By Renee Brochester
Not so long ago, Renee Brochester fled the frozen North to find warm weather – and warm hearts – in Honduras. This is her personal account of that amazing journey and how sponsorship is shaping her own life.
We flew out just a couple of hours before a major snowstorm hit the region and cancelled and delayed flights for the next two days. We stopped in Miami before heading on to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a city I had been connected to for many years but only in my mind and heart. Now I was flying off to meet the child I had been sponsoring since 2008.
Outside Kateryn’s house in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Of her relationship with Kateryn, Renee says, “She has allowed me to impact her life...and that is something I treasure
Kateryn and I had exchanged letters over the years through the program. I was the proud recipient of many of her lovely drawings and warm greetings or sign-offs filled with love and hugs. Her photos that were sent through the program allowed me to see her change from an adorable 8-year-old girl to a lovely 12-year-old pre-teen. Her photo was on my refrigerator and I knew her face well, but to actually see her in Honduras, at her house, with her family, would be another world.
We arrived at the airport in San Pedro Sula on time and happily tossed aside our jackets for the warmer Honduran air. We were picked up by a taxi sent by our hotel and whisked into the streets of San Pedro Sula at night. Where were we? Was Kateryn in bed already? Was she also nervous about her visit from me, someone who had miraculously flown from a far-off land to come see her?
Children International has allowed me to write to her, send little presents and cards, and send funds for gifts on holidays and special occasions. I had become a part of her life through it all.
A year earlier I had tried to visit but at that time the president of Honduras was being overthrown and there was a lot of violence in the country. Children International advised me not to go at that time due to the safety concerns.
Now the green light was on and so I had come to Honduras with Mike, my partner, and here we were in the hotel with Kateryn just a car ride away, just an hour or so down the road in a rural community.
The next morning arrived with temps in the eighties. At breakfast we enjoyed the palm trees, fresh tropical fruit...and not a snowflake to be found. The hotel manager came over to say that somebody from Children International had arrived. We then met Miriam, a lovely, friendly woman who made us feel at ease and very welcome.
We grabbed our stuff and met the driver, Manuel, just outside the door of the hotel and took off into the streets filled with life, people, cars, tiendas (stores), until we passed the airport, where the roads changed and were lined with banana trees, and the outlines of the mountains were visible beside us.
The happy family: Renee felt welcomed and loved the moment she arrived.
Miriam discussed the steps of the visit and inquired about what we wanted and what to expect. What we didn't expect was that there was a major strike on the highway by teachers and farmers, and perhaps others who had blocked passage of the cars. The highway was packed with trucks, buses, cars, motorcycles, all in a standstill.
People were gracious, getting out of their cars to chat politely. Street vendors appeared on bike or foot, selling ice cream, refrescos (refreshments), drinks, food that made standing in the 80-degree weather more like a fiesta.
We waited and waited there while Kateryn was waiting for me at the office – oh no!!! But in Honduras, people go with the flow, and after Miriam called her office to check on another way, we eventually turned around and were moving again. Kateryn was told to wait for me at her house instead of at the office due to the delay.
Finally, past fields of cows, pasture land, mountain landscapes and rural communities, we arrived at Kateryn's town and we were escorted by the local Children International field officer to her neighborhood. We drove down a long, bumpy dirt road and had to walk a portion of it as the car would have bottomed out on the rocks.
The four of us walked down the road in the middle of what felt like the other side of the earth and turned a bend and then over some stones and through some bushes and there was the beautiful little girl who had stared at me from my refrigerator...Kateryn!!!!
She was so excited and sparkly-eyed to see me!!! I was greeted with warm hugs and Kateryn could not stop chatting, smiling, hugging and sharing her excitement while I shared mine. I felt like I had always known her and that this meeting had happened so many times before through our letters and heart exchanges… and now it was en vivo (live).
Luckily, I speak intermediate level Spanish so we were able to have some gushing exchanges and share how meaningful this was. Children International's agency also provided a translator, who spoke English and Spanish very well, and helped as needed.
Kateryn told me that she had kept all my letters in a special little box and how she had loved the card I sent her with the pop-up butterflies. I told her that I had saved all of her letters and pictures. It meant so much to me to know that my letters written in Rhode Island had made an impact on this child in this other part of the world struggling with her family to get by. It helped me believe anew that the small things we do can have such an important impact on others.
It is hard to put into words how the meeting went with warm greetings from her whole family – mother, two sisters, brother, grandmother, aunts, cousins, dogs, roosters and a parrot. It was joyous and so many photos were taken by everyone who were thrilled by this great occasion. I had brought some trinkets for Kateryn and her family that got opened and tried on or played with. I found myself playing the card game I had brought of "Go Fish" in Spanish "vaya a pescar," as her siblings ran around wearing the T-shirts I had just brought.
In the family's cocina (kitchen), which is very typical for families who live like Kateryn's does.
We became easily connected, all hanging out on this big concrete patio that surrounded her tin-roofed house while talking and laughing. The kitchen was outside with big metal pots on an open fire.
Our plan was to go out to lunch so we walked back to the car with the whole entourage waving after us while Kateryn and her mother came along. It really surprised me that 40 minutes away was a whole other city with a mall filled with stores and a food court where we all ate at Pizza Hut. Miriam helped order the correct pizza and drinks for all of us.
While waiting for the pizza, Kateryn and I went to the arcade where they had all these great games reminiscent of U.S. arcades in the 1950s. She was delighted and a great ball hurler and player of games. She has amazing spunk and enthusiasm and it was wonderful seeing her light up with everything she did. We ate, had a quick stop in the shop to get a backpack for school and off we went!
Miriam took us to the Children International community center and introduced us to two other staff, showed us the clinic and where people in the office worked. It was basic, airy and pleasant with an outdoor patio and playground where Kateryn jumped on the swing.
Together at last: Renee and Kateryn spent three years sharing photos and letters so when they met, it felt like they had been great friends all along.
When we left to take Kateryn home, it was quiet in the car as we realized this was the last leg of an amazing day. How do you say good-bye when you are still saying hello? I promised to send the photos in my next letter and she promised to write soon. We hugged good-bye and off she went with her mother to the place where I now can imagine her with all the people around her who love her and want so much for her.
And now I am back home for just a few days after spending a week getting to know more of Honduras. I have printed the photos and played the short video clips. I can still feel myself at Kateryn's house and remember her beautiful, warm, loving brown eyes and sweetness. She has remained with me in a vivid way.
It is very clear to me that, though I have been the one sending money and support, she is the one who has truly given me an immeasurable gift. She has allowed me to impact her and her life and be part of a world that I wouldn't have known otherwise and that is something I treasure. Thank you, Children International…and thanks to Miriam who made this special visit go so perfectly.
