Pau&Manu

Elena and Luis sharing the experience

2007-08-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful feeling to go to Campamento, Trujillo and see the happy faces of Elena and Luis! We are quite lucky to have such adventorous friends who take their time to know this country that most tourist pass or just go to the islands (which is not a bad choise anyway).

After a trip that they had to Guatemala we introduced them to the people of Vallecito. It was a beautiful meeting which gave a lot to both sides. Luis played football with them and Elena was very creative painting with the children.The situation of this group is a bit better as they have been cultivating land and very soon they will have their first corn, beans and so on. The land is very fertil and with the help of Edy, who is our foundations ingenier of agriculture, they have learned new, more ecological methods of cultivation.

The sad part is that the land is not good for living. It is next to the big Aguan river which floods easily and also is a perfect sphere for all kinds of insects to live. Especially the children suffer from bites and many of them have had illnesses as dengue fever. The group has faced also another setback as the local land owner unjustly closed the road to their lands. Another proof of corruption in this country. The group is trapped as they can only use another, much longer and worse, path from 6am until 3pm. This way they can not take any products out to sell and worst of all, the children don´t have access to schools. Working with this group has prooved us that there is a reason why when asking a peasant how he is, the answer is;" Siempre en la lucha"

which means "always fighting".

Taru in Wonderland and visit to indigenous Guatemala

2007-07-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

Last three and a half weeks we had great company with us here in Honduras; our dear friend Taru came to visit us. We enjoyed her company and the way she enjoyed everything. Taru was a great help for us in the organization of national forum "Participation and Natural Resources". She also helped the local kindergarden. We relaxed and snorkled in a remote Caribbean island with a our friends Susana and JP of the NGO Medicos del Mundo. She got to go to Cuaca Puntilla with Pauliina. Cuaca Puntilla is a small village in the middle of the mountains where one gets only by feet or a horse. We had interesting and emotional interviews for Pauliina´s research on migration and also got our butts sore of riding with the horse and mules.

The last days of her visit we went to Antigua Guatemala. It was a welcome break for us all. The town´s colonial style and colors were calming. We couldn´t get enough inhaling the traditions and the beauty of the indigenous people. The active volcano next to the town was majestic. We visit an indigenous town nearby and got to witness an indigenous wedding. Well let´s not even talk about the handcrafs. Such a form of art!

Reaching to the moon...

2007-06-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody. It has been quite a long time since we have last updated the blog. However, we would like to keep you updated on what has happened to the peasants from Vallecito, the group of landless peasants with which we have comitted ourselves professionally and personally. One month ago, after receiving loads of letters from Spain, Finland (we are really grateful with all those who have send the letters) and several other European countries, the government resettled the peasants in a new land. The day the peasants finally moved to their new land was very cheerful and emotional. In the truck of our NGO there were beds, tables, chickens, a baby crocodile, pieces of wood, dogs and all sorts of stuff the families wanted to carry. All their possesions were there. The last family was carried when the sun was already disappearing to the horizon.

However, things have not gone as smoothly as desired. The day after the peasants arrived, one of the landowners of the area closed a road which has been opened for more than 40 years uninterruptedly. Although the deed is illegal, as it is a public road, the officials are not doing much to solve the problem. Furthermore, there is a high risk of floods from June to January in the land the peasants are occupying now. This land is only good for cultivations, but living there is impossible. Therefore, the peasants need to buy some other land where they could live, yet sate has made clear that this is not going to happen. The Foundation and organizations of the area are doing their best to find some kind of alternative solution. The problems of landless peasants are enormous and complex.

The weather in Tocoa is tremendously hot right now. We are looking forward for the rainy season to start. Anyway, life has treated us well. Quite busy with work but there is always time to enjoy. Manu is practising football for the tournament between our Foundation and another Honduran NGO which is taking place this week-end. Pauliina´s dance classes are going well ahead and there is a new group only for children. Fun and creative! We have been spending time with friends in the river and some of our friends have paid us a visit. Nothing is better than going to the roof of our house to look at the stars in good company.

Cuba, Vamos Bien!

2007-04-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

Pauliina and I spent a couple of weeks in Cuba. Ossi, Pauliina's father, united our team as he also decided to travel half the world to see us. The two weeks spent there provided us a chance to get a break from our daily lives in Honduras, taking a deep breath and coming back with renovated energy. We could also do something we cherish: travel together.

Cuba is another world. This being certain of every country, it is even more of Cuba, a country that has endured a communist regime for almost half a century. We both felt it would be impossible in two weeks to know how the country works. So we tried to chat with Cubans and ask about their reality, without forgetting that all the data we collected could not possibly explain life there. Nevertheless, the education, security, status of women rank high compared to the rest of the Central American countries. However, the lack of freedom can not be compensated by the social gains. It is like a beautiful car without an engine. It is admirable, but it goes no where.

We also took time just to enjoy this experience. There was lots of ways to have fun. Our first good wine in months, excellent live music from salsa to jazz, the beauty of Habana with its mixture of radiant squares and ruined buildings, absolutely polished coffee places and unbearable odors. We found some intresting artists and their fantastic works, got to know real personalities who didn´t care a bit about social norms. We hang around Malecón were the cubans go to spend some time and fotographed the street signs which were full of propaganda. All in all it was like a step back in time. Yet after Honduras, Cuba felt quite developed.

We also had time to visit the country side. Viñales was our favorite place. We stayed at a hotel with marvelous views over the Valley. Manu was a little bit sicks those days, but with enough strength to enjoy a horseride. Pauliina loved it and got the spark to learn more. All of us were laughing all the time. But the best rider was Ossi, he tamed his horse that showed to be a little bit furious. There we could see peasants from the valley and we remembered the peasants from Honduras. They all share a certain innocence that we adore.
After Viñales we headed south and visited Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Sancti Spíritu. The trip was quite interesting as there are hardly any street signs and the cubans have a peculiar way of explaning. We got lost countless times, which wasn´t only a bad thing as in this way we saw quite interesting places. Anyway, we were not in a hurry. In Trinidad we went to the beach, danced salsa (and felt clumsy in front of incredible dancers) and enjoyed the handicrafts of the village. Trinidad is a colonial town and with its architecture and colours it gave a sensation of walking in a dream. Sancti Spíritu was a contrast to other overcrowded turistic Cuban spots. It was the most "real" place we visit. The afternoon there was very amusing, the people were very friendly and the three of us ended up in the roof of the family house we stayed looking at the stars, the fallen moon, with couple of beers. Of course the finnish stayed longer than the spaniard!

Last days in La Habana we relaxed. Last good meal, last good songs, Manu swimming with the Cubans in the Malecón, learning more about the revolution, tasting 7 year old rhum, finding out where Hemingway lived and wondering how the sea in front of La Habana inspired him, chatting and laughing with Ossi and then, back to Honduras, our now home.

The beautiful minds of Vallecito

2007-04-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning after the party, Pauliina and Manu went to Sinaloa which is the place where the National agriculture institute has their regional office. There, for almost one year, eighty peasant families have lived in horrible conditions. After getting to know the peasants the first week of our stay in Honduras, Pauliina and I immediately sympathised with them and decided to be there for them whenever they would need our support and more. Well, on sunday some of the peasants and we decided to organize a film session. We started with a fantastic documentary about the brasilian landless peasant movement, "Los Sin Tierra". Despite their early curiosity, the kids were not that interested on the grown-up stories. Everything changed when we projected the film Bambi. Imagine some kids watching their first animated film ever. The laughter was overwhelming and generalized as the adults joined their children. The tenderness and innocence of the peasants captured our atention. A man with his child sleeping in his legs, a ten year old little girl that holds her brother in her arms. The kids looking behind the blackboard where the movie was projected trying to figure out where bambi and the rest of the animals were. After the movie we chatted with the peasants and walked again around their camp. Afterwards we returned home and tried to rest, still recovering from the birthday party.

Dear family and friends, as you might already know this is the group of peasants we wrote you about. These are the people that you too have been supporting. We would like to thank you all for your answers to our request. We are sure your actions will have a direct impact on the lives of these people. We feel close to them and their fate, and we are glad you do as well.

Of course, the children only allowed our departure after promising we will be there next sunday with a new movie!

Birthday celebration with our friends

2007-04-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

Last saturday we celebrated Manu´s birthday with a bunch of friends from Honduras but also from Bolivia, Belgium and Germany. We cooked tortilla, meatballs, marinated vegetables, potatos with brava sauce and of course we acompanied it all with sangria. The sangria worked as the magic drink of Asterix and Obelix giving us strength to dance all night long. We enjoy many different kinds of music: bachata, calixto, the exhausting but thrilling punta and a little bit of merengue too. Manu received a beautiful cake from Pauliina and fulfiled the honduran tradition of breaking the "piñata" which is a kind of pupet that hangs full of sweets. Manu had to hit the clown pupet until it broked. Afterwards, tens of people tried to get as many sweets as possible. It was nice to see many friends together. When we went to sleep we were both tired and happy.

Heavy rains in Honduras

2007-03-09T14:34:00.000-08:00

Coming back from Sico we saw the desasters that the heavy rain had caused. We had to fix bridges, get away fallen trees, try to pass flooding rivers with some kind of "boats" made of wood that almost sinked the car. Sometimes we waited for 8 hours for the water to go down. We passed many dead animals, but luckily all the people survived. Sadly many people lost their cultivations. For us it was a suprise that the rivers can flood so much in only one night, the level of the river can raise more than 3 meters! One of the main reasons is the ecsessive cutting of the trees. This way when in the mountains it rains heavily, the earth doesn´t absorb the water as it would with the trees. What a pitty. A human being can destroy so much.

Passing flooding rivers.

Waiting for the water to go down.

Getting across another river with a selfmade "boat".

Life in Sico

2007-03-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

Monday morning and ready to go again to a far away Sico, to the Colonia San Alonso. Everything what is needed is in my bag; camera, recorder for the interviews, vicks for the tick bites, some spray to get rid of the mosquitoes, good shoes, coffee and an attitude to survive. We are doubting whether we should go as the wheather cast has promised heavy rain. We (our driver Vidal and I) take the risk as we have loads of work to do there. The trip starts well and even the rivers are very shallow at this time of the year.

After about 7 hours of pumpy road we finally reach the Colonia San Alonso and its campesinos. It is wonderful to see these people again. Somehow I feel like going home. Again, German, Irma and their 6 children open their home to us. I do the round to see how the proyect is going, make interviews and finally I relax by the fire with the family. I am offered delicious coffee, rise, beans and tortillas. The children are getting more and more used to us visitors and everyone is laughing. Later our hosts tell that there are vampires around. The mother is peeling the beans and the girl holds a candle for her. German continues the story. Many nights the vampire has entered houses and has biten toes, legs and arms. So far no-one has been killed. We start to get uneasy. The light of the candle reflects shadows to the wall. Suddenly German screams and starts to run, we all agree to do the same. "A cocroach!" he laughs, "a cocroach jumped on my ear!". We all look at him silently and little by little we chuckle nerviously. The story continues and finally we understand that the vampire is a small bat. It is so small and fast that one can hardly see it. Yet it does bite hard. Finally we go to sleep and the family leaves one candle on so that the vampire wouldn´t enter. I check that there are no scorpios or other uninvited guests in my bed or nearby walls and we all fall asleep. At night I wake up and I follow how the candle starts to get smaller and smaller, finally there is only darkness. I try to cover myself better. Finally dreams win the fear and I fall asleep.

Next day we wake up at 5.30 am as is the habit in these communities. It has been raining strongly the whole night. We start to get worried. The family offers us some breakfast (some coffee, rise and beans) and they open the radio just for a moment as it wears out battery very fast. Tocoa is in a bad state as the river has floded badly and it has broke down the major bridge. We get even more worried for the sake of our friends. Luckily Manu is in Tegus so I know he is ok. We hear a message sent to us from the director of the foundation that we shouldn´t move. The rain might continue for 8 days and all north coast is flooding. We can´t send any message that we are fine as in Sico the mobile phones are useless. We analise the situation and as a good honduran would do we calm down and adjust to the situation. Colonia San Alonso is guite high in the mountains so the situation is calm. We drive until the first flooding river to see if anyone needs help. There is no-one except a dead cow. We go back and in the end we spend 4 days in this place. The good part is that this way we got to know better the family and the life of the campesinos. I also got a new friend, a small parrot, who almost learned to say "pusu". The days passed by little by little. I learned to prepare tortillas and how to use machete, a sword that they use for everything. They were days full of stories, laughter, closeness, rise, beans and coffee.

Faces of the campesinos

2007-03-02T08:45:00.000-08:00

Participative reaserch methods give us a chance to go to the communities and get to know more indepth the local cultures and people. This time we just want to put some photos of the people with whom we work.

Busy and busier!

2007-02-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

Manu in Tegus and all around

Our lives have been very busy these last couple of weeks. Manu was in Tegucigalpa in a meeting about natural resources. He stayed in a house of his friend who is also a human rights lawyer. For Manuel this time was very rewarding as his evenings prolonged until the night as they were changing experiences and most of all, Manu learned about the reality of a human rights lawyer here in Honduras. There is still so much work to do in this beautiful country.

Manu started giving classes of english and for his suprise there were loads of people who wanted to participate. So we decided that we will form two groups and Pauliina will teach the other one even though she is quite busy with her dance classes and preparation of coreography that she is doing after work. Well, the groups are great, so we are enjoying this extra efford, too.

Manu is getting busier also with the UN food programme. This is one part that he enjoys as he can go more to villages.

Moments together in La Ceiba

We took a short break and we went to La Ceiba. They say here in Honduras that Tegucigalpa works, San Pedro Sula thinks and La Ceiba enjoys. We certainly enjoyed! First of all the fact that we could walk without fear at night in the streets was very liberating (here in Tocoa it is not such a good idea for the security´s sake). Pauliina enjoyed the capuccinos and Manuel the bookstores. At night we had a calm and quite romantic seafood dinner. As Ceiba is one of the centers of punta-music, we decided to go practising! We think we are getting better! At least the local garifuna people were smiling at us. Hmmm, we wonder why.

Pauliina learning different ways of research

Pauliina has been travelling all around Honduras. Firstly she was again in Santa Rosa de Copán visiting earlier mentioned Chabe and Reca. This time she also participated a course about gender and participative research that this wonderful couple gave. Pauliina found the course highly enlightening. On top of that she had again a chance to spend some quality time with Chabe and Reca. Hopefully we´ll see each other soon again!

The legends of Cico

Soon after Pauliina went with Daniel and Roxana (collegues from FSAR) to Cico. Cico is quite near to the Nicaraguan border and the voyage was very long. Getting closer to Cico the streets started to get worse and worse. We had to pass one river with a small ferry (basicly some wood put together and a small motor in the back), we passed deep rivers by car and we had to close the windows so that the water doesn´t come in, sometimes there were herds of cows which blogged the way and we had to close the windows again so that the cow´s horns won´t hit us. All the time we were enjoying and laughing! We also saw some beautiful garifuna villages, we stopped in some deserted beaches and swam in the Caribean, we admired the view of the mountains and admired the curious animals of the jungle. Finally we were in Cico in a small village called San Alonso Rodriguez. These peasants are building houses with the local materials like adobe and FSAR is supporting this proyect. Pauliina made some interviews and put the village to work together using participative research methods. The results were very enlightening for both sides. After hours of hard work we sat with one of the families with whom we prepared some "cafelito, tortillitas y frijolitos" in their owen made of earth. These villages don´t have electricity nor other luxuries, but they do have tight family and community ties, loads of local knowledge and a wonderful sense of humour. We listened our eyes wide open stories about how they have survived storms, floods, puma´s, hunger, diseases, narcotrafficants, multinationals ecc. They also told us some local fairytales and legends which would be worth writing down for the future generations. All this under the full moon which painted the view indigo blue and the sounds of the jungle. We were treated with such kindness and hospitality even though they don´t have much (except loads of little children). In this work these moments are the ones that truly reward all the travelling and the bites of the strangest insects suffered. Unfortunately our camera is getting fixed so the pictures will have to come later.

Iguana Hunting in the Tropical Forest

2007-01-15T11:30:00.000-08:00

This weekend we were invited to iguana hunting by our dear collegue, Ismael. Ismael grew up in a peasant family in the middle of a tropical forest. We had a long drive through an african palm plantation until we reached the river. We decided to start our hunt with a nice and refreshning swim. We jumped from a cliff to the river and tried to fight against its current.

Then it was time for iguanas. Here in Honduras they like the iguana meat, especially with coconut milk. The way to hunt it is going to the forest with a bunch of friends. One can find these animals on the top of the trees. When the iguana is found, the group gathers around the tree and makes some noise so that the iguana gets scared and falls down. At that point someone has to catch it from his neck and tail before it touches the ground. These animals are quite fast and strong so if you don't catch it then, well, you can forget it. We started to move silently all gaizing upwards. Every now and then we stopped and cut some coconuts or nuts to have more energy. Well, we didn't have luck this time. At some point we stopped the hunt and decided that we (read Ismael) try to get some fish from the river. Ismael put his diving glasses on and started to swim with a hook in his hand. That's how his family has been fishing for ages. At this point we all decided to get into the river and swam back to the starting point (about 2 km). The trip was full of laughter and exictment as we had to get off the water every now and then to avoid the small waterfalls that it had. We saw many fishes but in the end we decided to let them live.

Before heading back home, Ismael invited us to his home. He started to shout with a high voice "JJJIIIIIUUUU!". We stopped and listened how far away in this tropical forest someone answered with the same sound. Ismael's face lit up of happines and pride: "Those are my brothers!". We started to climp up the mountain following a small and muddy path. Every now and then Ismael called his brothers and they answered. First we were greeted by a hunting dog who saluted Ismael happily and checked the rest of us suspiciously. Suddenly, on the top of the mountain we saw two hamacas and a house made of mud with a palmleaf roof. Ismael's family welcomed us warmly and they invited us for a piece of "caña", the plant from which the sugar is produced. So we sat down surrounded by the family, hens, dogs, cats and...a monkey. The monkey, Jule (we called him Ismael), jumped to Manuel's neck and gazed the rest of the people a bit worried. Pauliina gave him a little bit of caña and soon after they sat together enjoying this treat. When Jule had his stomack full, he put his head against Pauliina's decolté and gave her a couple of sweet kisses. The sun started to disappear in the horizont, the forest started to sing a lullaby; it was time to leave. The moon gave us some light as we slided down the path back to our truck. We didn't get any iguanas but we did see some extraordinary places and people.

Magical New Year 2007!

2007-01-01T15:49:00.000-08:00

A midnight swimming trip in the Caribean, deserted beach, snorkling, big fire, sun, silence, fresh fish, coconuts directly from the palmtrees, yoga, cows, scorpio in our shower...Yes, this New Year's eve was magical. We decided to take three days off and went to a nearby place called Campamento which is quite near Trujillo. Trujillo is full of Garifuna people, African decendents. It is a very easygoing place with delicious food and funny music called punta. The locals dance this music moving wildly their hips in circular movements, then pumbing their buttocks and doing all sorts of movements. We WILL learn it this year, we are already practising!

Campamento is a wellkept place owned by a local family. The place has small cabins and it's about 15 minutes drive from Trujillo. Again, there were hardly anyone, so we basically had the beach for ourselves. Perfect place for our plan to have small honeymoons here and there. The nights were fantastic, moon was so bright that it almost hurted our eyes and the water was like milk. During the day we snorkled (amazing underwater world!), read, did yoga, played with the family's dogs, had long conversations, walked to a nearby orphanage. We also enjoyed the silence as in Tocoa that is a luxury with all the reggeaton that's going on.

Only disturbance were the cows which escaped from their field and entered the garden creating a chaotic moment with all of us, including the dogs, running in the darkness shouting and trying to stop them going to the cabins. For some reason, honduran scorpios like us quite much so one of them decided to pay us a visit. Again, Manu was very brave watching the beast while he sent Pauliina to look for help. However, even the scorpio didn´t manage to brake the magic of the place.

So, dearest family and friends, thank you for all the beautiful moments in the year 2006 and hope you will have a year 2007 full of harmony and care. MUACK y BESITOS!

Visit to Santa Rosa de Copán

2006-12-29T15:56:00.000-08:00

Chabe and Reca

After couple of weeks working we made a trip to a beautiful town Santa Rosa de Copán near Guatemalan border. Most importantly we saw Chabe and Reca, two wonderful persons who have dedicated their life and knowledge to social justice issues. We had some valuable guidance from them professionally and best of all, we finally had time to enjoy their company shared with a good glass of wine. A very relaxing and fun weekend.

Copan ruinas

Near the Guatemalan border lies Copán Mayan ruins. Honduras is not yet spoiled with excessive tourism and this was something that we truly enjoyed. We let our imagination fly free as we wondered among the impressive mayan architecture. As impressive as the ruins were the Ceiba's, Mayan holy tree. The mixture between nature, silence and the architecture of a civilization which lived in harmony with surrounding environment made the place almost sacred and quite romantic.

FSAR

2006-12-29T10:19:00.000-08:00

We feel very priviledged to work in a place like FSAR. It is an NGO where people are motivated and supportive. We think we will learn loads of the reality of Honduras this year from them. The house itself is built only from local materials like adobe and the view is just beautiful. What a great place to concentrate to our work...and also take breaks with our collegues and friends.

Manuel Jiménez and Pauliina Sarvilahti-Jiménez experiencing Honduras, the land of the great indigenous warrior Lempira

2006-12-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

Arrival to Honduras

After a long journey from Madrid to San Pedro Sula, that lasted more than one day, we were greeted by the happy face of Juan. As Juan had had a long day driving, Manu offered to help and so he got his first experience of honduran roads at night. Manu truly had to concentrate not to hit the people, cows, dogs, hens and holes that constantly appeared on the way.

Tegucigalpa

We hardly had time to leave our bags to our temporary housing in Tocoa when we were sent to Tegucigalpa with the lawyer of our foundation and a group of leaders of the local peasant organizations. Once there our eyes were rapidly opened to the complex social problems of this country. We had the chance to meet the State Attourney General, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Director of the National Institute of Agriculture. While we were waiting for the meetings to start, the peasants one by one told their stories. Most of them had been illegally removed from their lands, they had faced police harrasment, even torture. Suprisingly for us many of the leaders had received death threats. We had already studied about these human rights violations and now we had faces to them. Many of these peasants live in inhumane living conditions with their families without a posibility for income. Yet the peasant's knowledge about their rights, the determination and the high rate of organisation impacted us.