 |
| Emilio Receives His Sawyer Water Filter |
During the summer of 2013 the “Río de Agua Viva” team
traveled to the La Ceiba area to join the AHMEN-SIFAT Initiative in Jutiapa and
the “Las Mujeres Bisuteras de Dios” jewelry school for ten days.
While staying at Villa Helens, fellow team member David
Hutzel and I met a young carpenter from Roatan who was building a house nearby
named Emilio. We talked with Emilio
before and after work each day and even invited him over to watch the
USA/Honduras soccer match one night. We
shared some unique cultural experiences together, and Emilio even mentioned
something to us that I think speaks highly of AHMEN teams. Emilio asked me “Do you know that I have been
living at Helens all summer and have watched groups of volunteers come in and
out of here? You guys are the first to
talk to me.” Hearing these words make me
prideful of our hospitality as an organization, but it makes me sad knowing
Emilio has the perspective that only a minority of Norte Americanos are
friendly enough to speak. When we volunteer,
our work sites need not be the only place where we become social in the land we
visit.
 |
| Emilio Teaching "Worms & Germs" with Mari-Lou Wong Chong |
Before leaving Helens to go back home David and I exchanged
information with Emilio. I knew
communication was tricky and expensive but that the gesture of trading phone
numbers was worth a shot to maintain a relationship. To be honest, as a veteran volunteer, I did
not anticipate being able to maintain lines of communication with Emilio. David taught me different.
 |
| Emilio's Workshop |
When it came time to plan the spring “Negocios con Amigos”
team, David said our first mission as a team was to find and visit with
Emilio. The problem was that we didn’t
know how to get from our hotel on Roatan to his Oak Ridge home. Even worse, the phone number Emilio gave us
the summer before was now out of order.
Finding our friend was going to be a longshot. Wouldn’t you know it, though; our team
photographer Jennifer Calhoun knew a lady on the island who knew Emilio! We found him and got his new number.
 |
| Emilio's new home he builds in his spare time |
Since returning from the spring “Negocios” team, David and I
have been emailing, calling, and texting with Emilio on a regular basis. He even joined this year’s “Río de Agua Viva”
team as a translator and “teacher” at ASI-Jutiapa and ASI-Cusuna. David has also been helping Emilio organize
his resume so as to increase his chances of landing full-time work.
Are you planning on working in Honduras and need a reliable
translator? Are you traveling to Roatan
and would like a safe friend to call on during your stay? Emilio is smart, honest, and loves to work
with teams. He even mentioned how
valuable an ASI workshop would be for his community!
 |
| Emilio's son during Honduran Independence Day |
If you want to learn more about how to join a team to
Honduras, please contact me today. Find
us on Facebook, and send us a tweet.
The story of our meeting Emilio is the story of friendship and AHMEN in
Honduras.
Together, we are the difference.
