COVID-19 in Candelaria...
- Lois Butler-Kettle
- Mar 27, 2020
- 9 min read
13/03/2020
Three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Honduras
Presidential decree that all schools were to be suspended for 14 days
We went into school this morning for an hour for an assembly delivered by a local health professional on the virus, health measures which we need to be taking and the importance of sanitation and afterwards kids all went home and we had a teachers meeting about how every child receives a box of vitamin supplements to take over the next month, little did we know that was the last time we would see our kids :((
15/03/2020
Six confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Honduras
Flights were beginning to be restricted
The FCO advice strongly encouraged non-resident British nationals in Honduras (us) to consider leaving to avoid difficulties they would face if flights out of the country and the region were further restricted
Project Trust told us to pack up all our things and head to San Pedro Sula ASAP to stay with Blanca at Dos Molinos and wait there in the case that a flight became available which was a huge shock to us and sent Izzy and me into a a panicked frenzy as it was all happening so fast so we went blubbering to Lety and Victor and had a very emptional day getting our things together and saying our goodbyes, preparing to leave the next monring even though we were in no way ready to leave just yet
However, that very evening, bags packed and everything, the Honduran government announced all borders (air, land, and sea) were to be closed as of 11:59 pm Sunday, March 15, 2020 for a period of seven days
All restaurants, leisure centres, malls and non-essential stores were forced to shut and all public transport suspended. Only Banks, supermarkets and cooperatives remained open
Despite the news, we still had to be prepared to travel in the morning via a private bus that we hired with the Mapulaca, Tomalá and La Labor volunteers.
16/03/2020
Eight confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Honduras
Land, sea and air borders were closed
No transport at all apart from the singular bus which brought people from local aldeas into Candelaria for bank visits
Police road blocks were put in place throughout the country
We still had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice which was pretty horrible, not knowing when our final day with our family would be so i tried to appreciate every moment I had with them, treating it as though it was our last :((
In the evening we recieved a Presidential order for everyone to stay indoors for 48 hours and we were sent a document to fill in which stated that we were British nationals in Honduras looking for flights home. Meanwhile, our contact in the city of Gracias spoke to a Honduran government minister about potential travel optionas for us (22 volunteers)
18/03/2020
12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Honduras.
We received emails from PT stating that all Project Trust Volunteers in the world were to be repatriated so at this point, we knew that it was no longer a matter of if we were going home but when :((
20/03/2020
24 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Honduras
We received a reply from Nick Whittingham (HM Ambassador Guatemala City and Tegucigalpa) which stated ‘we are in conjunction with embassies based in Honduras, asking the Honduran government to open up ways for foreigners to leave the country.’
The evening news that night announced that the border closure was to be extended until March 29th with the exception of foreign nationals wanting to return to their home country.
Curfew was starting to be introduced throughout the country in places such as San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba
22/03/2020
More curfews and further limitations of internal travel across the country were put in place
The Chief Executive of Project Trust spoke with the British Ambassador who confirmed that he had all of our details and gave his full support to our case, informing us that the UK Government and other Embassies were putting pressure on the Honduran Government to allow foreigners to leave various countries, as had already been the case in Peru.
24/03/19
36 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Honduras
The British Ambassador sent us letters of permission which would allow free movement for the evacuation.
The crisis management company was provided with our exact locations and confirmed they have an evacuation plan in place.
The British Embassy was still waiting to hear about when commercial flights were going to be allowed into the country, but we were told that it would support us in chartering a plane
Government advised everyone to stay home during lockdown
Some locals had started to take things into their own hands and were beginning to put up unofficial road barriers e.g. large stones or tree branches
That evening we received news that there was a plan in place and flights had been confirmed (We would head to Tegucigalpa from 25 – 27 March and a charter flight would take us to Mexico on 27 March where we would catch a commercial flight to the UK), however this was all subject to being able to secure Government permission.
During lockdown, we have been keeping ourselves and the kids as busy as possible and to be honest, despite the stress of not knowing what is going to happen, I have loved having all this extra time with the family. As a result of this recently imposed 14 day lockdown, everyone has had to stay home which has meant that we have been with our host siblings and host parents pretty much 24/7. It's been wonderful as it’s not often that we are all in the house together at the same time, and as a result, this quality time that we have been given is something I am very grateful for and will always remember. Just because we are in lockdown doesn’t mean that it’s a holiday, no matter how much the kids have tried to make it into one. The Honduran government has made sure of this by sending out school work and assignments to teachers across the country who then send it online to their students; Profe Aminta has been sending homework to Genesis via whatsapp messages to Lety, while Samuel has been receiving compulsory Kinder lessons on Youtube. These lessons have quickly become one of the most entertaining things to watch as they mostly involve Samuel yelling the days of the week at the TV in response to the overly enthusiastic Youtube-kinder teacher, and Lety can’t help but join in as well. The boys have been given big projects to occupy their time, mostly art ones which have involved copying paintings of the seasons on huge canvases and drawing skylines on slabs of ceramic tiling. We have also done a lot of baking using the Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mixes I bought recently when I was in Gracias and these have been a huge hit - Victor practically licked his plate clean!
We also made 9-banana banana bread as the banana bunch which hangs from the kitchen ceiling was looking a bit worse for wear, and Dania has also taught us how to make pupusas, however apparently I will need to practice a lot more until mine are edible, according to my host brothers, hmpf....
Our afternoons consist of playing cards outside on the patio while listening to music or painting our nails with Genesis, and we spend the evenings watching movies in the lounge with everyone; we just watched one about Pedro Infante (I think its called ‘Como Caido el Cielo’) which left Lety howling with laughter at the vulgar jokes and Samuel very confused, it was great.
If it weren’t for the little ways in which the village has changed in order to deal with COVID-19, you would have no idea that the world is going through a pandemic right now. Living in the bubble of a rural Honduran village means that if you wanted to, you could most definitely get away with not having a clue of what is going on in the outside world. Due to the lack of road transport, the market has stopped coming which has meant that there have been food shortages and as a result, everyone is now much more aware of what and how much they are eating of certain foods. An example of this was recently when we were in the ferreteria and the avocado van came to the door; despite everything, the man who delivers the avocados was in good spirits, however he did say that he wasn’t sure if this was going to be the last time we would see him for a while as the importation of avocados from Mexico had stopped, so he gave us a free melon as a parting gift and we waved him off. I don't know how are we going to cope without avocados, they are the staple of pretty much every single one of our meals?! Once lockdown began to tighten up even further to the point where we weren’t allowed to leave the house, we had to resort to calling the neighbours when we needed something. Soon it became a common sight to see Evelyn’s dad popping up from behind the patio wall, calling Lety’s name and waving a bag of eggs or flour or whatever she had requested that day. Victor also recently came back from visiting his father Don Timo’s farm with huge baskets full of fresh fruits and vegetables, coffee beans, hundreds of eggs and an adorable gift of toothbrushes for the kids and us. This just goes to show how codependent the people of Candelaria are, and their willingness to help each other never fails to amaze me.
The stress of not knowing what is going to happen to us or when we will be told to leave has been starting to impact not just us but the whole family, and so we have started having evening prayer sessions every night. The President recently banned all church events due to the risk posed by large gatherings, therefore we have taken to holding our own sessions at home.
This has been great fun as it mostly consists of the whole family sitting in a circle in the lounge, following the PowerPoint slides on the TV, arguing about which hymn to play next and and frantically trying to sing along, Victor belting out his favourite choruses while Samuel and I get a tad too excited when our favourite children's Bible song comes on. Afterwards, we sometimes head to our rooms and the whole household prays in silence for an hour. At first I didn’t know what to do as I am not very religious, however I was comforted by the fact that even Genesis found it difficult to sit still and focus for that long, and we usually resort to teasing Samuel who always ends up flat out asleep on the floor. Despite not being a believer - Lety knows this and loves to tease me about it - I really appreciate what they are doing for us. Our host parents are avid Evangelicals and I have spent many afternoons with Lety where she has spoken at length about memorable moments throughout her life when God answered her prayers and so at a time like this, I appreciate and am beyond grateful for their genuine efforts and love that they have shown us by dedicating their prayers to our well being and safekeeping.
Restrictions have become much more strict in the last few days and as a result police presence across the country has dramatically increased. Police and military members can been seen constantly parading through the streets of Candelaria, their guns slung across their chests but their casual attitude isn’t fooling anyone; you do not want to mess with them so we have stayed in the house, venturing no further than the patio. The news is on nearly 24/7 and while it’s easy to forget about the rest of the world and get wrapped up in the bubble of Candelarian life, this pandemic has wrenched us out of this mentality and forced us to open our eyes to what’s really going on. Honduras has taken COVID-19 very seriously, issuing endless warnings and new methods of staying safe, which seem to change on the daily. Lety and Victor have bought gallons of disinfectant and hand sanitiser, and face masks which they are distributing to rest of the village. In the house there are spray bottles of disinfectant everywhere you look, and much to my amusement, Genesis has been taking great pleasure in aggressively spraying anyone who coughs or sneezes. While we still don’t know if this is actually doing anything to combat COVID-19, we are definitely the cleanest and most sanitised we have been all year which is something.
In the last few days, we have been in constant contact with Project Trust. Although they are desperately trying to figure out ways to get us home - and I appreciate all the work they are doing for us - I know Izzy and I would be happy to stick it out for however long, however the main problem with that is a question of insurance and visa validity. We were meant to head to Mexico for a visa run during Semana Santa but due to Honduras closing its borders, that is no longer possible. We are now the last Project Trust country group which means we are now their main focus. Because of this, they have finally managed to find a way to get us out, which is going to involve a private convoy, a charter plane from Tegucigalpa to Mexico, and a commercial flight to Heathrow. And we leave tomorrow.
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