ASI-Yorito Graduation Report by Peace Corps Veteran Janet Espinosa

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The following piece was written by Peace Corps Veteran Janet Espinosa.  Janet helped to get ASI-Yorito off the ground, and we thank her for the immense amount of support she continues to extend from her big heart to "Little Yoro."

#11 Pleasant Surprise

            I went to Honduras to be part of the graduation of “Community Agents of Integral Health,” and to present a symbolic check representing the grant recently received from Returned Peace Corps Volunteers in Northern California.  I also wanted to help establish a construction schedule for the coming year and give them a gentle push, since efficiency and time management are not strengths in most developing tropical countries.  What a pleasant surprise I received:  they had already begun!

            A little history:  In fall of 2010, I traveled for 14 hours to the northern coast of Honduras with nine young adults from Yorito.  We had been invited by AHMEN (Alabama Honduras Medical Educational Network) to join a leadership empowerment workshop given by SIFAT.  A tropical storm (potential hurricane) cut our workshop short as Peace Corps ordered me to consolidate with other volunteers.  In any case, the workshop was excellent but the travel, time and expense were prohibitive for a three year commitment.  Two years later, after I had returned to the United States, the series of workshops was begun in Yorito.  The local group was named ACSI (Agentes Comunitarios de Salud Integral) and met quarterly, workshops given by SIFAT personnel and by local professionals.  I was pleased to participate in three of the workshops, and each time I went I could see the growth of confidence and empowerment in the individuals.

            Last summer, knowing that graduation was to be only a stepping stone to action, I asked what they would want to do next.  They developed a plan for beginning to improve the sanitation and thus the health of their communities.  It resulted in the following grant:

 “$2,000 to Community Agents for Integral Health (ACSI), a collective of extension workers in Yorito, Honduras. This project was recommended by NorCal member Janet Espinosa, who served there for her Peace Corps service, 2009-2010. ACSI identified four locations in the neighboring mountain communities where they will build and demonstrate latrines, water storage basins, roofed houses, cement floors and family gardens. The finished facilities are designed to inspire community involvement and replication in the future. The communities will provide materials and labor worth 30% of the total value of the project. NorCal's grant will purchase construction materials.”

            The graduation was held in the same assembly hall where the high school had its graduation the night before.  The community volunteers who were graduating were even able to wear caps and gowns, the first such graduation for many.  Others had high school diplomas, including one who had received his from me last year.  Through many speeches and even more photos the ceremony proceeded.  What a privilege to participate with such wonderfully warm people.  A pleasant surprise at the end was a whole grilled fish for each of us as part of a delicious lunch.

            On Tuesday Fanny and Jovel, two of the leaders of ACSI, were ready right at nine to head into the mountains in the back of a 4wheel drive police pickup and show me what had already been done.  They definitely didn’t need me to get them motivated.  After receiving the grant and going to the Honduran Secretary of Health, they determined that the community most in need was Quebrada Vieja which was not on our list.  They began anyhow. 

The community needs to repair 10 latrines and construct 24 more to cover all the homes in the very distant (literally end of the road) and very poor community which has water to the community (not to individual homes) but no electricity.  We were welcomed by an enthusiastic community leader and individual home owners and given two types of plantains and bananas.  They showed us the six foot deep leach holes they had dug and were given instruction on placement of both the septic hole and toilet which will be installed in the coming weeks.  What a pleasant surprise it was to see such progress.  Why did I doubt the impact of this training and the enthusiasm of the volunteers?

            We met later to revise the grant plan which will now do much more than anticipated.  I will be returning in March to help them with the latrine, water, and floor to the children’s nutritional feeding facility in Yorito.  Then in June we will work on another portion of the grant, hopefully at the same time AHMEN mission volunteers are there installing water filters in some of the same communities.  Do you want to go with me?   

Donate to community empowerment education in Honduras today by visiting our fundraising site.  Share on social media, and ask others to join the movement.  If you are interested in working with the ASI-Yorito graduates or any of the different ASI workshops, contact me today! 

Where Could Your #GivingTuesday Donation Go?

Donate to Sustainable Health Education today!!

After the conspicuous consumption of door buster deals on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday in the for profit world, the non-profit sector asks you to give whatever you have left to your favorite charity on #GivingTuesday.

I get it.  It's the Holiday Season, and we all want to get our loved ones something nice for Christmas.  I love a good deal as much as the next cheapskate.  I would rather pay 1/2 price for a new 50" flat screen television any day, but I also know that there are people out there whose lives lack justice.  A $100 donation toward an AHMEN team or project could make the difference in a mother and daughter choosing to expand the family or expand their future wallets by investing in education.

As you count what cents you have left over from your weekend shopping spree, have some sense and donate to one of the several meaningful AHMEN projects featured on our website.

Just browse through www.honduranmissions.com to discover your favorite project.  However, if you just want me to tell you which ones to donate to, here are my 3 favorite!

The project that binds the two teams I lead together is AHMEN's Community Empowerment Program.  By donating to this program you are helping generations of Honduran families learn to address their own health problems through education. 

The Rio de Agua Viva team is the health education team I lead each June.  We teach community agents from AHMEN's Community Empowerment Program in Cusuna and Raista how to solve their own basic health problems through networking and education.

The Negocios con Amigos team is the business education team I lead each March.  We helping the mayor of Jutiapa design and implement a local tourism center where local artisans can sell their wares for fair prices.  We also plan to teach sustainable business concepts to a cooperative of coffee and chocolate farmers near Copan.

If you would like to join one of these teams or projects, contact me today!

Together, we are the difference.

Your Special Day Can Make Someone Else's

We all know someone who we just can't find a gift for each Christmas.  Heck, we can't even come up with a good birthday present for them.  There is one in your life.  I've got plenty in mine.

Well, as we quickly approach the holiday season, consider this featured blog post for ideas.  When my friend David Hutzel got married this summer, he decided he didn't want anyone to even have to think twice about what to get he and his new bride.  

David writes:

  To reach the decision to ask for donations as a wedding gift rather

than 100 Crate & Barrel dinner plates, Erica and I had to come to a

few realizations.  First, our modest apartment is already full and

anything we truly need we can add as we go.  Second, we knew we were moving soon and probably will move again, so we don't need more things to move.  In addition, neither one of us had any desire to go through a wedding registry or collect a bunch of packaged present, the packaging of which will significantly add to the large amount of trashour wedding already generated.  Finally, most importantly, Erica and I have projects that we care about deeply, we believe in, we have dedicated significant amounts of our own resources to, and that ultimately can benefit more from donations than us and can pass that benefit on to multitudes.

How did we do it?  On our wedding website and invitation cards we

asked for donations only to our selected charities.  At any point in

time our guests could follow the links to donate online.  The wedding reception also included donation boxes with the story of our selected charities and envelopes to enclose cash or checks.  Although we missed out on a free food dehydrator or muffin pan, we're very satisfied that we won't need a 2nd Uhaul for our upcoming move and helped some causes we believe in along the way.. 

So the next time you have a birthday, anniversary, event, or holiday, why don't you consider blessing a cause beyond materialism!  AHMEN is such a cause and would be honored to share in your special day.

Your guests may really appreciate your forethought.  If they get you a gift anyway, you still win.  If they don't get you anything, then they came to your wedding for the free booze anyway!

To learn more about the Negocios con Amigos team, David and my business teaching team, contact me today!

Together, we are the difference.

Top 10 Reasons to Attend the 2015 AHMEN Annual Meeting

AHMENAnnual Meeting

Friday, October 16, 2015: Business and Brainstorming

Saturday, October 17, 2015: Unite and Collaborate Together!

River of Living Water UMC

1401 Jones Dairy Road

Jasper, Al 35501

FREE

Okay, folks, here it is. We are one week away from the time of year where all of the AHMEN teams, volunteers, project leaders, donors, sponsors, and prayer warriors are invited to get together to talk about the previous year of volunteersship and plan for the next.

Oh, what is that? You say you have been to one of these before? No biggie, you say? You think keeping up with posts on Facebook is good enough … Well, not this time!

What makes this year different?? Well, here is your “Top 10 Reasons to Attend the 2015 AHMEN Annual Meeting.”

10: Chili Cookoff

Bring a crockpot of your favorite chili recipe and enter this year's chili cookoff. If you don't cook, you can be a judge. There's nothing like a little friendly competition. Larry “Bucket” Guthrie always beats everyone at shoe box collection … Maybe this is a contest the rest of us will have a chance at winning!

9: Dr. Tom Camp has a plan!

When I asked Camp what his goal for this year's conference was, he responded, “I want to ask people a question. I want to ask 'Where do you want AHMEN to go, and what will you commit to doing to get it there?'” Camp being the pot-stirrer he is has a really neat plan to encourage us all to this end … But you have to attend to be in the know.

8: Saturday Morning Breakout Sessions

This year's format is a little different. While it is important for us all to hear what each of our peers are doing on their teams, the point of getting together is talking with one another. That's why this year we will spend Saturday morning in discussion groups. I encourage each team member to join a different topic from the following choices: Evangelism, Sponsorships, Medical Brigades, Community Involvement, and Clean Water Initiatives. The goal, however, is not to just talk about each topic. The goal of the group talk is to discuss how each member can grow AHMEN and make the organization stronger through each topic.

7: Special Group Discussion for “Young People”

“Young People” is a relative term. When I used to visit my great-grandmother in the nursing home, anyone under 85 was a “young person.” Similarly, the majority of AHMEN's current volunteers and leadership is over the age of 40, 50, & 60. We desperately need new blood in the organization. So send your Under 30 crowd to engage in a group discussion on the topics that are (and will be) important to the next generation of AHMEN members. This will be a question and answer session for new volunteers also.

6: Dynamic Speakers

Paulette West of UMVIM, SEJ      Dan Isbell of Cruzadas de Evangelio

Dr. Rev Richard Stryker of River of Living Water UMC

Water Program of Asbury UMC of Madison, Al

His Hands, International

Bill Camp of CHIMES

5: It's FREE!!

4: Unity

In order for an organization to succeed in its mission, we must unite. We must see ourselves as being different planets revolving around the same sun. The reason AHMEN exists is not just to provide tax-exemption. AHMEN functions as a network to help any and all individuals and teams who are called to work in Honduras be able to do their jobs better. Beyond your individual role as a team volunteer, what can you commit to doing to help AHMEN sustain itself and grow?

3: Collaboration

By working together, by sharing ideas with one another, we better learn how to follow our calls. If we do not take each other's experience and knowledge into account, we waste time and money. If we choose not to collaborate, we do not solve water problems, persistent medical issues, meet basic educational needs, or negotiate supply chain deficiencies. Libraries don't get stocked, and websites sit idly with out-of-date information. It is when we collaborate that we are able to improve the daily living standards of more Honduran families and shine as Jesus would have us.

2: Togetherness

Individuality and individualism are traits mythologized in the United States. Well, if you've ever worked in Honduras, you must know that it is extremely difficult to walk around with the “I'm going to solve this problem all by myself” mentality. If it weren't, the 60K+ volunteers flooding Honduran airports each year would make a lot more progress. Instead, there are over 1 million Hondurans without clean drinking water.  As a result, families gets sick.  Kids don't attend school.  The definition of crisis sinks into the culture.  Can Hondurans solve this problem alone? No. Can you? No! Join your fellow Honduras enthusiasts next weekend to talk about how we can all work together to more efficiently confront major health and education issues in Honduras.

1: The Many Parts of AHMEN's Body Will be Present

Just being in Honduras with a team energizes me. Simply being around my fellow AHMENers fills me with life. I invite you to fill your cup. We have serious work to do in Honduras to help more people live more just lives, and you will be motivated to do so simply by being surrounded by this crew's positive energy. If you haven't sent in your RSVP, please do so as soon as possible. Contact me here today!  All are invited.

Together, we are the difference.

Give a Gift of Love This Christmas in Honduras

Do you remember the feeling of waking up on Christmas morning in eager anticipation of what Santa had left for you under the Christmas tree?  You had been dreaming of Christmas morning since you heard about the new G.I. Joe desert assault vehicle line coming out six months prior at the Franklin 4th of July cookoff when your brother Danny heard it from your toymaker neighbor and told you about it.  

You said every "yes ma'am" and "no sir" with complete and utter devotion to pleasing the big guy in the red suit.  You cleaned the gutters and didn't accept any pay.  You even cleaned up your brother's vomit after he ate too much Halloween candy ... just for a little extra insurance you would soon be leading legions of troops armed with the best strike vehicles engineers in Joe Headquarters could muster.  You had to defeat Cobra's elusive Desert Fox battalion!

What could have been..

You raced down the stairs in your flannel Ghostbusters pajamas, ripped through all the gifts, and what did you find??  Santa had misplaced your G.I. Joe M2710 "Armadillo" and given you a Stretch Armstrong doll instead.

What was..

You never got over that feeling of being forgotten, being confused with another.  You felt like Ralphie from A Christmas Story.

 

Imagine now that you don't usually receive Christmas presents at your family's dusty, one-room home in Honduras.  Your family can barely afford to feed you let alone buy you something nice for Christmas.  Then, one December, you receive a small brown shoebox filled extra full with a toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb, socks, crayons, a coloring book, and toys!

Click here!

If you are that Honduran child, do you expect another box the coming year?  Of course, you do!

AHMEN's Christmas Shoebox Ministry provided over 7,000 Christmas shoeboxes to underpriveleged children and youth in Honduras in 2014.  If we don't meet this goal, many will simply again go without this year.

Please contact me today to learn how you can be the light in a child's life this Christmas.



Together, we are the difference.

Lunch or Learn? Nobody Should Have to Choose!

Cristofer Castillo Ruiz of Ciriboya, Pastor Willington of La Moskita, and Pastor Nahun of Trujillo shadow the Río team's Taylor Looney as she conducts water quality tests in Raistá

In last week's blog I talked about Pastor Nahun's need for support. Do you remember how I explained that the support we share with Pastor Nahun will allow him to follow up with the ASI-Cusuna graduates?

Click here for Yes. Click here for No.

One of the graduates Nahun monitors is named Pastor Willington, and Pastor Willington has requested help duplicating the training he attended in Cusuna in the Miskito town of Raistá.

After meeting him last year, the Río de Agua Viva team was excited to kick off the new workshop series in La Moskitia. We held a series of two-day rotating discussion groups this past June to help Pastor Willington gauge interest in the workshop and inspire future Community Agents. It will be Pastor Willington, however, who will ensure the learning continues between AHMEN teams.

AHMEN's General Coordinator Dr. Tom Camp's response to being asked to describe Willington was “He's probably a genius.  He speaks Spanish, Miskito, and several native dialects.” Camp also reminded me how dedicated Pastor Willington was to his own training in Cusuna. After Willington proposed the idea of opening up a full 3-year workshop to his community, Camp asked him if he thought the training was really that important. Pastor Willington responded “Sometimes I skip meals to be able to attend.” After spending five days with him I know him as the man who never quits smiling!

Just four sponsorships of $25/month will keep his cheeks peeked and his chin up so that he can lead the knowledge-hungry Community Agents to graduation in 2018. The local communities and community organizations will cover the cost of meals during the workshops, but as the lead agent in charge of ASI-Raistá, Pastor Willington will need fuel for his motorcycle to meet with each of the community agents between workshops. He will need money for teaching materials, communication, and any costs associated with running the program. However, for just $100/month we can make that happen!

Pastor Willington and Community Agents who completed the Water With Blessings training this past June

If you would like to sponsor Pastor Willington as facilitator of ASI-Raistá, contact me today. Through the training he will implement with his Community Agents, the villages impacted will never have to choose between food and education again.

Pastor Willington and Community Agents who completed the Water With Blessings training this past June

Together, we are the difference.

Pastor Nahun Flores Teaches Environmental Preservation, Seeks Support to Continue Followup

Good Morning Friends and Neighbors,

Pastor Nahun on the Left and Pastor Mario on the Right

Today, I would like to introduce you to someone near and dear to my heart.  I met him on a whim several years back when I was working with the Lifeway team out of Nashville.  You may remember him.  You may even have worked with him before.

Now, he and I would like to ask for your support.

Pastor Nahun was the lead community agent out of ASI-Cusuna and also the pastor out of the church where the workshops were held.  Pastor Nahun has since received a new church assignment in Trujillo, but he is also conducting the follow-up work with the other Community Agents in their replication projects.  He is also already initiating the replication process in his own right.

Pastor Nahun teaches at the elementary school in Trujillo

When I asked Pastor Nahun what would be the theme of his project after graduation from ASI, he told me that he wanted to pursue work in cleaning up the communities.  Check out the YouTube video below to listen to more (Grab a Spanish-Speaking friend as a translator!).  Fast forward to the 13:50 mark.

You can also read more about what Pastor Nahun is doing to share his training with the school children in Trujillo by reading this new link from the www.honduranmissions.com website.

Yes, Pastor Nahun is doing a great job completing his directives as a graduate from AHMEN's Community Empowerment Program, but as the lead Community Agent, he is also charged with following up with his fellow graduates to make sure their replication projects are on target also.

Will you help support Pastor Nahun as an accountability officer?  He needs $50/month for gasoline for his motorcycle to travel back and forth from Trujillo to Cusuna to help the other 59 Community Agents achieve their goals like he is already doing.

A flower, once growing, cannot continue to grow without water and sunlight.  So too must someone step up to weed, water, and replant the offshoots from ASI-Cusuna.  Nahun has volunteered to be the gardener; he only needs your support to get to the garden.  Please contact me today to sign up as a sponsor for Nahun's followup needs!  

Together, we are the difference.

AHMEN: The Next Generation

Good Morning Team Leadership, Friends, Family, Fellow & Future Volunteers:

If you grew up watching Gene Rodenberry's original Star Trek series, you have to admit you were pretty excited when Star Trek: The Next Generation came out over twenty years later.  There were new characters, new weapons, and new worlds to visit, and most importantly, a new timely drama reflective of its 1960s predecessor was back in your living room each week.  I personally benefited from hours of "energizing" from one room of the house to another with my Captain Picard, and X-Men, action figures.  As a kid, I was tickled as pink as a phaser fire when the excitement of my parents' generation arrived in mine.

We humans have to keep the passion alive, don't we?  We constantly have to revamp what is valuable about society to ensure the good works, or good programming, is not lost through time.  It is the same way with AHMEN!

What future AHMEN leaders to you know?

Every year team members identify projects they would like to pursue.  A novice or veteran volunteer sees something that sticks in their craw.  Instead of losing focus by adding these new projects to your own team's schedule, encourage/facilitate those members to build a team of their own.  It doesn't have to happen overnight, but there is one important step those new team leaders have to take.

In order to keep the big ball of glory that is AHMEN  rolling into the future, we must identify the next generation of leadership.  In order to do, those burgeoning members must go through team leader training, and I would like to schedule a team leader training for September.

Please send me the September Saturday you prefer and the name of the individual in need of new training or refresher course.

Training costs $20 and will last from 10 AM - 2 PM at River of Living Water United Methodist Ministries at 1401 Jones Dairy Road in Jasper, Al.

See you there!

My Most Successful Team to Date ... Because of You!!

Sooooo, in my last blog post I asked whether you thought the Río team stuck to its schedule while in Honduras this year. If you guessed that we threw the schedule out the window “and my suitcase out there too” then "tonight I'll be staying here with you!"

We were a very successful team in part because we made a detailed schedule with which we could alter our daily plans. Without a plan in place, we would have been totally lost, and there was too much at stake just to “wing it.”

We were also a very successful team because of the tremendous amount of support we had back in Walker County, Alabama through our chief fundraisers. I wish to extend my sincerest gratitude to Briana Camp, Windy Williams, and Brenda “Nana” Williams for all they did to raise the money our team needed to provide enough water filters to share clean water with over 1000 children and adults!

Thank you to all the businesses and churches who sponsored our team's fundraising for Sawyer Water filters through Water With Blessings.

Camp's Therapeutic Massage

Walker Recovery

Carl Cannon

Holladay Insurance Company

Southside Excavating

Gunters Body Shop

Pumpkin Center Baptist Church Explorers & Bodybuilders

We also would like to thank B & B Discount Tires and Witcher Office Supply  for their donations!

Finally, thank you to all the individuals who sponsored this team!

Nath T. Camp Jr.

Alice Leeth

Grady Cockrell

Jane Roberts

James Hubbard

John Williams

Savanna Johnson

Jennifer Key

Gavin Franklin

Gage Franklin

Emily Arthurs

Cory Camp

DJ  Calvert

Saedie and Klaire Williams

Klayton Williams

Ben Camp

Anabel Camp

Corbitt White Jr.

Hailey Terry

Without the support of our "Domestic Missionaries" AHMEN teams like Río de Agua Viva simply would not exist.  

If you would like to be a part of our team as a fundraiser, donor, prayer partner, and/or team member, please contact me today!

It is not the team members who travel to Honduras who are etching away at injustice.  It is not just the donors and fundraisers.  The prayer partners can't do it alone, but together, we are the difference.