Semana Santa aka Silly Season

Semana Santa is the name of Easter Holy Week here in Honduras, or “Silly Season” as my friend Kenneth used to state; you’ll understand why in just a moment.
Semana Santa, at least from my experience here in La Ceiba, has very little to do with religion. Most government offices and schools are closed for the whole week prior, the work week for most workers ends on the Wednesday of the week and banks and other larger stores start closing on Wednesday or Thursday. Even the street markets are closed for Good Friday, as well as their usual Sunday, during this time.

Semana Santa is regarded as the first week of summer and a prime time for vacation travels for Hondurans. As La Ceiba is called the “novia” (sweetheart) of Honduras, it is also a favoured destination and literally thousands pour into the city from throughout the country to take in the beaches, the party atmosphere and even the shopping for those so inclined.

What I call “instant villages” pop up on any scrap of beach, generally starting at the far east of town at the Seaview and stretching from there past the Partenon (as long as Mother Nature has left them some beach after winter storms!). There is a huge empty lot located there where a beer company, “Salva Vida” sets up their own bright yellow village of beer gardens, music stages and various games or “beach soccer” competitions.


This Salva Vida Village is located in Zona Viva, and the rest of the area fills up in the evening with street vendors, sidewalk beer stalls, and street stages with various bands competing for the most ear splitting volume. You can watch (or partake in!) the punta dancing competitions, snack of foods grilled out on the sidewalks, buy a paper glass of beer (wondering which brand? Haha) and slowly stroll the length of the strip if you can handle the noise and the crowds!

 
During the day, the beach side instant villages are filled to overflowing with families bringing the kids for a play day in the water. Dory’s will charter rides, some towing blown up tube shaped “boats” with 2 to 6 folks in life jackets clutching the handles on top as they go rocketing across the waves. Even the local fire department brings out their zodiac to provide some level of water safety!

Needless to say, the beach and Zona Viva are scenes of celebration that continue for the week, (and long into the nights if you’re unfortunate enough to live in the area), thus the nickname of “Silly Season”!

April 2nd was Good Friday of the holy Easter season, and though I no longer practise any form of traditionalreligion, I respect those that do. That being said, in the early hours that morning I actually received my very first glimpse of anything to do with the resurrection or any other aspect of active religious celebrations during this time of “Semana Santa” in La Ceiba.

The procession consisted of a person in a long white robe, dragging a large wooden cross, accompanied by two purple robed people, a truck with its loud speaker and a procession of about 50 people slowly walking along behind. A woman’s voice led bible scriptures interspersed with a mournful chanting dirge that the whole group accompanied as they slowly walked up and down the streets of the barrio. They stopped at one home and continued their recitations before finally adjourning to the local church after almost two hours of public appreciation of their faith.

Sadly, my photos from the patio didn’t turn out but I’m glad to have witnessed at least some small element of spirituality in the midst of “Silly Season”!

HHK Grandma's Kids program

One of the community programs that Helping Honduras Kids sponsors is called “Rio Cangrejal Grandma’s Kids” with these families located in the village of El Naranjo.

The special feature of this program is to provide the economic and physical support for the “Grandma’s”, those older women who are raising a number of their own grandchildren.

Quite frankly, the fathers have left or are unknown and the mothers are frequently victims of HIV/AIDS, leaving the children without parents. Thus the responsibility of raising younger siblings can rest with girls as young as 10 years, attempting to feed, clothe and house them all. This is where the Grandma’s step in to provide some semblance of a home life, teaching basic living skills and trying to keep the families united rather than sent to orphanages or government institutions.

HHK provides basic food supplies, clothing, medical care and school supplies, uniforms and fees in order to assist these children in achieving some level of education which in turn provides them with the opportunity to have a future.

A large group of volunteers from San Diego and Europe, board members and guests and about 22 children from “Hogar de Amor”, HHK’s children’s home in La Ceiba paid a visit to the tiny village of El Naranjo on Saturday, April 3rd to deliver gifts of stuffed toys, clothing and candies to the Grandma’s and their extended families.

This young lady, holding her mom's arm, was the one who donated all of the stuffed animals from her own collection!
These are two of the Grandma's that HHK sponsors.

This village is extremely impoverished, even by Honduran standards and our visit was certainly a highlight of the week for them. We were able to meet and visit with two of the three sponsored Grandma’s and some, though certainly not all, of their children. There are about 30 children from toddlers to teenagers being raised by the three grandmas and needless to say, their life isn’t easy.

Yet, these children are simply glorious! They started gathering to greet us when our vehicles arrived, standing quietly and politely, yet most interested in visiting with those of us who spoke Spanish. When most of the families had arrived from further away, volunteers started handing out the huge collection of stuffed toys and a candy to each child in a rather en masse scene. One little boy actually declined a second candy, as he had already gotten his and didn’t want to be greedy! Clothes were dispersed by hand, given to whomever they looked likely to fit and all the leftover clothes were bundled up to be taken home to share with the rest of the families who weren’t present.

One tiny toddler became quite upset, crying plaintively when it’s Grandma left for a moment and another volunteer simply picked him/her up to cuddle and stroke and comfort. That single moment of pure caring and love personified all the work done by each and every volunteer and member of HHK!

If you’ll check in with HHK’s website http://www.helpinghonduraskids.org and look under Community Programs, you’ll find the link where you can sponsor either a child for $25 or a whole family for $100 monthly. Please think about this for yourself or any social organization that you are a member of! HHK presently has about 60 – 70 sponsors but realistically need about 400 to continue maintaining all of the programs and assistance they provide. Every penny, every moment of energy and volunteer work goes directly to these children and families in order to provide opportunity, education, hope and love to break the cycle of poverty and your contribution can and will make a real difference!

Just click on the photos to enlarge them!