Marcala, Honduras

A trip to Marcala

We left the city in the morning for a 4 hr bus ride to Marcala, a town 166 kms from Tegucigalpa. Once we were out of the city it was a very scenic ride as we went into farms and ranch land and then back up into the mountains where coffee is one of the main crops.

A view from the bus window...

There were lots of watermelons for sale...

We arrived at our hotel by lunch time so we ate there before we continued on into Marcala for meetings with the ACJ there. We were all pleasantly surprised with our accommodations as it is like a mini resort in the mountains and we get to stay in small cabins. It is owned by a local coffee farmer and is quite new.

Bev in the door of the cabin...

The dining area...

Since we are high in the mountains the weather is quite cool which surprised us as we thought that being summer the temperatures would be higher. However we were told this is an unseasonably cold summer. The mountains here are beautiful with lush vegetation, a beautiful rural area.

After lunch we were privileged to spend time with the staff, volunteers and participants of the two programs that we fund from the Atlantic YMCAs (in one of two locations). We were warmly welcomed and spent all afternoon and into the evening with them at their building in Marcala.





On the way to the ACJ building

Doing an introductory activity with the group...

The two main programs they offer to youth between the ages 13-25 are Citizen Formation and  HIV Prevention program (Sexual  Health). Hundreds of youth have actively participated in these programs to date. These types of programs help the young people become more knowledgeable about the issues they are facing in their commuities (ie Violence, human rights, drug use and abuse).  The ACJ/YMCA provides Sexual Health education to students as the issues are not covered in the school curriculum .

Tomas and Dani doing a presentation...

Their method of teaching is to be very participatory and designed to teach the participants how to recognize and solve their own problems. The young people become more involved in their communities and learn to take place in the political processes at the local level. They also work on a Train the Trainer model so the ones that are trained go out to other communities and train other youth.

Some of the students are members of our group...

We were told about their programs by the facilitators and then had the opportunity to speak with the young people and learn from them their experiences as participants of the program. They were very articulate and told us how being involved in the programs has given them more self esteem, made them more knowledgeable about issues they are facing and has helped them develop leadership skills to take back to their communities.

Jessica sharing her photos...

We also met with the mayor of Marcala who spoke about the positive work that the ACJ is doing in his region and hope that we could find a way to keep supporting the programs as they add so much to the communities. He also indicated that funding sources are not easy to obtain and without foreign support many of these types of programs would not be offered to the young people.

 

The Mayor in red with some of the other officials...

At the end of the evening we were treated to a tai kwon do program which is also held at the ACJ and run by a volunteer from the town. He reports these type of programs give choices to the young men and teaches them discipline and responsibility.

Ended the night back at the hotel restaurant with a late night as we were trying to get up a blog post so we would not be too far behind.

Bev's Thoughts:

Today was very fulfilling on so many levels.  The trip to Marcala to visit with the youth participating in programs that are beneficial and important to them and to know that these are possible becuase of our support makes me feel that I am apart of something wonderful and that we are the reason for positive change in a very beautiful country.  The motivation, the positive atmosphere and the energy in the room was contagious, the discussions were recipricol, they asked questions about our programs in Canada and they answered our questions.  Tomorrow we are off to visit a school,  and another program site...Looking forward to gaining more knowledge

Bev

Debbie's reflections...

I really enjoyed the day and our trip to the Marcala ACJ. The young people we met were so inspiring and positive about their participation in the programs that we are funding. Even though they face many challenges they feel that what they are learning is making a difference in their lives as well as the lives of their communities.

We were priveleged to spend this time with them and learn about their lives and they also had a chance to ask us about our lives and programs. I am inspired by our learnings and more motivated to continue to support this program.