Articles

by Javier Márquez

It started with a bumpy journey due to flight delays that forced me to wait until the early hours of Sunday to travel from Bogotá, Colombia to Honduras. When I finally arrived, Don Felix was waiting for me at the small airport exit with a little orange paper sign with my name on it. Don Felix is a middle-aged man, short, with a gray mustache, who has lived practically all his life in San Francisco de Yojoa.  

The Conference-Related Ministry Healthy Niños Honduras (HNH) is located in San Francisco de Yojoa, in the Cortés Department, an hour and a half drive from the airport. The journey there took us through colorful landscapes, between vast valleys and mountains. I was first surprised to see so many cornfields and factories along the road, followed by large areas of cattle ranching, all fed by rivers and small streams. The landscape is green, full of wild and exotic birds, with the magical and tragic element of yellow butterflies abundantly flying across the road. When driving at 80 km/h, they collide with the car’s windshield as if it were a shower of golden raindrops. 

Upon arriving in San Francisco de Yojoa, the classic structure of a Latin American town becomes visible, with its small, colorful houses, roads—some well-paved and others dirt or trail—a main park with the Catholic church, a communal laundry area located by a stretch of the creek, and small shops. 

When we finally arrived at the Healthy Niños Honduras building, the team was at the Nutritional Center, but I couldn’t join them until later, after resting from the long, tedious day I had endured from having my flight rescheduled. 

On the way from the airport, I had the opportunity to get to know Don Felix a bit. I asked him to take me to buy a cap, and we stopped three times along the way, with all his patience until we found the right one. After the second stop, when I didn’t take the cap offered, he calmly said, “I’ll take you to a friend.” We stopped at his friend’s place, a small market near San Francisco de Yojoa. There, an older man with a beautifully humble demeanor greeted us and sold me one of his caps. He had known Don Felix for many years, and not only him but basically everyone in the small market. 

Don Felix is known in all the towns of Cortés after so many years of working with HNH. He walks or drives through these towns, performing a ritual resembling a greeting parade. 

During my visit to HNH, I met many people like Don Felix who are also the face of this organization. HNH stands at the top of the town’s mountain as a place of service to others, with people who dedicate their lives to attending to hundreds of people each day, building floors, or cooking for the volunteers, all to serve the most vulnerable and those in greatest need: the children. 

From my first night to the final report

On the eve of the workday, the team gathered to pray and pack hundreds of vitamins to be distributed during the following days in the communities. 

After four days of work, with a team of 26 people, 14 of whom were volunteers, a summary of the results was made: 

1. 517 people were registered. 
2. 282 children were examined, of which 192 were in a state of malnutrition: 68%. 
3. 46 reading glasses were donated. 
4. Eight floors were built, benefiting 23 people, including 15 children.
5. 17 water filters were donated.