A letter from Colleen Hennessy

Percentages of the sales of these “Paintings from Honduras” will go toward the following: Peace Corps projects in El Playón, Honduras and Medical Expenses of a dear friend, Nancy DeLouise of Las Cruces.


Background Information—El Playón

I have spent the past year as a Peace Corps volunteer living on a mountaintop in a cloud forest. My village of El Playón is a community of approximately 550 residents located in one of the poorest areas of Honduras. There are about 150 school-aged children in this town. The town has only an elementary school. Children who wish to attend middle school (colegio) or high school (secondario) need to travel to another town in order to do so. Every classroom in El Playón has four paperback textbooks per student – one for each of the four basic subjects: Spanish, Science, Social Studies and Math. There are no other books in the school and no computers.

The average income in El Playón is $800 per family per year. The 60% of the families who own houses and land derive 95% or more of their income from the cultivation of coffee. The coffee farms use banana and platano trees for shade, but, since neither of these products is sold for export to the U.S., the prices received for these crops are very low. The 40% of families who do not own land are employed by those who do. They earn most of their money during the coffee harvest (November – February) when they work massive amounts of overtime; they work sporadically throughout the rest of the year, mostly as farm laborers.

Approximately 80% of the houses have electricity. About 50% are made of block and/or concrete with concrete or tile floors, and have doors and windows. The other 50% are made of wood or bajareque (mud, more or less), usually with dirt floors. Many houses are missing doors or windows. No more than half of the families have indoor plumbing. The rest have latrines and get their water from a faucet at the pila (a large, outdoor sink). The residents wash clothes and dishes and prepare their food at the pila, as well as bathe there. There is no telephone service in the town. It rains about 75% of the year here. Flooding is common during hurricane season. The town has no other public or private buildings other than houses. The community, by any standards, is very poor.

The community would like to convert an old cocina (kitchen) into a library/computer center for the use of the school children and the adults in the town. At this time there are no books other than textbooks in the school – no dictionaries, no encyclopedias, no reference materials of any sort. The closest computer centers are in the city of Santa Barbara, an hour bus ride away. Neither adults nor students can afford the 36-Lempira round trip on the bus, nor the 20-Lempira-per-hour computer fees, with any regularity. There is a great interest among the citizens of El Playón to increase their knowledge and to improve the educational opportunities for their children, but currently available resources are not financially feasible for this community.

The community cannot afford the materials to refurbish the old building. If the people of the community receive the materials, they will provide the construction expertise and labor necessary to do the job.

I have found an organization that will donate books. My goal is to convert an old kitchen into a small library/computer center for the community. I have located used computers at an affordable price and hope to purchase at least three of them. The building needs a lot of work before any books or computers can fill the space. I am also seeking help with house improvements.


Background Information—Nancy DeLouise

My dear friend, Nancy DeLouise was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. She is healing well from a recent surgery and now has to undergo a series of very costly chemotherapy treatments. Because she is self-employed Nancy has very little or no health insurance. I am inspired by my friend’s fighting spirit and I am optimistic that these treatments will go smoothly. Nancy is a generous, dear soul. As one of her friends, I would like to help her out.

Thank you for coming to the Laughing at the Sun Gallery! Sorry I cannot be there for the opening reception. Thankfully, I have another year down here in the jungle!

Colleen Hennessy
Peace Corps volunteer, Honduras