We have been working in Mexico through our youth to Montemorales
and in an effort directed by the Pontifical Institute for
Foreign Missions and many other outreach efforts in our
community. Nonetheless, we needed a new effort that was
more challenging and, after looking around a bit, we joined
the effort by our own Diocese that has a companion relationship
with the Diocese of Trujillo, Honduras.
The very week that we made our desire known to the Diocesan
leadership we were told that Bishop Luis Solé from
Trujillo and Padre Gildo would be in our Diocese for conversations
with Bishop Grahmann. It
so happened that we were also having our Fall
Fiesta that week and so Bishops Solé and
Grahmann, Padre Gildo, Deacon Charlie Stump and
others joined our celebration. We designated the
profit from this celebration to support our efforts
in Honduras. We added to this other contributions
and we had enough to provide for the transportation
of delegates from our parish as well as initial
project money.
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Road transportation
and communication are nonexistent in many areas.
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Our February trip was an introduction to a relationship
with two parishes. The plan of the Diocese was to allow
us to choose which of these parishes we might join in a
companion relationship. Because of the meager interest among
the parishes of our Diocese we realized that if we made
a choice this would exclude one of the parishes from any
outside assistance. So, we chose to companion with both.
We realize that this might be a burden but it is also a
joy. Each of these parishes has unique gifts and needs.
Before we can introduce the parishes, we need to review
the unique structure of the Church in Honduras. Most of
Honduras is very rural and sparsely populated. There are
only four or five major population centers in the country.
The Diocese of Trujillo is slightly larger in land area
to that of the Diocese of Dallas but where Dallas has over
1,000,000 Catholics and a general population of 3,500,000,
Trujillo has fewer than 190,000 Catholics among a general
population of less that 300,000.
To accommodate the life and structure of the Church in
such a setting, the ten parishes of the Diocese are divided
up into communities, what we might call neighborhoods. These
are truly the lifeblood of the parish. Since the parishioners
cannot travel to the parish center, on a regular basis Eucharistic
ministers, catechists and “delegates of the word”
are trained in the communities and provide for the majority
of the leadership and service. In the parish there might
be thirty to fifty such communities. Ideally there are two
priests in each parish who travel to these communities every
one to three months. A majority of the communities have
small chapels where fifty to one hundred people can gather.
Some simply gather
in homes,
on porches or in the open.
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The constant training and education of the lay
leadership of the parishes is a major aspect of
parish life. On a regular basis there are gatherings
of the lay leadership. The communities follow curriculum
materials both for the children and the adults and
the lay leadership prepare together for the gatherings
of their communities. These communities also provide
the basis for the pastoral care of the parish and
as a side benefit have encouraged literacy and the
standard of living. Some communities have formed
various kinds of
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cooperative efforts including directly sharing their finances and forming small
cottage industries. The people understand clearly that they
are living the way that the first Christians did.
As we said before, our parish has been partnered with two
parishes, St. Rita in Saba and St. Stephen in Rio Estaben.
Saba is a town of about 9,000 situated in the Rio Aguan
valley some 20 miles (direct route) south of the north coast
of Honduras. The surrounding area is clearly agricultural
with a host of small, family farms or plots of land used
to raise cattle or subsistence farm products. There are
also large corporate farms, many of which are completely
mechanized and employ only a few people.
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There are a few larger homes and
some under construction, most of them being built
by people working in the United States. Only a few
of the streets are paved. Some public transportation
is available but the vehicle of choice is clearly
the bicycle. While the city is dusty in the dry times
and muddy during the rainy season, the interaction
of the people is pleasant and even idyllic. Rusting
tin roofs are everywhere, sidewalks are rare, and
glass in the windows is a sign of prosperity. There
is a municipal water system but not everyone is connected,
the water is expensive and, at times is unreliable.
Purified water is available at water “stations”.
There
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Housing is generally
block wall and tin roofed,
many of which are single room dwellings.
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are street vendors, shops and small grocery stores. A major
highway runs through Saba and a very important bridge crossing
the river, the largest in Honduras. (This bridge was destroyed
during a tropical storm but has been rebuilt.)
St. Rita’s parish is centered in Saba. There are thirty
communities that make up the parish, scattered through several
hundred square miles. They are found in mountainous areas
as well as in the agricultural valley. Some are found along
four wheel drive “roads” and some have community
chapels and some do not. One particular community continues
to watch as their once beloved chapel slips into a river
that changed its course with hurricane Mitch (1998). Each
of these communities is unique. Some are in more populated
areas while others are loosely described as neighborhoods,
a gathering of shacks and houses. One common group of neighborhoods
is “on top,” in the mountains.
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The geography of Honduras is fairly
mixed throughout. It is composed of mountains that
range from one to two thousand feet above sea level,
sea coast and interior jungles and valley farmland.
While there are patches of jungle areas left, most
of the area has been cleared for farms or pastures.
The communities that are up in the mountains are
among some of the poorest. Land is cheaper there
and a few of them have banded together to purchase
areas that they have turned into hillside farms.
They grow
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corn and other grains as well as clear pastureland to raise
cattle. They are proud people who have worked hard to scrape
out a living on the land. They use horses for travel and
work. Tractors are rare and the machete is the tool of choice
for almost every task.
St. Stephen’s is a much poorer parish, among the poorest
in the area. It is centered on Rio Esteban, a tiny town
of less than 700. A series of coastal towns and villages
that are larger are included in the parish which stretches
almost twenty miles into the mountains and as many miles
west, up the coast. The description of the parish is similar
to Saba but poorer and evenly more sparsely populated.
There is a community of Garufina in Rio Estaban.
They have maintained their culture since the seventeenth
century and, while a smaller than average number
are Catholic, they add a particular cultural richness
to the parish. Unfortunately, they tend to be
even poorer than other people in Honduras. San
Luis, Belfate and LisLis are three of the larger
communities that are part of the parish. San Luis
and Belfate have significant chapels and working
congregations.
One of the focal points of our trip was to celebrate
two projects. In Saba we celebrated with the parish
the completion of a water well. Our parish provided
the financial resources for this. It was dug on
the parish grounds and will provide water throughout
the year.
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The Garufina are
extremely interesting descendents of African slaves
who were freed in a shipwreck.
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The parish will no longer be dependent on the municipal
system which is unreliable and expensive. In Rio Esteban
we had a little more work to do in understanding the need
for a farm. This was an idea presented in our discussions
in our last visit. The concern was that the parish has almost
no income. It is supported by the Diocese but the population
is so poor that it cannot make enough contributions to make
a difference. In seeking a solution to this we need to add
in the requirement of Bishop Solé that the parishes
make every effort to become self supporting. Additionally,
finding an enterprise that is not labor intensive would
be a real bonus. The proposal of the community was to purchase
approximately ten acres of land in order to raise cattle.
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We had an opportunity
to drive/hike to the site of the “farm”.
It is only a few hundred yards from the Gulf Coast
and covered in a rich mixture of grasses. There is
still a little clearing to do but within weeks the
first group of ten cattle will be pastured on the
land. It is thought that twenty calves can be raised
to yearling each year and that the parish will profit
by about five thousand U.S. dollars annually. This,
by the
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way is close to the annual income of the parish. There is some
thought that the farm could be a model for other parishes.
Since it is not labor intensive and the market for beef is
very good on Honduras, this could be successful in any parish.
The parish is pastored by three Franciscan friars. We were
reminded that the method of supporting the parishes in the
first missionary establishment of the Church in Texas was
raising cattle. (
http://www.nps.gov/saan/visit/MissionSanJose.htm)
La Finca de San José (St. Joseph’s Farm), as
it has come to be known, potentially has another part to
play in helping the Church in Honduras. In our first discussion
in February the issue of education was pressed. Generally
speaking, rural children have a very difficult time getting
beyond the fifth grade. Economic pressures and an inadequate
system of public education are the causes. Teachers sometimes
lack devotion to their work but most are simply not paid
and become discouraged. While Bishop Solé and others
are beginning to focus on this problem, a model will have
to be developed. It will need to meet the needs of people
in population centers as well as rural areas. Finding the
resources for what could be expensive to build and maintain
will be a challenge. It is possible that an expansion of
the size of these parish farms could
be the resource base for supporting
parochial education. The focus on parochial education
will also help to shield Catholic elementary aged
children from the growing influence of Protestant
sects who are “buying” children’s
membership in their churches by promising them
an education.
While the heart of this report has been the major
concerns of our brothers and sisters in Honduras,
there are many smaller problems that we hope to
solve. Because of the great challenge of transportation,
the priests’ four wheel drive trucks are worn
out and the cost of repairs is quickly exceeding
their value. Repairs need to be done to existing
churches that suffer terribly from the weather.
Additional chapels need to be constructed in areas
that have never had them.
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It is not uncommon for children
to only have a third grade education.
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We are saddened to
see brand new Protestant chapels funded by U.S.
churches, while the Catholics meet outside or in
huts.
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One of the projects that we have undertaken is to
provide one half of the funds $1,300) to build a
perimeter wall and gate around one of the chapels
to provide security in a difficult neighborhood.
We are seeking detail concern some major repairs
to St. Rita’s in Saba. This will probably cost
several thousand dollars. A notebook computer is
needed in Saba as well as a small copy machine.
We are going to completely reprint the religious
education curriculum as it is out of print and there
is nothing to replace it. This will probably become
a major project for our JYM students and will cost
several thousand dollars. Music education has been
targeted as a way to keep their youth involved in
the Church. There is a great desire for this but
very few instruments. There need is for several
keyboards and guitars. These are
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the instruments of choice. The priests need everything for
their altars, vestments, chalices, sacramentaries, Bibles
(Central America Edition), albs, small amplifiers and wireless
microphones (for the larger churches). Spanish language devotional
material, Catechisms and Bibles are highly prized.
Of course, the parishes need financial support. We provided $13,500 for the
farm land, $2,700 for calves to pasture on the land and
$400 to complete the clearing. $1,000 was provided to St.
Rita’s to help with their budget shortfall. $5,000
was given for the water well. We will be providing $500
to put a roof on one of the chapels. One ongoing project
that is worth mentioning is the construction of a radio
communication system for Rio Estaben. There is no communication
throughout the parish. Our current investment in this project
is $4,000. We have also made contributions to both of our
parishes following our February trip. We have also asked
for a disaster list, as the hurricane season approaches,
so that we can accumulate materials. One of our scouts is
collecting medical packs that will become part of this and
the general store of materials that they need.
Our financial support of the Church
in Honduras is provided solely by the contributions
of our members. Several sizeable contributions have
supported this project. The children of our parish
contributed $2,000 to their P.I.G.S. (People in
God’s Service) project.
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These funds will be used to purchase calves to raise on the
farm. Thank you to all who helped and will continue to provide
funds to support our two parish companions.
May God bless you.
