Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
Many people believe that beauty comes from symmetry, pretty colors, patterns, fashion, height, and tone. These beliefs come from the society or culture we live in. Though different cultures and different societies have different views about beauty. According to our society, America is probably the greatest place to live because of the big houses, green lawns, beach access or a mountain view, safe neighborhoods, perfect location, and nearby luxuries. However, I will venture to say that all these great things are not what define the beauty of society. Last summer I found myself staring into the remarkable face of beauty of a different kind of society in the least likely of places. Tegucigalpa, Honduras is a place of poverty, hardship, dirt roads, unsafe neighborhoods, and wooden shacks for houses. Tegucigalpa is where I found beauty of a different kind. The three pictures I chose explains the beauty I found in Honduras.
The first picture is a picture of the normal and everyday type of houses that are found in Tegucigalpa. The picture of the houses shows the poverty that is all over Honduras. Most of the population in Tegucigalpa is under incredible hardships due to their low economy. Many people’s houses are wooden shacks that measure on average at about 12 x 12 feet. Some of the worse homes found can be made out of wood they find around the city and many put up cardboard and trash bags to keep out weather and excess sunlight. In the picture it can be seen that some home are painted bright colors. A lot of the paint the people use to paint homes are found cheap in stores or even on the street. That is why the colors are bright and not your everyday exterior house color. Most of the homes have floors that are made out of the ground they stand on. Many of the houses you can find do not have electricity and it is even more common to find houses that do not have plumbing. When getting water they must carry buckets to the nearest house that does have water or a nearby well. This could be a hard trip depending on where and how far apart the house and well are located. Water could end up being up to a mile away and this creates problems when the people have to walk that far back with a large bin or bucket of water on hard and rugged terrain. In the picture you can see clothes hanging from lines our side of the houses. This aspect is all over the city because the people do not have the luxury of dryers or washers. The water they get from the well is what they use for washing clothes. A house we went to had 4 people living in it, a mother and 3 young children on top of a hill. The house was one room the size of a small bedroom with two mattresses, a chest of drawers, and other random artifacts for the household. You can also see in the picture many power lines. These power lines are all over the city, sometimes they get in the way and definitely do not add to the physical beauty of the city. These characteristics do not show up in the description of an attractive appearance but I beg to differ. The appearance of Tegucigalpa is not eye-catching for what society would define as “eye-catching.” It is dirty and scary. However, I venture to say that Tegucigalpa could even be described as beautifully stunning.
The second picture, “City Lights,” is a picture I took one night on the top floor of a church. The picture does not in any way capture the magnificence of the city that night and every night I was there. In the picture you can see and pick out every light in the city. Complete darkness would have surrounded the city and any person while each light was perfectly visible and shining incredibly bright. However, in the picture you can see how the lights light up the streets for people so that people are able to walk around. There is not really any blob, diminish, or blur of light. Each bulb shines individually and beautifully. There are a variety of lights from large to small, different intensities, different colors, and at different heights in the sky. This picture is the pure definition of beauty. Each light defeated the darkness and shines through making it look like it takes no effort at all. I believe this picture defines the many of the people in Honduras. The lights are the ones who are helpful, kind, considerate, passionate, and loving. These words describe many people we came across during our trip. The picture does not just show the beauty of light in a dark place but also the love of people in the most unlikely of places. That is true beauty.
The third picture shows the beauty of the people in Honduras. Almost every single person we came across in Honduras was more than willing to help us with whatever work we were doing. Their work was also of very high quality; they did not do things half way but always completed a job to make what they were working on better than how it started. The picture defines the willingness of the Hondurans that we experienced everyday. It did not matter what age or gender the person was, many people who walked by our mission site would stop and help us carry buckets or mix concrete. We suited up for working with the chemicals in concrete that could burn our skin everyday, as you can see from the picture with long pants, gloves, close-toed shoes, and old clothes. Although, the Hondurans would come help us in their everyday clothes without gloves and with whatever shoes they were wearing. It did not matter what the person was wearing or if they were prepared to work they would stop and help us. In this picture there are two boys under the age of ten who were more than willing to help us in mixing and transporting concrete. They jumped right in when they knew what we were working. The amount these two boys worked was more than I have ever seen any little boy work. Every other Honduran who helped us put in so much effort to help us without even being asked to do so. It can be read by the picture that the boys did not care about their clothes. They were just having fun helping us out and even competing against each other in who could get more concrete in the bucket.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras is not beautiful in the stereotypical sense of the word. It does not have the infallible aspect that the world believes every great place has. It does not have an amazing beach or the greatest of luxuries. Tegucigalpa, Honduras is beautiful in its own way. It gains its beauty from the people that live there. The people are so willing to do work that is of high quality and not for the purpose of money but just for the pure purpose of helping those around them that they may love or just someone that could use some help. The people may not have the luxuries that we get to experience here in America but I would take their life over mine just because of the life they give themselves. They truly care about each other, are together because they love each other, and there is not always a reason for their kindness. An irrational kindness what the world needs. My three pictures pull together the society of Honduras. They are so loving even though they live in such extreme hardship; they shine bright and light up the darkness that is around them. That is honorable.
Pictures were taken by myself and my friend Kasey Betts.
