Sunday, April 17, 2011

The History of Community in La Unión

As my stay in La Unión continues extending itself, I learn more about the people I live with. And no, I’m not talking about UMF staff members Andrew, Mike, or Charlie. I’m learning a lot about los Unióneros (Hondurans from La Unión.) Recently, I’ve learned more through Mike’s encounter with a veteran gringo, Gifford Laube, a Peace Corps volunteer who passed through our village more than a decade ago, and who is currently married and working in Trinidad, Honduras.

Gifford, apparently also known to locals as Mateo, lived in the northern part of town, just a little bit past the park. The area he lived around was made up of the Martinez’s, one of La Unión’s formative families. He lived by himself in a mud-brick home and built himself his own latrine. Or so the legend goes. To travel to Santa Barbara or Lepaera, he would walk through jungle for hours on end. No buses. No jalóns. Now, it’s easy to get a jalón, otherwise known as a hitch in the back of someone’s pickup.

Ten years ago, jalóns weren’t really offered. People feared each other. Regional families were in a power struggle, killing each other, eye for an eye. Men from neighboring aldeas (villages) walked around with machetes, and not because they were off to tend their fields. Electricity had yet to arrive. The streets were dangerous at night.

Then, around 2000, the churches arrived, electricity shortly thereafter, and certain families won out over others to become the current large landowners. As if by magic, the new millenium ushered in a new La Unión. “La Nueva Unión” as Pastor Wilson from Vida Abundante (Church)calls our community. Of course this society is far from perfect; fundamental educational, health, and financial institutions fail to adequately exist. Rural poverty remains vibrant.

Though I have often heard pieces of its history from many town elders, the Peace Corps volunteer’s story was an awakening. An awakening as to how far this town has come in only ten years. I’m reminded that people thirty and over have witnessed horrors, but have also witnessed change. Recently, when I look into their eyes, I can see this story emanate from their pupils.

The potential for another decade of immense change is palpable. I’m excited, for it seems Unión MicroFinanza has arrived just at the right time. The dust from the past seems to be slowly settling. New mentalities are permitting people to think in longer terms. Hondurans have a vision for that future. Unión MicroFinanza does too, and its an exciting vision. We will turn the municipality into the specialty coffee region it deserves to be. Mike and Patrick have already proven this to be possible with their award winning coffee. Our idea is to turn people’s focus from the rough past and shift it towards a bright future, a future where the standard of living improves for all.d shift it towards a bright future, a future where the standard of living improves for all.

11 comments:

  1. Outfitted with learning, a purchaser's outing to the utilized auto merchant can be successful.Do you possess an auto and are experiencing some money related emergency? Deficiency of account frequently acquires unsettling influence and chaos your life. check cashing places

    ReplyDelete
  2. My home loan organization foreclosed on me despite the fact that I had the trusts in the bank to get my advance current, however NOT the $5,000 that the abandonment lawyers requested, after they drew up the dispossession papers. Fannie Mae was quickly mindful that I had the capacity pay lease or purchase back my unassuming house, yet a real estate broker, who might be paid $1000 ahead of time to list the unfilled house, "overlooked" to give me the letter from Fannie Mae offering to give me a chance to lease or purchase the house back. Cash Advance

    ReplyDelete
  3. Both the web and the physical world are flooding with spots where you can get a change with surprising credit, no credit check, and no work confirmation however what these present credit sharks don't tell you is that their motivation of interest rates are high to the point that one day you may end up with the payday advance mafia nearing after you! Check Cashing

    ReplyDelete
  4. Despite the way that the appellation case won't admission you what the money is for, baby-sit yourself to not demography out a agent appellation beforehand pointlessly. With aftereffect accepted in a month, these brief advances are best acclimated for emergency costs. Take out absolutely what you absolutely bind so the allotment is to a bottom amount a weight adjoin the month's end appellation period. https://www.aaa1autotitleloans.com/chicago

    ReplyDelete
  5. The student loan consolidation is the merging of several student loans, and is done to save money on interest and for the convenience of one payment instead of several. There are plenty of things you should know about student loan consolidation, and this site provides the information you need to make a decision.
    https://www.usacheckcashingstore.com/san-diego

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mortgage holders are the individuals who really own the property in which they live and this is the situation whether they possess their home through and through or whether they have a home loan secured on the house. cash advance san-diego

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ma ora penso in modo diverso. Alcune cose possono essere apprese solo attraverso l'esperienza. Alcuni possono essere piacevole e un po 'sgradevole. Ma è necessario avere esperienze sia buone che cattive. curare l'impotenza a 20 anni

    ReplyDelete
  8. Both government and private credits offered don't require any installment while the understudy is as yet contemplating. Nonetheless, government credits loans a lower sum when contrasted with that of private advances. Likewise, there are two sorts of private credits: school-channel and direct-to-understudy sort. Payday Loans

    ReplyDelete
  9. When you unite obligation advances, you will be given a lower loan fee by the bank, and you will make lower reimbursements every month. Try not to take seeing more in your ledger as a sign to spend more cash. You should utilize that extra money to pay down your current obligations. Payday Loans

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is critical to think around a consolidator before marking with them. You would prefer not to start acting responsibly, pay off the whole adjust early, and after that get slapped with an overwhelming fine to violate the credit terms. Payday Loans

    ReplyDelete
  11. Generally loan specialists did not have any desire to dispossess and take property again from the borrowers. That has as of late changed. Land qualities are currently going up in about each market, particularly those business sectors that were hardest hit by the land implosion. Who ever holds that property will profit. https://www.usapaydayloanstore.com/chicago

    ReplyDelete