Today is one of those sentimental days for me. It is overcast and big snowflakes are dancing through the air as they go from the sky to the ground. The ground is covered with snow and the rocks are peaking through the inches of whiteness. I am snuggled up in my blanket and sitting in front of the fire with a book. I love reading short stories about people who make a difference in other's walks of life. If we would just take the time and think about our friends and family, we could probably write our own book of inspiring people.
When I worked in New York, I became friends with one of my co-workers, Debbie. When I met Debbie, she had lived in NYC with her husband for about twelve years. Her vacation that year was going to see her family in Honduras and to celebrate the life of her grandmother who had been deceased for about three years. Deb wanted to honor her grandmother by going back to the Mango Tree. The tree where lives had been changed. Debbie's grandmother had encouraged and influenced her as well as others in the community.
Her grandmother's story is such an inspirational story. Isabel was born in Belize in the year of 1933. Belize was still a British Colony, so English was the first language that was spoken. Isabel had moved to Honduras in 1946, when she was thirteen years old. She graduated from high school and then went to college to obtain her teaching degree. At the age of twenty-three she married Manuel, who worked for Chiquita Banana Company. Manuel became a Regional Manager for the company. Isabel and Manuel moved to a very poor town call Tela. Chiquita was the main financial resource for this small village.
Isabel was hired to work as a teacher in an American School that was built for the American children, whose parents worked in management positions for Chiquita. Isabel loved working at the American School, but she also wanted to make a difference to the people that had been born and raised in Tela. Spanish was the language for the community. Isabel knew that these children would have a better opportunity in making something of themselves if they knew the English language. So she opened up her own English speaking school for these children. She charged them nothing and did this for many years.
One day a Peace Corp group arrived at Tela and they began to hear about the "teacher" that taught English to children for free. At this time, her grandmother had three different groups of students. She had a group for small kids, a group for teenagers and a group for adults. These classes were taught on her patio under the Mango Tree. The Peace Corp group came to Isabel's house and saw her set-up. They were mesmerized with the dedication she had in making a difference in this community.
A month later, the Peace Corp came back to Honduras. With the assistance of the Episcopal Church, the Peace Corp offered to start a Bilingual School in Tela. The name of the school was "Holy Spirit School". They asked Isabel to be in charge of the school. She accepted. She did not accept any pay for this position. The one thing that she requested was that her first grandchild would receive a full scholarship in attending the school. My friend, Debbie, was that first grandchild.
Debbie grew up with her grandparents and attended the "Holy Spirit School" on a full-scholarship. She was the first student of that school that participated in an exchange student program with the United States. She was twelve at the time and was in New York for three months. Her three month visit made such an impact on Debbie. She went back to Honduras and graduated from the school. She went onto college and obtained her degree. In 2002, Debbie and her husband moved to NYC to begin a new life.
In 2011, Debbie's grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer and died in that same year. She was still teaching classes two months before she died. The community and the children were her life.
A dream was planted many years ago. Debbie and her husband went back to the Mango Tree, where it all began and held their first children's camp. Thirty children attended that week. Debbie continues to go back to Honduras every year to assist the community that her grandmother so loved.
Isabel took Psalms 1:3 to heart:
"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever he does prospers." She loved God with all her heart and she knew that she needed to invest in her granddaughter and her community. She planted and watered the lives of those around her. Her academic background and her faith gave her the wisdom that she needed to make a difference.
What are you doing to make a difference? You may not have a Mango tree, but you do have a room, a yard, a story where you can encourage someone that God does have a plan for their life.
Isabel and grand-daughter, Debbie
Isabel and Manuel
