Early Morning Sights

In a country where thousands of people do not have electricity and it is daylight before 5:00 a.m. and dark shortly after 6:00 p.m., the country as a whole starts its day early. I am an early riser, but rarely am I pulling out the gate before 6:00 a.m. on a weekday. This morning I did leave that early.

In Santa Ana, and all down the mountain, there were dozens of people waiting on the bus. Waiting for a bus at six o'clock in the morning so they can maybe be to work by 8:00. I saw men carrying shovels and hoes as they walked to work. I saw other men carrying machettis. Once upon a time I was afraid when I saw a man carrying a machetti; now I know he is just a working man walking to or from work. A machetti is used to cut grass. Talk about back-breaking work.

I saw women and children, some quite small, hauling the water and the wood. Women washing clothes by hand on the pila and cooking over woodburning stoves. There were the wood sellers loading their donkeys with wood so they could ride up and down the street trying to sell the wood and, hopefully, at the end of the day have enough money to feed their kids.

I saw more than one man yoking his team of oxen and by the time I got to Comayagua, I saw several oxen carts pulling their loads of wood or dirt or other heavy items. Of course, I saw men herding their cattle right through the main street of Santa Ana. But we see that all the time.

The street cleaners in their bright orange vests had their frayed brooms sweeping every leaf and bit of dirt out of the streets and business driveways.

I saw many things I would never see in the United States. And it was just another reminder of how hard the Honduran people have to work.

Terri