A quick entry, but I wanted to get this one out here:
I have always known how lucky I am to live the way I live and have the things I have, but there are some things in life I would have never considered as “being privileged” until living in Honduras. There are a lot of things we take advantage of in the United States: clean water for cooking, cleaning, and drinking, real floors and ceilings, and paved roads to name a few. But these were all things that I had considered before coming to Honduras. Recently, however I realized on privilege that I never would have thought about if a second grader had never stopped by our apartment while shopping in the center of town with her mom.
Walking up to our third story apartment was her first time ever being in a building with more than one story.
I only witnessed her reaction after she made it up the stairs, but I wish I had been there for the ascent. Andrea, the second grade teacher told me how terrified this student was to be so high up. She was holding onto the railing of the stairs so tight her knuckles were white and once she finally made it to the third floor and knocked on my door to say “hello” she would not go anywhere near the railing. It took a little while but eventually Andrea and I convinced her to look out over the edge. Her little face lit up and she asked for a chair.
She brought the chair over to the corner of our porch that faces parque central and sat straight-backed as she watched the people below. She was like a little queen surveying her land. “The people look so small,” she told me and we sat together and watched as people below bought their fruits, vegetables, clothes, and cellphone chargers. Her mom was calling her name from the street, but she just pretended she didn’t hear as she savored her last few moments of being above everyone and everything else.
Afterwards, as I spoke with Andrea she told me how a similar experience had happened with a student last year. It is incredible to think that so many of the people here have never walked up stairs, let alone stood on a balcony. It makes me wonder what other privileges we take advantage of. There must be so many we never even think about.
