June 21, 2003 - Personal Web Site: As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras, I was a part of a Women in Development group

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Honduras: Peace Corps Honduras: The Peace Corps in Honduras: June 21, 2003 - Personal Web Site: As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras, I was a part of a Women in Development group

By Admin1 (admin) on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 9:22 am: Edit Post

As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras, I was a part of a Women in Development group



As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras, I was a part of a Women in Development group

As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras, I was a part of a Women in Development group. For a fundraising project, we asked volunteers to submit photographs of women from their villages to make cards. I found one photograph particularly striking. It became my inspiration for the painting at left. One day as I painted, I remember casually flipping the photograph. To my delight, I found the child's name scribbled on the back "Tanya," it read. The town she came from in Honduras was also scrawled - "Hope!" (La Esperanza).

La Esperanza is a colonial town nestled among lush, forest-carpeted mountains. Snow often falls on these peaks because this town sits at the highest elevation in the country. Christopher Columbus had a reason to name this country "the depths" (Honduras). La Esperanza is unique to Honduras because of its large indigenous community, the Lenca. The Lenca can be distinguished by their bright, solid or checkered cloths covering the women's hair. The Lenca are a peaceful people who have lost their language and many of their traditions.

For me, La Esperanza holds special meaning. Here, I was befriended by a gracious family during my Peace Corps training. Here, I crafted my first amoeba-shaped tortilla and had my first intestinal sickness. Here, I sipped coffee with abuela (grandmother) in the garden while she told me tales of her youth. Here, Rose braided my hair as if I was her little girl. Here, I returned from my site to be refreshed - time after time. And here, I found a family and a home. It was Hope.

To me, this painting symbolizes hope. This is because of the town and its fond memories. But it is also because of Tanya - who like all children, symbolize hope and new beginnings. This is why the background is painted a light yellow. It is the dawn of a new day and a new life. She is clothed in pink because there is love and passion where there is hope. In love and hope there are always new beginnings. They are as numerous as the strands on her head. Her hope comes from within and radiates outward. She is a light to the world.



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Story Source: Personal Web Site

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Honduras; Art; Painting

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