Something interesting this way comes...

On Saturday, we went back up the hill to our soon-to-be home, Las Lomitas, for a meeting with the community. We met in the little church for about an hour and half as the sun went down and everything got dark. There was a big circle of chairs filled with about 70 people: working men, old men, new mothers, old mothers, new babies, crying babies, and the occasional visiting dog. During this time, they discussed upcoming water projects for the community as well as the potential to get electricity in the community. At them end of this discussion, they discussed the elephant in the room... what the heck are we going to do with the white people?

After they decided not to eat us (a joke, if this concerns any parents), they talked about where we could make our home. We had already talked to them and we knew that the best option was one tarea (about 1/8 acre) owned by the community. The president of the patronato (village council) mentioned to the community that if they were interested, they could sell their tarea to the white people. They started characteristically high (due to the presence of the gringos) at about $1500. But, a man in the room stood up and said that if we were going to be helping them and their community, it should be no higher than $700 (a good deal). We felt very honored by that. But, then it got interesting.

A woman stood up and (very loudly) proclaimed that if it was up to her, she wouldn't charge a dime. Because if those people really are here to help us, if they're really going to help our children, help us with our water problems, help us be better people, they shouldn't pay anything. The community should give them the land. Before the white people knew what was happening, everyone hand in the room raised for a vote in favor, and thus the land was officially donated to the white people. The white people tried to explain they felt they should pay for it, they were ready and willing to pay for the betterment of the community, but the community was having none of that. Then the white people cried a little bit.

It's a rare thing for a gringo to pay even a somewhat fair price for anything since the shade of our skin signifies money in this culture. But to us, it was so much more than saving money. The community we just spent three difficult months looking for looked at us and told us that they were looking for us too. That they wanted us to live with them and share life with them. This is the reason we came to Honduras and the reason we took so long to identify a community. These people are ready and willing to work and sacrifice for the betterment of their community--for the good of their neighbors, children, and people they don't really even know. We feel overwhelmingly blessed and humbled that the people we came to serve, are already serving us.


Damos gracias a Dios por: nuestros vecinos nuevos y la bendicion grande de nuestro tierra nueva all en Las Lomitas (for our new neighbors and the huge blessing of our new land in Las Lomitas.)