Marleny

When José and I first visited the Danlí trash dump community in July 2021, we had no idea what we would find or how we could help. On the last day of that trip, we met Marleny, who introduced herself as the community president. At the time, we weren’t sure what she presided over, but meeting her proved to be a Providential moment.

We met her during a community strike; residents had closed the entrance to the dump in protest of how the city was handling waste disposal. Marleny was clearly a strong leader who could mobilize the community. Her voice carries weight among the residents, and she’s been instrumental in coordinating local efforts. She organized the community to dig the footers for the new classroom and coordinated all the various workers needed to complete its construction. When issues with the city government arise, Marleny is the one who advocates on behalf of the community.

We later learned she also serves as the president of the school. We’ve entrusted her with thousands of dollars for community projects, and she has consistently managed the funds responsibly. Trustworthy allies in Honduras can be difficult to find, but Marleny has proven herself time and again. We pray together weekly and discuss ongoing projects and issues within the community. Without her, José and I would be at a significant disadvantage in supporting this community.

Here is a bit of her story:     Hi my name is Marleny Maribel Alonzo and my story is like this:

I was born near the Danli trash dump, when I was young my family moved into Danli.  I have 9 siblings.  Growing up I loved playing basketball in the park.  When I was 12 years old I started working in the cigar factory in town.  I was married at 15 years old, this was difficult as we moved to another community and I was separated from my parents and siblings.

In 1998 Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras and I lost my house and all my belongings.  We then moved to the trash dump community where I lived with my parents.  I lived in a little room in their house.  It was hard for me because it was a long walk to town, there was no electricity, there was no drinking water, there was only one public well where the whole community came with the donkeys to get water.

That’s where my work as a leader began. I set a goal for the children to have a school in the community where they could come to learn.  The school was achieved with the management of other people including the parents in the community, the Honduran Social Education Fund and the Rotary International.  It took three years for the school to be built, it was completed in 2004. 

After the school was completed and classes started, we fought for a water project.  This project was a real one, because another community didn’t want our community to have water. But there was an engineer who said that if our community did not get water none of the communities would get water. I became the leader for this project, but this work was very difficult. We now have a water project with 5 communities surrounding the trash dump.  However, each community gets water only 1 day a week.  This project has much conflict and fighting even today.

I am a very strong leader only I remain in front and the others who helped no longer work because of the criticism of other people. In the future I would like to have some work at home and continue to work for my community. Along with my husband I have four sons and four granddaughters. (As a note they are the only one of two couples in a community of 150 families that are legally married and living together)

I have learned from Jesus that He was criticized, crucified and never gave up I have asked my humble Father for patience to work for my community. I would like to continue telling my story but it is very long, this is a bit of what I done.