says towards the end of the movie (quote is only slightly altered to reflex my situation…), “I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend[s], and shake [their] hand[s]. I hope the [Atlantic] is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.” Just as Red makes it to see his friend I hope that I can return as well. I hope.