THE HOGGATTEER REVOLUTION
  • Homeroom
  • Orientation
    • Class Handbook
    • Families: The Wind Beneath Our Wings
    • Meet the Teacher
    • Place in the World
    • Teachers: File Cabinet
  • Positivity
    • Earn Your Wings
    • G.R.O.S.S.
    • Insightful Poetry
    • Inspirational Prose
    • Meaningful Quotes
    • Positive Behavior Conversations
  • Exploration
    • Celebrate Good Times (Come On)
    • Cerebral Cinema >
      • Hoggatt-Made Videos
      • Mood Music
      • Music Appreciation
      • Positive Behavior Conversations
    • Coursework >
      • Cultivating America
      • Focus on Science
      • Let's Communicate
      • M4+HEM4+1C5
      • Missouri, USA
      • Recess Bell
      • Scripture Studies

Third World:  The Girl in the Blue Dress

7/23/2014

2 Comments

 
On the last day in La Concepcion, Honduras, I ventured out onto a road leading up the mountain and out of the village.  After a long, humid trek, I began smelling the worst smell I've ever smelled.  A pig farm worse than any you'll find in the United States.  And on the other side of the pigs - the dump.

Suddenly, flies swarmed everywhere - attracted to the stink - more flies than I could have imagined.  Halfway across the dump, three or four vultures, standing three feet tall, regally guarded their carrion treasures, not yielding to their new visitor - me.

More importantly, I met people along my path, some actually living in and around the dump and using discarded items in their own "houses".  These were people with the toughest lives, barely surviving amidst trash and sludge
, flies and stench.  Yes, once again, they smiled.
Picture
More importantly, I met people along my path, some actually living in and around the dump and using discarded items in their own "houses".  These were people with the toughest lives, barely surviving amidst trash and sludge, flies and stench.  Yes, once again, they smiled.

Up a slight embankment, standing outside a shack made of wood scrap, was a mostly-toothless lady in a greenish dress.  So thin was the material, it was quite translucent.  At her feet sat her infant boy, covered with flies, not even batting at them.  Six feet away was a daughter, a three- or four-year-old little girl with a dirty ribbon in her hair.

This girl in the blue dress was hard at work, washing clothes.  I watched her for around an hour as she, without rest, picked a piece of clothing from a fly-infested pile and placed it gingerly onto a large sheet of metal.  Then, standing, she struggled to lift a paint can filled with rainwater to pour a bit onto the article of clothing.  With a cylindrical bar of green-tinted soap, the girl in the blue dress rubbed lather into every pore of the material before standing with the paint can once again to rinse it, at which time she piled the now cleaned article in a new pile, sans flies.

She completed the process over and over, lifting and scrubbing and pouring and bending, without complaint.  In fact, not only did this tiny girl in the blue dress not complain, but she smiled.  She looked back over her right shoulder, and she smiled at me with the brightest smile I've ever encountered.  My heart melted, and I tell you this:  if I could have put her in my pocket and taken her home, I would have done it.

When I recall my trips to Honduras, I immediately rest my thoughts on the girl in the blue dress.  I remember how diligently she worked, without a grumble or gripe, but with a genuine smile instead. She remains an inspiration to me still today, and when I face a difficult or time-consuming task that makes me cringe and complain, her smile humbles me.  I'm not always able to smile in the face of frustration, and I'm not always patient with the direction that education has taken us in the past couple of years, but I continue to make the effort.

That day trip, walking
up the mountain and out of the village, past the wood-bearing burros and gnarly old trees, and just beyond the pig farm, inhaling flies and the reeking aromas of the dump, is one of the life-changing moments of my entire life.

Picture
2 Comments
emma watts
1/17/2015 12:07:39 pm

so sweet the little girl in the blue dress story touches me ever single time. it almost makes me cry with tears of joy.

Reply
Hannah link
11/23/2016 12:04:27 pm

This i love this story you told to the class

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Anthem

    The Hoggatteer Revolution
    is
    an extensive,
    award-winning, 
    inimitable,
    digital platform
    for Encouraging
    ​and Developing
    ​the Arts and Sciences

    in the beautiful, friendly

    LAND OF THE FREE
    AND THE HOME
    ​OF THE BRAVE
    This site is described as
    "a fantastic site... chockablock full of interesting ideas,
    hilarious ane
    cdotes,
    and useful resources."
    Picture
    Picture
    ...to like, bookmark, pin,
    ​tweet, and share

    about us...and check in regularly for updates, posted before DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT, daily!
    Picture

    Intercom

    GigSalad Member Since 2022
    Book Mr. Hoggatt Securely
    ​for Your Event
    ​at GigSalad.com.

    Picture
    Follow @DEdHoggatt

    Email Mr. Hoggatt
    Picture

    Trophy Case

    Picture
    Selected Participant for 2020-2022
    Picture
    Selected Honoree/Celebrant, 2022
    Picture
    Outstanding Achievement, 2022
    Picture
    Nominated, January 2022
    Picture
    2021 Missouri History Teacher of the Year and National History Teacher of the Year Nominee
    Picture
    Recognized in Joplin Globe, February 2021
    Picture
    Teacher Institute Participant, 2019
    Picture
    Ancestry Classroom Grant, Since 2018
    Picture
    Summer Residency Participant, 2018
    Picture
    "The Bus Stops Here" Grant, November 2018
    Picture
    Summer Residency, 2018
    Picture
    Recognized 2017
    Since 2017
    Picture
    MSTA Media Award, KOAM-TV's "Manners Matter", Featuring Our Class, May 2017
    Picture
    Third Place, 2016 Film Festival
    Picture
    Recognized 2016
    2014 Recipient
    Picture
    Slide Certified, 2012
    Picture
    2009 Outstanding Class Website
    Picture
    2005 Nominee
    Picture
    2005 Joplin Teacher of the Year and Missouri Teacher of the Year nominee
    Picture
    2004 Recipient
    Picture
    2002 Excellent Education Program
    Picture
    2001 Nominee
    Picture
    1996 Outstanding Classroom Video
    Picture
    Grant Recipient, 1993

    Picture

    Fireside Chats

    Picture
    Choose Your Platform:
    Anchor
    ​Apple Podcasts (iTunes)
    Breaker
    Google Podcasts
    ​
    Overcast
    Pocket Casts
    RadioPublic
    Spotify
    Stitcher
    Picture

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Picture

    Checks & Balances

    Links to external sites
    on the internet are for convenience only.

    No endorsement or approval of any content, products, or services is intended.

    Opinions on sites are not necessarily shared
    by Mr. Hoggatt
    (In fact, sometimes
    Mr. Hoggatt doesn't agree with anyone.)
    Picture

The Hoggatteer Revolution

H

O

P

E