Where Hope Began

La Esperanza feels like no where else in Honduras. In fact, it's almost like a little piece of Guatemala plopped down in Honduras. The reason is simple: while most Hondurans are mestizos, La Esperanza province is largely indigenous. Their bright garments are reminiscent of the Guatemalans', but still their own.

The kitchen

Most of the region is 6-8,000 feet above sea level, and so the sun is intense but the heat is not. Dirt roads carve a red clay scar across the green mountainsides, and hydrangea bushes form hedges around the homes.

So why is this the place that hope began? I had been spending quite a bit of time in the region through the summer of 2000 in preparation for the arrival of a new volunteer who would eventually take over my job. When she finally did arrive, I was struck. Lindsay came out of the airport in Tegucigalpa and into a throng of people. That moment--the first time I saw the woman who would, five years later, become my wife--is a memory safe from deterioration. I will forever remember her brown shirt and blue eyes, her wide smile and the relief at seeing me amidst all of that unfamiliarity.

The stove