He Came, Riding on a Horse - A Friends United Essay

By Charlotte F. Ruoff  - Over the years it has been interesting to observe the culture of the teachers who attend the seminars sponsored by Friends United in Honduras.  In the twenty-four years that the organization has been presenting professional development meetings, there has been many changes in the country

At the first seminar held in 1987 there was only one telephone in the town and to make a call you had to go to a small store.  Long distance was available at about $4.00 a minute so naturally you did not talk too long.  Today, cells phones are everywhere.  A fairly old, tiny, woman managing a fruit stand along the main highway had one hanging like a necklace.  With towers on the mountains there is very good reception.  When we travel in Honduras we are never out of contact with responsible people.

Back in the beginning, auto transportation was very limited to working teachers, so they walked to the seminars, sometimes for several miles.  And the women always came in their very best dresses, (perhaps their one and only) but always looking professional.  Today, some of the younger ones will come in a pair of designer jeans.

There are more men entering the teaching profession and that has changed the climate also.  Many teachers still only have the minimum of teacher education with very little practicum on how to teach.  The farther away from the cultural centers, the more minuscule the educational qualifications can become.  In the cities we have observed that the teachers are continuing their schooling, some working on a master’s degree.  However, at a seminar held in Copan Ruínas, Honduras several years ago, one teacher rode a horse out of the mountains to our seminar site in the town.  His educational background was a sixth grade education that he received in his own village:  no college training, no practicum.  Several others in the group of teachers also had limited education and no training.  To cover the gap between those who may have been working on a degree, we knew that “teacher aids” were needed immediately to help those short on background to understand what was being presented.

It was amazing what was absorbed by the seminarians.  As always, they soaked up the practical ideas that they could adapt to their classroom for little or no cost.  Even our friend who came riding on a horse added one item after another to his pile of new supplies that would enrich his classroom and help his students blossom into new individuals.  We marveled at how he managed to carry his new supply as he rode out of town, back into his mountain village.  But I wouldn’t doubt that there are cell phones in his little village today.

That is the whole point of Friends United:  train one teacher and influence the lives of a thousand students over his or her teaching experience.  And the secondary goal of Friends United is for  teachers  to educate other teachers.  In a school of ten teachers, one inspired teacher can affect the teaching strategy of others and the number of students influenced then may go to the  thousands—and at such little cost.

Over the years, through our Resource Centers, now in six major areas of Honduras, we  have helped hundreds of teachers to make their classrooms more creative, more exciting, and  a place where students want to come to learn.  With your donations, you have made this possible.  Thank you  for thinking of Friends United in this busy time of the year.

Charlotte F. Ruoff, President

DG Dan Hall comments : "Independence Rotary Club members are quite involved with improving child literacy in Honduras. Working with an Independence Area-based partner called “Friends United” the club provides literacy, teacher training programs, libraries, and educational supplies and develops teacher Resource Centers for rural schools and students in Honduras. This literacy program has proven most successful in motivating excellence in both teachers and students alike. Only with literate citizens can peace and economic prosperity thrive.  For more information please contact: Charlotte Ruoff at <charr@kcnet.net>. "