FEBRUARY, 2005
February 13-14, 2005
We took the 7am Casasula from Copan Ruinas to San Pedro Sula - which picked us up right by Casa de Todo - and got off in Cofradia, a tiny town about 45 minutes west of San Pedro Sula. There, we jumped in the back of a pick up truck to the main square and went into a local shop to call our friends Benji and Amy, who are also traveling around Central America, and who were staying with friends in Cofradia who teach at one of two local bilingual schools (more on that below).
Cofradia is so small and friendly that local shop owners let you use their phones to make local calls if you ask. We happened to stumble into Henry's store (in this store, he apparently makes cheese, cuts hair, and repairs batteries, radios, and other machines) just off the main square and luckily too; he totally took care of us. When we could not get through to Benji and Amy because their telephone line was busy, Henry offered to drive us to the house where he thought they were staying. We later learned that there are a number of volunteers who come through Cofradia to teach at the local bilinqual schools, and they all stay in two different houses. When we could not find our friends, Henry's plan was to take us to these different houses to see if we could find our friends that way.
Feeling a bit badly that he would have to drive us somewhere, we offered to email our friends first from an internet cafe. Henry sent us to Rotisserie.Com, which is an interent/chicken join which Mike thinks would work great in the states! Unbeknownst to us, however, Henry kept trying our friend's number until he finally got through, at which point he explained to them that we had arrived and where we were, so that they could come and meet us. Then, he walked over to the internet cafe and told us that he had gotten through and our friends would be coming to collect us. We wanted to give Henry a big hug, he was such a nice guy!
Turns out, Henry's two kids go to the bilingual school at which Benji and Amy were doing some volunteer work re-organizing and setting up the new library, and where the folks we ended up spending the night with were all teaching and/or acting as administrators. We checked out the school the following morning and its plans for expansion over the next few years. It is a pretty remarkable facility, even more remarkable given that the parents, unhappy with the curriculum of the old bilingual school just down the street, pooled their limited resources together, formed a parents' association, built the school themselves, literally, on land they convinced the government to give to them, with their lifes' savings, and are very committed to seeing it work for the sake of their children and other children in the community.
A non-profit group, Bilingual Education for Central America, www.becaschools.org accepts donations on the schools behalf, and remains committed to educating Central American children and their volunteer teachers (the folks we were staying with in Cofradia). We were very impressed with the school and the committment of the parents, students, and teachers alike, and intend to assist them in obtaining more money, resources (books, computers, etc.) and/or volunteer teachers.
Cofradia, although nothing more than a mention in most guide books, is worth checking out, if for no other reason than to visit this remarkable school and maybe help out for a day, or two, or three. . . It is also the jumping off point for Cusuco National Park, which is about about an hour drive away from Cofradia in the back of a pick up truck. It is supposed to be spectacular, although we did not to go on this trip. The only problem with visiting Cofradia at this point in time is that there really isn't anywhere to stay. The only place appears to be in one of the two houses with the volunteer teachers for the bilingual school. However, they seem more than willing to take folks in for a few dollars a night. In the menatime, there is talk of a backpackers hostel coming to Cofradia, so who knows, maybe in the future, it will be more than just a mention.
On the afternoon that we were supposed to be in Cusuco National Park with Benji and Amy (an adventure we missed since our bus was running behind schedule and they had to leave without us), we took the bus to San Pedro Sula with Kelly and Jen (the administrator and a teacher at the school, who were friends of Beji and Amy). We spent the afternoon checking out this city, going to the local market, the standard Cathedral and main square (or Central Park) and eating at a local food court. San Pedro Sula does not have much else to offer, but it did afford a fast internet connection that allowed us to get all our pictures uploaded, which was nice, particularly since the connection in Copan Ruinas and Gracias was quite slow.
