Our adventures...: Stories from Honduras

This is the story that is probably the hardest to tell, and yet, the one you've been waiting to hear. Everyone wants to know what happened when I met Ana, my sponsor girl. Well, I had imagined it would be all smiles, hugs, laughing, and lots of chatting and getting to know each other. I didn't expect Ana to be the most incredibly shy 12-year-old I've ever met. She's absolutely beautiful, and she's taller than I expected! And she's creative, and talented, and so incredibly sweet. But she's not a talker. And she's not goofy/dorky like me. And saying goodbye wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. But we made a connection, and I feel much more attached to her than I did before I made the trip to meet her. And for that it was worth it.

Inside the water park

Let me start at the beginning. We met at Zizima water park in San Pedro Sula. There were 36 sponsors meeting 40+ sponsor children, plus one of their parents, their project director, and anyone else who may have traveled with them. And then everyone got a translator, and those with several sponsor children (and family and project directors) got several translators. So basically there were around 200 of us at Zizima.
So how do you pair up the sponsor, with their sponsor children, the people who traveled with them, and the translators? One at a time.

Taken from inside the bus. I see Ana!

We all sat on the buses (two of them) with a huge group of people out in front of Zizima waiting on us. They called out the child's name, then found a translator, then they would come on one of the buses trying to find the sponsor. As we got off the bus we'd hand our camera to one of the leaders and they would take photos of us meeting our sponsor children - most of us for the first time.

So one by one we watched our new friends be able to finally hug the children they had been writing to and praying about for so long. And I kept watching and taking photos, and watching and taking photos... and I started to realize that I was going to be one of the last to meet their sponsor child. I wasn't last, but I think I was next to last.

Do you see Ana? She's way in the back in the middle wearing a black and pink shirt.

Finally the moment came. Poor Ana looked so overwhelmed by everything. I gave her a quick tight hug and then we headed into the water park.

Meeting Ana.

I see a smile. :)

The shirt I'm wearing is Ana's artwork.

Ana didn't say much that day, but I could tell she was trying. Our translator, Maria, was 15 years old (16 in November) and a High School student. (They had to find over 50 translators and so they found High School students who were fluent in English.) Maria had never translated before, but she did a great job and Ana definitely trusted her. I think it helped to have someone close to Ana's age.

Ana, me, and Maria

The three of us hung out on the lazy river, floating in tubes, and then went to the wave pool and hung out there too. In the afternoon we played volleyball for awhile. Ana said she liked volleyball, but Maria didn't really know how to play. There were seven on our team, and four on the other and we still didn't do very well. But we laughed and had a great time.

Part of the lazy river.

The wave pool.

I got to talk to Ana's mother and her project director and ask questions about Ana progress. They both told me about how incredibly shy Ana used to be and that's she's really come out of her shell. Really? The phrase "painfully shy" comes to mind. It meant that much more to me that Ana was asking me questions and answering my questions.

Ana, me and her mom.

At the end of the day it was gift time. I had some items for Ana, her mom, her dad and her brothers. I gave her a photo album with some pictures of Dayton and some bits and pieces of my life. I wrote out my favorite scriptures in Spanish and put them in the photo album too. And then I told Ana that I love her, I care about her and she's important to me. I told her that I think she's very creative, that I believe in her, and that I want her to dream big dreams. That is the one thing I really wanted her to know.

And then they left. I hugged them all and said goodbye and they left the park. As I was standing there by myself I watched as other children were crying and clinging to their sponsors. I felt like I did something wrong, that maybe I should have asked them to stay longer, or maybe I should have tried harder to connect with her so she wouldn't have left so quickly. Honestly, I was disappointed and I started questioning if we even connected at all.

Most of the group. (Several families had left by this point.)

Once we got back to the hotel I had some time by myself to reflect and think about the day. When I finally stopped comparing my experience to everyone else's I started realizing that I had a wonderful day with Ana. That she's 12, incredibly shy, and that just hanging out talking about our favorite music, our favorite food, our favorite colors, etc. was probably the best way to spend time with her. I look back at the pictures that were taken and I see Ana smiling in most of them. That means the world to me.

I think it was more difficult to get some of the older kids to open up. Several other sponsors with older kids voiced the same concerns that I did. That's when I have to remind myself that it's not about what *I* get out of the experience, it's about showing them love, giving them hope, and helping them succeed. I intend to continue to pursue a friendship with Ana and get to know her better through letter writing. And hopefully when I see her again, it won't be so overwhelming.

A moment comes to mind... later in the day Maria told me that I was a lot of fun. Maria told Ana what she said and Ana agreed. I guess goofy/dorky can be translated. Having a 12 year old and a 15 year old tell me I'm fun feels like a win.

I've posted some of the photos I took while waiting on the bus. I was sitting in the front and thankfully I got to snap some photos of sponsors meeting their children. If these photos warm your heart, maybe you'll consider sponsoring a child? Start here... http://www.compassion.com/

Becky meeting her girl.