Karin Sederberg of Whitehorse, Yukon was a member of The King's University College (Edmonton, AB) Water Project team to Honduras in the spring of 2009. Learn more about TKUC and its Water Project program here.
When I think back on my time in Los Ranchos, Honduras, I remember the heat, the bugs, and the blessing of delicious food, but it was the people in the community that really shaped the experience for me. Because so much of our water project was focused on building relationships and educational awareness, with the aid of our team’s translator I had the opportunity to hear and learn from stories from community members. Through this I have discovered the great importance in listening to the needs of those in developing countries, and avoiding the tendency to “Westernize” cultural systems. I have found incredible reward in the solace of working alongside our Central American brothers and sisters on a project that has been God-formed.
I have discovered the significance of a twinkle in a child’s eye, who has very little by Canadian standards. Luis is ten, very intelligent, and eager to learn. This was probably his last year of education before joining his brother and father to work the fields. Luis inspired me with amazing joy and love for the entire community.
Maria is full of hope. She rises at three in the morning and with a busy day, usually doesn’t retire in her single-bed roomed home until eleven at night. Despite raising three beautiful children, maintaining the livestock and yard, and selling vegetables in a nearby market, she was one of the funniest women I have ever met. Maria has the plans for the addition to her house all mapped out, and I have no doubt that she will see to it that they are one day fulfilled.
Julio is one of the community leaders on the village council. He installed a sink in his outdoor kitchen before he even knew this project was approved to happen this summer. He probably would have been saving money for this investment for years. With great faith, he encouraged his village to form a covenant with each other to see through this water project to completion.
These three individuals remind me that though Los Ranchos hasn’t been given much of a Sabbath rest, individuals are becoming empowered and through this empowerment, change is formed.
I know that by digging this water system, Los Ranchos won’t be forever free of poverty, but my hope is that by the time we left the village, the people at least felt like they had a voice that was heard. By participating in this CRWRC partnership, I have committed myself to a life of awareness. It is my desire that the faces of the beloved people I know in Honduras will always be clear in my mind and that I will be able to reflect them and their stories through educating others in the way that honors them. Honduras, and their place in the global community will remain in my prayers for a very long time.
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