List,
When we first thought of moving the Conference on
Honduras from Washington, DC to Copan Ruinas in 2003,
the idea was to "test the waters" and see how easy (or
difficult) it would be to stage the event in Honduras.
After having completed three consecutive conferences
in Washington without any problems, we were concerned
with the prospects of trying to organize the
conference from afar (I live in Washington and my
partners, Jerry and Sandra Thompson of Special
Missions Foundation, live in a small town in Texas).
We knew a few people in Copan Ruinas, and we had a
vague feeling that the town was the right place to
hold the conference in Honduras. But that was it,
really. In March 2003, I took my first trip to Copan
Ruinas. My Hedman Alas bus left Comayaguela around 6
am, and I arrived in Copan Ruinas shortly after noon.
I walked down the cobblestone streets toward the
central plaza and checked into the Copan Plaza hotel,
next to the Catholic Church.
My first goal was to find Carin Steen, a local artist
from Holland. I had been communicating with Carin by
e-mail, and I felt perhaps she could be our point of
contact in Copan Ruinas for the conference. I knew
her studio was located in a building called "Casa de
Todo" (House of Everything), and so I asked around and
eventually found my way to an orange and blue,
Spanish-tile building on the corner. I found Carin.
Through Carin, I also found two other cool ladies
named Sandra Guerra and Flavia Cueva. Sandra was the
owner of the Casa de Todo (http://www.casadetodo.com),
which not only provided space for Carin's studio but
was also a gift shop, restaurant, tourism information
center, laundromat, copy center, book exchange, and
cybercafe. Flavia was the owner of Hacienda San Lucas
(http://www.haciendasanlucas.com), which is one of the
most serene and beautiful bed & breakfast
lodge/restaurants in the world.
All four of us ended up having lunch at Doña Albita's
Llama del Bosque restaurant. It is there that I felt
reassured that Copan Ruinas was the perfect place for
the conference.
The thing I have learned that has been the most
helpful to projecthonduras.com in Honduras has been
that any foreign group who wishes to have a presence
in the country should have a Honduran "counterpart".
I learned this from my friend Kathy Tschiegg, who is
the director of CAMO (http://www.camo.org) in Santa
Rosa de Copan. Kathy gave a one-day Workshop on
Sustainable Programs at the Conference on Honduras
2004.
I did not know what a counterpart was in 2003. I just
knew that we needed someone "on the ground" if we
hoped to put on a conference with a bare minimum
number of headaches.
Now that we have successfully completed two
Conferences on Honduras, it has become quite clear
that there is no way we could have done it without a
counterpart in Copan Ruinas. The details of staging
an annual event for more than 250 people in Honduras
are numerous.
We have to rent audio and translation equipment. We
have to hire simultaneous translators. We have to
rent tables, chairs, and tablecloths. We have to hire
a caterer for the luncheons. We have to plan a
reception. We have to rent tents. We have to assist
conferees with their ground transportation and lodging
reservations. We have to hire watchmen and people to
clean the bathrooms. We have to arrange for a backup
power generator. We have to arrange to have coffee,
water, and snacks. We have to coordinate with
contributing supporters. We have to coordinate with
the local government and business community. We have
to do the accounting for the money that was spent. I
could go on and on.
Most importantly, though, we have to do all of this in
a manner that is consistent with the local history,
customs and relationships. We have to ensure that we
are welcomed guests in Copan Ruinas. The instant that
the Conference on Honduras becomes the source of
problems for the community… that is when we know that
we've done something wrong that needs to be resolved
openly, graciously, and quickly.
I will tell you sincerely that there is no way we
could do all of this without my dear friend Sandra
Guerra of Casa de Todo. It is Sandra who has emerged
as "la directora" of the Conference on Honduras in
Copan Ruinas. Sandra is the consummate businesswoman,
and she is also a native of Copan Ruinas. She is our
counterpart in Copan Ruinas, and Casa de Todo is
homebase for the Conference on Honduras… for as long
as they'll have us. Thank you Sandra, and thank you
Copan Ruinas.
We are on our way to having more than 300 people
attend the Conference on Honduras 2005. For
information about the event, please see
http://www.projecthonduras.com/conference or e-mail
hondopost.....com. Or stop by Casa de Todo if you
happen to visit Copan Ruinas, and ask for Sandra.
Marco
To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/travel-to-honduras/
travel-to-honduras-
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