Working. Traveling. Working more.

Hola Todas y Todos!
Finally a new update. It is already end of may! Time flies by.
I hope summer has arrived for you with all its beauty over there in the North and the West. Here, the people talk about "winter coming soon" - because of the more regular rainfalls and heavy thunderstorms after a hot day. It is funny. We are sweating nakedly, yet talking about winter...

I am still in the settling proces here in Tegucigalpa. Trying to get installed in our new home, getting to know my work with Arte Acción. Things have changed. Only yesterday, we had a crisis-meeting within the organization. The money is getting rare, projects are finishing - donations by international coorporations stop. Evaluation reports must be written, new projects must be formulated - everybody is sacrifying oneself in order to carry on. It is hard to be a cultural, social organization with no governmental help, no ongoing support. When there are projects, everybody needs to sacrifice a lot of energy - to fulfill the expectations of the donators.

Social system is completely missing in these kind of countries. But Honduras is NOT a poor country! The majority of the people is poor - and only some very few families are richer than rich.
Consumism is very present everywhere! The shopping malls and buyingcenters are full of people - the supermarkets have much more cashiers than what I am used to in Europe -and still you always stay in line before you can pay.
When you come out of the market - little boys bid for money. Their eyes half closed , smelling like a tankstation of so much glue they inhaled .
Yesterday one of these boys saw me at a bank machine. It didn't accept my card . When the boy asked me for one Lempira and I had nothing to give to him, I explained that I could not take any money from the bank. He said: "It is because some guys came and took out suitcases full of banknotes of the machine. Now there is nothing left..."
Later I saw the boy again, I thought I would buy him some food rather than giving him cash. He told me he wanted chicken - from one of the American fast food restaurants that are EVERYWHERE: in all colours, in all varieties but with the same crappy food.
I bought him some fried potatoes that a woman sold on the streets. Suddenly there where three boys behind him, big eyes - wanting potatoes as well. Much better than chicken!

I feel that the Arte Acción's mission is very important. The young people we work with could be in the same position - their testimonies tell us that they would hang around on the streets if Arte Acción didn't exist. Through creativity, we reinforce the youth, help them to make conscious decisions - starting for example with their food choice, ending with personal development: We support them to determine dreams and values, personal needs and limits - we help them to take themselves and each other seriously and to trust in themselves. It sounds complicated maybe... HOW can a game or a theater play, a painting or dancing really benefit the human development? Creating self-confidence, stimulating communication - true communication with oneself and real communication with one another.

In the meantime there have been 4 succesfull girlgrouptherapy sessions realized. Its outcome is meaningful. Yesterday we worked out a dramasession -using masks again, like in Ecuador. This time, lots of therapeutical proces took place. The girls are all young adults, quite accostumed to creative activities and reflection. Every girl played with a selfmade mask, expressing a self-chosen emotion. The girls created either a monologue or a dialogue, expressing the emotion reflected by their mask in a presentation of a 5 minutes scene.
During the reflection in the end the girls shared some significant experiences...

• I feel that I could relax and get rid o some accumulated feelings

• I realize that we easily project our emotions on somebody else, making fun of somebody or getting angry with somebody - instead of searching for the emotion and its reason inside of ourselves

• I feel that we need to strengthen our self-confidence, our confidence with others - we need to practice to make REAL contact, also fisically - not only smiling and superficially talking to each other - as if we were wearing a mask always - it is difficult to make real friends

• I feel that what I express here is born inside of me and not because of a compromise I have made with somebody from the outside

• I feel that here I am free to ask others about their expriences; I feel free to ask "why" am I here; I feel free to express what I like to express.

It was a nice session - I gave my compliments to the group. Openness towards each other is growing and they start trusting in honest contact. Until now almost every one of the participants has shown up to all of the sessions. They are always eager to meet again - some of them said that the therapymoment is their highlight of the week.