From March 5-13, PVI Honduras welcomed nine students from Elms College to Talanga. Luckily, they arrived with positive attitudes and an eagerness to serve and learn since we had planned plenty of work for them in their short time with us. The Elms students’ main project was painting the exterior of the Catholic Church in Terrero Colorado, an aldea about 25 minutes from Talanga. PVIs have been active in Terrero for four years now; past groups built latrines there and began the church renovation project. Actually, when the Elms students visited two years ago, they painted the interior of the church. Unfortunately, the community had not been able to secure enough resources to finish the exterior of the church, so this year, we made it a priority to help them out, and Elms was crucial in making that happen.

Although Elms came the second week of March, preparations for their visit started months before. We knew that Elms would provide the manual labor painting, but before they could paint, we needed to finish the exterior walls of the church to create a paintable surface. The church community in Terrero worked tirelessly to raise enough money to repellar the exterior walls; they held lots of fundraisers selling yucca and nacatamales, and everyone tossed a few extra lempiras in the collection basket. Their efforts paid off, though; when Elms arrived, the church was ready to be painted.

The students from Elms, Sr. Carol, Fr. Mark, the PVI’s, a Honduran foreman, and the entire community from Terrero painted together for two full days to finish the church. But, of course, we did way more than paint. What seemed like hundreds of kids swarmed the students and their bags of toys, games, and beads. While some kicked around a soccer ball, others made necklaces and bracelets, and still others painted. Women from the Terrero community were astonished to also find themselves with paint rollers performing a typically male job. The Elms students got to know certain members of the Terrero community more intimately when they stayed the night with a family there. Each paired with a PVI, the Elms students roughed it without electricity or running water for the night and ate the typical rice, beans, and eggs for dinner and breakfast. A few even got to know the cockroaches and other buggy creatures as well.

The two days that the Elms students and PVIs stayed in Terrero was about far more than painting the church; it was a celebration of communities merging – two very different communities at that. The people of Terrero were just as excited to invite 9 students from Massachusetts into their community and into their homes as they were to have their beloved church painted. Similarly, the Elms students were just as eager to play with the kids, chat, and learn about life in Terrero as they were to paint. Having witnessed seamless friendships form and a job very well done, I was proud to be a part of the love, joy, and energy that enveloped our entire, unified community.

Carolyn Plunkett is serving in Honduras with Passionist Volunteers International.

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