Honduras - A Collective Effort to Help

Rotary Club and Other Organizations

One Rotary Club, the Morning Time Westlake Rotary Club comes in each year to help kids who are born with crooked feet and help them so they can walk. Rotarians have put forth a huge effort to helping the children of Honduras who are in desperate need, as Hondurans do a lot of walking in their daily lives, without foot power an individual is literally powerless. The Rotary Club has a big presence in Honduras and draws support from the entire Western Hemisphere.

MISSIONS TRIPS AFRICA

Several other groups including Engineers without Borders have come into Honduras to help build infrastructure and are planning to build projects such as sewer treatment facilities, schools and bridges. There are some issues to deal with in getting help into these countries for engineers. One volunteer tells of a discussion with a group from Engineers without Borders;

"I have met on the plane a group who was going to build churches in Guatemala. The man was telling me they had a lot of trouble going through customs and security with their power drills and saws, etc."

There are also Veterinary Teams who come for special missions to tend to the animals in rural Honduras, as the family animals provide milk, eggs, food and animal power is needed, as most are too poor to afford cars, trucks or tractors and there is often no place to get fuel or parts even if they did have those things. Many more vets are needed for those very important missions.

What kinds of animals do they have in rural Honduras? Just about every kind you can think of actually. For instance one Veterinary Team from Texas has had huge success and since they have been coming around many report that their animal losses are almost nil due to the great care. They tend to over 4600 cattle and various other animals such as; oxen, horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, pigs, goats, sheep, assorted birds, and an occasional coatimundi.

UNICEF and US AID

UNICEF, a part of the United Nations has been instrumental in assisting on getting aid monies in and seeing that the money goes towards helping poor kids. One of the biggest issues is that the children are often malnourished because the families cannot afford to get the food they need. UNICEF has been active in Central America with the primary focus on helping children. It appears that UNICEF is working to secure funding for assistance in Honduras to help children there; http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/honduras.html

Thankfully USAID has put forth a herculean effort in Honduras and it is making a big difference in the quality of life there. One major component USAID is working on is strengthening the rule of law to prevent crime and insure accountability and transparency in government affairs. Over the last 40 years USAID has provided 2 Billion Dollars in economic assistance in Honduras. The many objectives of USAID to support Honduras have been clear.

USAID has worked to help Honduras diversify its agricultural production and expand exports to help its economy and provide jobs. USAID also has initiatives to help small business enterprises through micro-loans. USAID is concerned with the sanitary conditions and has made it an objective to increase access to health services. One important focus has been vocational training and education to help break the cycle of poverty in Honduras. USAID is very concerned with assisting Hondurans in having a democratic government.

USAID has also listed objectives such as maintaining a sustainable environment and improving food security. USAID along with 16 other donor nations provided assistance after the devastation caused from Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Their latest plan which extends thru 2008 has strong stated objectives to assisting Honduras and her people towards a better standard of living and on-going economic vitality.

Religious Organizations

Many believe that the brunt of the assistance to the rural poor in Honduras comes from religious organizations and their self-less acts of kindness, although there are some non-religious groups who are pretty spectacular in their own right. One religious affiliated medical mission group volunteer stated that;

"Often, people admit that they like us so much that they will walk to the other clinic planned for the next day and bring their father or nieces. Most people we saw are convinced Catholics, as is our group."

Still with all these other groups helping there are philanthropists that take it upon themselves to put together other organizations to help where additional help is needed, often filling in the gaps. The efforts in Honduras are addressing the challenges and making a difference. In fact more and more groups are working together to get better coverage and prevent duplication of efforts and this is helping tremendously.

There is a little bit of friendly rivalry between some organizations to see which group can help the most people. Perhaps a little bit of team spirit amongst the volunteers is good. The goal of course is helping the rural poor in Honduras and their children with what they need to survive and improve their quality of living and education and help them help them selves. This will break the cycle of poverty.

By having many groups with diverse focuses and niches using the expertise and talent in their groups the quality of help being provided in Honduras is astounding. It is amazing listening to all the genuine folks who really care and how much they are accomplishing. Even more incredible is the progress being made one patient at a time, one village at a time and one child at a time. If you find yourself with enough time on your hands to make the trip as a volunteer to Honduras you will be glad you did. If you have a few extra dollars to donate, I cannot think of a better cause.

Honduras - A Collective Effort to Help

MISSIONS TRIPS AFRICA