Special September days in Candelaria...

Coming up to the two months in mark whoohoo! And what a busy couple of months it has been. September was completely filled with special events, from national holidays and events celebrated to a few a little closer to home and more specific to Candelaria and my host family. Something I have learnt is that Hondurans do not sit back when it comes to celebrations; they go all out with what seems to be an endless amount of preparation, and the end result is quite spectacular. For a tiny village in the middle of a Honduran mountain range, Candelaria truly is the definition of go big or go home!

The first one of these special days was held on the 10th of September, more commonly known as ‘El Dia de Ninos’ which commemorates the universal rights of children and teenagers. In Candelaria, this meant that although the kids went to school, there were no lessons and instead the day was full of games and sweets and ended up with something which appeared to be a school talent show (of sorts). The children arrived, some all dressed up in fancy dresses, others in costumes and masks.

The kids were full of energy all day - probably partly because of the never ending sugar high they were thriving on - but it was lovely; they were so keen to tell us about their outfits and as soon as I pulled out my camera, they were already standing there, striking a pose. Something I’ve noticed is that although they love having their photos taken, they very rarely smile! So that is something I’m going to work on with them this year as I love their insistence on being photographed, but they could look like they are enjoying themselves a little more! But their joy was hard to contain, and the photos were even harder to take when I was being tackled with hugs from all angles every minute of the day. Their affection is unrivalled and I can’t get enough of it, nor do I think I will ever get completely used to it.

Deivy showing off his skills while screaming 'miss! photo!'

The rest of the day was spent being tugged in all directions as the kids wanted to show us the pinatas their teachers had bought, or how they had learnt to hang upside down on the climbing frame (looking at you Deivy). The highlight of my day was most definitely the talent show, although I’m not sure if all of the acts can be categorised under ‘talent’; one of our first grade classes spent their time on stage trying to pop as many balloons as possible, which was oddly impressive, while my fourth graders acted out some sort of wedding scene (Izzy and I are still confused). However, among the entertaining acts and joyful dances, there was one group which stood out for me - the fifth grade boys chose to rap about religion and gun violence which was very unexpected, and hit a different note when compared to the acts of their peers. I am always taken by surprise by how aware the majority of the kids in Candelaria are about politics and the goings-on within Honduras. When you put it in perspective, most of these children have never been further than the aldeas which surround Candelaria, and yet they have the maturity and understanding of hardships and issues such as gun violence which are extremely prevalent in Honduran cities, and I'm not sure if I could say the same about many kids of the same age back in England. For all their messing about and misbehaving in the classroom, the children I teach always come across as so much older than they are. They have had to mature at such an early age due to the things they have been exposed to and have learnt to cope and be independent, making them more responsible and capable young adults rather than the carefree young kids they initially give the impression of.

The day was rounded up in the most Honduran fashion I can imagine; screaming and thwacking a fluorescent pinanta until it was nothing more than a mangled mess on the floor, which was then immediately swarmed by squabbling second graders, fighting each other for the ultimate prizes of sweets and marshmallows. Despite the fact that these kids eat sweets on the regular, all hours of the day, the appeal never seems to fades, much to the detriment of their milk teeth...

The second one of these events was on a much larger scale as it was the celebration of the 198th anniversary of Independence day, which is the 15th of September. Independence Day is celebrated not only throughout Honduras, but also across EL Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, as a way to acknowledge when these 5 countries were freed from Spanish colonisation. In the two weeks running up to this date, we spent most of our school mornings practising the numerous school marches, helping the younger girls with their baton and dance routines, and keeping our first graders in line (probably the hardest job of all); sometimes this would take the whole day, or our last lessons would be cancelled in order for the kids to be able to practice singing the national anthem in the school courtyard. The days when some of the kids came in wearing their outfits and costumes were my favourites as you could finally see it all coming together and start to imagine how the big day would look, although when the day finally arrived, no amount of school practice could have prepared us for the real thing.

Samuelito, my 5 year old host brother, in his immaculate dress

As the 15th fell on a Sunday this year, which is market day, it made things a little more tricky, so on the morning of the 14th, I woke to find the household buzzing with people; a constant stream of mums and daughters coming in and out of the front door; girls having their hair done while the boys were pinning long tasseled capes to their shoulder pads. After about an hour of hair-spraying buns and fixing chin-straps, the kids were finally ready and we hurriedly headed down to the bridge near the entrance of Candelaria and met with all the teachers. The only requirement we had been given was to bring the Union Jack flag which had been hanging in the English classroom as we were to be a part of the marching parade just as much as the rest of the kids! Before actually taking our place in the midst of all the kids, I hadn’t quite realised how big the parade was going to be. Not only were all of the primary school kids involved, but so were all the kindergarteners as well as the highschoolers, and when you consider that the whole village turned up to watch, it was quite the event! Eventually, once everyone was sorted and just about in the right place, the base drums of the marching band began and off we went up the main road towards the village square and central park. To be able to be apart of something so highly valued by the community gave me such a sense of pride, and so I can only imagine how the students and the teachers felt when they were finally able to see the fruits of their labour and how those seemingly never ending marching practices had actually paid off to create something so special. As I marched (at the pace of the third grade girls who were very aggressively swinging their batons in front of us, so not very fast) I was able to look ahead and admire the attention to detail regarding the presentation of every single aspect of the parade, from the gold buttons on the college boys' uniforms to the carefully applied eyeliner on my second grade girls to the steady beat of the drums, ensuring everyone was in time. It was certainly something pretty extraordinary to witness, and even more so to be apart of.

As we walked through the village, I noticed that different parts of the parade had a different focus in terms of what they were representing. For example, my third grade was dressed in farmers outfits with little hats and while some held cardboard signs which criticised deforestation, others held ones in support of recycling, making it clear that their project was about the environment, with the main message being about how the necessity for safe and clean drinking water is much higher than that of gold mining. Another example was demonstrated by one of the college classes which had been allocated a theme about the different ethnic and cultural groups found within Honduras. These included the Lenca (highlands in the west where I'm based), Garífuna (communities of Black African descent who now live in fishing communities along the north coast), Misquito (located in the jungle area of the south east), and the Tolupanes (found in the North-west region).

Once we reached the main square, the parade finished and was followed by lots of speeches, dancing and singing, and it was so busy it seemed as though the whole world was there, packed in the tiny central square of Candelaria. It was amazing to see how the whole village had come together and created such an amazing day out of this event, and left me with a newfound appreciation for the Honduran way of life; relax and go with the flow during everyday life and everything will be alright, however when something needs to be done, not only complete the job but do everything in your power to make it the best it can be.

Lois x