8/4/2004 - Snow Had Been but a Word for Me
”’La nieve’ (snow) had been but a word for me. I could not imagine anything by it. Until that day in Laax, when for the first time I experienced this white softness which ever since then I have kept close to my heart…”
Last year, AFS International granted AFS Honduras a Diversity Scholarship to send a low-income minority student on the year program. Of the 22 applications sent to potential participants from 8 ethnic groups, 14 applications were submitted.
“It is our belief that it is a crucial time to start our work and devote our time to help the less privileged from our country, to have access to what has been until now denied to them: the intercultural education,” said Chairperson of the Honduran Board, Mr. Hector Monroy.
It was an extremely difficult decision, but AFS Honduras selected 16 year-old Nelson Javier Perez Bajurto who lives in a little village called Belén Gualcho in western Honduras. His family belongs to the ethnic minority of Lenca and lives in simple conditions in their “pueblito” where there is only one telephone. His father is a farmer and his mother looks after Nelson and his eight siblings. In this remote area, few people have ever visited the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa or the Mayan Ruins of Copán where Nelson had his AFS orientation; and none have ever traveled to another continent. He has become “a local hero” in his community and was very aware of the responsibilities that are connected to this experience.
Nelson in Switzerland
On September 3rd, he left Tegucigalpa, carrying a donated suitcase, and embarked on his life-changing AFS experience.
Living with his host family, the Müggler’s in Rossrüti, St. Gallen, for ten months, Nelson’s life and his horizons changed more suddenly and radically than he ever imagined. Not a word of German did he speak on arrival. He could only communicate through elaborate pantomime. He also had to learn other things that were foreign to him such as riding a bicycle or how to operate an automatic flush toilet. He quickly learned the public transportation network and how to read itineraries.
These first few months in this new world were the most demanding. He has a large extended family in Honduras and there is always something to talk about, something going on, Nelson explained. His host family, however, had “only” five members and has so much less opportunity to talk.
Life in Belén Gualcho seemed worlds away from St. Gallen. In Honduras, school is not the most important thing in life. Nelson said that when school finishes at half past twelve, everybody has lunch, then plays soccer or goes out with friends. Days are hardly as packed full with plans as they are in Switzerland. People have a different way of enjoying life moment to moment.
Before his adventure began, he pictured Switzerland as a place full of mountains and covered with an unknown thing called snow; a place where people were different, people were “white.” It would not be easy to tell his family and friends back home about his new life. How would he explain to them what it feels like to slide on two sticks down a hill that is covered by an indefinable white mass, then getting on a seat which carries you through the air, over the mountains and back to the top of the hill?
Eventually, Nelson settled in to this new strange life and the experience opened up new discoveries. In October, he went to Laax with his host family and experienced snow for the first time and learned what snow felt like in his own hands. He found friends, real friends, even though they seemed as different to him as he did to them. During a special week at school, he got a tour of the structure and mission of UNESCO. All in all, it was an unforgettable year – the ups and downs of which have become part of Nelson’s life.
Returning Home
At the mention of his departure, Nelson’s lively eyes became dark. His return hovered above him like Damocles’ sword, even though he missed his family and friends in Honduras. During the whole year he could only speak to his father once because the single telephone in the village heightened the logistical coordination to near impossibility. To see his little brothers, nephews and cousins again, to see how they have changed, and generally just to be home again – all generated anticipation in Nelson –an anticipation with some sadness as he took this little part of Switzerland with all its particularities, pitfalls and quirks into his heart.
Nelson landed in the Tegucigalpa airport in the early afternoon of July 16th where he met his overjoyed parents who had traveled an entire day to get there. Their Tegucigalpa host family was also among other AFS Honduras volunteers and staff. Nelson received all the appropriate orientations and support from AFS as well as from a local organization that works with minoritarian groups that nominated him for the scholarship. Nelson has three more years to go in High school and in the near future he plans to teach German to little kids in his community. AFS Honduras and AFS Switzerland wish the best for Nelson, his family and the community of Belén Gualcho.
By Karin Bitterli/AFS Switzerland Communication Team
In the photo: Nelson and his family in Honduras
 |
Printer Friendly |
