Today was a pretty good day. I would still like to be at home, but I'm okay with being here. We went to the kinder where Jazmin teaches, which was a lot of fun. Particularly the Frisbee. We then did food distribution throughout Macuelizo, which took me to some places I'd never been before. Some of us finished painting Daisy's house while another group went to the first day at the clinic. My group (Jim, Katie- Jim's wife, Colt- the token male, and Suzannah- expert bird watcher) was fascinated by southern-isms, paticularly the commonality of the phrase, "Yee-haw!". When we got done I called my mommy and we talked for quite a while, which made me quite happy. Only to increase my happiness, Daisy's kids returned and came up proclaiming how much they loved the house. I love those kids and I'm already sad that I'm going to have to leave them, particularly since Daisy & Gregario are in deep dispute over whether to stay or leave the house, which is relatively isolated. We went to the church in Macuelizo, which was decorated with what appeared to be Valentine's Day decorations, like swans in the shape of hearts. We went out again for shakes, only to be disappointed because they were all out of banana. I had to settle for strawberry, which wasn't nearly as good. I discovered that though I am not a fan of Cliff's cooking, I am a fan of Cliff. I think we will be friends.
Since I didn't have much to say today, I figure I'll tell you about Jazmin. Jazmin was born in Mexico and illegally crossed the border and made it to New York. She was raised in New York, where she became fluent in both English and Spanish, until she was 13 or 14. Due to some health complications in her family and a new marriage, Jazmin was forced to move to Macuelizo, leaving some of her siblings behind in America. She met a man who became her "husband." In Honduras they don't really have weddings, but girls consider themselves to be married. He supported her livelihood and eventually Jazmin became pregnant with twins. Unfortunately, she had a miscarriage and lost both babies. It was during this tragedy that Jazmin sought medical and emotional counseling from Cristo Salva. The Cristo Salva team helped her through this process, taught her about pregnancy prevention and prenatal care, and led her to Christ. She stayed with her husband and two years later became pregnant with her daughter, Isa. A few months after Isa's birth, Jazmin's mother discovered that Jazmin's husband was beating his infant daughter. When Jazmin witnessed this, she forced her husband to leave. What Jazmin never told her mother was that Jazmin had been abused by her husband for most of their relationship, but she was too afraid to leave him. He was supposed to support Isa in order to visit her, but eventually he stopped. Jazmin hasn't seen him in more than a year. He currently has another wife and several other children. Jazmin has come so far since then. She's 19 and in school training to be a math teacher, but currently works as an English teacher in a kinder. She lives with her mother, younger brothers, and daughter, who she is able to support. She is passionate about God and is now able to see how he worked in her life. She's looking forward to her bright future and hopes that one day she can find a man that truly loves her for who she is and possibly return to America. I'm proud to call her my friend.
-Namaste-
Jazmin :)
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