Roger Clinton (centre) has initiated a project to replace a school in an impoverished village on the northeast coast of Honduras. His wife, Gerrie Harker (left), accompanied him on his most recent trip and as a nurse, she has helped the villagers with their medical needs. Presenting them with a Rotary banner is Rotary Club of Osoyoos President Judy Miller-Bennett. (Richard McGuire photo)
When many Canadians travel to tropical countries, it’s to lie on a sunny beach, sip mixed drinks and perhaps shop for some souvenirs.
Not so for Roger Clinton, a member of the Osoyoos Rotary Club, and his wife Gerrie Harker.
“That’s not my attitude,” says Clinton, who has travelled to an orphanage in Ethiopia and a water project in Haiti before starting work on building a school in an impoverished village in Honduras.
“I’ve been to a lot of Third World countries,” said Clinton. “I just like to help. I get more bang for my buck by helping these people than I do lazing on the beach. I don’t care for that.”
Over the past couple of years, Clinton has funded the building of a kindergarten in the little village of Esperancita, near the historic Spanish colonial city of Trujillo on the northern Caribbean coast of Honduras.
At a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Osoyoos, Clinton and Harker showed photos of the work as well as the rough conditions of the old school.
Both Clinton and Harker say they have shed many tears observing the poverty the villagers live in. They’ve also shed tears of joy to see the smiles of the villagers when they brought them basic supplies and soccer balls and helped to bring a road to the community so that work could begin on the school.
They spoke about how they would like to build a main school for children up to Grade 10 that will cost about $15,000.
An artist friend, Colin Foo from Richmond, is raising about $6,000 for that project through the sales of his work, leaving $9,000 still to be raised.
Their story touched the hearts of many Rotarians, who brought out their chequebooks after the meeting. Nothing though prepared Clinton and Harker for the generosity of one woman who didn’t want to be named, but handed them a $4,000 cheque after the talk.
“I was overwhelmed,” Harker said afterwards about receiving this cheque. “I thought it said $400 and when I read it out as $4,000 I looked at her and asked if she was sure this is what she wanted to write.”
The woman was sure.
Clinton, a retired farmer living near Keremeos, contributed $8,000 of his own money to build the kindergarten.
Much of the work, however, was done by the villagers of Esperancita.
It all began early in 2013 when Clinton and his brother-in-law Bruce Harker, Gerrie Harker’s brother, were in Trujillo.
They asked around to find a worthy project that could use some help. It wasn’t long before they learned about Esperancita, a village of about 150 people at the end of a 16 kilometre horse ride up a rough trail.
The people there are Garifuna, a mixture of African and indigenous Carib and Arawak people. Few speak much English and Clinton and the Harkers don’t speak Spanish. They were, however, accompanied by friends from Trujillo who helped with the communication.
Most of the people rarely leave their isolated village, especially not going down the mountain.
The old kindergarten had dirt floors and crumbling mud walls with a gaping hole in the side. It was poorly lit and the children contended with insects and other pests.
“It brings tears to your eyes to see what these people have to put up with,” said Clinton.
In all, Clinton made three trips to Esperancita at different stages of the project. On the final trip, his wife Gerrie came along, despite her initial fears that she might not come back alive. Now she can’t wait to go back.
As a nurse, she examined some of the villagers who didn’t have basic medical or dental care. She now wants to go back with nurses she met in Trujillo and nearby Santa Fe to help with basic medical needs.
One of the biggest challenges was that without a road it was almost impossible to bring in the supplies needed to build the new school.
Clinton and Bruce Harker contacted the mayor of Santa Fe, the district in which Esperancita is located, and they convinced him that a road was needed.
Not only was a Caterpillar brought in to build a basic road, but power lines were built to bring in electricity.
With local people doing the work, and Clinton providing the funds for materials, a new kindergarten was completed earlier this year. It has a proper bathroom, concrete floors, water and lighting and other necessities.
When the main school is built, the old building will be reused as a community hall and a church. Clinton hopes work on the new main school can begin at the end of this year.
“I was crying a lot because the children were just so beautiful and you could just see they had nothing, but they were so happy,” said Gerrie Harker. “The people were hugging you and crying and the teachers were happy and crying because they knew that Roger was going to get them money for a new classroom for these kindergarten children. It was absolutely overwhelming and surreal for me to be so closely involved with that type of thing.”
Clinton and Harker have now bought a timeshare condo near Trujillo.
They plan to return to Honduras in early December to carry on their work.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Roger Clinton (left) and Bruce Harker pose with children at the old kindergarten that had crumbling mud walls, was dimly lit and had insects and other pests. Clinton used his own money to build a new kindergarten. (Photo supplied)
