"Our employees around the world" – Honduras – dr inż. Dariusz Witkowski

Due to the opportunities which program Erasmus+ provides, I’ve decided to visit PŁ’s partner university: National University of Honduras (UNAH). An agreement between the two parties, no. 2020-1-PL01-KA107-080318, 1/STA/2020-2022, allowed the employee of PŁ to teach students at this foreign university.

The lessons that I’ve conducted had students from a variety of faculties, assigned to 4 interdisciplinary groups. In my course, I’ve used Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Design Thinking teaching methods.

The main issue, I’ve decided to center my course around, was the shortage of water in Honduras. The students were supposed to invent practical solutions for this problem.

Currently, over one million of people in that country must face constant interruptions to their water supply and many streets have a weekly schedule of water deliveries, forcing many families to manage without water even for as long as the entire days, and even in the areas as central to the country as its capital city – Tegucigalpie. At the end of our cooperative work, we have formed four potential solutions, which have been described in reports and in-person presentations.

After my return to Poland, I have often been asked the question, what was the most surprising to me in Honduras. My answer? Everything. I’ve been surprised by my student’s dedication for my course, by the statement my students made just after the first day of lectures: that they didn’t want to just listen, they wanted to actively participate and act. They’ve wanted to join many groups, to work towards finishing the project and to compare different solutions. Another thing which surprised me was the hospitality of Hondurans, their willingness to help, joyfulness and optimism. You could’ve heard “Buenos Dias” everywhere you’ve walked.

Besides my work at the university, in my free time I’ve tried to learn as much as I could about the local culture, customs, landmarks, wildlife and especially, cuisine. I’ve expected to find food completely different from the Polish one, but I didn’t expect for it to contain so many bananas. They were added to practically everything, to a soup (which also had a taste much different from what you’d had expected from a “banana soup”), as a baked, fried or dried dish, and even as a quick snack. What is more, the taste of a banana itself was different (and better) there, compared to the one are familiar with in Poland.

Some more things that really caught my attention were the beautiful toucans and parrots that sometimes even stole your food from the table; a majestic, breath-taking jaguar and stunning, hypnotizing view of the Ocean, Nicaragua and Salvador from the Amapala Island.

But the best of all were the still active and fuming volcano San Miguel in Salvador, and the ancient temple of Maya in Copan Ruinas, with the stone steps still intact from the times when “Eighteen Rabbits” or “Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil” walked there, one of the most famous Maya rulers from 2000 years ago.

I’ve also managed to see the wonderful underwater ecosystem below the Caribbean Sea, where the second biggest coral reef resides, and take a ride in Tuk Tuk, a reliable but quite hair-raising mean of transport.

I’ve really enjoyed my delegation to Honduras, mostly because I’ve managed to successfully incorporate innovative teaching methods into the course and I’ve received a written agreement from the President of UNAH which allows further students and employees exchange programs, which I wholeheartedly recommend.