When I happened to see a documentary on TV about Patricia and her children's home in San Pedro Sula 5 years ago, it was clear to me that I would like to become a godmother of one of the children. So I have been the godmother (Madrina) of an 8-year-old boy for a good 4 years now and I always hoped to be able to visit him one day. Finally, the time had come. Of course I was a little anxious beforehand. How would the children react? Where would I live etc.? A phone call with a Swiss woman answered some of my questions.
When I came out of the small airport in San Pedro Sula, I saw a boy in a red T-shirt. He was quite tall, so I thought he couldn't be my godchild. A few minutes later it turned out that he was! He presented me with a beautiful drawing as a greeting, how touching. In the car we kept furtively looking at each other and grinning, but with the mask we could only see each others laughing eyes. When I arrived, it was already getting dark. Patricia greeted me warmly and showed me to my room on the first floor. Wow, I had not expected such a big room with a nice bathroom. Afterwards I went downstairs and stood around a bit lost and helpless, looking at the walls and trying to figure out how, what, when was going on. The children sat at the table and ate, including my godson, but he somehow got nowhere and kept looking at me shyly. After the meal, each child put away his plate and cup and also the plastic chair. Another child cleaned up the tables. There seemed to be clear rules.
The next day I was awake at 7 am and first went to the Sala Cuna, where the little ones live. There they were being creamed and combed. Then they were allowed to watch a little cartoon. At first I just observed. At 8 o'clock they had breakfast and I went back to the dining room. Here we had food for all those who didn't have school and for the psychologist Raquel. I learned that some of the children don't have school in the morning, but have school in the afternoon. School starts at 7am, so these children ate early. The psychologist then went to the Sala Cuna, where the 8 youngest children, including Patricia's second youngest son, were sitting at a small round table. Here, the psychologist worked with them. Afterwards, they went to an extra playroom where the children played with Raquel and let off steam. At 12 o'clock, everyone went back to the Sala Cuna and got showered and freshly dressed, which made sense in this heat. The many impressions and the extreme heat, despite the fans, got to me and I had to recover a bit in the afternoon. In the evening, some children wanted to recite something to me and take photos with me. The ice was now broken.
The next day, I drove to the special clinic in Tegucigalpa at 5:20am (!) with Karen and a little girl who had recently burnt her right upper arm. The outward journey took a good 4.5 hours with a breakfast stop. The landscape looked great in the morning light and with some fog. We arrived there at 10 am and fortunately did not have to wait long. If you expected a modern clinic, you were wrong. It all made a somewhat old-fashioned impression on me, but for here it is certainly progressive. A few exercises were done with the soon to be 4-year-old girl and the vest, which is like a second skin, was fitted. Afterwards we drove all the way back again and arrived in the evening a bit tired.
I spent the following day in the home and now understood that everyone here has a chore, which is dutifully done especially by the older ones. The younger children are supervised by a few older girls and instructed to do it properly. Every day, all the floors outside are wiped, because there are always leaves and also rubbish, e.g. candy wrappers etc. to clean up. Inside, too, all the floors are damp cleaned at least 2-3 times by the children. Cleanliness is really taken care of here, which impressed me. There is only cold water, but that doesn't matter. Some of the girls have to wash their clothes by hand. For this, there is a well behind the house with two washing facilities and space to hang the laundry. It dries quickly in this heat
The schoolwork is supervised daily by a young woman who is called "Profe" by the children, meaning teacher. Unfortunately, some children don't make that much effort and don't yet realise how important these "tareas" (homework) are. I have to say that some of the tasks really don't make much sense, especially for the younger children. On top of that, the children are always off school because of the many holidays, which is also not very beneficial. But at least these children can attend a private school and are therefore privileged.
The next day I went shopping with Karen. Normally she goes grocery shopping once a week. That was an exciting experience for me.
Gerard and Teresa came to visit us over the weekend. They have their own foundation and support the children's home very generously and with a lot of heart and soul for many years. Their visit is always a highlight for the children. On Saturday, 6.10.22, I was invited to be present with Patricia, Karen, some of the children as well as Gerard and Teresa during the symbolic turn of the sod or rather at the laying of the first stone for the 100-houses project. This project will enable families who lost everything 2 years ago due to the hurricane and the heavy floods to finally live in dignity again. In the evening, Gerard and Teresa invited us for pizza, which we all enjoyed very much.
The next day we traveled to Santa Rosa de Copan to visit the education center. I was very impressed by this project. Among others, welders, carpenters and nurses are trained there. In the afternoon, we went to a university (UPNFM) where a cooperation agreement with Patricia was signed with a small ceremony.
I experienced an enormous amount during these 15 days, more than I could have ever dreamed of. I was able to play a lot with the children and I took every single one of them into my heart. They were incredibly kind to me, hugged me again and again and gave me presents they had made themselves. The kids are also great with each other, happy to be here and to have such a big "family". I was also impressed by how the older ones actively help out, so that Patricia can take care of the administrative work and drive the many projects forward. I'm sure there would be so much more to tell, but I would like everyone to experience it for themselves, because Patricia has built a beautiful, loving little island at “yo quiero ser…” for children in need and I hope they will all be able to benefit from a better future as a result.
Muchas gracias Patricia.
Silvia