Back to everyday life after the Chispa project trip to Honduras
When I say “1492,” I probably think of the old school rhyme: “In the year 1492, Columbus sailed across the blue ocean.”
But I suspect I’ll remember 1492 differently now. That’s because last week I flew to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to sharpen 1,492 pencils.
They say, “That’s an expensive trip for such a menial task.”
Yes, I understand your point, but if you read this column regularly, you know that the Chispa Project needed these pencils for the inauguration of its 88th Honduran library at the Pedro Nufio Elementary School.
I know I’m not the brightest, but I still expected the project manager to assign me a position that was more suited to my talents.
Finally, the director is my daughter, Sara Brakhane. She knows that I have spoken to dozens of American audiences. I thought she could organize a performance at a Honduran soccer stadium.
At the very least, she should have made sure that I supervised the school principal and imparted to him the knowledge from the seminar on pedagogy according to BF Skinner.
I mean, what’s bad enough about a little nepotism?
A lot, apparently.
She asked me to count pencils, sharpen them, and pack said writing instruments into 421 of the new school backpacks.
Of course, I wasn’t the only volunteer arriving on the connecting flight to Dallas. The less jet-lagged and more talented volunteers were assigned to important tasks.
Under the guidance of Lester Reconco, an artistic associate at Chispa, volunteers helped paint a large mural on the library wall. It wasn’t a Banksy or Wyland Whale, but in no time our young artists brought the space to life with bright primary colors.
The drawing is intended to inspire and shows a Honduran boy in a seascape. He is lying on a wave of books and reading. On a blue field, volunteers have added a sailboat, a swan and several fish.
Other artists carefully painted a series of books that surrounded the room. (Photo on my website.)
By now my pencil sharpener had overheated and Sara was forced to assign me to the painting team. But that still wasn’t the fame I was looking for.
My job was to pour different colors into red solo cups, lug them to the talents, and wash their brushes. My nickname was Pour-Pour-Norris.
Suddenly I became a truly irreplaceable member of the team.
I know this because I have begged others to take my place.
You would not.
But finally, after two days of painting, the moment had come to put the books on the shelves of the new library.
From the school parking lot, our volunteers unloaded 850 new books from our bus on an assembly line. We carried the books through a busy playground where children played soccer and girl-boy-boy chase games.
Still, a few stopped to hug us and gave us big, cheeky smiles that stretched for miles. Suddenly we were surrounded by a horde of schoolgirls and boys, all grinning with unaffected amazement. They weren’t subtle. They wanted to see the new books we were putting on the shelves.
If you know how excited children in the United States are when they see a new video game, you can imagine the excitement these students feel when they see their first children’s picture book.
For the last two days, Chispa volunteers hosted the library grand opening, a day-long birthday party of sorts. Students rotated between classrooms to engage in active fun, such as puppet play, science experiments, and storytelling.
I never managed to give my Skinner lecture, but I can tell you that Chispa, like Skinner, believes that changing the environment can make classes enjoyable and effective for all students.
Books are used to bring about this change.
And the school we were in is definitely an environment that needed change.
This rural school is located near the city’s garbage dump, where many parents collect garbage, operate the dump’s incinerator, or commute by bus to a day laborer’s job.
By the time we left Honduras, the new library, which we had painted and filled with rows of new books, had changed its surroundings for the better.
Chispa’s challenging slogan asks us all to “help change history.” I like to think that sometimes their stories can be changed and a sharpened pencil can write that new story.
Since more libraries are coming soon, should I put you on my list for the next volunteer trip? In the meantime, I guess it’s safe to say that I’m back to the daily grind.
You can be part of the change by sending a check to Chispa Project. Or donate online at Chispaproject.org/chaplain. Send your donation to 10556 Combie Rd. Suite 6643 Auburn, CA 95602. Email [email protected] or message (843) 608-9715. www.thechaplain.net
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