The Blurred Line

Things have finally slowed to a normal pace here. School started two days ago, we are down to our permanent group of 18, and everyone is settled into a workable living routine.  This was a welcome change of pace on my behalf as juggling the constant visitors and deviations from the norm was very confusing while trying to get a handle on my job and what to do.

I have spent much of the past two weeks organizing.  Namely I feel I might pursue a job as a locksmith or the more lucrative option: professional lock picker.  I realize we are short on resources down here in Honduras, but can someone please explain why people feel the need to save old keys.  If you would have stepped into my office or apartment in the past two weeks, odds were that I was sorting keys or figuring out which ones still worked. I am almost done with this task and I do feel a little sense of accomplishment.

But that is hardly what my role is as administrator. It just had to be done.

The more pressing and stressing challenge I have faced recently is that of becado (scholarship) families who have fallen upon hard times.  Our agreement with the school and our goal as an organization is to provide 25% of the students at our schools with financial assistance.  This mainly comes in the form of direct scholarships, but varies on how much a scholarship a particular student may receive.  It all boils down to getting a half or a whole.  Some of these families legitimately need the whole, others can provide enough to cover half of the costs and therefore have a responsibility that is half that of a full-scholarship family.

Last week alone I had 3 different families come to me telling me that they could not afford to send their child to school this year unless they received the other half of their scholarship. Three families, all wanting the same thing, all for different reasons, and all with different financial realities. For some it is a matter of using their money more wisely in order to have enough to pay for their child. For others it means weighing whether to send both children to school or put food on the table. My role in all this is to explain to them that we have no more scholarships to give and brainstorm other ways to send their kids to school. I have to explain financially why we cannot do this while expressing my desire for them to continue with their child's education. Worst of all, one of these students in danger of not being able to continue at our school is one of my former students' brothers, and also one of the smartest 2nd graders I know.

His family owes 5 months of late monthly tuition payments from last year which must be paid before he can start this coming school year. The payments are roughly L650 per month (or $35), but his single, working mother only makes L3,000 a month ($159).  As you might imagine, putting food on the table and sending her kid to school this year would be impossible in one single payment.  But it gets more complicated. She would also have to pay the one-time-a-year matriculation payment of L550 ($30) and begin her new monthly tuition payments ($17).

So just to get started this year, his family would need roughly $200 at which point she can carry on the rest of the payments herself. So why I am telling you this? Because this kid matters.

It is really hard to understand the opportunity BECA gives to its students when you have never seen the school in action or the conditions some of our students live in.  Our system does not work for every kid in Honduras or even Cofradía, but it does work for some. This 2nd grader is one of the ones that would otherwise be lost in an overcrowded public school mess.  This 2nd grader is going to grow up, go to college and do something great for his country.  You might say it is too early to tell, but this is a kid who has an older brother who is equally as committed to look up to.

BECA's model does not allow for people to make earmarked donations for particular students, so I am asking you for a bit of trust and one less $15 meal out, 12-pack of beer, pint of Haagen Daaz ice cream, or trip to the movies.  I want to help this kid but I can't do it alone. If you can, paypal me as much or as little as you can. I will pay for the cost of his back payments and rest will go to BECA.

josh.balser@gmail.com
www.becaschools.org

Back in the Saddle: Cofradía Round 2

Many people asked me if I would continue the blog for a second year and at the beginning I was very hesitant to do so for a number of reasons.  Most notable of the reasons was that the name of my blog is "My Year in Cofradía."  Beyond the obvious lack of creativity in the title, the name is now false advertising and I could not bear defrauding my readers. But lucky for you all, I have a Jewish grandmother who, in all her wisdom gave me some sage advice, "Well, Josh, just change the name."

So I intend to do just that, the only problem is my creative juices are not flowing and I do not want another weak title so I am leaving it up to you.  Think of it as a contest. You can submit suggestions for names of my blog and the winner will..well...be the name of my blog.

Again my intention here is inform you of the goings on here in Cof and attempt to entertain. I cannot guarantee any frequency of posts or shout outs.  All I can hope for is that you enjoy another year of my posts and that maybe, just maybe, you will think of donating to BECA (www.bescashools.org).

After a short stint in the US, I have returned to Honduras and to San Jeronimo Bilingual School to serve another year for BECA.  This year, however, I will not be racking my brain to come up with lesson plans or grading papers.  I am not teaching again, instead I have signed on as the Program Administrator for the 2011-2012 BECA team.  This year I have the unique experience of being team leader, overseeing BECA first year expanding into a new school, liaising between BECA and the SJBS board of directors, and managing the scholarship program that sends 35% of our students to school for free.  My responsibilities are more varied, will at times be more demanding, but overall, I feel, a better match for my skills and career goals.

Having already been here a week getting to know the new job and the new team, I can only imagine the confusion of filling my post having never been in Cofradía before.  I know the town, I know the school, and most importantly I understand how everything works, as crazy and backward as it may seem at times.  It does feel good to back to something familiar and run into familiar faces again.  I know few people who can walk into a mall in a different country and have two little girls wearing matching dresses run up and hug them screaming, "Mr. Don Josh!" Not that this has happened to me or anything. Just saying.  While there is so much I do miss from home, I like to think that now I have a little home here.  I have yet to go a day without seeing someone and getting a hearty "welcome back!"

I will just share one quick story about my Sunday morning before leaving you wanting more.  The scholarship programs works by having families earn points to maintain their scholarship and give back to the school as they cannot financially afford to do so.  Earning points can be done in a variety of ways, one of which is mowing the lawn at school.  However, this is not done with your standard lawnmower, though we do have one that helps out a lot, but rather a machete.  Generally speaking about 8 people show up on their assigned day and work for a few hours cutting grass and doing some basic landscaping.  Today only 3 people showed up and as administrator it shows some solidarity to show up and play a part. So from 7AM until Noon today I was in ankle high to knee high grass chopping a way with a machete.  I am quite surprised at how slowly it moves and how resilient grass can be.  Not to mention there were only 4 people there trying to cut about an acre of grass, probably more.  I can already feel how well I should sleep tonight but it did come at a cost. If you ever try this at home, wear gloves. I have about 5 blisters and am struggling to type.

All in all, I think I finally have my technique down and can work at 1/5 the pace as the regulars.  I am already practicing to do it again in 2 weeks.

Until next time, check out the BECA website and donate if you can. And don't forget to submit new blog titles.

Adios.