Taulabé

March 19 – we are up at 7:00 this morning, and on the bus by 9:00.  We got to tour an underground cave – Cuevas Taulabé.  The tour took us over 300m into the mountain and took us to a depth of 85m, very hot and humid.  The cave was discovered in 1969 when a road was put through the mountain.  The formations and crystallization of the Stalactites and stalagmites inside the cave were amazing .  They grow 1cm every 100 years, some were over 300,000,000 years old and some were so high and long that no age could be calculated. 

Just as we were entering the caves...

Bev and Heather standing in an arch which has been formed when they both grew together..

Amazing colors and formations...

Can you guess what this is?

After lunch we met at the ACJ in Taulabé. This branch is supported in the partnership with the Atlantic YMCAs.  We started the session with an icebreaker – we all had to light a match and introduce ourselves to the group and keep talking until the match burned out – it was fun and interesting, the Mayor joined us and enjoyed this as well.  He is very proud of the work of the ACJ in  Taulabé and the city collaborates to address social issues.  He warmly welcomed us and thanked us for our support and stated that this center depended on international funding to make the work here possible, to keep the youth educated, active and off the streets. 

Rossibel doing her introduction...





The first presenter explained that the volunteers from this site were at the university, where on every third Saturday they studied through distance education. This is a big deal as very few youth from this town go to university and many of them had participated in the YMCA programs, another direct benefit from our contributions. He went on to explain their programs at this branch.  One of their ways of reaching the youth of this and other surrounding areas was through a hosted radio show aired on Saturdays.  Our facilitator introduced us on the air in a live broadcast.  This went out to 1,000,000 listeners across 4 provinces and was available on-line.

Silke translating the message from the Mayor...

Alex interviewing Silke by cell phone on the radio show...

The second presenter prepared a slideshow with information about the work that she does as a volunteer of the ACJ.  She is a volunteer from a neighbouring  rural community of San Jose de Pane.  She walks 40 minutes (each way) to neighbouring communities, 3 times a week, to deliver the programs of the ACJ.

Here is the volunteer with Karen wearing the YMCA cap we gave her...

Outside their building by the Honduras/Canada logos

We went back to our lodging (Panacam Lodge) for a relaxing evening, we had a little camp fire and a sing-song, it was a great ending to a great day.

Some of the group getting ready for a night walk, didn't go far too dark and wet!!

Bev`s Thoughts:

Every day just gets better, the hosts have made us feel very welcome.  Every session I attend in every different community we visit, just hits me to the core.  The volunteers deliver the mission of the YMCA so naturally and so passionately.  It is really a domino effect, they offer sessions to educate their youth on social issues, HIV and AIDS Awareness and prevention, and youth rights.  They turn these youth into leaders and they become facilitators in their communities and when they educate the next group, they in turn become leaders and so on.  The work that is being done hereis  very commendable.

Debbie's Thoughts:

It was interesting to take time out to visit the Cuevas Taulabé today as it is another example of the beauty of this area and yet unknown to most of the world. We were also staying in a National Park that included the largest lake in Honduras. The Panacam Lodge is also supported by Canadians as they help the Hondurans fiqure out how to develop the eco tourism market. We seem to be everywhere helping everybody!
Again the youth we met today were outstanding examples of volunteers who literally go the extra mile! Their passion and committment to their work is something I have seldom seen and as I said before they do so much with so little!