I had the most incredible experience on a public health brigade last week in Honduras. I wrote some of this while in Pajarillos and some upon my return to the States. I think it covers the extent of the experience, from criticism back home, to being welcomed in a place unknown. Thank you Global Brigades for this opportunity. Thank you to all of the staff for your hard work and dedication. And a special thanks to Joy for being such an amazing leader. Missing Honduras already.
Keep questioning why we go so far
Please dig deeper, mark it with a scar
You only spit measures of ignorance
Failing to comprehend the circumstance
Curb them words and open your eyes
Gotta fall into that poverty gap to realize
Conviction needed to cover the distance
Where shocks can’t catch resistance
Scaling the narrow precipitous trail
Reaching to hammer the rusted nail
Of humility and forgotten destiny
Carried across the Caribbean Sea
To a deluge of devastating reality
Drowning in acute poverty
Need more than Windex to clean away
Soiled surfaces that sustain naiveté
Unzip the body bag, inhale and breathe
In the strength of this community
Junior, Reina, Abdoni, Lixie
With 20/10 vision they see
The only hope, faith to believe
Empowered to apply their abilities
On hands and knees in heat of the sun
Cutting rebar, mixing cement, 5-3-1
More than welcomed into this town
Seeking to help, but we found
They have so much to offer
Such vitality and joy can stir
Even a bitter heart of stone
Vanity and shallow minds dethroned
In these homes of Pajarillos
We are strangers but embraced like hijas and hijos
Thank you for sharing your story
Thank you for bringing life to me
Warmth from smiles on your faces
Gives light to blind shadows and replaces
Preconceived notions
Rejecting the motions
Remembering how to truly experience
Honor the opportunity to make a difference
I promise the vow to return is true
I promise to see it through
Assuming responsibility to share
Making others aware
Cuz nothing can compare
To you.
-Meredith Miller
