Brenda's son, Minor, is my little buddy and loves watermelon, which is a special treat here. He has taken to teaching me how to throw a top (trompo in Spanish), but I have yet to figure it out! He's a fun kid who is so helpful, always obedient and very patient with his little sisters.
Brenda is a friend of mine from Rio Viejo (who is also Sandy's sister-in-law). I'd like to share her story with you, as she is someone who I've grown close to and will miss dearly when I leave Honduras in 2 short weeks.
Brenda (pictured in background here) grew up living all over the country with various family members, oftentimes in an abusive home environment. She got married when she was 17 and now has three children, Minor (7) and twin girls, Alisandra and Alejandra (2 yrs in July).
Brenda lives a typical Honduran life here in the cuenca, caring for her children, preparing food for her family (tortillas, beans, fried bananas, rice, chicken, etc.), cooking food to sell at the high school, washing her clothes by hand, cleaning the house, etc. She is also a very talented seamstress and learned part of her trade through long hours working in a sweatshop, although the bulk of her work has resulted from lots of practice, combined with being extremely talented. She is very creative and told me the other day that she just loves to sew.
Brenda has made over 60 bags and purses that the Canadian group and us interns have purchased from her in order to support her family. With this money they have already purchased the cement blocks to use to build a kitchen on their one-room home. It's exciting to see this progress as it was something they were hoping to do in a year's time. While taking into consideration other factors including minimum wage in Honduras, being sensitive to other employers/laborers on the local level in Rio Viejo, the cost of materials, etc., I hope that this relationship is nothing but positive and encouraging for Brenda, her family and the community.
When Brenda was 1 year old, she went to live with her grandma. Since then, she has has spoken to her mother on the phone, but has not seen her mother, nor has the mother met Brenda's children. Despite the short 2 hour distance between the cities in which they live, Brenda has not been able to afford the price of bus tickets, but this Mother's Day is hoping to make the trip for the first time. It's been so exciting to see it all unfold and the joy of a family being reunited.
