Carla Jagger
Mount Gilead, Ohio
Agricultural and Extension Education PhD student
Our trip to Honduras was by far the best abroad experience I have had the opportunity to attend. I loved that Dr. Cano and or other coordinators treated the trip more like a service learning experience, which allowed us to interact with the community and Hondurans more so than any other time I have traveled. One of my most memorable moments, was the day we spent in one of the local barrios (small village) working alongside the women making 400+ tamales that they then sell for a small amount of income that goes to any woman that comes and helps with the process.
I’m all about the food when I travel anywhere so getting to observe and help with the whole preparation of what became our supper that evening was amazing! Even though I couldn’t understand the words they were saying all the time I could usually pick up on what they were trying to communicate which I was happy about. I know there were times that they were definitely laughing at me and not necessarily with me, but I was absolutely fine with that because I was having just as much fun! They were so welcoming and genuinely just wanted to share their expertise with all of us, which I absolutely loved and tried to indulge in. And I would say I definitely over indulged in the treats they kept presenting us with! Overall this experience reminded me that although our cultures may be different, and we may not speak the same language, we can always find ways to positively communicate with one another.
We also had the chance to tour some of the agricultural commodities in Honduras including sugar cane production, a coffee plantation, and a milk processing plant. Like I mentioned before the trip was more about service than touring, which I believe allowed us all to learn so much more than just see what they produce in Honduras. We were continuously working on projects for the community including, building hoop houses for small gardens, building a chicken coop, working on the gardens at a local vocational school, developing curriculum for the vocational school, plus several others. I will never forget the experiences we had on this trip, I loved every minute of it and enjoyed taking in the Honduran culture.
Thanks Carla for sharing about your experience on the Community Development study abroad trip to Honduras!