A letter from Tim and Gloria Wheeler in Honduras
Spring 2014
Dear Friends and Family,
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Antonio, a new chance in life
Almost two years ago World Mission decided to focus on three issues to center on with our prayer, reflection, attention and resources (both financial and human). These issues are (1) addressing the root causes of poverty, especially as it impacts women and children; (2) sharing the Good News of God’s love in Christ, together with global partners; and (3) working for reconciliation amidst cultures of violence, including our own. I often think about these issues as I go about my activities and try to analyze if I am addressing one of the critical issues. Sometimes I fantasize about addressing all three issues at once. As difficult as that may seem, perhaps little parts of people’s lives or during flashes of time that could be a real possibility. Today I would like to focus on a recent experience for which we have reason to rejoice. It is the case of Antonio, a boy in the community of Cerro Azul.
A year ago Antonio had a severe degree of malnutrition. We noticed this when we saw him during the middle of last year after not having seen him for a few months. This was disturbing because the community of Cerro Azul and his family had made a lot of progress. They had acquired their own house lots and moved down off the mountain where they were tenant farmers living in mud-and-stick houses without electricity or running water or a school for their children. The process that they had carried out over the next few years could be summarized as remarkable. They learned to build their own houses and how to work together in order to achieve results. They became well organized and through their vocal representation in the local municipal town meetings they obtained everything that they lacked before: electricity, running water, and a school. Clearly through their process they were overcoming some of the root causes of poverty by overcoming their lack of self-esteem, leadership and organizational skills. And yet Antonio was not doing well.
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Carmen with chicks that will pass to another family
This whole process reminds us of how complicated real change is. It doesn’t just happen; there needs to be continual attention in a process of transformation. Kids may just not get enough of the right food even though so many other aspects of family life have changed.
Toward the end of last year the community started a chicken project. Each family received six chickens and a rooster and built their own chicken coop with local materials like bamboo. A month later the chickens started to lay. Since they are bred for laying, the families started having more eggs than they had ever had before. Maria, Antonio’s mother, had some local chickens too and crossed them with the better rooster. Carmen, Antonio’s little sister, helped take care of the little chicks that were hatched while his brother, Wilmer, ran to gather the egg that was laid every time a chicken started clucking.
All of this became part of the normal, daily life. The family income started to rise by selling up to 10 eggs a day worth $1.50. Best of all, Antonio started eating more protein and finally was able to regain the beautiful glimmer of his 8-year-old face.
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Wilmer gathering eggs
I think a case could be made about how the process of the people of Cerro Azul responds in some way to all three issues that the Church is focusing on and reminds us of the interrelatedness of them. I like to look at projects through a community development lens based on four aspects to see if they measure up. These are the “Being” aspect (building self-esteem); the “Knowing” aspect (learning new skills); the “Having” aspect (material enhancement); and the “Sharing” aspect (building human solidarity). This chicken project does pretty well in regard to all four aspects. It is impacting the lives of kids directly and providing a longer-term hope for a boy named Antonio so he can grow up with all of the gifts and potential that God intends.
The old is passing away; the structures and ways of doing things that worked against human improvement, the lack of access to land and the lack of education and want of a decent diet. Yes, the new order and way of doing things is around us. We need eyes to see and hands to feel.
Thank you for following the stories from Cerro Azul and the stories of real people transforming their lives and living in the light of a new day. Thank you for your prayers for them and for so many in Honduras and around the world, for the children who suffer through no fault of their own. Thank you for being at one with us as we journey together and proclaim and witness a new order.
Yours faithfully,
Tim and Gloria
Apartado 15027, Colonia Kennedy
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 43
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