Jose y Raquel los peregrinos

In which Raquel sees the light

Let me tell you about my closest Honduran friend, Alba Luz. She’s 8 years old and has a head of flamboyantly curly dark hair. Alba lives in a tiny house perched high above the river. It has a dirt floor, thatch roof, and consists only of a kitchen and two small bedrooms. Alba shares her house with nine other relatives, including her dying grandfather and a little brother with cerebral palsy.
Alba failed first grade twice. In her village, the 1st-6th grades meet in the same place, with a total of 40 kids and one underpaid, disenchanted teacher who shows up for class when it’s convenient. Alba’s mother was quick to explain to me, as Alba and I labored over some addition facts during our first meeting, that Alba is stupid and cannot learn. But Alba looked up at me with eyes eager and hungry for approval. I searched for her name in my Spanish dictionary that night and found that it meant “dawn’s first light.”
So, with that hope ringing in my ears, I have walked the two miles to Alba’s house twice a week for the last four months. Alba and I spend about two or three hours together each time. We work on math facts and stringing letters together and enjoy each other’s company immensely.
We have had our own struggles, Alba and I. Hers have been how to add, the sounds that “c” makes, and a never-ending quest for confidence. Mine have been a constant wrestling with the language and the struggle to eat yet another corn tortilla from her always-generous mother. And in our struggles we have found each other. Alba helps with my tortillas when her mother isn’t looking, and her eager smile always lights and warms my sluggish heart. For my part, I have always believed that she is smart and that God holds hope for her.
And I am thrilled to announce that the miraculous has happened. Alba has become an avid reader. She reads the children’s books I bring her with passion and zeal. She loves the adventures of Madeline, and the silly story of Dona Chana Y Su Rana. She now helps me when I can’t make out a word in Spanish. And Alba has learned that she is extremely intelligent. Her mom even says so.

“Arise, shine; for your light has come!
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”