Well, I’ve been back in the States for about a month now, which is so hard to believe.  I am not sure if I am happy about that or not.  In a sense, yes, because I am so relieved to finally be away from all of the nonsense of Olancho Aid.  After thinking about it, I won’t go into the details of how unethical I think that many aspects of that organization and its managers are, but I will say that I do not recommend working with them and leave it at that.

On the other hand, I really miss my friends.  I received emails from friends this week and it made me want to cry that I have no idea when I will see them again.  I met some really wonderful people, a few of whom I really connected with.  And I miss my students, too.  I miss being in the classroom and I miss watching my students progress seemingly with every class we had.  It’s strange to think about them so many miles away, moving on in life.  I hope to see my kind friends again, soon…

Being back in the States has allowed me to think more about how I feel about bilingual education and the message it sends both to the world and to the people in communities like Juticalpa.  I think that studying languages is wonderful and I think it’s amazing that I can communicate with people in three different languages.  I find it all to be fascinating and I do believe that knowing multiple languages does open a lot of doors for folks.  But studying those languages is something that I CHOSE to do, after I already had a strong foundation in my own native language, in math, and in science.  From what I can gather, these bilingual schools do nothing but teach English, often neglecting the importance of the native language and cutting out time for developing and fostering skills in math and science, which are crucial to the development of a society.

I don’t necessarily think that the solution to the problems of a country like Honduras is to make everyone learn English, as I think it gives many the idea of leaving their country for the States, thus draining the country of its best and brightest individuals.  I feel that forcing English on students might even potentially weaken the country.  To me, it is saying, “Knowing your language is worthless.  English is the only way to better your life because it will give you more opportunities in the States and with North Americans.”  This isn’t true in all cases (people in Norway, for example, often speak better English than I do, and for some reason it hasn’t adversely affected the health of the country), but for countries like Honduras that depend so heavily on the States for its survival, it’s more of a hindrance than an opportunity to move forward.

I feel that way about a lot of foreign aid as well – that it’s just a bandage for a lot of serious problems deep within a country, and that it sends a message that this country “needs” foreigners and North Americans to come in and “save” them.  After decades of aid from the governments of the US, Japan and the European Union, the second largest Peace Corps presence in the world, and the meddling of innumerable religious organizations, Honduras still seems like a mess of corruption and economic disparities.

Building these schools and doling out all of that foreign aid all sounds like a good idea, but after living amongst it for 8 months, it just doesn’t seem right to me.  And I don’t know what the solution is, either.  Maybe that’s what I should go back to grad school for, because I am interested in finding the solution.  There are presumably intelligent people working on these problems now (though some of the North Americans I met while in Honduras cause me to question that), so I am not sure why there haven’t been more success stories.  I am very interested in continuing to work in this area, particularly in the areas of empowering women and helping people to STAY in their own country to make it a better place.

I stand behind everything that I have said in my blog about these issues – about how unorganized a lot of these groups are, about wishing I didn’t volunteer with a religious organization – and I’m proud that I stood up against all of those douchebags that had problems with my opinions.  I can go to sleep at night with a clear conscience knowing that I stood up for what is right.

This blog has been a really interesting platform to use throughout this experience.  Though my adventures in Honduras have ended (for now, anyway!), I hope that those of you who do read the blog continue to do so, as I’m sure there will be more adventures along the road ahead, and I’d be curious to know what those of you with more experience in these matters think about my observations.  I have some remaining photos from some of the places I visited after I got my camera back, and I’ll post them soon.  Hasta pronto!

Advertisement