Michael Klatt is a CRS volunteer who helped create a waste management project in Honduras. He is currently completing his volunteer work at the Diocese of Chicago, Illinois communicating to parishes about Honduras and CRS. This entry is part of a series of personal reflections our volunteers are sharing from their journey and experience overseas.

I didn’t want any special treatment. I didn’t want any gifts. I didn’t want anyone to go out of their way for me. I was very vague, on purpose, about what day I would be leaving the small, rural town of Candelaria after a year and a half. However, after some prodding, I gave in and told a few friends that I would be leaving on a Tuesday morning.

I was told that the town wanted top have a farewell for me in the central park. It would start at 7:00pm on a Monday, the eve of my departure. My last days in town seemed to fly by quickly and soon the day of the event arrived. The park was beginning to fill up with families when I arrived. I went around to greet as many people as I could, to thank them for coming and to say goodbye. The mayor began the event by greeting the crowd with microphone in a booming, halting introduction . “Tonight is a very special night. Tonight, we do not say goodbye to a special friend, but rather, we will see you again soon.”

Michael Klatt is a CRS volunteer, who spent a year and a half working on projects in the rural town of Candelaria. Photo by CRS staff

It was a two hour event with music and skits. There was one particular part which was very memorable and heart-warming for me. Candelaria has a tradition know as the mojiganga(mo-he-gan-gah) which are ridiculous custumes of monsters and animals. These characters generally make an appearance twice a year: New Years and the main town festival. Normally, they try to pull pretty women from the crowds in order to dance, as well as to scare the little children. However, on this occasion, about 15 of them lined up in a single file line near the central park. One by one, they passed by and gave me a big hug.

I don’t really know how many people came to the event. The park filled up with a lot of families, students and children. I thought that there were maybe 300 people. Others tell me that it was easily 1000 people. I must have received a hundred hugs at the end of the event from little children. Families and individuals gave me many gifts, totally ignoring my plea. My night ended around 2:00am as a local quartet played me songs with their fiddles. As I walked towards my home, I gazed at the nearly full moon. Nothing had ever happened to me like this before in my life. Never did I have people express their gratitude and love for me like this. I was absolutely blown away.

Michael Klatt is a CRS volunteer who helped create a waste management project in Honduras. He is currently completing his volunteer work at the Diocese of Chicago, Illinois communicating to parishes about Honduras and CRS. This entry is part of a series of personal reflections our volunteers are sharing from their journey and experience overseas. (more…)

There was a white blanket spread out across the ground. Placed upon it were small matches and individual hard candies. These were the items for sale for a few cents. A Honduran mother who was around 30 years old stood behind the blanket with her young girls who looked to be about 6 and 2 years old. The Sunday market in Candelaria, the town where I was living as a Catholic Relief Services Volunteer attracts up to 4000 people from outlying rural towns on any given Sunday. What hope does a women have of eking out a dignified existence for herself or her children by selling 1 cent items, one time per week?

I began to get to know Reina Isabel. She is single mother of three (she also has a 8 year old son). Her husband left her and eventually went to the United States where he later began a relationship with a different woman. She is no longer in contact with him and receives no financial assistance from him. She lives in a two room house without electricity and earthen floors. She does have running water. She is able to read and write, but only formally studied through sixth grade. She hopes to save enough money to be connected with electricity in the 25 house town of Portillo Flor.

Reina Isabel, a single mother of three, is now employed at a CRS supported recycling center in Cadelaria, Honduras. Photo by Michael Klatt/CRS

As part of my volunteer work, I started a recycling project with the community of Candelaria in February of 2007. The goal was to create a sustainable and attractive site for managing waste and recyclable materials, as well as creating employment opportunities. I initially became interested in this project for two reasons. I saw how a local dumping site stained the awesome natural beauty of the countryside. I also felt compelled to become involved when I saw young children occasionally working unprotected amongst the waste on the garbage truck.

Soon, I was working alone at the dumping site two days a week for 3-5 hours. I needed someone to help me. Reina Isabel accepted my offer and we began to work alongside each other with rubber boots and gloves, trying to put order to a dump. She took a chance on me.

Reina Isabel has continued to work twice a week at this ongoing project. She now has another young woman, Lety, who works alongside her. They now wear a navy blue overall uniform and a matching hat. They earn a small monthly salary from the local government. The project and their employment needs critical support. I am far away now in Chicago, but I cannot clear them or their struggles from my mind.

Michael Klatt is a CRS volunteer who helped create a waste management project in Honduras. He is currently completing his volunteer work at the Diocese of Chicago, Illinois communicating to parishes about Honduras and CRS. This entry is part of a series of personal reflections from CRS volunteers, sharing from their journey and experience overseas.

Michael Klatt is a CRS volunteer who helped create a waste management project in Honduras. He is currently completing his volunteer work at the Diocese of Chicago, Illinois communicating to parishes about Honduras and CRS. His blog is part of a series of personal reflections our volunteers are sharing from their journey and experience overseas. (more…)

Mary Oldham is a Catholic Relief Services volunteer working in Uganda. Far away from her hometown in Iowa, she is working with village microfinance groups. Her blog is part of a series of personal reflections our volunteers are sharing from their journey and experience overseas.

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Joe Weber is a CRS volunteer working in Zambia. The Kansas City native is teaching theology to rural catechists and assisting the diocesan development office in the establishment of a community radio station. This entry is part of a series of personal reflections from volunteers sharing from their journey and experience overseas.

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Joe Weber is a CRS volunteer working in Zambia. The Kansas City native is teaching theology to rural catechists and assisting the diocesan development office in the establishment of a community radio station. His blog is part of a series of personal reflections our volunteers are sharing from their journey and experience overseas.

I’ve been in Solwezi, Zambia for six and one half weeks. I’ve found that, if I walk off the main road and go through a gate, wind my way through the gravel lot in front of an old office building, pass a warehouse, and enter a small room buzzing of bees, I can buy the world’s best honey and homemade peanut butter. Things in Zambia are not found in well-advertised storefront windows along busy streets. They are tucked away, seemingly hidden to the outsider. It takes time and patience to discover them.

CRS Volunteer Joe Weber outside his radio station office in Solwezi, Zambia. Photo by CRS staff

My first six months as a CRS volunteer were spent at the CRS national office, usually assisting with writing and editing for the wide variety of initiatives that CRS and its partners are undertaking here: food security initiatives for people in areas prone to floods and droughts; hospices and clinics for tens of thousands of people living with HIV and AIDS; advocacy on behalf of communities affected by Zambia’s booming copper industry. The breadth of programming here is impressive; the far-reaching effects of these programs in the communities is even more striking.

After six months in Lusaka, I carried my new knowledge Northwest to Solwezi, setting-up shop in the offices of the most vast and rural of the Catholic dioceses in the country. Again I find myself involved in a wide variety of programs and projects, including assisting the diocesan development office with setting up a radio station.

I never know what secrets await me, hidden just off of or even along the one main road. I never know what to expect from the day-to-day life in Solwezi. But I do know that for most everyone here, the day-to-day is very much a struggle for survival. Walking down the main road, something of this struggle is apparent. But in other ways the suffering, resilience, and hope of people, like the location of great peanut butter, is only discovered with patience. (more…)