A Study Tour Reflection by Kelly Keena
Evident by the introduction of the group to the community was not only the gratitude for Heifer’s gift, but the intensity of what comes from within communities and individuals. The president of the organized group, Rubio Torrez, a small man with a strong conviction, spoke:
“We have bigness here. We have bigness in the trees. We have bigness in our people.”
I sat, thankful again for this experience, humbled by the hospitality and moved by the introductions where I learned that of the twenty-two people involved in the group, half were women and half were men, an important aspect of gender equality in Heifer’s mission.
After lunch, we walked through the community to visit group members at their homes and hear stories. These stories were not of receiving, they were of giving. As we wound through the main cobblestone path of the community we met Don Miños and learned that he had not had a cow since his childhood as his cherished heifer, I would say lovingly, licked his arm; we met Susana whose mother and calf (“Doll Face”) stood without disturbance to our presence…and our camera flashes.
And in front of Susana’s home, we formed a circle assorted by community members intermingled with study tour participants, hands held, and Rubio Torrez spoke again:
“You are our friends even though we have never met you.”
I am grateful for the opportunity to witness the power of small, impoverished communities with everlasting bigness.
Kelly Keena was a participant on this summer’s first session of the Study Tour for Educators in Honduras.
