Another wonderful day here in Honduras. Our Evangelization team as well as some of the teenage missionaries joined up with Sister Fatima, a Franciscan sister, and her local youth group with special visits to two schools. The purpose of the visit was to present what were called chastity plays. I wondered to myself why this focus. How would it be presented? What age level? The answer was grades 5 and 6. Here in Honduras the average age for pregnancy is 14. That means that a great deal is going on before 14, thus grades 5 and 6. Children here receive complete and specific sex education in the second grade with no values or morals attached. The result is disastrous.
Sister Fatima and her youth group were wonderful. The message was presented through songs and skits. There wasn't a great deal of fear driven moralizing but rather a positive message of the goodness of the body and the imprtance of using the body as God intended as well as a message of respect for self and others. We were well received and had timne to interact with the kids who practiced their English with us and insisted on writing on our T-shirts. There are some pictures below.
Later in the day all of us had a free afternoon and went to a local beach resort fro some fun and a fish dinner. We ended with Mass at an orphanage call "The Finca del Nino" The Place was run by Franciscan sisters and the children seemed well cared for and happy.
 |
| Completed Art Work back of my T-shirt |
 |
| The kids descend on us with their markers |
 |
| With Emmet Guillory, Evangelization Team Leader |
La Finca del Niño has some great volunteers (from the US and Nicaragua). I led a retreat for them last September. Tehy do some nice work with kids in Trujillo and La Ceiba.
ReplyDelete