Happy "Precedents" Day...Mario Adonis Joins ASI-Jutiapa!

Happy Presidents' Day!  Today we celebrate our commaner-in-chief, our nation's highest elected office.  Whether you're a fan of Washington, Lincoln, TR, or FDR, each individual who has occupied the Oval Office deserves recognition and respect.

This is difficult amid the current partisan bickering in our own country and, I imagine, even more difficult in Honduras where elections are disputed by great swaths of people.

That's why this Presidents' Day I am featuring an individual who knows that the job of a more prosperous future is not that of one person but an entire nation. 

AHMEN, CHIMES, and CHHF have had the pleasure of Mario Miraldo's leadership for many years.  Now his son, Mario Adonis, is training at ASI-Jutiapa to learn to better set the precedent for his church, community, and country.  Here is Mario Adonis' report:

Hi, I'm Mario Adonis.  This is my summary of what happened in the Agentes Comunitarios de SaludIntegral (ASI-Jutiapa) workshop.  It was a great experience. Byron is a great speaker on the subject and was able to handle the issue very well.  We did not just sit and listen but participated continuously on topic. I felt really good to be able to share with people my own experiences and to listen to others' perspectives as well.  We studied the necessity of group participation and getting along with the group, which are the real causes of problems in our society.  

We saw that everything goes beyond the superficial or what we see with our eyes and learned that most of the problems of our society are due to the irresponsibility of the members that form it.  We learned about the reason for all the problems that exist in our society and the roots that we must fight to fix them.

The fight against poverty, homelessness, hunger, malnutrition, injustice, and violence are national problems in both the United States and in Honduras.  They are problems which must be addressed at every level of society.  The AHMEN-SIFAT Initiative teaches just that.  Please join a team to work with ASI community agents like Mario Adonis, and/or DONATE today!

Together, we are the difference.

Winter 2014 Update on ASI-Yorito

My Dear Friends in AHMEN,

It is a pleasure to greet you from the cradle of Aguan Yorito, Yoro Central America in connection with this three-day development workshop, January 31 to February 01. Even in light of the current economic situation of our people, about 48 people, and mostly women, are still involved.  That means we have leaders willing to stay on as the coordinating committee!

Byron Morales spoke on self-esteem on the first day and identity on the second day.  He talked about how we are all valuable beings from our creation to our death.  Byron worked the group through a series of enrichment exercises where we were "put in the shoes" of our fellow attendees.  This helped us both see life from the prospective of our sisters and brothers but also to see that everyone has troubles leading to insecurity.  We ended with the conclusion of the first aid instruction talks from the firefighters in Yorito.  This is a skill we would like for everyone in the town to learn due to our lack of medical care access.

We conducted several meetings to manage food supplies in local businesses with whom we obtained good results and even set up talks with the new mayor of the town.  He said he would support us during his tenure.  In addition, the delegate in charge of the office of women will participate and join us during the process. She is on the committee as well as other participants.  Given that the committee staff found ourselves lacking in funds, we are proud of the participants contributing the charged L. 30.00,  but money is not a stumbling block.  We need support, but we will continue regardless.  If participants do not have money they are welcome to bring other beans, pasteles , naranjas, bananas, cassava, coffee, etc.    We can say that we are walking until we can run!

                          Best wishes and may God bless you always,

                                       Fanny Aviles y Melvin Lopez

                                       

To learn how to support ASI-Yorito, or how to join teams working there, contact me today!  

Together, we are the difference.

We're All In This Together

Hola Amigos,

When you get a chance, check out two other blogs I have discovered about life in Honduras.

The first is "Honduras Resiste." It is currently discussing the popular campesino movement resisting land grabs and human rights abuses by the Dinant corporation.  Dinant, of  course, is one of the companies growing miles and miles and miles and miles and miles of  inedible African palm trees on land that malnourished campesinos say they could use to grown food.  Read about the effort to free the movement's current poster child and political prisoner "Chavelo" Morales.

The second blog is called "Katlyn In Honduras."  Katlyn is a volunteer ministering in Honduras and Nicaragua.  She shares smiles and her stories through a fun little blog.  I like reading her blog because many of her reflections are some we have all had in our travels to Honduras over the years:



         

"As I sit here and think of 2013, I think

of where I was a year back. A year before one of the greatest years of my life. I think of how lost I was. If you followed my blog in Nicaragua, you know I was aching. I was trying to find where I belong. I was trying to find God's will for my life. It soon became clear I was meant to be back in Honduras...and that’s where I went."

Why am I featuring two very different types of blogs on my blog?  They are both about justice.  That's why.

Honduras Resiste strives to tell the world about injustice in Honduras on the macro level discussing politics and the 21st Century corporate feudal system.  On the other, Katlyn talks about the daily injustices of Honduran life like street begging, teenage pregnancy, and an abundance of death all around.

The two are linked and so should they be linked in our mission work.

I will be leading two teams attempting to empower local leaders through revolving supplemental education talks.  My March 22-30 team will focus on teaching areas of business unfamiliar to the ASI-Jutiapa community agents and Los Laureles jewelry students, and my June 17-26 team will include topics in public health and business.

Please contact me today to learn more about AHMEN and more about how to join one of our many relief/development teams to Honduras.

AHMEN is also raising $22,000 for the AHMEN-SIFAT Initiative.  Please visit our website and register for a $10/month donation today!




Together, we are the difference.