Futbol Night at Adolfo's House

I spent a lot of time talking to Ryan on the phone today. He was in Danta Uno doing some work, and I was coordinating a three-way call with the manufacturer of some of our equipment (the inverter). We got everything more or less working, but then we decided to try one more experiment and... we blew up the dump load controller, again. Woops.

As a result, Ryan spent the afternoon removing it so he could take it into La Ceiba for repair (hopefully). But he lost track of time and missed the last bus back to La Ceiba! He walked out to the road and back, which is a respectable distance, especially with a blown up dump load controller in his backpack. He is staying the night with Adolfo, the operator of the Danta Uno Pulpería, a small general store.

This is Adolfo's house, and the Pulperia illuminated by our electricity in the evening. When Ryan arrived the power was on and Adolfo and his family were watching their TV. There is only one channel they can receive out there. Tonight was soccer night, and Honduras was playing El Salvador! This, in and of itself, would have been exciting enough, but then people from other houses started coming over to watch the game. (How did they know it was going to be on?) He and I have been texting all evening about it. At one point there were nine people there, including Adolfo's baby. It sounded like a lot of fun to me. Honduras won, 1-0. Gooooooaaaaaaaall!

When I think about bringing the capability to watch television to people in rural villages, I have to cringe a little. I feel like I am, potentially, opening a door to a toxic culture that could pollute or poison them, in a way. As a conscientious company, we plan to address this potential problem through some proactive teaching coordinated with the church, but I still have concerns about the materialism and sensuality that these people could be exposed to, even if only the rich can afford a television.

But tonight I heard a different story. Tonight I heard about a community coming together around their team, to enjoy some fellowship, some camaraderie, some rivalry. Tonight there was an oasis of entertainment in a life heavy on hard work and difficulty. I'm glad Ryan missed his bus.