Brenda Sol, M.A. Psychology 1998

Dear Fellow Alumni,

Greetings from sunny San Pedro Sula in Honduras where the “muddy season” is over and the “dusty season” has returned!

I am writing to you during a very exciting time in my journey—as of last week, I am a postulant in the Diocese of Olympia. For those of you less familiar with Episcopal lingo, this means I have been officially admitted to the process of becoming a priest. While there are many steps ahead of me, this is a milestone of great importance—HOORAY!! Over the next few months, I’ll be able to tell you more about where I’m headed after Honduras—most likely to an Episcopal seminary somewhere in the U.S. In the meantime, your prayers for my clarity around these next steps are most welcome!

In addition to that good news, I’m pleased to tell you that this has been a month of fun for me. I know that several—perhaps most—of you never thought I’d say “fun” and “Honduras” in the same sentence, but it’s true; I’ve had a ton of FUN this month!!

For starters, a couple of weeks ago, I accompanied our 7th & 8th graders on five days of activities as part of an exchange program with an Episcopal middle school from Florida. As one of my previous bosses likes to say, “we combined serious work with serious play!” You can read more about our adventures on my 3/17/10 blog entry at: http://www.brendasol.com/6401.html. I also posted a few photos from the week at: http://picasaweb.google.com/brendajsol (newest photos in the “Recently Updated” folder).

The other fun thing is my deepening connection with the three 8th grade OLR girls whom I teach. Their fourth classmate (they would describe her as the “smart girl with regular parents”) was gone this week, so we had much different conversations than we usually do. Additionally, it’s exam week, so there’s been more time for private conversations. I feel so honored to share this precious time with these beautiful young women. Since I don’t want to risk their classmates reading their stories on my blog, I’ll take a bit of space here to introduce you to the three of them.

Meet Tania. She’s upbeat, smiles a lot, and just turned 15—a very big deal in most Latin countries. She is disappointed that she has to wait until June for her Quincinera party, but as you may have surmised by reading the poem she wrote (also on my blog), she values friendship and relationship above everything, so it doesn’t bother her too much that she has to share her party. It’s her nature to make the most of things; for example, she says that a joint party with the 6 or 7 other girls from the OLR home turning 15 this year isn’t so bad. Likewise, being denied the Visa that would have allowed her to participate in the exchange program in Florida is okay, because she’s hopeful she’ll get to go their summer camp instead.

In contrast, Maribel is fiercely independent, and so much a rebel, that she has taken this entire school year to warm-up to the idea that she might actually enjoy a one-on-one conversation with me. Even so, she comes around the back of things as to not admit liking things she has deemed “uncool.” Comically, here’s the dilemma she came to me with the other day: “Miss,” she asked with grave seriousness, “how can I get over liking Math so much?” What a pleasure to give her a few examples of why she’d be thankful for her math aptitude in the future…especially if she pursues her dream of helping find the cure for HIV.

Then there’s Astrid. At recess you can find her playing soccer with the boys…and she’s good; inside the classroom, she’s the one asking all the questions. This girl really wants to understand how things work and what the underlying meaning of things is. Along those lines, her sense of justice is always at the forefront of her thinking. For instance, last month I arranged for a visitor from the states, whom I had learned was an author of young-adult fiction, to speak. After Astrid found out that the author was self-published, however, she was up in arms! “Miss!” she exclaimed as she paced back and forth, which is what she does when she’s really on fire, “if you want to be an author, you should practice and practice to be a better writer so that a publisher will print your book. If you just pay money to have your book published, that’s saying you don’t want to work so hard!”

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the transformational work that takes place inside Our Little Roses. To think these girls would otherwise be denied going to school, or be so caught up with finding their next meal that they wouldn’t have the space to dream so big…is truly amazing to me. Many thanks to the people who have supported my ministry here and the work of OLR (www.ourlittleroses.org).

Hasta luego mis amigos!