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These five Honduran women are making a large impact in their country. They work with organizations that teach peace workshops, work with victims of domestic violence and minister to troubled youth. I was inspired by their strong backs and soft hearts when I had the opportunity to interview and photograph them for a series originally published on the MCC Honduras Facebook page for International Women’s Day. These women are just as gentle, compassionate and loving as they are determined, hard-working and intelligent.
Here are excerpts from the interviews with Belinda, Lidys, Lucia, Maricella, and Teresina.
Belinda Rodríguez is the director of the Peace and Justice Project (PPyJ) in La Ceiba, Honduras, which is organization of the Honduran Mennonite Evangelical Church. It was created with the purpose of promoting and developing actions that contribute to the integral well-being of families in homes, the church and the community in a manner consistent with Gospel to love thy neighbor setting a foundation for a society where the peace proclaimed in Jesus Christ is lived. She also organizes with community leaders to attend to social needs, specifically the rights of women. She works to defend the right to women’s participation in leadership spaces both within the church and in other community spaces. MCC Photo/Jill Steinmetz
Jill: Can you tell me about your work and what you do?
Belinda: I am the director of the Peace and Justice Project (PPyJ). I do many things in my role and one of them is organizing people from churches and civil society organizations to join peaceful social actions. I also meet with leaders of institutions to discuss social needs and how to address them. In addition, I lead spaces that defend the rights of women in cases of abuse and domestic violence, as well as their rights to participate in leadership spaces both inside the church and in community spaces.
Lidys: I am the Director at a school in Chamelecón and share in a ministerial role in the churches where my husband pastors. Early on, I worked in the areas of computers and graphic design. When I had our children, I quit my job. But as I was about to put my son in public school, I found there was no teacher so I volunteered in his class. I loved teaching so I began school again studying education. Soon after, Pastor Melvin made me a teacher at the White Dove school.
Lucia: I have worked for Christian Action Mennonite Education (ACEM) for 2 and a half years. I work mainly with children with learning difficulties, teaching them Math and Spanish. I work with both public and private schools, and I also teach sign language and self-esteem classes at the Catholic University of Honduras, which I have been doing for 11 years.
Maricella: I am part of a team of volunteers team that works for Peace and Justice Project (PPyJ) in Chamelecón. The program is called “Education for Peace in the School Environment.” I teach a Bible education class in these schools to kids whose families might belong to gangs or otherwise live difficult lives. A special biblical school ministry was formed to serve this need, where they are taught the word of God, given food, and cared for. The vision is to work on the hearts and minds of these little ones and they might teach their families what they learn about peace.
Teresina: I joined Mennonite Social Action Commission (CASM) in 2017, working with The Bright Futures Project where the central theme is “More Education, Less Child Labor.” I work in 6 communities from Choloma with some spectacular leaders who are my right hands in each community to carry out everything planned. We also work with Child Labor Groups, schools, the district, parents, teachers, and the youth to improve the conditions of children and protect their rights.
Lidys Lemus is the director at White Dove School. The school is a ministry of the Honduran Mennonite Evangelical Church and is located in Chamelecón, Honduras which provides an excellent education in a neighborhood marked with violence and gangs. MCC Photo/Jill Steinmetz
Jill: When did you decide to do what you do and why?
Lucia: When my first child was 2-years-old, we found that his ears did not work properly. This changed our lives in many aspects and through this learning process I was supported by other families with deaf children who attended the same special school as our son. There, the Lord began to open doors. I worked while studying sign language and was later able to teach many other parents and children. I also decided to study Psychology in order to better understand what it’s like for children, like my son, who have limitations such as hearing impairment.
Lidys: I started teaching again after having children partly because I wanted to stay close to them, but I found I had a passion for it and God opened doors; we decided to up a school that served the children of the Church and the community with quality teaching including Christian principles and values. Through this, my children were able to obtain a bilingual Christian education and the impact spreads much further than my own family.
Belinda: Since my youth I have been convinced that I was born to help others; that is why I studied psychology and theology. I have always been in occupations that have a lot to do with the service, which I feel is my vocation.
Lucia Orellana works with Action Christian Mennonite Education (ACEM) based out of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. She works with children with learning difficulties and focuses on math and Spanish classes in the tutoring and reinforcement area in public and private schools. She teaches sign language and self-esteem at Catholic University of Honduras. MCC Photo/Jill Steinmetz
Jill: How have you seen the impact of your work in the community?
Teresina: The project has reached rural communities and now more than 100 children have completed school through the ninth grade. I see that parents are now more aware that the education and protection of their children is their duty and obligation and they have replaced poor habits with better ones they have learned. I also see young people rediscovering gifts and abilities that had been hidden because of lack of opportunity to explore them.
Maricella: Our church makes a big impact on the community through tree planting, trash clean-up, medical brigades, programs and events. The service that we provide reaches the people of our community, and we hear that from community members.
Belinda: While in a leadership role in the local government, I oversaw the opening of a Shelter House for Women Survivors of Violence as well as the Municipal Women’s Office of La Ceiba. This had a very positive impact especially on women in our community.
Teresina Valdez Varela works with the Mennonite Social Action Commission (CASM) in the Sula Valley. CASM changed its focus to promoting self-guidance among he communities it works with, emphasizing the basic principles of solidarity and participation. Teresina works with the Bright Futures Project where the central theme is “More Education, Less Child Labor.” MCC Photo/Jill Steinmetz
Jill: Who is a woman who gives inspiration for her life and work?
Lidys: Many women inspire me in my work but number one on that list is my mom. Secondly would be Rita Martínez, who supported the creation of the White Dove School with the inheritance money from her late husband. One day, I invited her to preach at our Women’s Bible Study and she prayed for me not to worry for the education of my children—that education may come to us. We had no idea that we would soon have our own school; God certainly provided there. She currently directs White Dove Sula and her efforts continue to serve as an inspiration to me.
Lucia: A great example from the Bible was Lydia, who in her effort to serve the Lord, encouraged people to spread the good news. She was a busy woman, a merchant of fine fabrics, but dedicated time for the things of the Lord.
Teresina: My mother inspires me—she is a woman who has always had love for her neighbor but without flaunting it; her values have always been high and I look up to her for that.
Maricella Mayorga is on the volunteer team of Peace and Justice Project (PPyJ) in Chamelecón, Honduras. Along with support of the Honduran Mennonite Church, she serves at a ministry at the public schools where she teaches a class on biblical teachings and provides food. MCC Photo/Jill Steinmetz
Jill: What advice will you have for the personal or professional life of other women?
Maricella: Our Heavenly Father has designed us women in a special way so that we can do and achieve what we set out to do. With God’s help and direction, everything is possible. A small seed of love sown today will be a tree with many fruits tomorrow.
Lucia: The first would be to be to remember to love yourself and value each of your weaknesses; dare to make your life to be pleasing God, having tolerance and perseverance with others. My second piece of advice is to continue to study and take advantage of the opportunities that the Lord provides; do not lose your ambition because you are better than you were, but rather, keep studying and getting better.
Jill Steinmetz served as a Digital Media Specialist with MCC’s SALT program in Honduras in 2018-19.