Face to Face Stories: The Famous Doña Manuela

When I met Doña Manuela, I didn’t know she was famous. I didn’t know that everyone in (and around) Gracias has grown up craving her delicious bread, made in the huge, white, adobe oven that squats outside her humble home in a village outside of town. After I spent a day in the kitchen with the Doña and began to share my experience, it quickly became clear that she is a household name. Countless people have shared memories of her mouthwatering empanadas or rich tortas.

The reason I arrived at the home of the Doña was not on a quest for the perfect bread, but to share bags of crisis provisions with her family. Her grandchildren live in the home and are beneficiaries of the Manna 4 Lempira program. Early in the pandemic, I had been contacted by the oldest grandchild. There was no food in their home. If Doña Manuela is a locally revered artisan of bread, how did the situation for her family become so needy so fast?

Before COVID-19, her custom had been to bring her famous breads to town for purchase by her shockingly extensive clientele. Now, with a restriction on vulnerable people over 60 leaving their homes as a safeguard against the virus, Doña Manuela can not leave her village to sell. Her son, who typically supplements the income in the home as a taxi driver, is also unable to work due to government restrictions on transportation.

The situation of Doña Manuela and her family during this crisis sheds light on the delicate balance of survival here in Honduras. When conditions are normal, life is hard. It requires a daily commitment to hard work—days spent in the backbreaking labor of kneading breads and baking it in the scorching oven, and then transporting it to town and carrying it through the market to earn a modest income. Most of this income is reinvested in the business and used to feed the family, and not much is left for savings. Barring sickness or disaster, a living is possible—but it is a day to day living. Any disruption in the daily routine is devastating and quickly leads to desperation

Providing crisis relief is crucial in this time as a way of carrying hard-working families through until they are able to resume their normal activities. Doña Manuela and her family will, God willing, arrive on the other side of this pandemic to continue blessing the residents of Gracias with her delicious creations—thanks to the generosity of donors who have provided emergency food provisions for families like hers.

 - posted by Kim Hall