honduras 10 years later.

Mayan ruins at Copan Ruinas, first date and with kids

A couple months ago, UrbanPromise Honduras (UPH) celebrated its 10-year anniversary of starting programs. We were lucky enough to be there for the celebrations. It had been about 7 years since I had been there, 8 since Kristin and I had been there together, and the first time ever going with the boys. The visit was long overdue. I knew as soon as we rolled into the Copan valley that this was going to be a trip that I would remember for the rest of my life.

The orange roof tiles and green mountains of Copan Ruinas

Copan Ruinas is a special place to me for many reasons. It was where Kristin and I first started dating on a backpacking trip through Central America in 2008. It was my first experience living overseas long-term and also the first (and only) time I’ve helped start an organization from the ground up. It is one of those places that seems stuck in time. It certainly felt very similar to when we used to live there, besides one major difference. All of the kids and youth that I worked with are now grown up into adults, some with families of their own. 

Brenda (left) and her family were my neighbours at one point. It was in her family's house where we watched the news of the military coup in 2008. Ruth (right) was one of the first Camp Hope kids, was a talented artist and a trouble-maker

It is incredibly fun to see the adult version of kids I had been thinking of and praying for over the past 10 years, still picturing them as kids in my head. It is also a little heavyhearted in some ways to see them as adults now, with the knowledge that I had missed out on so many years of their lives and the realization that they are now dealing with all the stresses of trying to survive, work and raise a family in rural Honduras as an adult. Despite the mix of emotions, it was extremely meaningful for us to be able to connect in person again, and for me to introduce my family to some of them. 

The three founders and an old Camp Hope kid, now UPH youth leader, Denia (and some kids) at the new Camp Hope

One of our priorities was to visit Camp Hope, the site where I was Camp Director of our first after-school program. We later found out that the site location was recently changed and now run out of a church in a different neighbourhood in town. However, it was still good to visit and see programs run in a very similar way that we used to run them. It was also a great surprise to see that some old camp kids are still connected to UPH as young adults, working as youth leaders at the site. 

Street food and a La Ceiba tree

Another one of our priorities visiting Honduras is the food. We were looking forward to a lot of different things, but baleadas were probably at the top of the list. Baleadas are four tortillas with beans, cream and cheese - but we can add just about anything else to them. Here we are with Rachel and her kids eating another favourite Honduran food, chanches, which are hard corn tortillas with shredded chicken and tomato sauce. We stayed with Rachel and her family while in Copan and it was a huge blessing in so many ways. We were able to catch up with her a lot and the boys had friends (and toys) to play with. Rachel was also that last of the original three UPH founders to join, but played such a huge role that it is impossible to imagine the team without her. (I don't think just Blair and I would have gotten very far).

The three UPH founders speaking to the current UPH team

It was exciting to see the new (to us) UPH office and meet the current staff. The location has changed and nearly all the staff were new to us. It was very encouraging to see how things had grown since we were there last, and exciting to think of the future possibilities. All three of the founders (Rachel, Blair and myself) spoke to the current staff to offer them a word of encouragement. We shared one of our favourite stories from our first ever summer camp, in which we stumbled across a scared and angry opossum trapped in a garbage can. Or rather the kids discovered it when they tried to throw their snack garbage into the garbage can, only to be surprised by what was looking back at them. Thankfully no one was hurt, and we responsibly asked the watchman of the school if he could take care of it. We foolishly thought that "taking care of it" meant walking it a safe distance away from the kids before releasing the opossum back into the wild. However, the watchman interpreted "taking care of it" by stringing the opossum up by its neck and hacking it with a machete until it died. Also unfortunately, this was in full view of the kids. (I don't remember how that story tied in to encouraging the current UPH staff).

Marching with the Camp Joy kids

We weren't exactly sure what was all planned for the 10-year anniversary for UPH, or how big of a deal it would be. It turned out to be quite a big deal, and there were things happening all the time. We kept saying to each other how lucky we were to be able to be there for it all. On one afternoon, all the camp kids and staff marched through the town, singing camp songs to the sound of a marching band. It was so fun to be a part of that we (almost) forgot about the scorching sun.

UPH celebration night

One night, the UPH team organized a celebration night with a talent show, awards and a panel with Blair, Rachel and myself speaking about the organization and answering questions. The mayor of the town even came and gave a short message. 

My old host family Julia and Wilmer

Of course the best part of the whole trip was seeing old friends. I lived with Julia and Wilmer for the first few months of being in Honduras, to both improve my Spanish and learn what I could about the culture. We had supper with them one night and it was great to reconnect and introduce them to our boys. Julia has always been very outspoken and lively, and she hasn't changed. It also was in this house where I ate black beans with cream, cheese and tortillas nearly everyday, until I learnt to love them.

Riding in a three-wheel moto-taxi 

We have seen only a hand-full of moto-taxis in Colombia, but they are a staple in Copan Ruinas, so we had to take one. They are not just for tourists though, they are one of the better vehicles for making it up the steep and slippery cobblestone hills. Moto-taxi's comfortably sits 3 people, or uncomfortably 4. Maybe 5 - if someone awkwardly sits with the driver. I think the most we've ever done is 8 - but you have to be stupid 20-year olds to pull that off.

Bird park, then and now. Judson doesn't know what to do with his hands

Copan Ruinas is known for its Mayan ruins, but we knew its other tourist attraction - the bird park - would appeal more to the boys. At the bird park you can see all kinds of tropical birds as they are being rehabilitated to be released back into the wild. You can even hold some of them. Kristin and I visited back in 2006 while travelling, and this time the boys got to experience it. The birds are surprisingly heavy - and unsurprisingly a little scary. 

A friendly (or severely confused) butterfly.

Although we didn't make it to the ruin complex proper on this trip, there are all kinds of ruins and statues scattered throughout the town and valley. One such ruin is an old Mayan ball court in a little nature walk that we went to with Rachel and her family. While there we encountered this butterfly that took turns landing on each one of us. Judson attempted to point to it.

Soccer tournament at night

Some of my fondest memories at UPH are playing soccer at night with the team. UPH used to (and still does) put on soccer tournaments where kids, youth and staff all divide into teams. They had one such tournament while we were there for the anniversary celebrations. Unfortunately, they are pretty late at night for kids - so we were only there for a short time. But nothing beats playing under the lights at night, with bats and bird sized moths buzzing around your head.

UPH 10 year anniversary parade through town

Blair and I moved to Camden New Jersey in 2008 to learn about how to replicate the UrbanPromise model overseas. We spent a year creating the groundwork of the organization, running pilot programs and fundraising enough money to be able to support ourselves and the work of UPH. We finally made it to Honduras in the summer of 2009 and spent weeks signing up kids for camp, planning program and setting everything up for our first ever summer camp - Camp Joy. Then about a week or two before Camp Joy started we heard on the news that the president of Honduras had been kidnaped and exiled in a military coup. A country wide curfew was ordered, army stepped up its presence and protests started mounting. I remember having some sober conversations with each other, and with God, as to whether we were going to stay and follow through what we had planned, or leave it and go home. We decided to stay and went ahead with the launch of our programs on schedule. If we had not done so, I am not sure if UPH would be where it is today. 

Camp Joy today

We visited Camp Joy when we were there this year, and it is still going - stronger than ever. When obstacles and challenges start getting in our way, it is never fully clear what our response should be. Are these warning signs telling us to abandon our plans or are these times where we should hold on to our vision even tighter? We were lucky that the coup did not result in a worse situation where we really did have to fear our safety. This would not be the only time where our commitment to our vision was tested during those first few years of UPH.  But we always continued to to move forward in faith that this was the direction that we were supposed to go. If I were foolish enough to think that I could give advice to anyone, I would tell them to stay true to the vision God gave them no matter what.

A piece of me is in the mountains surrounding Copan

The trip was a such an incredible experience to see old friends, make new ones, share a piece of our history with the boys and celebrate what God has done over the past 10 year. I am so blessed to have had many support me and our work while I was in Honduras, and to have our friends and family support us now in Colombia. Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible. Again, if you want to know more about the work UrbanPromise Honduras is still doing after 10 years, check out their website: https://urbanpromisehonduras.org/

Thanks for reading,

Matt