A week after returning home from Honduras, I am temporarily calling it quits on the blogging front. I say temporarily because I will be back. If I have learned anything about myself over the two weeks that I have been purging my heart and mind in such a public fashion, it is that I care too much to let this most recent adventure become the memory entitled "2010 Spring Break Trip." I care too much about the people of ASJ to close the book on a message that continues to write itself on the page. I will return to Honduras, and I will continue to do justice by ASJ's work through revealing the incredible ways by which they are doing justice in Honduras. I do not expect you to stay in your swivel chairs waiting for the next blog post to appear, as I know mi cuate Abe will most likely send all of you un aviso when I decide to write some more. Hehe. In addition, I hope you have already found a way out of your stationary spot and into the current that is the justice movement. But if not, at least point your browser to www.ajs-us.org or www.transformemoshonduras.com to find out how you can become engaged in the powerful, life-affirming, redemptive work of social justice.
Speaking of that work, allow me to share with you a few of my final thoughts and reflections on la Asociacion para una Sociedad mas justa:
1. Small focus, big results:
It is true that ASJ is solely focused on the situation in Honduras, but I hope you have seen just how miserable that situation is and how much work is required just to solve even a small portion of that gigantic problem. But like a skilled and patient mathematician solves a complex math problem, the individuals who make up ASJ are steadily making progress and continually advancing. They know there is no going back (despite the threats, despite the false accusations, despite the constant suffering of the people they support), so they are all committed to moving forward. I think about the strides the organization has already made--laws passed, court cases won, titles secured, crime rates decreased, and I am amazed at what a seemingly small operation is capable of. Like I have said countless times in my colloquial way, these people are for real. ASJ is a force to be reckoned with.
2. Mission accomplished:
ASJ's mission (and all of the people working in the office with me last week can recite it not only from memory but also from believing in it) is to be a group of brave Christian leaders who make the system of government work and bring justice to the most vulnerable populations in Honduras. Time and time again I witnessed this mission carried out in each and every one of the ASJ projects. Through a project like Peace and Justice/Rescate, you can see justice brought to an innocent child who was sexually abused by a security guard at her school, and through a project like Land Rights you can see laws being proposed AND passed to ensure that even individuals without representation have a way of taking ownership of hearth and home. By teaching pre-teens the value of honesty, you are impacting the individual, but by training dozens of able-bodied young men to fix automobiles, you are ultimately ensuring that your community replaces destructive, misguided youth with productive, proud members of society. I don't think I have to explain the brave Christan leaders portion of the mission...
3. Intentional & purposeful:
ASJ starts and ends an initiative with the end in mind. They see a need, and they approach it with as much precision and purpose as they can. Think about Peace & Justice: the violent offenders are taken off the street while trained youth are cleaning up the streets. Or how about Revistazo.com: the Labor Rights team investigates a story and feeds the information to the Revistazo.com team to ensure that the world knows what is going on.
4. Unique:
Aside from perhaps Jesus, ASJ is not following in anyone's footsteps; this organization is paving the way for countless other organizations and individuals to do justice in Honduras and all over the world for that matter. Sure, they align themselves with other organizations and follow the example of others who do similarly beneficial work, but ASJ is a unique body with a unique vision and a unique approach.
5. The perfect alarm clock:
In the United States we realize that our interests must be served by those who choose to represent us. If we feel that this is not being done appropriately, we express our discontent via the voting booth, petition drives, or even movements (think Tea Party). Sadly, these same feelings of ownership and power are not embedded in Honduran society, resulting in a devastating amount of apathy on the part of the people who are more than willing to tell you over their lunch break that they are not happy but who wouldn't a. be able to give you specific justifications for their anger or b. be willing to express their frustration via action. Enter ASJ and the Transformemos Honduras movement, two extremely obnoxious despertadores (alarm clocks) that want only to get the groaning people out of bed so that they will act on their own behalf. This for me is how justice can truly flourish; in Freire-fashion, ASJ is making the people truly conscious of their situation so that they will in turn demand justice for themselves (instead of expecting 50 individuals to do it for them).
Like I said, volvere. In the meantime, WAKE UP!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Transformemos Honduras
This is the final blog post that describes my observations of and reflections about a particular ASJ project. After I complete this penultimate posting, I will share my final pensamientos (thoughts) on my most recent trip to Honduras. But the thinking and the sharing doesn't stop there....
Transformemos Honduras is the newest ASJ venture, asi que (so) I have decided to talk about it last. I will do my best to talk about it as a project that is not exclusively ASJ's doing (as it isn't), but just in case I mess up and give ASJ all the glory, here is the official description of the movement: "Transformemos Honduras (Spanish for "Let's Transform Honduras") is an ecumenical Christian movement spearheaded by AJS-supported justice workers in Honduras, that, in the wake of Honduras' divisive 2009 political crisis, seeks to unite Hondurans and friends of Honduras worldwide around a proposal for Honduras' new administration to enact 15 important changes in the areas of Employment, Health, Education, Corruption, and Crime." Ecumenical it is, as the movement has received the support of organizations and entities like "World Vision, Care, Save the Children, Project Global Village, the UNDP, USAID, the World Bank, many of Honduras' most influential Catholic and Evangelical leaders, hundreds of congregations, and thousands of individuals." This is a whopper of a project that hopes to have a whopper of an impact.
As Abe wanted me to hear the majority of the information about Transformemos from the people spearheading and organizing the initiative, he only fed me a teaser amount of detail. He described the movement as a response to the chaotic political situation in Honduras and as a wake-up call to the reality that the political structure in the country is corrupt. He mentioned the movement's platform and how the leaders of the movement would like to express their desires directly to the president so that he in turn begins to enact the changes they want to see in the country's infrastructure. One such change involves a group of individuals who are near and dear to my heart: profesores (teachers). I say that because I belong to such a group, although hearing what I have about the educational system in Honduras, I did not feel entirely comfortable declaring my profession at any point during my visit. Upon hearing "corruption" and "teachers" in the same sentence, I immediately thought back to my first visit to Honduras when I was told about the frequency of huelgas (strikes) by the nation's teachers. I recall thinking that conditions must be pretty bad for the teachers in Honduras if they are taking so many days off work to protest. And then I came back and heard about these "horrible conditions" that teachers must endure (hint hint: quotations are used to express sarcasm in this case). According to Abe (and also from Kurt VerBeek, who gave me the back story on the teachers' situation), the teachers made a deal with a former president through which they would support him and his policies if he provided the compensation and benefits they wanted...permanently. I knew educators were influential, but this influential?!?!? Kurt informed me that the teachers of Honduras represent a humongous uniform voting bloc that cannot be stopped. If they aren't happy, you can bet that your children are a. going to hate their first day of school or b. not going to see their first day of school for a while. So these "deplorable conditions" that teachers face are nonexistent. They are (and I am sure there are some who are honest and righteous, so I will not include every single maestro in this claim) a greedy bunch of government employees who want to be treated like royalty because they know how much power they have. Abe shared (and the rest of the Transformemos Honduras crew expounded on) several of the issues that the movement is bringing to light that involve teachers: 1. During the coup, teachers were instructed to protest all day, every day, which means that students all over the country did not go to school. Ultimately, when students rushed out of the school buildings singing Alice Cooper (in Spanish, obviously) at the end of the year, they had gone to school less than half the required academic year. What's worse is that they were allowed to advance to the next grade!!! 2. Some teachers are being paid extra for benefits that only exist for certain jobs or conditions. For example, a teacher is given additional pay for teaching in a rural area of the country, but it appears that certain instructors who are working in the city are receiving the added sum in their paychecks. As he was eager to move me on to my next gig, Abe wrapped up his presentation on Transformemos Honduras by talking about the signature drive. The members of the movement would like to get 1 million signatures from Hondurans pledging support for the changes that the movement is proposing, and although the movement only has around 300,000, it is still pushing hard for those final firmas. I brought up that it is going to be especially hard to recruit support now that the political storm has died down, but Abe (and the rest of the ASJ staff) was semi-confident that the support exists. As Chet of Project Global Village put it during our meeting that I blogged about earlier, the issue is apathy.
Apatia. How do we solve a problem like apatia? According to Blanca--an ASJ employee who serves as the liaison of sorts for Transformemos Honduras, it is delivering the message to la gente (the people) that something is wrong--a strategy that the movement seems to be putting to good use. Blanca and one of her colleagues spent a good deal of time with me on Thursday talking about Transformemos Honduras ("TH" from now on; I am getting tired of typing it every single time), which was conveniently the time period after which I had spoken with Chet Thomas (remember that depressing exchange? ech.). The two women spoke at length about the goals of the movement, the methods of the movement, and the current progress of the movement. Speaking quickly of progress, one of the things I was hoping to witness while I was in Honduras was the press release during which members of TN were going to announce the situation involving the teachers; alas, the event was rescheduled for the following Thursday, but it appears that the video footage of that press release has not been uploaded to the site just yet.
As Abe and others had informed me already, Blanca put the commencement of TN at the time of the coup. Some--los golpistas--were supporting the coup, others--la resistencia--were supporting the former president, and even others were realizing that the real problems of the day were being overshadowed by the political circus. This third group--of which ASJ was a member--met during the tumultuous period to discuss the problems unrelated to the specific political situation--the problems that truly needed to be solved. Focusing on issues such as education, health, security, the justice system, and the economy, NGOs and individuals alike began to envision an initiative to unite the people against their destructive apathy and against the catastrophic corruption of those in power. Behind the motto "Orar, Soñar, Trabajar" (Pray, Dream, Work), TH developed a plan of action to educate, empower, and activate the people of Honduras and hold the government more accountable. In the areas of health, education, jobs & economy, government transparency, and security & justice, TH vowed to monitor the progress made by the authorities and unite the people of Honduras to play their part in demanding more from their government. And what should the people of Honduras demand, you ask? With 68% of the Honduran population living in poverty, how about better investments and additional job creation? With Honduras sitting in 130th place in the ranking system of corrupt systems of government, how about more accountability (cough how about using subsidies for their predestined projects? cough)? With Honduras' infant mortality rate at such an astronomical level that the country is almost ranked dead last in Central America, how about increased health services for mothers and their newborn children? With the average Honduran completing only 4.8 years of their education and students currently in the system only going to school for 80 out of 200 days of the year, why don't Hondurans demand better teachers? More accountability, maybe? Perhaps Sr. Romero needs to be slapped with a ruler... Perhaps los profesores need to be writing lines... "I will not deprive my students of another day of school. I will not contribute to my country's demise."
How do you solve a problem like apatia? You tell the people what their apathy is contributing to. You tell the people that the politicians who are supposed to be representing them are deliberately abusing their power. You tell the people that their children are not going to surpass them in intelligence because they aren't going to school today.
Transformemos Honduras is trying to wake up the people of Honduras at a time when the proverbial dogs and roosters are making more noise than they ever have. If only the sleeping pill would wear off...
Transformemos Honduras is the newest ASJ venture, asi que (so) I have decided to talk about it last. I will do my best to talk about it as a project that is not exclusively ASJ's doing (as it isn't), but just in case I mess up and give ASJ all the glory, here is the official description of the movement: "Transformemos Honduras (Spanish for "Let's Transform Honduras") is an ecumenical Christian movement spearheaded by AJS-supported justice workers in Honduras, that, in the wake of Honduras' divisive 2009 political crisis, seeks to unite Hondurans and friends of Honduras worldwide around a proposal for Honduras' new administration to enact 15 important changes in the areas of Employment, Health, Education, Corruption, and Crime." Ecumenical it is, as the movement has received the support of organizations and entities like "World Vision, Care, Save the Children, Project Global Village, the UNDP, USAID, the World Bank, many of Honduras' most influential Catholic and Evangelical leaders, hundreds of congregations, and thousands of individuals." This is a whopper of a project that hopes to have a whopper of an impact.
As Abe wanted me to hear the majority of the information about Transformemos from the people spearheading and organizing the initiative, he only fed me a teaser amount of detail. He described the movement as a response to the chaotic political situation in Honduras and as a wake-up call to the reality that the political structure in the country is corrupt. He mentioned the movement's platform and how the leaders of the movement would like to express their desires directly to the president so that he in turn begins to enact the changes they want to see in the country's infrastructure. One such change involves a group of individuals who are near and dear to my heart: profesores (teachers). I say that because I belong to such a group, although hearing what I have about the educational system in Honduras, I did not feel entirely comfortable declaring my profession at any point during my visit. Upon hearing "corruption" and "teachers" in the same sentence, I immediately thought back to my first visit to Honduras when I was told about the frequency of huelgas (strikes) by the nation's teachers. I recall thinking that conditions must be pretty bad for the teachers in Honduras if they are taking so many days off work to protest. And then I came back and heard about these "horrible conditions" that teachers must endure (hint hint: quotations are used to express sarcasm in this case). According to Abe (and also from Kurt VerBeek, who gave me the back story on the teachers' situation), the teachers made a deal with a former president through which they would support him and his policies if he provided the compensation and benefits they wanted...permanently. I knew educators were influential, but this influential?!?!? Kurt informed me that the teachers of Honduras represent a humongous uniform voting bloc that cannot be stopped. If they aren't happy, you can bet that your children are a. going to hate their first day of school or b. not going to see their first day of school for a while. So these "deplorable conditions" that teachers face are nonexistent. They are (and I am sure there are some who are honest and righteous, so I will not include every single maestro in this claim) a greedy bunch of government employees who want to be treated like royalty because they know how much power they have. Abe shared (and the rest of the Transformemos Honduras crew expounded on) several of the issues that the movement is bringing to light that involve teachers: 1. During the coup, teachers were instructed to protest all day, every day, which means that students all over the country did not go to school. Ultimately, when students rushed out of the school buildings singing Alice Cooper (in Spanish, obviously) at the end of the year, they had gone to school less than half the required academic year. What's worse is that they were allowed to advance to the next grade!!! 2. Some teachers are being paid extra for benefits that only exist for certain jobs or conditions. For example, a teacher is given additional pay for teaching in a rural area of the country, but it appears that certain instructors who are working in the city are receiving the added sum in their paychecks. As he was eager to move me on to my next gig, Abe wrapped up his presentation on Transformemos Honduras by talking about the signature drive. The members of the movement would like to get 1 million signatures from Hondurans pledging support for the changes that the movement is proposing, and although the movement only has around 300,000, it is still pushing hard for those final firmas. I brought up that it is going to be especially hard to recruit support now that the political storm has died down, but Abe (and the rest of the ASJ staff) was semi-confident that the support exists. As Chet of Project Global Village put it during our meeting that I blogged about earlier, the issue is apathy.
Apatia. How do we solve a problem like apatia? According to Blanca--an ASJ employee who serves as the liaison of sorts for Transformemos Honduras, it is delivering the message to la gente (the people) that something is wrong--a strategy that the movement seems to be putting to good use. Blanca and one of her colleagues spent a good deal of time with me on Thursday talking about Transformemos Honduras ("TH" from now on; I am getting tired of typing it every single time), which was conveniently the time period after which I had spoken with Chet Thomas (remember that depressing exchange? ech.). The two women spoke at length about the goals of the movement, the methods of the movement, and the current progress of the movement. Speaking quickly of progress, one of the things I was hoping to witness while I was in Honduras was the press release during which members of TN were going to announce the situation involving the teachers; alas, the event was rescheduled for the following Thursday, but it appears that the video footage of that press release has not been uploaded to the site just yet.
As Abe and others had informed me already, Blanca put the commencement of TN at the time of the coup. Some--los golpistas--were supporting the coup, others--la resistencia--were supporting the former president, and even others were realizing that the real problems of the day were being overshadowed by the political circus. This third group--of which ASJ was a member--met during the tumultuous period to discuss the problems unrelated to the specific political situation--the problems that truly needed to be solved. Focusing on issues such as education, health, security, the justice system, and the economy, NGOs and individuals alike began to envision an initiative to unite the people against their destructive apathy and against the catastrophic corruption of those in power. Behind the motto "Orar, Soñar, Trabajar" (Pray, Dream, Work), TH developed a plan of action to educate, empower, and activate the people of Honduras and hold the government more accountable. In the areas of health, education, jobs & economy, government transparency, and security & justice, TH vowed to monitor the progress made by the authorities and unite the people of Honduras to play their part in demanding more from their government. And what should the people of Honduras demand, you ask? With 68% of the Honduran population living in poverty, how about better investments and additional job creation? With Honduras sitting in 130th place in the ranking system of corrupt systems of government, how about more accountability (cough how about using subsidies for their predestined projects? cough)? With Honduras' infant mortality rate at such an astronomical level that the country is almost ranked dead last in Central America, how about increased health services for mothers and their newborn children? With the average Honduran completing only 4.8 years of their education and students currently in the system only going to school for 80 out of 200 days of the year, why don't Hondurans demand better teachers? More accountability, maybe? Perhaps Sr. Romero needs to be slapped with a ruler... Perhaps los profesores need to be writing lines... "I will not deprive my students of another day of school. I will not contribute to my country's demise."
How do you solve a problem like apatia? You tell the people what their apathy is contributing to. You tell the people that the politicians who are supposed to be representing them are deliberately abusing their power. You tell the people that their children are not going to surpass them in intelligence because they aren't going to school today.
Transformemos Honduras is trying to wake up the people of Honduras at a time when the proverbial dogs and roosters are making more noise than they ever have. If only the sleeping pill would wear off...
Motonetas y maratones
First, I have to mention that upon dismounting my scooter I began to think about how lucky I am to be riding it on flat, paved roads. My mind went back to the roads of Tegucigalpa where I witnessed tons of people attempt to navigate over and through the disassembled and distressed calles on two ruedas (wheels). Coincidentally, it was my initial scooter ride around the Honduran island of Roatan and my constant exposure to two-wheeled vehicles in Teguc that evoked my interest in purchasing my own in the States. Motoneta madness...
Second, I just finished reading the Facebook news feed for the "Transformemos Honduras" group (the project I am going to blog about next!) and noticed that there was a "maraton" (marathon) in Teguc this past week to raise awareness for sexual abuse prevention. I investigated further and found out that Abe--my fearless guia--was one of the winners of the race! Felicidades Abe! As proud as I am of my nuevo amigo, I am also confused. I recall a conversation we had the last night I was in Honduras that consisted of Dennis and Abe complaining (unnecessarily, in my opinion...) about their physical fitness. It was Abe himself that said he needed to get back in shape, yet it was also Sr. Huyser-Honig who placed in the top three spots in a running event. Hmm...expliqueme alguien!
Second, I just finished reading the Facebook news feed for the "Transformemos Honduras" group (the project I am going to blog about next!) and noticed that there was a "maraton" (marathon) in Teguc this past week to raise awareness for sexual abuse prevention. I investigated further and found out that Abe--my fearless guia--was one of the winners of the race! Felicidades Abe! As proud as I am of my nuevo amigo, I am also confused. I recall a conversation we had the last night I was in Honduras that consisted of Dennis and Abe complaining (unnecessarily, in my opinion...) about their physical fitness. It was Abe himself that said he needed to get back in shape, yet it was also Sr. Huyser-Honig who placed in the top three spots in a running event. Hmm...expliqueme alguien!
Land Rights
Por fin es el fin...de semana, that is. With about 4 cups of coffee in my estomago and only dos more projects to write about, I think I am going to finish up by the end of the day today. A ver.
The project that I am going to discuss in this posting is "derechos de la propiedad" (land rights). Unfortunately, I am not the best person to explain the ins and afueras of this project due to the limited understanding that I have about how it (and the issue of land rights in general) works. And no, it isn't because I was hearing about the project in a different language. Property rights is something that I have a hard time understanding because of its very nature. It isn't people-centered; it is steeped in complex legal jargon; and it is inherently complex and unclear at times. Even so, I am going to give it my mejor.
The ASJ staff who work with the property rights project seek to fight for just implementation of the law by a. educating leaders and residents of poor communities undergoing the titling process about their rights and responsibilities, thus ensuring they will not be tricked, b. making regular visits to Property Institute officials and others involved in land titling to make sure they do their jobs properly, c. taking legal action to prevent abuses of the law, and d. publishing journalistic investigations related to property regularization and titling and attempts to bend the system. Like I said, some complex stuff!
Otra vez, we start with the conversation I had with Abe (said "ah-bay" by his biggest fanes). He began by explaining the need for the project. Essentially, in the United States the government (at all levels) has kept pretty extensive property records. Most of these records have been converted into a digital format to ensure that they are accessible to whoever wants to access them, and it is very rare that property disputes reach a level of conflict where an organization similar to ASJ has to step in. However, this is not the case in Honduras. Sufficient records have not been kept in the country of who officially owns which property; digitilization of property records is a pipe dream; and conflicts occur very frequently over who owns what. Moreover, unlike the United States, some of the country in the past few decades has remained seemingly "unclaimed," prompting "invaders" to begin new settlements without actually knowing who it belongs to. According to Abe, these invasions are the start of a community (i.e. Nueva Suyapa--the community that I stayed in during my visit). Years later, after the community has been given time to develop and attract additional "invaders," individuals with "documentos" (you will see later on why I put this word in quotes) come by and claim to be the true owners of the land, thus making them the landlords. Like you apartment-dwellers out there are probably used to, the landlord tells the tenants--those now living in "his" land--that they are going to pay him to live there...or else (dun dun dun). Now this might sound pretty legit to all of you at this point, but what happens when 4, 5, or even 6 people claim to own the land? Now Jorge is confused about who exactly he is going to pay in order to keep his house and land; is it Miguel, Rogelio, El Guapo, etc.? This is typically where conflict occurs and where ASJ's services are required. Following a very fixed and specific legal process, ASJ helps Jorge find out exactly who owns the land and secure a title for the land if it is found that none of the suspected landlords are indeed the lords of the land. ASJ is not the only player in this game, though. The government plays a part; the opposing lawyers take the field (that's a lot of lawyers if half a dozen (or mas!) individuals are laying claim to the land); and even Jorge's neighbors are invited to the hoedown since they have a vested interest in what is going on.
The other tidbit of information that Abe provided about the Land Rights project related to an important piece of legislation that was passed by the government as a result of ASJ's diligent work. Not too long after ASJ started working on property rights, the government passed an expansive land law that set forth guidelines for proving ownership of property. When I mentioned in the previous paragraph the specific process that is carried out to investigate ownership claims and secure titles for individuals living on a certain property, this is the law that created such a process. Think about how hard it would be to secure a title to your land without that document! As Gilda, ASJ's lead land rights lawyer, explained to me, it was and would continue to be nearly impossible!
On my last day at ASJ (last week Friday), I sat down with Gilda--the woman Abe claimed knew more about property rights than anyone in the country--to discuss her view of ASJ's work, and I accompanied Gilda and one of her colleagues on a site visit to one of the communities where ASJ is attempting to intervene in property disputes. It must be conveyed at the comienzo of this portion of the posting that Gilda was the closest thing to a Honduran Superwoman that I have ever met. That is, if Superwoman knew the law inside and out (two hours after the discussion/lecture started, she was done warming up)...
Gilda began with a history of the project, explaining that it had started in the neighborhood Flor de campo (Remember my Gideon Center posting? Same post. It seems that corruption is drawn to the aromatic scent of this flower...) when a wealthy land owner (who also happens to be a poet) claimed to own the land that many people had settled in. In addition to being a crummy landlord, he had been able to convince a judge to put an embargo on titles to the inhabitants so that he could exclusively sell them the land (all the while not having official claim to the land he was selling). The question eventually arose: was this man in charge of the land, or did the city originally own it? ASJ decided to find the answer to this question (curious gatos, these justice workers), and the investigation yielded the result that only a tiny part of the property was legally owned by the individual in question. Thus, the majority of the residents of Flor de campo could lay claim to the land by paying the municipality for it and securing a title. The most intriguing part of this story for me was that this same conclusion had apparently been reached 10 years prior to this investigation, but because of government bureaucracy and poor record-keeping, the information had not been shared with the interested parties. Gilda informed me in so many words that it would have been nice not to have to deal with the aforementioned landowner for as long as ASJ had to, but she also finished the comment with the line, "But we have to remember where we are working."
Moving forward in history, Gilda talked about the passage of the land law, which was based on a proposition that ASJ had submitted in the early 2000s. The ideas that ASJ proposed were simply tweaked and expanded to encompass a grand piece of legislation that ultimately allowed the organization to hit the ground running on hundreds of land rights cases. As Gilda put it, "the presence of the law has provided a basis for action [...] and has done more for ASJ than any judicial battle." Remember how I talked about ASJ's mission to change structures? Here is yet another example of that mission being achieved.
With the law in place, the land rights project has morphed into a more expansive operation. ASJ is now working in other parts of the country--San Pedro Sula, for example, but even with her legal superpowers, Gilda did not seem overly optimistic about the project's next pasos. Unlike Flor de campo--ASJ's pilot program, Gilda explained, these next projects are doozies. There isn't one apparent landowner this time; there are hundreds! Not only that, but because the government has been attempting to do its job, it has already meddled in the dispute and "inadvertently" made it worse. By skipping a few steps in the process dictated by law--ya know, the rules that the government makes and passes, the government has created even more confusion and thus more work for Gilda and her ASJ colleagues. Therefore, as our conversation wrapped up and Gilda prepared to change her office clothes for her superhero outfit (I am telling you, I saw an "S"), she stated that the main struggles for ASJ right now are making sure the law is applied correctly (a.k.a. each specific step in the process is followed as it should be) and that record keeping is done more accurately. In Gilda's perspective, "if the law is applied correctly, the impact of the Flor de campo project will be multiplied exponentially."
Gilda's presentation was followed by a taxi ride to a "tri-neighborhood" community (the three colonias met at Pulperia Tres Hermanos) where I met with the most powerful women in the area--the presidents of the neighborhood associations. We took a stroll through the streets of the neighborhood on our way to their improvised offices--a concrete structure with absolutely no furnishings save a few benches. En route to the edificio, the women pointed out various landmarks: the cancha de futbol (soccer field) that was apparently named after a neighboring community even though it was located in another--the same stadium that generated income from the tickets sold to the playoff games held there but whose profits bypassed the community to head straight into the pockets of higher authorities; the rio (river) that separated two of the neighborhoods and was overflowing with trash; and the casas built on the side of an embankment that did not pass building codes and thus were not being granted land titles. One particular mujer--the most impassioned and vocal of the bunch--spent our camino (walk) filling me in on all of the ways that her neighborhood had been overlooked, treated unfairly, and shown tremendous amounts of injustice. This is the same message I received during my "sit-down" with the neighborhood association presidents: the authorities are lying to and cheating the residents of the three communities, creating additional problems and contributing to the struggles that the people already face on a daily basis. Some of the quotes I gathered from the women are particularly poignant: "What are we going to do living in a country like this?", "Those who tell the truth are persecuted" "The government only cares for its own," and "Someone needs to be managing the people up top instead of mistreating the people on the bottom."
Even after such abuse and mistreatment, these fiery women are not prepared to give up, especially not after developing a relationship with Gilda and the other ASJ lawyers. They were overjoyed at the presence of ASJ in their lives, and they spoke volumes about the positive role that Gilda and her colleagues have played in their lives. From accompanying them to the bank to staying up until the wee hours of the morning to discuss logistics of certain cases (Gilda referenced one occasion when she and her colleagues did not eat or sleep for days on end so that the work could be completed on time) to consoling them during times of loss (a fellow neighborhood president was brutally murdered on the day that he was meeting with an appraiser from the government), ASJ staff members have provided unending support to their clients...and at no cost! Without ASJ, these women would have to consider putting off purchases of food or other necessities just to secure the funding necessary for a private lawyer; without ASJ, these women would have to tell their constituents that they might have to find another place to live; without ASJ, the hope, joy, and pride an individual receives after securing a land title would disappear from the faces of countless Hondurans.
The last thing we discussed in that bare concrete building whose contents were stolen weeks prior by boys who used the furnishings for firewood was whether I could convince my readers to form a lasting "amistad" (friendship) with the people of these three communities to ensure that they could continue receiving the counsel and support they needed from ASJ. I told the four women in the room that all I could do was tell my readers what I had learned. I hope I have done that today.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Peace & Justice (Paz y Justicia) / Rescate
As most of my readers can probably tell, I am falling behind on my Blogging. I had grand intentions for my reporting this week, but having to start school again and confront all of life's twists and turns kept me away from my second "job."
Nevertheless, I am back again, and this time I will be sharing my perceptions of the ASJ project "Peace & Justice/Rescate." Algunos (some) of you might have seen the blog posting in which I recounted all of the events that constituted a site visit for this specific branch of ASJ (a bumpy, squished ride to the corte (court), a juicio (trial), and a plea bargain), but here I plan to expand on my understanding of the project by sharing the information relayed to me by ASJ's on-staff experto--Abe Huyser-Honig--and by ASJ's "Executive Director" Kurt VerBeek.
The official mission of the Peace & Justice project is to provide investigative, legal, and psychological aid for poor victims of sexual violence, gang violence, and other violent crimes. The Rescate (rescue) side of the project uses the same methodology and works in many of the same communities, but focuses specifically on helping children and youths 18 and under who have survived sexual crimes.
For a little bit of historia (history), Peace & Justice began in one of Tegucigalpa's poorest neighborhoods almost five years ago after a violent incident occurred in Kurt and Jo Ann VerBeek's community that involved an individual whose children were friends of Kurt and Jo Ann's children. Having seen an uptick in violent crimes since moving to the community and having experienced such senseless violence so close to home, Kurt felt the need to do something about the situation in Barrio Verde* (*I will follow ASJ's example by renaming the neighborhood). Pledging to not let the same situation happen again, Kurt began to work closely with another ASJ staff member to organize a response to violent crimes in Barrio Verde--a neighborhood that had reached the top of the charts with regard to the amount of violence in a given community and whose inhabitants were essentially terrorized by the individuals committing the violence. The response was called "Paz y Justicia," and it involved 1. an initial investigation by a private detective of a suspected offender/group of offenders, 2. a warrant for the perpetrator's arrest, 3. a subsequent arrest, and a 4. trial. Central to this strategy was the involvement of various ASJ staff members (a private investigator and a lawyer) and the cooperation of the local authorities. The second element requires additional explicacion (explanation).
One of the vital cosas Abe said was missing from Barrio Verde that made crime so rampant was trust. Without trust, why would an individual report a crime? Without trust, why would a member of the community stick out her neck to reveal who carried out a murder or brutal beating? Without trust, there would be no resolution--there would be no lasting peace. ASJ knew that the authorities had to be involved in the project in order to bring criminals to justice, but without having any reason to trust the infamously-corrupt criminal justice system, the citizens of Barrio Verde would most likely remain apathetic to a strategy that involved so-called public defenders. But as Abe expressed to me, there are good cops, and those good cops began to assist ASJ with the work involved with Peace & Justice. And the organization began to see results. As you might have seen in one of my earlier postings, through Peace and Justice, ASJ achieved 65 convictions for murder, robbery, extortion, and other gang-related crimes and 31 convictions for sexual abuse crimes. Moreover, those working with the project came to the rescue of over 80 violent crime survivors and helped to reduce the crime rate in Barrio Verde by 60%. No longer is Barrio Verde the most violent neighborhood in Tegucigalpa; it is now down to 14th!
Kurt added gleefully that there is no longer a gang presence in his community nor is there a bus tax (un impuesto charged by gangs so that bus drivers can operate in that area), achieving and exceeding his initial expectations. If this isn't evidence enough that ASJ is making a diferencia, I don't know what is...
You can imagine then that ASJ is experimenting with another community after the success of its "pilot program" in Barrio Verde. In addition, it has added the component of "Rescate" to the Peace & Justice project to ensure that victims of all ages and all violent crimes are served by the justice system (I witnessed the Rescate side of the project when I attended the court case last week). So far no concrete evidence seems to have emerged that the project is succeeding, but one can assume that exito (success) will come. I hate to discount the observable success of the project (men behind bars, guns off the street), but what most impresses me is that ASJ is focusing not solely on bringing justice to a community but also bringing trust to a community. The aspect of trust seems supremely important to situations involving violence and overall delinquency. Like I indicated before, without it, what is going to stop gang members from simply continuing their operations due to the lack of action on the part of the people they are victimizing? Without trust in the authorities and in the criminal justice system, what is going to stop violent offenders from carrying out their evil deeds over and over again? ASJ is committed to instilling trust in the communities in which it operates so that eventually ASJ's personnel don't have to work there; eventually they can begin to trust that the system will work for the people, thus releasing them from their duties. This "circle of trust" (Abe called it that, and I will admit to immediately thinking of Robert DeNiro) brings justice not only to a community but to a system. This is a beautiful thing, and the existence of such a strategy shows that ASJ is truly committed to changing structures.
Ademas de righting this injustice and thus relieving itself of its duties through the building up of trust, ASJ is also attempting to put itself out of work (wouldn't that be the day?) by implementing prevention strategies. Kurt explained to me that when jail outreach proved to be a flop (too many organizations working in the system already) and social services to the families of criminals proved risky (what happens when the individual being served finds out that the same people helping her put her son in jail?), ASJ began to use the Gideon Centers--another ASJ project covered in my blog writings already--as a prevention program. Remember the IMPACTO youth groups or the H-88 project that the UN would like to stop funding? These are the methods by which ASJ is attempting to steer youth in another direction. By offering youth a way out of the world of crime and by staying in close contact with youth that could be targeted by gang members for absorption into their violent maras, ASJ is tackling the entire problema before it even begins!
After seeing the way Peace & Justice works and observing how intentional ASJ's strategies have become to bring justice to a muchacho named Carlos, a community named Barrio Verde, and an entire system/structure, there is no doubt in my mind that this organization is for real. These people truly desire to keep injustice from ruining their country, and they have the results to prove that their work produces a more just society.
Nevertheless, I am back again, and this time I will be sharing my perceptions of the ASJ project "Peace & Justice/Rescate." Algunos (some) of you might have seen the blog posting in which I recounted all of the events that constituted a site visit for this specific branch of ASJ (a bumpy, squished ride to the corte (court), a juicio (trial), and a plea bargain), but here I plan to expand on my understanding of the project by sharing the information relayed to me by ASJ's on-staff experto--Abe Huyser-Honig--and by ASJ's "Executive Director" Kurt VerBeek.
The official mission of the Peace & Justice project is to provide investigative, legal, and psychological aid for poor victims of sexual violence, gang violence, and other violent crimes. The Rescate (rescue) side of the project uses the same methodology and works in many of the same communities, but focuses specifically on helping children and youths 18 and under who have survived sexual crimes.
For a little bit of historia (history), Peace & Justice began in one of Tegucigalpa's poorest neighborhoods almost five years ago after a violent incident occurred in Kurt and Jo Ann VerBeek's community that involved an individual whose children were friends of Kurt and Jo Ann's children. Having seen an uptick in violent crimes since moving to the community and having experienced such senseless violence so close to home, Kurt felt the need to do something about the situation in Barrio Verde* (*I will follow ASJ's example by renaming the neighborhood). Pledging to not let the same situation happen again, Kurt began to work closely with another ASJ staff member to organize a response to violent crimes in Barrio Verde--a neighborhood that had reached the top of the charts with regard to the amount of violence in a given community and whose inhabitants were essentially terrorized by the individuals committing the violence. The response was called "Paz y Justicia," and it involved 1. an initial investigation by a private detective of a suspected offender/group of offenders, 2. a warrant for the perpetrator's arrest, 3. a subsequent arrest, and a 4. trial. Central to this strategy was the involvement of various ASJ staff members (a private investigator and a lawyer) and the cooperation of the local authorities. The second element requires additional explicacion (explanation).
One of the vital cosas Abe said was missing from Barrio Verde that made crime so rampant was trust. Without trust, why would an individual report a crime? Without trust, why would a member of the community stick out her neck to reveal who carried out a murder or brutal beating? Without trust, there would be no resolution--there would be no lasting peace. ASJ knew that the authorities had to be involved in the project in order to bring criminals to justice, but without having any reason to trust the infamously-corrupt criminal justice system, the citizens of Barrio Verde would most likely remain apathetic to a strategy that involved so-called public defenders. But as Abe expressed to me, there are good cops, and those good cops began to assist ASJ with the work involved with Peace & Justice. And the organization began to see results. As you might have seen in one of my earlier postings, through Peace and Justice, ASJ achieved 65 convictions for murder, robbery, extortion, and other gang-related crimes and 31 convictions for sexual abuse crimes. Moreover, those working with the project came to the rescue of over 80 violent crime survivors and helped to reduce the crime rate in Barrio Verde by 60%. No longer is Barrio Verde the most violent neighborhood in Tegucigalpa; it is now down to 14th!
Kurt added gleefully that there is no longer a gang presence in his community nor is there a bus tax (un impuesto charged by gangs so that bus drivers can operate in that area), achieving and exceeding his initial expectations. If this isn't evidence enough that ASJ is making a diferencia, I don't know what is...
You can imagine then that ASJ is experimenting with another community after the success of its "pilot program" in Barrio Verde. In addition, it has added the component of "Rescate" to the Peace & Justice project to ensure that victims of all ages and all violent crimes are served by the justice system (I witnessed the Rescate side of the project when I attended the court case last week). So far no concrete evidence seems to have emerged that the project is succeeding, but one can assume that exito (success) will come. I hate to discount the observable success of the project (men behind bars, guns off the street), but what most impresses me is that ASJ is focusing not solely on bringing justice to a community but also bringing trust to a community. The aspect of trust seems supremely important to situations involving violence and overall delinquency. Like I indicated before, without it, what is going to stop gang members from simply continuing their operations due to the lack of action on the part of the people they are victimizing? Without trust in the authorities and in the criminal justice system, what is going to stop violent offenders from carrying out their evil deeds over and over again? ASJ is committed to instilling trust in the communities in which it operates so that eventually ASJ's personnel don't have to work there; eventually they can begin to trust that the system will work for the people, thus releasing them from their duties. This "circle of trust" (Abe called it that, and I will admit to immediately thinking of Robert DeNiro) brings justice not only to a community but to a system. This is a beautiful thing, and the existence of such a strategy shows that ASJ is truly committed to changing structures.
Ademas de righting this injustice and thus relieving itself of its duties through the building up of trust, ASJ is also attempting to put itself out of work (wouldn't that be the day?) by implementing prevention strategies. Kurt explained to me that when jail outreach proved to be a flop (too many organizations working in the system already) and social services to the families of criminals proved risky (what happens when the individual being served finds out that the same people helping her put her son in jail?), ASJ began to use the Gideon Centers--another ASJ project covered in my blog writings already--as a prevention program. Remember the IMPACTO youth groups or the H-88 project that the UN would like to stop funding? These are the methods by which ASJ is attempting to steer youth in another direction. By offering youth a way out of the world of crime and by staying in close contact with youth that could be targeted by gang members for absorption into their violent maras, ASJ is tackling the entire problema before it even begins!
After seeing the way Peace & Justice works and observing how intentional ASJ's strategies have become to bring justice to a muchacho named Carlos, a community named Barrio Verde, and an entire system/structure, there is no doubt in my mind that this organization is for real. These people truly desire to keep injustice from ruining their country, and they have the results to prove that their work produces a more just society.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Revistazo.com
Un dia (a day) has passed since leaving Honduras, and the withdrawal side of return culture shock has begun. Quiero regresar! (I want to return!) As such a response to my feelings is nearly impossible (too many kids here need to learn the espanol), I am going to live in another place through my observations of another place.
Thus begins my observations of the ASJ project known as Revistazo.com.
I'll empezar (begin) again with what Abe told me during my initial presentation to ASJ. Revistazo.com is an online publication that exposes misuse of government funds and other human rights topics through thorough research and investigation. It is publicized solely in Spanish, as the contributors are Spanish-speaking and do not seem to have the time necessary to translate each article as it is posted (my experiencias with translation work help me to understand their reasoning). Because of the language and the content that the website conveys, the audience has historically been Hondurans or other Spanish-speaking Latin Americans with an interest in or understanding of human rights topics (i.e. diplomats, politicians, NGO staff). Abe labeled it as the "oldest" ASJ project, although he also at one point called the labor rights project the oldest. Hmmm....someone is un poco confundido (a little confused)...but still un experto (an expert) (sin duda!). The final piece of information that Abe gave me about the website was its claim to fame: as it is one of the few newspapers in Honduran that is not tied to government authorities (apparently some of the main newspapers in the area were either owned or invested heavily in by members of the government or political parties), there is no lack of motivation to investigate misdeeds by those in power. Honesty is their one and only policy, regardless of how brutal it might be ("truth" is actually one of the words in their motto).
I was then given a presentation by the Revistazo.com team later in the week, and what I found out was certainly monumental. Emphasizing again their desire to seek and publicize the truth, the team outlined the different investigations and subsequent articles that had been published since 2001--the year the website began to share its investigations with the Spanish-speaking world. Originally beginning with a monthly exploration of relevant themes (the poor treatment of employees at fast food establishments and campaign financing), the website began to shift its focus after a few years by publicizing various articles on a weekly or daily basis and by carrying out different initiatives in the community. For instance, during the election period for the justices on the high court, the Revistazo.com team took to the streets to inform people about the different candidates. They showed up in Teguc's Parque Central with a means by which the public could find out about who was hoping to get elected, and they kept doing this for four months! Do you realize how much of a step that is? In the first place it is difficult to get people to the polls to vote, but do you think people actually take the time in a country like Honduras (much less in a country like the United States...) to find out who is going to be on the ballot and what they stand for antes de (before) casting their vote? Talk about empowering people! This comprehensive election coverage has continued since the catalytic event, as Revistazo.com continually contains an entire section that is devoted to profiles of candidates for public service (and profiles of those who have been voted into public service ya (already)).
Beyond their election coverage, Revistazo.com has been responsible for exhaustive coverage of the recent coup (instead of taking a position on either side, Revistazo.com unbiasedly interviewed the Honduran population to find out their opinions), investigations of government mismanagement of funds and general corruption, studies on Honduran society and the different systems that have seemingly collapsed in recent history (economic, for example), and labor rights abuses (using information gathered from the affiliated ASJ team). The area of their work that fascinated me the most was the investigative journalism that pertained to government mismanagement of funds. You can go to the website and see story after story of money disappearing that was designed for a specific project! For example, the team described one investigation that yielded the news that a small stretch of highway (not a full highway, mind you, but a small stretch) that was supposedly funded by government subsidies never got built! Not only that, but because the project was halted before completion, the displacement of dirt has begun to fill people's homes with mud. Money replaced by mud. Nice. Or how about this: a bus terminal that would make it easier for more efficient transportation is destined to receive X amount of dollars. The semi-detectives of ASJ's Revistazo.com show up to the site months after the project was supposed to commence, and guess what. No terminal. This is a common narrative that always results in missing money and unfinished projects. We are accustomed to believing that projects such as these are "pork barrel" in nature, but in Honduras, these projects are actually intended to serve people! Increible.
If exposing issues of corruption such as these are not enough, Revistazo.com also commissioned a study of Honduras' progress (or lack thereof) in the last few decades and found that the country's stunted growth is attributed to what else but corruption in the system. All other countries in Central America exposed to the same geographic abnormalities and economic risk factors are moving ahead each year while Honduras moves farther atras (behind). All because of corruption. Now who else do you think publicizes this information? Perhaps El Heraldo alludes to this sort of thing in one of their issues or La Tribuna contains a picture of an unfinished project funded by government subsidies. But are they revealing the despicable behavior of the people who are supposed to be serving the people they represent? Nope. Revistazo.com seems to be the only outlet for finding the true story--the story that might not feel good to read but that actually tells it like it is.
To end the presentation, the Revistazo.com team talked about their hopes and dreams for the project. Jorge talked about the need for changes to the site's format now that hundreds of thousands of visitors are visiting the site rather than the select thousand who were familiar with both the arrangement and content of the site. Apparently the site's response to the coup changed the dynamic of its readership and prompted an onslaught of hits to the site--500,000 in the first three months! And with the calming of the political arena, wouldn't you think that fewer people would be reading the site? You would be pensando (thinking) wrong! Jorge informed me that readership has only INCREASED since the coup--INCREASED! People want the truth, amigos; they want to see some accountability. Now they just need to get out of their office chairs and do something about it! (Mas to come about the project that is attempting to do that...).
The final sentiments shared by the Revistazo.com team were anything but positive, though. Each individual in the room talked about the danger they face on a daily basis. They talked about threats, about the shadow of Dionisio's death on the team's work, and about the difficult nature of their work. One staff member even admitted to not even talking about the work with his/her loved ones for fear that they would not allow him/her to continue working for ASJ! How sad that the truth--that justice--comes at such a price! But thank God for people like Jorge & Eleana & Claudia and the rest of the Revistazo.com team who want nothing more than to give their fellow Hondurans the story they might not want to hear but NEED to hear.
Thus begins my observations of the ASJ project known as Revistazo.com.
I'll empezar (begin) again with what Abe told me during my initial presentation to ASJ. Revistazo.com is an online publication that exposes misuse of government funds and other human rights topics through thorough research and investigation. It is publicized solely in Spanish, as the contributors are Spanish-speaking and do not seem to have the time necessary to translate each article as it is posted (my experiencias with translation work help me to understand their reasoning). Because of the language and the content that the website conveys, the audience has historically been Hondurans or other Spanish-speaking Latin Americans with an interest in or understanding of human rights topics (i.e. diplomats, politicians, NGO staff). Abe labeled it as the "oldest" ASJ project, although he also at one point called the labor rights project the oldest. Hmmm....someone is un poco confundido (a little confused)...but still un experto (an expert) (sin duda!). The final piece of information that Abe gave me about the website was its claim to fame: as it is one of the few newspapers in Honduran that is not tied to government authorities (apparently some of the main newspapers in the area were either owned or invested heavily in by members of the government or political parties), there is no lack of motivation to investigate misdeeds by those in power. Honesty is their one and only policy, regardless of how brutal it might be ("truth" is actually one of the words in their motto).
I was then given a presentation by the Revistazo.com team later in the week, and what I found out was certainly monumental. Emphasizing again their desire to seek and publicize the truth, the team outlined the different investigations and subsequent articles that had been published since 2001--the year the website began to share its investigations with the Spanish-speaking world. Originally beginning with a monthly exploration of relevant themes (the poor treatment of employees at fast food establishments and campaign financing), the website began to shift its focus after a few years by publicizing various articles on a weekly or daily basis and by carrying out different initiatives in the community. For instance, during the election period for the justices on the high court, the Revistazo.com team took to the streets to inform people about the different candidates. They showed up in Teguc's Parque Central with a means by which the public could find out about who was hoping to get elected, and they kept doing this for four months! Do you realize how much of a step that is? In the first place it is difficult to get people to the polls to vote, but do you think people actually take the time in a country like Honduras (much less in a country like the United States...) to find out who is going to be on the ballot and what they stand for antes de (before) casting their vote? Talk about empowering people! This comprehensive election coverage has continued since the catalytic event, as Revistazo.com continually contains an entire section that is devoted to profiles of candidates for public service (and profiles of those who have been voted into public service ya (already)).
Beyond their election coverage, Revistazo.com has been responsible for exhaustive coverage of the recent coup (instead of taking a position on either side, Revistazo.com unbiasedly interviewed the Honduran population to find out their opinions), investigations of government mismanagement of funds and general corruption, studies on Honduran society and the different systems that have seemingly collapsed in recent history (economic, for example), and labor rights abuses (using information gathered from the affiliated ASJ team). The area of their work that fascinated me the most was the investigative journalism that pertained to government mismanagement of funds. You can go to the website and see story after story of money disappearing that was designed for a specific project! For example, the team described one investigation that yielded the news that a small stretch of highway (not a full highway, mind you, but a small stretch) that was supposedly funded by government subsidies never got built! Not only that, but because the project was halted before completion, the displacement of dirt has begun to fill people's homes with mud. Money replaced by mud. Nice. Or how about this: a bus terminal that would make it easier for more efficient transportation is destined to receive X amount of dollars. The semi-detectives of ASJ's Revistazo.com show up to the site months after the project was supposed to commence, and guess what. No terminal. This is a common narrative that always results in missing money and unfinished projects. We are accustomed to believing that projects such as these are "pork barrel" in nature, but in Honduras, these projects are actually intended to serve people! Increible.
If exposing issues of corruption such as these are not enough, Revistazo.com also commissioned a study of Honduras' progress (or lack thereof) in the last few decades and found that the country's stunted growth is attributed to what else but corruption in the system. All other countries in Central America exposed to the same geographic abnormalities and economic risk factors are moving ahead each year while Honduras moves farther atras (behind). All because of corruption. Now who else do you think publicizes this information? Perhaps El Heraldo alludes to this sort of thing in one of their issues or La Tribuna contains a picture of an unfinished project funded by government subsidies. But are they revealing the despicable behavior of the people who are supposed to be serving the people they represent? Nope. Revistazo.com seems to be the only outlet for finding the true story--the story that might not feel good to read but that actually tells it like it is.
To end the presentation, the Revistazo.com team talked about their hopes and dreams for the project. Jorge talked about the need for changes to the site's format now that hundreds of thousands of visitors are visiting the site rather than the select thousand who were familiar with both the arrangement and content of the site. Apparently the site's response to the coup changed the dynamic of its readership and prompted an onslaught of hits to the site--500,000 in the first three months! And with the calming of the political arena, wouldn't you think that fewer people would be reading the site? You would be pensando (thinking) wrong! Jorge informed me that readership has only INCREASED since the coup--INCREASED! People want the truth, amigos; they want to see some accountability. Now they just need to get out of their office chairs and do something about it! (Mas to come about the project that is attempting to do that...).
The final sentiments shared by the Revistazo.com team were anything but positive, though. Each individual in the room talked about the danger they face on a daily basis. They talked about threats, about the shadow of Dionisio's death on the team's work, and about the difficult nature of their work. One staff member even admitted to not even talking about the work with his/her loved ones for fear that they would not allow him/her to continue working for ASJ! How sad that the truth--that justice--comes at such a price! But thank God for people like Jorge & Eleana & Claudia and the rest of the Revistazo.com team who want nothing more than to give their fellow Hondurans the story they might not want to hear but NEED to hear.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Casa, sweet casa
Due to the kindness and high (artificial) energy levels of a wonderful friend (tu eres increible, Jess!), I did not have to spend the last 12 hours at Dulles. Cheque. I am home seguro (safe) and sound now, rifling through my own belongings to figure out where everything goes and acting surprised whenever I see something I carried back from Honduras (homemade tortillas? de veras?). Apart from the length of the viaje (trip), I was satisfied with my journey back home--no delays, no unexpected turbulence. But no good peliculas (movies) either. The movie shown on the bus from Teguc to San Pedro Sula was Bruce Almighty, which I find somewhat comical...after watching it once. And the film I was blessed with on the aeronave (I have never heard anyone call an airplane this in Spanish) was Easy Virtue--a copycat of a Jane Austen film that featured Jessica Biel. Not a big aficionado (fan). But again, my bags traveled with me; I did not lose my dignity at any point throughout the day when going through security checkpoints (I feared its loss in San Salvador where every passenger received the royal treatment at the gate--complete bag searches and intense pat-downs); and I did not freeze up at Customs and accidentally admit to being a member of FARC. It was a good day.
As promised, you will be seeing both new photos and new blog postings in the next few hours and days as I start to wrap things up. Just because I am not in Honduras anymore doesn't mean you should stop reading! There is more to be aprendered (learned), more riendo (laughing) to do, and more passion for justicia social (social justice) to be instilled in all of my readers!
Que Dios les bendiga this domingo (Sunday)!
As promised, you will be seeing both new photos and new blog postings in the next few hours and days as I start to wrap things up. Just because I am not in Honduras anymore doesn't mean you should stop reading! There is more to be aprendered (learned), more riendo (laughing) to do, and more passion for justicia social (social justice) to be instilled in all of my readers!
Que Dios les bendiga this domingo (Sunday)!
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