Improvement can be found in the details as much as the larger picture. Guaruma and Promotores Ambientales, (a community organization working to create a deeper understanding of the benefits of environmental awareness and education) recently created a new welcome sign for the town of Las Mangas. The old sign is located a hundred meters into the village, placed there by the government. It is old and rusted and does little to distinguish the town from its neighbors. This new sign, painted by volunteers and erected by members of Guaruma, reflects the pride the community takes in itself. Standing next to the small bridge just before the village, it welcomes visitors to town. Trees were removed from the Guaruma property to create a gate-like affect. Reinforced with cement, the sign is planted firmly in the ground. 
Now, as visitors pass over the burbling creek, they can note that they’ve entered a community unique as its sign.
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Members of Guaruma and Procorredor worked hard to make their villages shine before Semana Santa. Easter week is one of the busiest in the Cuenca; visitors come from all over Honduras to enjoy the refreshing waters of the Cangreal. With their families they arrive, filling the backs of pickup trucks with children, grills, bathing suits, and snacks. Guaruma and Procorredor take pride in maintaining clean, welcoming communities, so what better time to spruce up than right before Semana Santa?
Volunteers from both organizations worked throughout the week. Starting in El Pital, moving south through Las Mangas, eventually ending up on the lower, flatter parts of the river. Kids donned plastic yellow gloves and picked up enough trash to fill more than 60 10-gallon bags. Everyone was cheerful, despite the dirty diapers, broken glass, and endless empty bags of chips. The work went on for almost the entire week. By the time volunteers arrived at the bottom of the river they were hot, sweaty, and exhausted. A bunch of them took advantage of their opportunity during a break and dove into the river, making bright splashes in the late afternoon sun.  Cleaning up the Cangreal
Guaruma and Procorredor take great pride in providing positive examples for the communities they work within. An effort to clean up trash and make the communities more welcoming is one that benefits everyone. Both organizations would like to encourage visitors and residents of the Cuenca to carry out any trash they bring in.
From March 15th-17th, Guaruma volunteers Durkis, Camilo, and Ben were at the Rancho Santa Fe, Honduran headquarters of Nuestros pequeños hermanos. NPH is an organization based in 9 Latin American countries. It provides safe, nurturing, and educationally-motivated environments for orphans or children whose families cannot provide for them. Founded in 1954, the organization currently supports more than 3,000 children. Guaruma is tied to the organization not only because of similar goals in education and self-sustaining policies but because Ben, our Assistant Director, volunteered with NPH before he joined us.  A hermano uses new photography skills during a workshop with Guaruma volunteers. During their time at the ranch, Camilo, Ben, and Durkis gave two workshops. The first was for the benefit of international volunteers. A representative volunteer from each of the 9 countries in which NPH operates was in attendance. The NPH volunteers had cumulatively documented the lives of more than 3,000 children. With volunteers from Guaruma they worked on photography selection and editing skills. The second workshop was for children of NPH who are infected with HIV. HIV/AIDS is perceived almost exclusively as a sexually transmitted disease in Honduras. Unfortunately, this creates a stigma for the children born to an infected parent. Many of the children have low self-esteem as a result. During the second workshop, Camilo, Durkis, and Ben worked with the children to help them acquire higher skills of expression and self-confidence through the use of photography. In a world where people may be afraid to even touch those children who are HIV positive, it is imperative that they feel strong and confident about who they are and their ability to create. Because of Guaruma’s extensive experience working both with international volunteers and disadvantaged children, giving workshops at NPH’s Rancho Santa Fe was an excellent opportunity to make use of these skills. By contributing to the Honduran community in ever-widening circles and involving both international and local volunteers Guaruma hopes to increase its positive affects.  A volunteer and two hermanos share photos. For more information, please visit NPH’s website at: www.nph-honduras.org Last Saturday and Sunday we opened the Guaruma year with a Parent’s Meeting in each of the two communities where Guaruma works. At the meetings we gave a presentation about Guaruma and showed photographs taken by the kids over the past year. Afterwards interested parents signed their children up to take classes in Photography, Computation, English, and Environmental Education. We look forward to getting the learning under way!
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