Honduras

Today, we spent the day exploring villages and sites deep in the Honduran mountainside. Most notably we went to see the location of the Salvadoran refugee camps in Colomoncagua.  We were privileged to be accompanied by our friend and host Ron Brenneman who spent time in these camps as an Aid worker during the war years.  26 years ago Ron relocated himself from the U.S. to the middle of a conflict zone to work with aid groups throughout El Salvador.  One of his early accomplishments was creating a model for a house that was used throughout the camps for people displaced by the war (a design still known as Ron's House).  He stayed on in El Salvador even after his organization had decided not to.  Since then, he has become an integral part of this community and as great teller of its history.   He has written a book about his experiences coming out soon.  Before you read the rest of this blog, you should read some of his (perkin musings).  We were lucky to have him as our guide today.

The first thing we noticed as we crossed the border between El Salvador and Honduras was that there was not much of a border at all.  We didn't have to show documentation to pass the border patrol.  As Ron said to us "Border's like this are only important during a war".  The road was dirt, rock, clay and little bumpy.  It wended its way throughout the beautiful mountainsides with small farms and tiny house clusters (mostly of Native Lencans) along the way.  The town of Colomoncagua is small, quaint and dominated by the image of the old church.  As we walked along the cobblestone streets, we noticed that we were being followed by interested but friendly stares.  They surely don't see many tourists around here.  Later in the day, after the tour of the camps, we returned to drink some Honduran beer in the back patio of a General store.

As we made our way through the muddy roads leading to the camps we stop and Ron tells us, "This is it."  We get out and survey a mostly empty tract of land that looks pretty much like everything else in the landscape.  Besides a few crumbling concrete foundations where mechanical shops once were and random piles of rusted tin, we can only imagine what this place was like during the the time between 1980-90 when as many as 6,000 refugees shared about 10 acres of rough terrain (the pictures above are of the camps during the war and yesterday).  Ron starts pointing out places where things used to be and as he tells us he tries to paint a picture of what the camps were like; how the camps were separated, where the different workshops were located, how they had to live in tents before any structures were built.  Starting a little before 1981, tens of thousands of Salvadorans were being displaced as the conflict was just starting to heat up.  The refugees settled in these camps (the largest at Mesa Grande at about 12,000).  They were run by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refuges and the Honduran military guarded the camps with prison-like conditions.  Without the help of foreign aid workers the camps would be little more than concentration camps.  We visited several sites in the former camp including the site where Ron lived while working there, a cemetary of those who died at the camps, and the remnants of the few permanent structured built there.  We almost got lost in the jungle setting that has grown over the camp sites in the last 20 years. If it wasn't for a chance run in with a machete wielding farmer, we still might be looking for our way out.

The day was a heavy one due to the reality of the regions past.  We are not the ones who can tell the story of the camps or the war for that matter, but as we learn more of the history of El Salvador, the work of this community to return to a bit of normalcy is incredible to witness.    Just like our tour of an old refugee camp, much of he history of the war will soon be overgrown with new memories.  But with people like Ron and many others of this community sharing their experiences and telling stories of the past, no amount of new growth can completely cover up the past.

After our visit to the camps and our relaxing beer in Colomoncagua we toured some of the towns on both sides of the border including a walk around Torola and a quick meal in San Fernando during a small rain storm.  It's hard to classify this area as remote, but it is isolated.  The towns are all quiet and the people very friendly. Today was a good day traveling about the border.  The last few days of our trip are still undetermined, but todays trip certainly was a highlight.  The more we visit this community, the more attached we become.  This certainly is a special and unique part of the world.