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)!
El ultimo dia
Viernes, viernes, viernes! (Friday, Friday, Friday!) I will post in the next few hours some of the photos I took while waiting for Abe to arrive on Friday morning, as that is how I spent my time pre-work day. When I arrived at ASJ, I was immediately introduced to la abogada (lawyer) Gilda, who gave me what Abe likes to call a “brief presentation”—a two-hour rundown of ASJ’s labor rights project. Being the arm of ASJ that I understand the least, it was valuable to receive the additional details, but I also felt extremely tired after listening to un montón (a mountain) of legal terms and drinking poco café (a little coffee). Regardless, I quickly left the cool environment of the offices to visit one of the sites where the labor rights project was being implemented. I will talk more about the visit in a later blog posting, but I do need to admit that it was the first legitimate Honduran bus ride I experienced while staying here. Abe (and Dennis, on one occasion) was nice enough to chauffeur me around the city during my visit, so I had not had the chance to listen to Reggaeton, smell ungodly amounts of exhaust, and wish for shorter legs while being transported prior to yesterday. The visit also presented the first opportunity to see the downtown area, since none of the previous site visits had been anywhere near el centro (downtown). It was more or less what I remembered—minor chaos, a huge fútbol stadium, and stall after stall of vendors selling lots of bootleg DVDs, cheap pharmaceutical goods, and poor Hollister knock-offs (is it just me, or has Hollister changed the spelling of its name to Holistar?)
I could have returned to ASJ after the visit and blogged for the rest of the afternoon, but I needed to pasear (walk around, see the sites). With only 2 hours until Abe and I needed to head back to la casa Cerrato, I chose la colonia Miraflores as my destination, which is where I lived and went to school the last time I came here. My plan was to a. order and enjoy a granita de café, b. purchase a few Honduran delights at Páiz (the neighborhood supermarket), and c. walk the familiar (ruta) route to la casa Páiz (the community daycare and Calvin College student drop-off). I accomplished the first meta (goal) immediately; the second goal was not accomplished until I walked all the way around Plaza Miraflores (same old, same old….except for an improved movie theater and a Pizza Hut that replaced a Sbarro’s) and then located the various items I wanted to comprar (buy) (refried red beans, Horchata-flavored Tang packets, and the miraculous dish soap that everyone uses around here); and the third goal was easier than I thought. I arrived on the street where I used to live pretty quickly, stopping only to read the pro-resistencia graffiti and to admire the new buildings that have been constructed since my departure in 2006 (un restaurante chino (a Chinese restaurant) and una farmacia (pharmacy)). I knocked at the portón (gate), heard the familiar demanding tone of my mamá hondureña (“¿Y QUIÉN ESTÁ?” (Who’s there?)), and confidently responded “Tito.” Same booming voice, same question: “¿QUIÉN ESTÁ?” “Tito!” I yelled. When it was clear that she had forgotten my nickname while I was living in Honduras, I exclaimed, “Tyler Petrini está, Doña Miriam!” (Tyler Petrini is here…). I heard the sound of shuffling feet and the door opened to reveal…lots of little children who wanted nothing but to hug me and say their names. After my sixth hug, I had advanced to the doorway of the house where Doña Miriam gave me my first “real hug”—the kind where you are squeezed within an inch of your life and then released at just the right moment. We then spent the next 30 minutes going over all of the details both of us wanted to know: she wanted to hear if I was still in the serious relationship that had apparently given her guerra (war) when I was living in her house, and I wanted to know if her oldest son had finally married (Negative followed by affirmative.); she wanted to hear about my trabajo (work), and I wanted to hear about her most recent Calvin students. It was a pleasant visit, and I left feeling satisfied. It was obvious that our personalities still conflicted, but we could at least relate positively to one another for a rato (short time).
As the sun started to set, I was waiting at the entrada (entrance) to Plaza Miraflores, where Abe was supposed to pick me up at 5:00 p.m. Having lived here so long he had adjusted to Honduran time, he swung by at around 5:30 p.m., just before I was about to commence Plan B. As I was waiting, I could have sworn I crossed paths with one of my Honduran professors from my last trip here, but apart from an awkward glance in her direction, I did not confirm my suspicions.
My goodbye dinner was both bountiful and beautiful. Like I mentioned before, the baleadas were laid out in large numbers…or quizás (perhaps) I was simply saying “sí” every time I was asked if I wanted another. Hehe. Abe, Dennis, and I talked about what our upbringings were like (we all survived without videogames), how our teachers had treated us as kids, the size of our panzas (bellies), and what differentiated the baile de gelatina (jello dance) from the baile de pudín (pudding dance). The latter discussion was inspired by an earlier conversation I had with Abe about how little I care for jello because of texture issues (the jello dance is so awkward!). Dennis was kind enough to show us his version of the jello dance, which involved a lot of stomach shaking. Abe left not too long after dinner, at which time I accompanied Celeste, Isaac, Karlyn, Doña Leslie, and María to the home of one of Karlyn’s friends. Before even making it to the intersecting street, I was spooked by the group when they turned the corner and immediately halted. Frightened out of my wits, I had no idea what the older women were raving about when they kept saying cartera (wallet); María, still laughing after seeing my reaction to the group’s immediate stop, clarified the inquiry, and I immediately realized that the women wanted to know whether I had brought my wallet with me. I assured them that I had not and that I was simply carrying my camera. This created uproar, resulting in me hightailing it back to the Cerrato home to drop off whatever I was carrying that held more value than a dollar. The trip continued, and María explained to me that this was even the first time she had walked around the community after dark. This is the same community that ASJ has helped to rid the streets of violent offenders, and people there are still terrified at certain points of the day.
The evening culminated in a photo shoot. Me with Isaac. Me with Celeste. Me with María. María alone. Kevin alone. Dennis with Karlyn. Everyone wanted a turno (turn)! As I was packing my bags for the morning, I heard a knock at the door to my room and heard Celeste’s sweet little voice asking me to come out. I decided to humor her and found almost the entire family at the table making me a goodbye card. In return for the heartfelt message, I presented them with my thank-you gifs: a bottle of Petrini’s dressing (representando!) and a dozen mini-projects my students had created with simple Spanish messages and pictures. We all giggled together as we read the broken Spanish and marveled at the beautiful photographs of Maryland, but the mood turned dismal when Karlyn brought up my approaching departure. She began to cry, and I was nearly brought to tears myself as I considered just how generous they had been over the last week and just how close I had become to their humble family. La familia Cerrato is a group of people I will never forget, and it is obvious that this week was just the inicio (beginning) of our relationship.
As always, the night ended in laughter. I had found several packets of trail mix in my checked baggage that I knew I wasn’t going to eat on the return journey, so I handed them out to Jonathan, Celeste, and Isaac with specific instructions not to eat them until today (they had already brushed their teeth and I doubt their parents wanted them to consume any more sugar before bed). Being curious and perpetually-hungry cipotes (kids), they did not obey, and soon enough everybody in the family was snacking on trail mix and complaining about having to brush their teeth again. “Y se ríe,” dice Karlyn. (And he laughs, Karlyn says.)
When you wish upon an estrella...
I know all of you have been incredibly preocupados (worried) about my welfare since my last posting, so let me be the first to inform you that……I finally ate baleadas hondureñas! There had been talk all day yesterday (Friday) of these special tortillas that were going to be prepared by hand by the vecinas (neighbors), but I did not for one second assume that they had anything to do with blessed baleadas. Then Abe finally broke the news to me sometime yesterday afternoon that my wish would come true later that day, as his Honduran wisdom (or simply his keen ear) had led him to the conclusion that baleadas were being prepared for my final meal. Baleadas, for those of you who have not been transported directly to heaven via a culinary treasure, are a distinctly Honduran semi-burrito that include a flour tortilla, mantequilla (translated directly to “butter,” but it is more like a cream), frijoles (refried beans), and crumbled cheese. Most of the time they also incorporate huevos (eggs) (the amazing ones prepared for me last night did), but that begins to describe a baleada especial. Unlike burritos, though, baleadas are not wrapped all the way around; they are instead eaten like a soft taco. Any guesses as to how many I ate? Uno? Nope. Dos? Guess again. Tres? Almost there. Cuatro? Sí! Oh, and I guess I did eat another one this morning as part of my breakfast. Cinco, entonces (five, then).
The other Honduran treat that I had to consume before leaving this country was of a different nature. Back when I was here in ’06, we (the group of Calvin students) discovered a slightly-caffeinated treasure that resembles both a slurpee and a frappucino, with a price that rivals that of the 7-11 delicacy: una granita de café. Ringing up at about a dollar and filling you up with slurpified coffee, granitas are the perfect treat for a hot day (and it was hot yesterday!). For all you Rita’s Ice fans out there, this is right up your alley. I managed to find an Espresso Americano (a popular Honduran coffee shop) yesterday on my way to see la familia Páiz (más (more) to come later), so you can imagine my giddy approach to the ordering process when I saw granita on the menú.
I am sure some of you are yearning for a time context at this point. I am composing this blog posting at 1:15 p.m. (la hora hondureña (Honduran time)) while the Hedman Alas bus bounces around the Honduran carretera (highway) on its way to San Pedro Sula. When I arrive allí (there), I will take a cab over to the airport and make it back to the United States in time for….la madrugada (super early in the morning). Hehe. My flight from San Salvador arrives at 1:30 a.m. EST, which means I will tener bastante sueño (be pretty tired) upon landing. At this point I plan on sleeping at the airport in D.C. since I was not able to get a ride back at the aforementioned time. However, as my housemate returns from Spain in the afternoon, he has agreed to give me a jalón (ride).
As has been the case, I will compose several additional blog postings after this one highlighting the different projects I have learned about and observed throughout the week. This blog posting will simply convey what I have been up to since Thursday afternoon when I last corresponded with my readers.
On Thursday evening I had a lively dinner with the Calvin group who is studying International Development during their spring semester in Honduras. Before our delicious meal, I sat in on their book study discussion, which related to one of Richard Foster’s books, Freedom of Simplicity. While most of the time I sat listening to questions and answers pertaining to issues of contentment, listening to God’s voice, apathy, and having enough, the lattermost topic was given to me to speak about because of my recent entrance into the “real world.” In other words, I was surprise-attacked with the pregunta (question), “How do you know when you have enough?” My first response was the one I shared, which related to not feeling the need to pander to society’s “requirement” that you have what everyone else around you has. After additional thought, I have realized that the question was being asked of people who cannot answer the question apart from their blessed situations. I will speak for myself here. I know I have enough because I can sit around and philosophize about what it means to have enough. I live a life of joy, of peace, and of abundance, so I am not able to tell you when I have enough. Ya tengo bastante (I already have enough). In my opinion, this question would be better answered by someone who quite possibly does not have enough. I hope the Calvin students try that tactic at some point! When the stew was eaten and Joanne broke out the ice cream, we began watching a slide show of a certain group’s spring break adventures in the Mosquitia (another region in Honduras) and I talked with a few students about their experiences thus far. Can you believe that the first student (la primera!) that I asked about her Honduran family situation told me that she was living with the very same family I did? And with the very same problemas (problems) too! To be polite, I will call them disagreements. Hehe. Hearing this, I decided that I needed to visit la familia Páiz sometime during my stay, and since Friday was my last full day here, Friday was going to be the day of the visita (visit).
To finish up with Thursday, I spent the rest of Thursday night sugar-loading since the girl living next door had kindly decided to make me (and other neighbors….but mainly me, I want to believe) deditos (little fingers). These sugar-enriched snacks are essentially an evil combination of two kinds of sugar and flour that are made to look like the digits on your hand. These ones were pretty beefy looking, but not everyone can be a hand model, right? You can imagine what ensued when the entire Cerrato family began consuming the same treats so late in the evening. Utter locura (craziness). Little Isaac started to run around on all fours; Jonathan was jumping from couch to couch; Dennis (el padre—father) was captivated by the Disney channel; and I was speed-reading a story backwards and forwards that the younger Dennis was assigned for homework. Ultimately it was me who did the homework since the younger Dennis was disinterested and the elder Dennis was praising God for bringing a Spanish teacher to visit the family and help his children understand what preposiciones and determinantes are. I was getting such a kick out of approaching grammar lessons from a different language viewpoint (like most of my readers, my initial experiences learning and using grammar were in an English class) that I didn’t mind “identifying,” “copying,” and “using” grammar for two whole hours.
Before I forget and Friday becomes the main topic of discussion, I was incredibly surprised when the Calvin students told me that they would not be staying in Nueva Suyapa at any point during their trip. Sure, they go there each Thursday in their own private bus to one of the nicer houses in the community, but does that really give them an idea of how the community operates (or fails to, a veces (at times))? If there is one thing about this trip I believe put me in the right mindset when approaching ASJ’s work in Honduras, it was the stay in Nueva Suyapa. As I told Abe, living in Honduras is difficult on its own, entiendo (I understand), but part of working in the field of international development is living it. And Nueva Suyapa (a terribly-impoverished community that has experienced its fair share of violence) seems like the most appropriate context for that life. I hope that at least a few of the students on the trip ask for the opportunity to spend a day or two in the community I now want to call my home whenever I return to this country.
The other Honduran treat that I had to consume before leaving this country was of a different nature. Back when I was here in ’06, we (the group of Calvin students) discovered a slightly-caffeinated treasure that resembles both a slurpee and a frappucino, with a price that rivals that of the 7-11 delicacy: una granita de café. Ringing up at about a dollar and filling you up with slurpified coffee, granitas are the perfect treat for a hot day (and it was hot yesterday!). For all you Rita’s Ice fans out there, this is right up your alley. I managed to find an Espresso Americano (a popular Honduran coffee shop) yesterday on my way to see la familia Páiz (más (more) to come later), so you can imagine my giddy approach to the ordering process when I saw granita on the menú.
I am sure some of you are yearning for a time context at this point. I am composing this blog posting at 1:15 p.m. (la hora hondureña (Honduran time)) while the Hedman Alas bus bounces around the Honduran carretera (highway) on its way to San Pedro Sula. When I arrive allí (there), I will take a cab over to the airport and make it back to the United States in time for….la madrugada (super early in the morning). Hehe. My flight from San Salvador arrives at 1:30 a.m. EST, which means I will tener bastante sueño (be pretty tired) upon landing. At this point I plan on sleeping at the airport in D.C. since I was not able to get a ride back at the aforementioned time. However, as my housemate returns from Spain in the afternoon, he has agreed to give me a jalón (ride).
As has been the case, I will compose several additional blog postings after this one highlighting the different projects I have learned about and observed throughout the week. This blog posting will simply convey what I have been up to since Thursday afternoon when I last corresponded with my readers.
On Thursday evening I had a lively dinner with the Calvin group who is studying International Development during their spring semester in Honduras. Before our delicious meal, I sat in on their book study discussion, which related to one of Richard Foster’s books, Freedom of Simplicity. While most of the time I sat listening to questions and answers pertaining to issues of contentment, listening to God’s voice, apathy, and having enough, the lattermost topic was given to me to speak about because of my recent entrance into the “real world.” In other words, I was surprise-attacked with the pregunta (question), “How do you know when you have enough?” My first response was the one I shared, which related to not feeling the need to pander to society’s “requirement” that you have what everyone else around you has. After additional thought, I have realized that the question was being asked of people who cannot answer the question apart from their blessed situations. I will speak for myself here. I know I have enough because I can sit around and philosophize about what it means to have enough. I live a life of joy, of peace, and of abundance, so I am not able to tell you when I have enough. Ya tengo bastante (I already have enough). In my opinion, this question would be better answered by someone who quite possibly does not have enough. I hope the Calvin students try that tactic at some point! When the stew was eaten and Joanne broke out the ice cream, we began watching a slide show of a certain group’s spring break adventures in the Mosquitia (another region in Honduras) and I talked with a few students about their experiences thus far. Can you believe that the first student (la primera!) that I asked about her Honduran family situation told me that she was living with the very same family I did? And with the very same problemas (problems) too! To be polite, I will call them disagreements. Hehe. Hearing this, I decided that I needed to visit la familia Páiz sometime during my stay, and since Friday was my last full day here, Friday was going to be the day of the visita (visit).
To finish up with Thursday, I spent the rest of Thursday night sugar-loading since the girl living next door had kindly decided to make me (and other neighbors….but mainly me, I want to believe) deditos (little fingers). These sugar-enriched snacks are essentially an evil combination of two kinds of sugar and flour that are made to look like the digits on your hand. These ones were pretty beefy looking, but not everyone can be a hand model, right? You can imagine what ensued when the entire Cerrato family began consuming the same treats so late in the evening. Utter locura (craziness). Little Isaac started to run around on all fours; Jonathan was jumping from couch to couch; Dennis (el padre—father) was captivated by the Disney channel; and I was speed-reading a story backwards and forwards that the younger Dennis was assigned for homework. Ultimately it was me who did the homework since the younger Dennis was disinterested and the elder Dennis was praising God for bringing a Spanish teacher to visit the family and help his children understand what preposiciones and determinantes are. I was getting such a kick out of approaching grammar lessons from a different language viewpoint (like most of my readers, my initial experiences learning and using grammar were in an English class) that I didn’t mind “identifying,” “copying,” and “using” grammar for two whole hours.
Before I forget and Friday becomes the main topic of discussion, I was incredibly surprised when the Calvin students told me that they would not be staying in Nueva Suyapa at any point during their trip. Sure, they go there each Thursday in their own private bus to one of the nicer houses in the community, but does that really give them an idea of how the community operates (or fails to, a veces (at times))? If there is one thing about this trip I believe put me in the right mindset when approaching ASJ’s work in Honduras, it was the stay in Nueva Suyapa. As I told Abe, living in Honduras is difficult on its own, entiendo (I understand), but part of working in the field of international development is living it. And Nueva Suyapa (a terribly-impoverished community that has experienced its fair share of violence) seems like the most appropriate context for that life. I hope that at least a few of the students on the trip ask for the opportunity to spend a day or two in the community I now want to call my home whenever I return to this country.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Still no baleadas
Am I ever going to have baleadas while I am here? Esa es la pregunta...
I am off to meet with a group of Calvin students who are participating in the Development Semester Study Abroad Program. And then back to "el hotel de buen gusto" for more dubbed Disney movies...
I am off to meet with a group of Calvin students who are participating in the Development Semester Study Abroad Program. And then back to "el hotel de buen gusto" for more dubbed Disney movies...
Labor rights
Another one of ASJ's projects relates to labor rights. As stated on the ASJ website, this particular equipo educates and provides legal aid for impoverished workers--fast-food workers, security guards, and cleaning women--whose most basic labor rights are abused, and advocates for changes in government and business policies oriented towards improving working conditions.
My first exposure to this particular ASJ focus was Monday when Abe was delivering the presentation on all of ASJ's projects. What I picked up on during the presentation was that ASJ has now shifted its focus from the three kinds of businesses mentioned above--fast food, security, and cleaning--to just the latter two. This shift is not necessarily purposeful; it just so happens that because of their international image, fast food companies do not want to deal with the backlash that comes from publicized abuses in countries like Honduras. Hence, after various protests in the United States and after ASJ's online publication revealed labor rights issues within the fast food industry aqui, such issues have now disappeared for the most part. Some of the attention-grabbing issues that remain within the other two groups of trabajadores are mandatory pregnancy tests for women (even for those who are too old to bear children), paying security guards for fewer hours than they work (receiving pay for 8 hours after a 12-24 hour day), and denying seniority status and retirement benefits to workers by making them sign multiple contracts that essentially start their employment period over.
(By the way, esta cayendo un macanazo de agua right now)
Although the issues themselves are heinous enough (do people who are already making next to nothing and doing difficult work deserve to have their rights ignored?), it is the response of the companies to accusations that they are violating rights that makes me cringe. Some companies--almost like the big drug companies in the US--will opt to pay the multa rather than change their policies. Others will change their names to avoid bad publicity or affiliations with past abuses. And others even will retaliate against the organizations that are calling them out. For instance, one of the empresas that has continually denied their workers the treatment they deserve--SETECH--has responded in a threatening manner to ASJ's investigations in various ways, including baseless accusations that the organization has refused to pay taxes or that the organization is not treating its employees with respect. Moreover, since the two individuals who murdered one of ASJ's lawyers (Dionisio Diaz) were former mid-level SETECH employees, suspicions on that front have arisen...
Even so, ASJ presses on. This is a resilient and brave group of people, folks. Incluso their mission statement states that the group is made up of BRAVE Christians, but you do not need their John (or Herbie) Hancock on a line to prove that. Facing personal threats (some members have admitted receiving phone calls or messages via the internet that declare that they are being followed or that someone knows where they live, etc.), these ASJ troopers continue doing their risky work because they know that what they are doing is incredibly valuable and helpful. As one of the staff members here put it, "we are being threatened because we are being truthful, but why would we want to be anything else?" This corrupt system seems to need all the verdad it can get!
Back to derechos laborales. The specific process that is involved in investigating and eliminating abuses in the workplace seems to begin with a worker from one of the companies belonging to the three sectors who feels the need to communicate his/her problems at work. This person (Carlos, por ejemplo) either talks to an ASJ investigator who happens to be visiting his workplace that day and conducting mini-consultations, contacts ASJ to explain his situation, or mentions it to a companero who has had prior experience with ASJ. The issue is investigated (THOROUGHLY) by the ASJ labor rights team, and if it can be proved that the law is being violated, the ASJ team acts accordingly. Usually this information is shared with the company involved (and/or the contracting company) to apply pressure and most times the victim remains employed. However, Abe did tell me that sometimes the company will find cause for firing an individual like Carlos when it is found that he complained, which is why it can be difficult to receive the information that ASJ needs to investigate a case properly. But when you think about it, if Carlos is not treated properly in the first place and gets fired from a position in which his rights are not honored, it might be best for him to leave that situation. On the other side of the coin, though, jobs are hard to come by here...
We should stop for a second and think about this. There are people in this country who want nothing more than to provide for themselves and their families, and they are being exploited so that the people on top can further enjoy their excessive lifestyles. Undoubtedly this happens in the US, but you can bet that the authorities alla are quick to pounce on an employer who is denying his employees their basic rights. But here we are also talking about an employee with a fourth-grade education who doesn't know any better than to accept the treatment he/she is given, regardless of how fair it seems. If a paycheck comes (and maybe it doesn't come for three months after it was due...), at least you are getting paid.
As part of my lesson on ASJ's labor rights project, I rode along with Claudia (la alta) to the Hospital Escuela, a chaotic public health facility where numerous cleaning women and security guards trabajan. I followed her through the cramped hallways of the hospital looking for someone to talk to, dodging stretchers and overhearing angry family members complain about the treatment their children, cousins, or grandparents were receiving. We made our way outside with hopes of locating at least one employee, and although the first woman--a cleaning woman who had just started eating her almuerzo--was willing to speak with us, she had only been employed with the company for a few days and did not have much to say about her working conditions. We walked over to the porton where a security guard was stationed to see what he might say about his treatment. Like another employee that we spoke to after him, this guard was more than willing to talk about his mistreatment. He revealed that he didn't think he was really receiving the insurance he was supposedly paying for and that there were occasions where he would be paid for fewer hours than he actually worked. The next guy added that the company he worked for (SETECH) had not paid him or his companeros for three months (this prompted an impromptu strike by a few of the SETECH-employed guards a few months ago) and that he didn't think he was being treated fairly by his employer. Both of the guards we spoke to had never met their employer and did not seem to understand the process they would go through to register a complaint.
There was one additional guard... This tipo told Claudia that he had only been employed for 6 months and did not want to comment for fear of repercussions. I repeat: he did not want to speak about his work conditions for fear of not having work afterward. We spend countless hours complaining about our places of employment and know pretty confidently that if we are not receiving the treatment we deserve, we can tell someone about it without serious repercussions. Aca no.
Claudia and I left the Hospital Escuela after speaking with multiple people, her feeling satisfied with a taped interview and me feeling stupefied by the need for people like Claudia to ensure that all workers' rights are respected.
But ASJ is not entirely focused on the individual, mis amigos. Their investigations are equally focused on the higher tier--the company that is contracting the services of businesses like SETECH. The intention is to pressure these companies into either losing these damaging contracts or pressuring the companies they contract to change their practices in order to receive their money. No matter how you look at it, ASJ is protecting those who need protection (ironically, some of these individuals are in the "protection" line of work themselves...) and making the bad guys pay...literally.
My first exposure to this particular ASJ focus was Monday when Abe was delivering the presentation on all of ASJ's projects. What I picked up on during the presentation was that ASJ has now shifted its focus from the three kinds of businesses mentioned above--fast food, security, and cleaning--to just the latter two. This shift is not necessarily purposeful; it just so happens that because of their international image, fast food companies do not want to deal with the backlash that comes from publicized abuses in countries like Honduras. Hence, after various protests in the United States and after ASJ's online publication revealed labor rights issues within the fast food industry aqui, such issues have now disappeared for the most part. Some of the attention-grabbing issues that remain within the other two groups of trabajadores are mandatory pregnancy tests for women (even for those who are too old to bear children), paying security guards for fewer hours than they work (receiving pay for 8 hours after a 12-24 hour day), and denying seniority status and retirement benefits to workers by making them sign multiple contracts that essentially start their employment period over.
(By the way, esta cayendo un macanazo de agua right now)
Although the issues themselves are heinous enough (do people who are already making next to nothing and doing difficult work deserve to have their rights ignored?), it is the response of the companies to accusations that they are violating rights that makes me cringe. Some companies--almost like the big drug companies in the US--will opt to pay the multa rather than change their policies. Others will change their names to avoid bad publicity or affiliations with past abuses. And others even will retaliate against the organizations that are calling them out. For instance, one of the empresas that has continually denied their workers the treatment they deserve--SETECH--has responded in a threatening manner to ASJ's investigations in various ways, including baseless accusations that the organization has refused to pay taxes or that the organization is not treating its employees with respect. Moreover, since the two individuals who murdered one of ASJ's lawyers (Dionisio Diaz) were former mid-level SETECH employees, suspicions on that front have arisen...
Even so, ASJ presses on. This is a resilient and brave group of people, folks. Incluso their mission statement states that the group is made up of BRAVE Christians, but you do not need their John (or Herbie) Hancock on a line to prove that. Facing personal threats (some members have admitted receiving phone calls or messages via the internet that declare that they are being followed or that someone knows where they live, etc.), these ASJ troopers continue doing their risky work because they know that what they are doing is incredibly valuable and helpful. As one of the staff members here put it, "we are being threatened because we are being truthful, but why would we want to be anything else?" This corrupt system seems to need all the verdad it can get!
Back to derechos laborales. The specific process that is involved in investigating and eliminating abuses in the workplace seems to begin with a worker from one of the companies belonging to the three sectors who feels the need to communicate his/her problems at work. This person (Carlos, por ejemplo) either talks to an ASJ investigator who happens to be visiting his workplace that day and conducting mini-consultations, contacts ASJ to explain his situation, or mentions it to a companero who has had prior experience with ASJ. The issue is investigated (THOROUGHLY) by the ASJ labor rights team, and if it can be proved that the law is being violated, the ASJ team acts accordingly. Usually this information is shared with the company involved (and/or the contracting company) to apply pressure and most times the victim remains employed. However, Abe did tell me that sometimes the company will find cause for firing an individual like Carlos when it is found that he complained, which is why it can be difficult to receive the information that ASJ needs to investigate a case properly. But when you think about it, if Carlos is not treated properly in the first place and gets fired from a position in which his rights are not honored, it might be best for him to leave that situation. On the other side of the coin, though, jobs are hard to come by here...
We should stop for a second and think about this. There are people in this country who want nothing more than to provide for themselves and their families, and they are being exploited so that the people on top can further enjoy their excessive lifestyles. Undoubtedly this happens in the US, but you can bet that the authorities alla are quick to pounce on an employer who is denying his employees their basic rights. But here we are also talking about an employee with a fourth-grade education who doesn't know any better than to accept the treatment he/she is given, regardless of how fair it seems. If a paycheck comes (and maybe it doesn't come for three months after it was due...), at least you are getting paid.
As part of my lesson on ASJ's labor rights project, I rode along with Claudia (la alta) to the Hospital Escuela, a chaotic public health facility where numerous cleaning women and security guards trabajan. I followed her through the cramped hallways of the hospital looking for someone to talk to, dodging stretchers and overhearing angry family members complain about the treatment their children, cousins, or grandparents were receiving. We made our way outside with hopes of locating at least one employee, and although the first woman--a cleaning woman who had just started eating her almuerzo--was willing to speak with us, she had only been employed with the company for a few days and did not have much to say about her working conditions. We walked over to the porton where a security guard was stationed to see what he might say about his treatment. Like another employee that we spoke to after him, this guard was more than willing to talk about his mistreatment. He revealed that he didn't think he was really receiving the insurance he was supposedly paying for and that there were occasions where he would be paid for fewer hours than he actually worked. The next guy added that the company he worked for (SETECH) had not paid him or his companeros for three months (this prompted an impromptu strike by a few of the SETECH-employed guards a few months ago) and that he didn't think he was being treated fairly by his employer. Both of the guards we spoke to had never met their employer and did not seem to understand the process they would go through to register a complaint.
There was one additional guard... This tipo told Claudia that he had only been employed for 6 months and did not want to comment for fear of repercussions. I repeat: he did not want to speak about his work conditions for fear of not having work afterward. We spend countless hours complaining about our places of employment and know pretty confidently that if we are not receiving the treatment we deserve, we can tell someone about it without serious repercussions. Aca no.
Claudia and I left the Hospital Escuela after speaking with multiple people, her feeling satisfied with a taped interview and me feeling stupefied by the need for people like Claudia to ensure that all workers' rights are respected.
But ASJ is not entirely focused on the individual, mis amigos. Their investigations are equally focused on the higher tier--the company that is contracting the services of businesses like SETECH. The intention is to pressure these companies into either losing these damaging contracts or pressuring the companies they contract to change their practices in order to receive their money. No matter how you look at it, ASJ is protecting those who need protection (ironically, some of these individuals are in the "protection" line of work themselves...) and making the bad guys pay...literally.
Almorzando con la gente
One of the customs I find so satisfying from Latin American culture is lunches that don't simply revolve around food. Each day this week Abe and I have gone downstairs during the noon hour to calentar whatever platos the women in our lives have prepared for us (I wouldn't be surprised if Abe made his own meals, actually) and sentarnos with the other staff members in the office. Comical conversations ensue, especially when the lunch table features Jorge, who tends to have a sarcastic comment for every conversation. Later laughter, sighs, complaints about having to go back to work, even expressed wishes for nap time (complete with hamacas, dice Abe).
This experience is distinct for me, as while I used to spend most days eating with my coworkers, I now spend each day scarfing something down while continuing on with whatever work needs to be done for the day. Lunchtime loses its luster, and the food becomes nothing more than something to fill my belly. Here the food is almost secondary to the platica that fills your belly with laughter instead of lasagna.
True, my primary role throughout the week has been listener and not conversador, but I have still benefited greatly from the break and human interaction that such a period provides. Manana, I challenge all of you to take your left hand off the keyboard while your right hand points the piece of pizza towards your open boca, and I encourage you to invite one or two of your coworkers to dine and charlar with you. It might be more fulfilling than you think!
This experience is distinct for me, as while I used to spend most days eating with my coworkers, I now spend each day scarfing something down while continuing on with whatever work needs to be done for the day. Lunchtime loses its luster, and the food becomes nothing more than something to fill my belly. Here the food is almost secondary to the platica that fills your belly with laughter instead of lasagna.
True, my primary role throughout the week has been listener and not conversador, but I have still benefited greatly from the break and human interaction that such a period provides. Manana, I challenge all of you to take your left hand off the keyboard while your right hand points the piece of pizza towards your open boca, and I encourage you to invite one or two of your coworkers to dine and charlar with you. It might be more fulfilling than you think!
Lempira Lempira Bill Y'all
Buenas.
As the majority of my morning has been slightly more disheartening than normal, I am hoping that by the end of this blog (and my cup of extremely fuerte cafe) I will have a sonrisa on my face.
Instead of beginning my day at ASJ, el taxista that is Dennis Cerrato took me to the building that houses PAG (Proyecto Aldea Global: http://www.paghonduras.org/) to meet up with Abe and spend some time with the head honcho at the organization--Chester Thomas. Chester is another gringo, but like Kurt VerBeek, he has lived in Honduras hace mucho tiempo. However, unlike Kurt VerBeek, his outlook on the current and future situation in this country is incredibly bleak. In so many words, Chet--looking, as he put it, "tired & frustrated"--explained that Honduras is a mess and that unless the government changes its stance on corruption and changes the way it operates, the future generations are going to suffer.
I was at PAG to speak to Chet about the specific role his organization plays in the movement Transformemos Honduras, and while I left with some knowledge about the potential impact of the movement (in other words, Chester's prediction of what the movement will amount to), sali knowing more about the problem than about the potential solution.
The problem involves a number of things, Chet explained. The first is apathy. People in Honduras complain an awful lot about the situation, but they do not act accordingly. This is a response I have noted on various occasions when I ask los catrachos about what they think of the current government. Obviously they speak a lot about the golpe de estado, but they also mention over and over that the corrupt practices of las autoridades have reached atrocious levels. But do they ever do anything about it? Claro que no. Luckily, their excuses for acting are running out due to the initiation of Transformemos Honduras.
Another problem according to Chet is the rampant violence that has overtaken the country. Apparently, although violence in communities like Nueva Suyapa has decreased due to the work that ASJ is doing with the Peace & Justice project, violence in the entire pais has increased tremendously. Chet used a figure like 50 to express how many murders are committed each day! In his opinion, this violence is attributed to a. low employment rates (people have no problem killing for money because they need it so bad) and b. the drug trade. About the latter reason we talked for about 10 minutes because Chet is convinced that the problems present in Honduras are directly related (and even caused by) the problems we have in the US. His claim (and it is completely logical) is that without the demand for drugs in the US, there would be no need for trafficking or for the conflicts that erupt on account of the trade. He expanded by referring to an event in the news recently in which California announced it would be legalizing marijuana. This news apparently has the effect of provoking discussion in Central America about whether it is appropriate then to legalize marijuana (consumption as well as transport), which then turns into a discussion about what else to legalize because of the actions we take. In other words, the decisiones our government makes directly affect the decisiones that governments in this neck of the woods make.
To continue on--and finish--the topic of murder, a sobering quote I took down from one of the staff members working with the Transformemos Honduras movement is that killing human beings has become just as easy as killing rats. Whoa.
Another contextual issue that Chet spoke about was the unemployment that has reached levels of 30% - 40% in this country. He labeled this one of the biggest problems that is facing the country today (and that the government has overlooked throughout the years), and he proposed solving the problem by pressuring the government to use civil works projects as a way of providing at least a small means of employment for more people. He also proposed a requirement that a certain portion of these jobs go to young people, if only to provide sufficient training for them to get better jobs after the temporary employment. You would think that the government--entrusted to serve the people and maintain the stability of the country--would think to do the same thing...
From the issue of employment arose a very interesting discussion about the methods people use here to "get by," as Chet called it. He admitted to being very impressed with Hondurans' ability to survive even when the conditions do not allow such resilience to take place. Specifically he talked about the poorest of the poor--those in "extremely bad" situations--who find ways to get by each day without any evidence of work, money, etc. Almost as a challenge, he invited someone to research and even write a book about how exactly these individuals are making it. Hmmm.... He finished by expressing doubt that the average United States citizen could be nearly as resourceful as un hondureno if the situation called for it. I hate to admit it, but estoy de acuerdo. Can you imagine a recently-laid off factory worker with an empty refrigerator walking the streets of your city selling lottery cards so that he can buy himself a sandwich? Or can you picture in your head an entire family of gringos selling candy, gum, or newspapers so that they have a roof over their heads tonight? Sure, there are people in difficult situations in the United States; I will not discount their struggles. But when people here are literally struggling to SURVIVE, they come up with a scheme to acquire un pedacito de pan. They have no government assistance. They have no safety net. They have just their wits to save them.
Just a few more cositas, les prometo.
After speaking with Abe yesterday about the ever-present power of money in keeping the earth rotating as it should, it was timely and "affirming" to hear Chet talk about the role money plays in keeping Honduras in the position it is in the world--poor, unstable, and corrupt. The talking points that I found intriguing: 1. People here only think corruption is bad when they don't get their share. 2. For governmental corruption to be eliminated, we need to offer a monetary incentive to the individuals involved to convince them to speak out about the weasely ways of their companeros. Chet said he would gladly contribute to the fondo if he had the pisto to do so, but he is also doubtful that the fund would last long because of all the people who would want to take advantage of such an opportunity. As he put it, "people won't speak up about corruption unless they know for certain they will still have a job at the end of the day."
All of these points bring us back to Transformemos Honduras, the movement that has been gaining momentum since the coup and that seeks to (among many things) eliminate the corruption that cripples the country. When I asked Chet if the movement will be able to deal with the numerous malos that he outlined in our discussion, he responded with the most affirmative statement of the day. No, he did not give a resounding "Si!" He simply predicted that the movement--of which his organization is a partner--will succeed if the groups involved come from all spheres of society--not just religious or non-profit--and if the movement "goes public" with the information it finds and with its criticism. In other words, he is hopeful....I think.
Mr. Thomas did not convince me that Honduras has a future. He is personally afraid for his grandchildren's well-being; he is tired and frustrated and occasionally feels that the organization he directs is doing more harm than good (one of the stories he shared involved a community in which an apple orchard was introduced into the community to increase food supply and commerce, but instead of improving the well-being of the gente involved, the money received from the venture was used by los varones to drink night after night); and he does not envision an end to the corruption. However, he is committed to the work he is doing, and he has an approach to development that other organizations do not. He is a big believer in "social auditing," which basically relates to the analysis one does of an organization's projects. Of his own organization and of others (including the political organization known as the government), he follows up on the different initiatives to ensure that the impact is what it should be and that money is being used the way it should be to better the lives of the intended audience. Social auditing...what a concept.
Ya. This post is largo, I know, but there was a lot to digest from the meeting this morning. Before I forget, I have to sure something comical. For those of you who are familiar with the speech patterns of Hondurans, you know that they end most of their phrases with "va." Well, when Abe and I were washing our dirty dishes in the sink yesterday, another staff member approached us and said "le pone a lavar, va?" (time to wash, huh?). I thought he said "le pone a la barba" (you are putting on on a beard) and immediately felt the need to ask Abe to explain this new hondurenismo. Alas, it was simply a misinterpretation on my part...
As the majority of my morning has been slightly more disheartening than normal, I am hoping that by the end of this blog (and my cup of extremely fuerte cafe) I will have a sonrisa on my face.
Instead of beginning my day at ASJ, el taxista that is Dennis Cerrato took me to the building that houses PAG (Proyecto Aldea Global: http://www.paghonduras.org/) to meet up with Abe and spend some time with the head honcho at the organization--Chester Thomas. Chester is another gringo, but like Kurt VerBeek, he has lived in Honduras hace mucho tiempo. However, unlike Kurt VerBeek, his outlook on the current and future situation in this country is incredibly bleak. In so many words, Chet--looking, as he put it, "tired & frustrated"--explained that Honduras is a mess and that unless the government changes its stance on corruption and changes the way it operates, the future generations are going to suffer.
I was at PAG to speak to Chet about the specific role his organization plays in the movement Transformemos Honduras, and while I left with some knowledge about the potential impact of the movement (in other words, Chester's prediction of what the movement will amount to), sali knowing more about the problem than about the potential solution.
The problem involves a number of things, Chet explained. The first is apathy. People in Honduras complain an awful lot about the situation, but they do not act accordingly. This is a response I have noted on various occasions when I ask los catrachos about what they think of the current government. Obviously they speak a lot about the golpe de estado, but they also mention over and over that the corrupt practices of las autoridades have reached atrocious levels. But do they ever do anything about it? Claro que no. Luckily, their excuses for acting are running out due to the initiation of Transformemos Honduras.
Another problem according to Chet is the rampant violence that has overtaken the country. Apparently, although violence in communities like Nueva Suyapa has decreased due to the work that ASJ is doing with the Peace & Justice project, violence in the entire pais has increased tremendously. Chet used a figure like 50 to express how many murders are committed each day! In his opinion, this violence is attributed to a. low employment rates (people have no problem killing for money because they need it so bad) and b. the drug trade. About the latter reason we talked for about 10 minutes because Chet is convinced that the problems present in Honduras are directly related (and even caused by) the problems we have in the US. His claim (and it is completely logical) is that without the demand for drugs in the US, there would be no need for trafficking or for the conflicts that erupt on account of the trade. He expanded by referring to an event in the news recently in which California announced it would be legalizing marijuana. This news apparently has the effect of provoking discussion in Central America about whether it is appropriate then to legalize marijuana (consumption as well as transport), which then turns into a discussion about what else to legalize because of the actions we take. In other words, the decisiones our government makes directly affect the decisiones that governments in this neck of the woods make.
To continue on--and finish--the topic of murder, a sobering quote I took down from one of the staff members working with the Transformemos Honduras movement is that killing human beings has become just as easy as killing rats. Whoa.
Another contextual issue that Chet spoke about was the unemployment that has reached levels of 30% - 40% in this country. He labeled this one of the biggest problems that is facing the country today (and that the government has overlooked throughout the years), and he proposed solving the problem by pressuring the government to use civil works projects as a way of providing at least a small means of employment for more people. He also proposed a requirement that a certain portion of these jobs go to young people, if only to provide sufficient training for them to get better jobs after the temporary employment. You would think that the government--entrusted to serve the people and maintain the stability of the country--would think to do the same thing...
From the issue of employment arose a very interesting discussion about the methods people use here to "get by," as Chet called it. He admitted to being very impressed with Hondurans' ability to survive even when the conditions do not allow such resilience to take place. Specifically he talked about the poorest of the poor--those in "extremely bad" situations--who find ways to get by each day without any evidence of work, money, etc. Almost as a challenge, he invited someone to research and even write a book about how exactly these individuals are making it. Hmmm.... He finished by expressing doubt that the average United States citizen could be nearly as resourceful as un hondureno if the situation called for it. I hate to admit it, but estoy de acuerdo. Can you imagine a recently-laid off factory worker with an empty refrigerator walking the streets of your city selling lottery cards so that he can buy himself a sandwich? Or can you picture in your head an entire family of gringos selling candy, gum, or newspapers so that they have a roof over their heads tonight? Sure, there are people in difficult situations in the United States; I will not discount their struggles. But when people here are literally struggling to SURVIVE, they come up with a scheme to acquire un pedacito de pan. They have no government assistance. They have no safety net. They have just their wits to save them.
Just a few more cositas, les prometo.
After speaking with Abe yesterday about the ever-present power of money in keeping the earth rotating as it should, it was timely and "affirming" to hear Chet talk about the role money plays in keeping Honduras in the position it is in the world--poor, unstable, and corrupt. The talking points that I found intriguing: 1. People here only think corruption is bad when they don't get their share. 2. For governmental corruption to be eliminated, we need to offer a monetary incentive to the individuals involved to convince them to speak out about the weasely ways of their companeros. Chet said he would gladly contribute to the fondo if he had the pisto to do so, but he is also doubtful that the fund would last long because of all the people who would want to take advantage of such an opportunity. As he put it, "people won't speak up about corruption unless they know for certain they will still have a job at the end of the day."
All of these points bring us back to Transformemos Honduras, the movement that has been gaining momentum since the coup and that seeks to (among many things) eliminate the corruption that cripples the country. When I asked Chet if the movement will be able to deal with the numerous malos that he outlined in our discussion, he responded with the most affirmative statement of the day. No, he did not give a resounding "Si!" He simply predicted that the movement--of which his organization is a partner--will succeed if the groups involved come from all spheres of society--not just religious or non-profit--and if the movement "goes public" with the information it finds and with its criticism. In other words, he is hopeful....I think.
Mr. Thomas did not convince me that Honduras has a future. He is personally afraid for his grandchildren's well-being; he is tired and frustrated and occasionally feels that the organization he directs is doing more harm than good (one of the stories he shared involved a community in which an apple orchard was introduced into the community to increase food supply and commerce, but instead of improving the well-being of the gente involved, the money received from the venture was used by los varones to drink night after night); and he does not envision an end to the corruption. However, he is committed to the work he is doing, and he has an approach to development that other organizations do not. He is a big believer in "social auditing," which basically relates to the analysis one does of an organization's projects. Of his own organization and of others (including the political organization known as the government), he follows up on the different initiatives to ensure that the impact is what it should be and that money is being used the way it should be to better the lives of the intended audience. Social auditing...what a concept.
Ya. This post is largo, I know, but there was a lot to digest from the meeting this morning. Before I forget, I have to sure something comical. For those of you who are familiar with the speech patterns of Hondurans, you know that they end most of their phrases with "va." Well, when Abe and I were washing our dirty dishes in the sink yesterday, another staff member approached us and said "le pone a lavar, va?" (time to wash, huh?). I thought he said "le pone a la barba" (you are putting on on a beard) and immediately felt the need to ask Abe to explain this new hondurenismo. Alas, it was simply a misinterpretation on my part...
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Gideon Centers
This is going to be my first posting that relates to a specific ASJ project. Most of what you read comes from the notes I took while a. listening to presentaciones or b. recording my observaciones when taken on excursions or outings. As each day I learn something new, what you are receiving might viene un poco tarde o might not seem to be recienrecibido. Regardless, I did my best to record what I was seeing and how I was feeling as I explored the different facets of this wonderful organization.
Before I begin to unleash my "expert" criticism, I have been feeling the conviction today to express my gratitude in a public manner for what the staff at ASJ has done for me during my viajito. A todos los miembros de ASJ, I must offer the most sincere gratitude for taking time out of their busy schedules to provide bastante information about what they do, for driving me to varios sitios to observe the incredible work that ASJ is doing, and for exhibiting un monton de patience as it pertains to explanations and las preguntas que hago yo when I do not understand exactly what is being described. Todos aca son bondadosos y generosos!
I imagine you are tired of hearing me talk about the incredible work that ASJ is doing without actually talking about the work. Well, empiezo ahora with Gedeon, or as it is called in English, the Gideon Centers.
In a nutshell, the Gideon Centers are offices located in poor communities offering legal aid and psychological counseling for a symbolic fee (clients are asked to bring a donation of 10 lempiras for the services they receive, which Abe and other ASJ staff explained to me is usually paid not because people feel obligated but because it makes the services more valuable to them). Before doing a site visit, Abe gave me a brief introduction about the services offered by the project as a whole. What grabbed me was a. the centers now service 1,000 clients each year, b. in addition to helping clients who seek legal counsel and psychological help, the centers also help individuals who want to make a difference by training them to be paralegals and counselors (Abe added that some of the staff members at the center know just as much about the legal system and about counseling as professional lawyers and counselors but do not have the certification or the hourly rate), c. the most typical cases in the community relate to child support, domestic violence, and depression, d. one of the project's specific tasks is tutoring school children, particularly those who need supplemental services.
According to Abe (what an experto this guy!), most of the schools in Honduras do not have the expertise or the resources to deal with children who have learning disabilities of any kind, so they are essentially pushed to the wayside or left without any opportunity to learn in a typical academic environment. How blessed I am to be working in a school that not only knows how to "deal" with learning disabilities but that also treats the children who have them with the respect and attention they deserve. For me, a learning disability is in no way disabling, while the teachers here apparently feel unable to help the children who need them most.
But back to Gedeon...e. the flip-side to the Peace & Justice project (I will get to that later) are two projects that are both preventing youth from joining gangs or the perpetrators of the violent acts that ASJ investigates and equipping youth to be productive members of society. In other words, ASJ is coming at the issue of injustice and violence from multiple fronts at the same time. Logic (and I remind my readers that logic is not the force that makes the world go round) would inform me that such a tactic would allow one project (Gideon Centers) to negate the need for the other (Peace & Justice). The two youth projects I am referring to are distinct: one--IMPACTO--involves bringing youth together for an hour a week to participate in exercises that incorporate values-based curriculum, play, and community betterment; the other--dryly called H-88 by the UN--allows unemployed, unschooled "at risk" youth to receive vocational training and eventually find viable employment. While the former initiative works wonders for community-based development, the latter is a wonderful example of how municipal authorities, non-governmental organizations, and international entities can work together to better the lives of young people. In this case, the UN provides the funds, ASJ selects the youth to be involved in the project, and the mayor's office of Tegucigalpa finds the youth jobs once their internship is finished. And with dozens ya graduados, the project looks to be a huge success! One of the women who you will read more about later--Nancy--informed me that one of the boys involved in the program now works for the Marriott in Tegucigalpa as a chef and another has found a full-time position as a mechanic in the city. But guess what? Of all of the projects that the UN can disassemble, it is the one making a difference that is going to be canned. Yep, I was told by Kurt VerBeek that the UN is considering suspending funds to H-88 because money is tight. Uh-huh. Here you find an initiative that a. provides jobs to young people who would otherwise wind up in gangs or simply on the streets, b. creates a partnership between entities that are normally (tristemente) in conflict, c. produces productive members of society, and d. doesn't cost much, and the response is to terminate it? As Abe puts it, such is the life of a non-profit. Que barbaridad!
When Abe's introductory spiel was over, I was taken to one of the centers in a community called Flor del Campo, where I learned more about the specific services this center offers. Nancy--a hard-working paralegal who also represents the Catholic contribution to the project--and Mario--a jolly and somewhat-eccentric individual who works with the counseling side of the project--were nice enough to sit with me in the coolest part of the building that houses the center. Mario initiated the discussion by explaining how the project had begun, while Nancy talked more about the clients who normally come to Gedeon. According to Mario (who ended each of his sentences with the nearly-rhetorical question, "Verdad?"), the Gideon Center project began as a response to the "problematica hondurena" and has ecumenical roots (this has become a major theme throughout the projects I have explored, which gives me hope about the divide I observed the last time I was here between Catholic and Evangelical factions). Several church leaders were trained in development strategies and began to propose responses to the ills found in Honduran society. These responses (legal assistance, counseling, etc.) became the means through which Gedeon improved the surrounding communities.
I was intrigued by this concept of the "Honduran problem," so I asked Mario to explain in his propias palabras what exactly he was referring to. He stated that 1. Honduras is a poor country, and such poverty stems from injustice, 2. delinquency has become a business through which cops receive money from the delinquents to avert their attention and thus crime increases, and 3. Honduras has an extensive and incredible system of laws....but they are not enforced. This fact has been expressed to me multiple times throughout my visit, and it certainly frustrates me. Why even make the laws if you aren't willing to enforce them? Why spell out exactly how you want your society to run if you don't take the steps to make it run in exactly that manera? Argh, digo yo. Argh. Mario's explanation of the Honduran problem naturally converted into a description of the problems he sees in the specific community in which he works. He described the marital issues, the depression, and the involvement of young people in gangs. He also explained a bit more what he does with the IMPACTO groups, but since I would be attending one later in the afternoon, he stopped himself mid-explanation ("Va a ver usted," dice).
Nancy then continued the discussion by talking about her role as the paralegal and about her involvement with the IMPACTO groups. As her group (the older youth) meets on Saturday, I was not going to be able to see her interaction with youth, so she provided enough information for me to understand what goes on. One part of the story that was especially moving began when I asked about the lack of female presence in the program (there are currently zero females participating in the IMPACTO groups). Nancy explained to me that since the brutal murder of one of her group members at the hands of a futbol-associated gang (in Honduras two of the gangs represent the two opposing equipos de futbol--Montagua y Olimpia), the other muchachas have decided not to come anymore. Understandable, but why don't las chavas go to Mario's group? What factor is limiting the involvement of females--an equally vulnerable group in the community? I was handed the newspaper article that told of the grotesque way in which this poor girl was murdered (it also showed the mutilated body, by the way...), and after reading the sentence that described how no one had helped the girl when she was pleading for her life (individuals in the community admitted to hearing her screams and pleas), I realized how much fear people are living with in these communities. Mario confirmed that realization and added that unless the person being attacked was a direct relative, no one in their right mind would interfere. Me pone pensar: would I react in the same way? Would I risk my life by stepping in to potentially save a dying neighbor? Would I risk the safety of my family by doing the same? Most likely not.
The "presentation" had ended, so Mario gave me a short tour of the facilities and then left me in Nancy's hands to walk around the community and talk with the beneficiaries of the Gideon Center's legal services. We ended at the site where Mario's IMPACTO group would be meeting to find a throng of energetic boys reading to play la pelota. Entonces, while we waited for Mario to arrive with his materials, the boys played--some without shirts, some with shoes that had a gaping hole in front, some with funny nicknames ("Selena" was the boy who looked like a girl, "Ballena" was the chubby kid, "Chele" was the white boy), but all with the desire to kick the ball as hard as they could. Yeah, I was asked to play. If you don't know my response to that question, read my earlier blog postings...
Mario finally arrived and corralled the boys together to begin the meeting (I don't think the pelotas were ever under control during the meeting...), which consists of various activities. The meetings are actually based on a curriculum developed in Romania that stresses values, community development, and recreational activities. First, the boys began by playing a game (in this case they had to stand across from one another and pretend like they were looking in a mirror). Then they discussed facets of the game and the reasons for doing it. Second, the boys listened to a story--a fable of sorts. They again discussed the story and how it applied to their lives. Third, the boys used what they learned through the story to decide on a community project for the week. Several boys volunteered for different roles and the decisions were documented. Finally, the boys received a snack and returned to their futbol game. Obviously there is some degree of caos to a meeting of 23 young whipper-snappers, but in truth the majority of the boys were engaged the entire time! They responded to questions about the story; they participated in the activity; and they behaved themselves. I repeat, these are at-risk, pelota-playing kids. Increible, ve?
Apart from the fun dynamics of the meeting, I was impressed by how intentional the structure was. Each portion of the meeting had a purpose, and being engaged in the values-based curriculum was almost a natural response to its presence. And the kids absolutely loved to be there! So much so that when the sign-in sheet arrived, they fought over who could sign it first and registrar.
For additional information about the impact of the Gideon Centers, check out the link below:
http://www.ajs-us.org/gideon_project.htm
More observations to come, complete with analysis & reflections.
Before I begin to unleash my "expert" criticism, I have been feeling the conviction today to express my gratitude in a public manner for what the staff at ASJ has done for me during my viajito. A todos los miembros de ASJ, I must offer the most sincere gratitude for taking time out of their busy schedules to provide bastante information about what they do, for driving me to varios sitios to observe the incredible work that ASJ is doing, and for exhibiting un monton de patience as it pertains to explanations and las preguntas que hago yo when I do not understand exactly what is being described. Todos aca son bondadosos y generosos!
I imagine you are tired of hearing me talk about the incredible work that ASJ is doing without actually talking about the work. Well, empiezo ahora with Gedeon, or as it is called in English, the Gideon Centers.
In a nutshell, the Gideon Centers are offices located in poor communities offering legal aid and psychological counseling for a symbolic fee (clients are asked to bring a donation of 10 lempiras for the services they receive, which Abe and other ASJ staff explained to me is usually paid not because people feel obligated but because it makes the services more valuable to them). Before doing a site visit, Abe gave me a brief introduction about the services offered by the project as a whole. What grabbed me was a. the centers now service 1,000 clients each year, b. in addition to helping clients who seek legal counsel and psychological help, the centers also help individuals who want to make a difference by training them to be paralegals and counselors (Abe added that some of the staff members at the center know just as much about the legal system and about counseling as professional lawyers and counselors but do not have the certification or the hourly rate), c. the most typical cases in the community relate to child support, domestic violence, and depression, d. one of the project's specific tasks is tutoring school children, particularly those who need supplemental services.
According to Abe (what an experto this guy!), most of the schools in Honduras do not have the expertise or the resources to deal with children who have learning disabilities of any kind, so they are essentially pushed to the wayside or left without any opportunity to learn in a typical academic environment. How blessed I am to be working in a school that not only knows how to "deal" with learning disabilities but that also treats the children who have them with the respect and attention they deserve. For me, a learning disability is in no way disabling, while the teachers here apparently feel unable to help the children who need them most.
But back to Gedeon...e. the flip-side to the Peace & Justice project (I will get to that later) are two projects that are both preventing youth from joining gangs or the perpetrators of the violent acts that ASJ investigates and equipping youth to be productive members of society. In other words, ASJ is coming at the issue of injustice and violence from multiple fronts at the same time. Logic (and I remind my readers that logic is not the force that makes the world go round) would inform me that such a tactic would allow one project (Gideon Centers) to negate the need for the other (Peace & Justice). The two youth projects I am referring to are distinct: one--IMPACTO--involves bringing youth together for an hour a week to participate in exercises that incorporate values-based curriculum, play, and community betterment; the other--dryly called H-88 by the UN--allows unemployed, unschooled "at risk" youth to receive vocational training and eventually find viable employment. While the former initiative works wonders for community-based development, the latter is a wonderful example of how municipal authorities, non-governmental organizations, and international entities can work together to better the lives of young people. In this case, the UN provides the funds, ASJ selects the youth to be involved in the project, and the mayor's office of Tegucigalpa finds the youth jobs once their internship is finished. And with dozens ya graduados, the project looks to be a huge success! One of the women who you will read more about later--Nancy--informed me that one of the boys involved in the program now works for the Marriott in Tegucigalpa as a chef and another has found a full-time position as a mechanic in the city. But guess what? Of all of the projects that the UN can disassemble, it is the one making a difference that is going to be canned. Yep, I was told by Kurt VerBeek that the UN is considering suspending funds to H-88 because money is tight. Uh-huh. Here you find an initiative that a. provides jobs to young people who would otherwise wind up in gangs or simply on the streets, b. creates a partnership between entities that are normally (tristemente) in conflict, c. produces productive members of society, and d. doesn't cost much, and the response is to terminate it? As Abe puts it, such is the life of a non-profit. Que barbaridad!
When Abe's introductory spiel was over, I was taken to one of the centers in a community called Flor del Campo, where I learned more about the specific services this center offers. Nancy--a hard-working paralegal who also represents the Catholic contribution to the project--and Mario--a jolly and somewhat-eccentric individual who works with the counseling side of the project--were nice enough to sit with me in the coolest part of the building that houses the center. Mario initiated the discussion by explaining how the project had begun, while Nancy talked more about the clients who normally come to Gedeon. According to Mario (who ended each of his sentences with the nearly-rhetorical question, "Verdad?"), the Gideon Center project began as a response to the "problematica hondurena" and has ecumenical roots (this has become a major theme throughout the projects I have explored, which gives me hope about the divide I observed the last time I was here between Catholic and Evangelical factions). Several church leaders were trained in development strategies and began to propose responses to the ills found in Honduran society. These responses (legal assistance, counseling, etc.) became the means through which Gedeon improved the surrounding communities.
I was intrigued by this concept of the "Honduran problem," so I asked Mario to explain in his propias palabras what exactly he was referring to. He stated that 1. Honduras is a poor country, and such poverty stems from injustice, 2. delinquency has become a business through which cops receive money from the delinquents to avert their attention and thus crime increases, and 3. Honduras has an extensive and incredible system of laws....but they are not enforced. This fact has been expressed to me multiple times throughout my visit, and it certainly frustrates me. Why even make the laws if you aren't willing to enforce them? Why spell out exactly how you want your society to run if you don't take the steps to make it run in exactly that manera? Argh, digo yo. Argh. Mario's explanation of the Honduran problem naturally converted into a description of the problems he sees in the specific community in which he works. He described the marital issues, the depression, and the involvement of young people in gangs. He also explained a bit more what he does with the IMPACTO groups, but since I would be attending one later in the afternoon, he stopped himself mid-explanation ("Va a ver usted," dice).
Nancy then continued the discussion by talking about her role as the paralegal and about her involvement with the IMPACTO groups. As her group (the older youth) meets on Saturday, I was not going to be able to see her interaction with youth, so she provided enough information for me to understand what goes on. One part of the story that was especially moving began when I asked about the lack of female presence in the program (there are currently zero females participating in the IMPACTO groups). Nancy explained to me that since the brutal murder of one of her group members at the hands of a futbol-associated gang (in Honduras two of the gangs represent the two opposing equipos de futbol--Montagua y Olimpia), the other muchachas have decided not to come anymore. Understandable, but why don't las chavas go to Mario's group? What factor is limiting the involvement of females--an equally vulnerable group in the community? I was handed the newspaper article that told of the grotesque way in which this poor girl was murdered (it also showed the mutilated body, by the way...), and after reading the sentence that described how no one had helped the girl when she was pleading for her life (individuals in the community admitted to hearing her screams and pleas), I realized how much fear people are living with in these communities. Mario confirmed that realization and added that unless the person being attacked was a direct relative, no one in their right mind would interfere. Me pone pensar: would I react in the same way? Would I risk my life by stepping in to potentially save a dying neighbor? Would I risk the safety of my family by doing the same? Most likely not.
The "presentation" had ended, so Mario gave me a short tour of the facilities and then left me in Nancy's hands to walk around the community and talk with the beneficiaries of the Gideon Center's legal services. We ended at the site where Mario's IMPACTO group would be meeting to find a throng of energetic boys reading to play la pelota. Entonces, while we waited for Mario to arrive with his materials, the boys played--some without shirts, some with shoes that had a gaping hole in front, some with funny nicknames ("Selena" was the boy who looked like a girl, "Ballena" was the chubby kid, "Chele" was the white boy), but all with the desire to kick the ball as hard as they could. Yeah, I was asked to play. If you don't know my response to that question, read my earlier blog postings...
Mario finally arrived and corralled the boys together to begin the meeting (I don't think the pelotas were ever under control during the meeting...), which consists of various activities. The meetings are actually based on a curriculum developed in Romania that stresses values, community development, and recreational activities. First, the boys began by playing a game (in this case they had to stand across from one another and pretend like they were looking in a mirror). Then they discussed facets of the game and the reasons for doing it. Second, the boys listened to a story--a fable of sorts. They again discussed the story and how it applied to their lives. Third, the boys used what they learned through the story to decide on a community project for the week. Several boys volunteered for different roles and the decisions were documented. Finally, the boys received a snack and returned to their futbol game. Obviously there is some degree of caos to a meeting of 23 young whipper-snappers, but in truth the majority of the boys were engaged the entire time! They responded to questions about the story; they participated in the activity; and they behaved themselves. I repeat, these are at-risk, pelota-playing kids. Increible, ve?
Apart from the fun dynamics of the meeting, I was impressed by how intentional the structure was. Each portion of the meeting had a purpose, and being engaged in the values-based curriculum was almost a natural response to its presence. And the kids absolutely loved to be there! So much so that when the sign-in sheet arrived, they fought over who could sign it first and registrar.
For additional information about the impact of the Gideon Centers, check out the link below:
http://www.ajs-us.org/gideon_project.htm
More observations to come, complete with analysis & reflections.
El dia de tumulo
Ya regreso.
Gracias por los comentarios! I love receiving feedback, especially when it comes from people who have experienced similar situations (la muchacha who previously stayed with my family even left a note!).
Today (only a few days before my salida) has been slightly more relaxed, but mainly because the event that was scheduled for this morning ended earlier than expected. Let me first fill you in on what occurred post-blogging yesterday. Abe (in his half-souped-up Mazda Protege (essentially, it has a CD player with an interactive face plate)) whisked me away to Decora--the place of employment of his esposa hermosa--where I was able to quickly peruse the toilets and tiles that only the wealthiest gente in Teguc are able to afford. Then, after bringing Cynthia (la esposa) to the university she attends, I was treated to dinner at Pupusas Miraflores. As it had been an incredibly long time since I had tasted pupusas, it was a real treat, but more so because I spent un rato with Abe and Cynthia. They are a pleasant pair, and there is no way I could find reason to chocar with people who like movies almost as much as I do. Los dos brought me back home, spent about an hour with the Cerrato family, and left me at just the right time--the two most popular Disney shows were beginning (think Demi Lovato & Selena Gomez, who coincidentally happen to be latinas), and the chavalos do not appreciate any interruptions during this period. I fell asleep at a reasonable time (11:30 p.m.) and woke up this morning to the familiar sound of children running barefoot through the home, cereal bowls crashing to the floor, and a stern, motherly voice reminding her chaotic children in Spanish that school was beginning "ahora mismo!" When I actually found my way to the breakfast table, one of the children (Jonathan) joined his father in teaching me some new vocabulary: chasta, charula, masiso, papo, and pereza. If you have a hard time understanding the meanings of these words, you best come down south to ask!
Arriving at ASJ, I was immediately rushed to the vehicle (I am pretty sure it belonged to the group of vehicles that was purchased via assistance from the foundation I used to work for) that would take me to the community where several young girls and their mothers were going to be picked up and transported to the tribunal. Today happened to be the day that one of the Rescate cases was reaching its final stage, which means that an individual was being tried by ASJ and an appointed prosecutor for sexually abusing menores de edad (minors). I was fortunately invited to not only attend the trial but to also accompany the team that had worked on the case for over a year when they went to retrieve the victims and their families. The trip to the community was somewhat eerie, and it didn't help that whatever was being talked about on the radio had something to do with being addicted to sex. However, the mood turned to relatively comical (at least for me) when we arrived at the spot where the girls and their mothers were waiting, as we attempted to fit 9 individuals in what amounted to a large pick-up truck (4-door) and the two girls who were at the heart of the case--the two most important individuals--opted to sit in the bed of the truck on the way to the courthouse. Meanwhile the gringo was pushed up against the window trying to decide whether taking a photograph was at all possible...
When we arrived at the courthouse, I was able to see the tail end of one unrelated case (the prosecutor essentially read the thousand-page writ sitting on his desk while the lawyer representing the defense put his best foot forward by way of one- or two-word responses) and what I imagined would be a harrowing experience via the ASJ-led trial. Sadly (and happily a la vez), the trial was cut short when the prosecution side asked for the trial to be made private so that the girls' privacy could be respected and so that both sides could come to what amounted to a plea bargain for the accused individual. The audiencia was asked to leave the room, and I began to talk to the investigator who gave me more information about the way these cases tend to work. It seemed very similar to the way the system functions in the los Estados Unidos except that the biggest penalty a criminal could receive for his crimes is 30 years. True, 30 years is still a ton of time, but if you compare such a sentence to those in the U.S. you realize that we have much longer sentences in similar cases. Apparently this is done in Honduras to avoid over-crowding in prisons and because of the squalid conditions present in such facilities, but it still provokes a lot of uneasiness. Eventually we learned that the now-reo had agreed to a sentence of 7 1/2 years for each of the crimes he committed, which in this specific case turned out to be two...at this point. I found out later that this same individual is going back to trial in August for two other suspected crimes of the same nature. When all is said and done, this former security guard could be on the opposite side of the law for the full 30 years.
What struck me most about this experience was a. the bravery of the victims, who came prepared to testify against their attacker, b. the amount of time and effort the ASJ employees put into the case (the private lawyer assigned to the case informed me that there was no duda in her mind or in the minds of her companeros that they were going to lose the case because of all the work they had done), and c. the numerous other cases that are being investigated at this point in time. Speaking with the lawyer, I caught that nearly 40 cases have already reached the courts and that dozens more were being investigated--all involving sexual abuse and children. Que horror that these crimes are so prevalent here, but que macanudo that there are people like the ASJ staff who care enough to risk their safety to bring justice to the most vulnerable populations.
On another note, I thought I should mention that regardless of the time I spent in Honduras a few years ago, it is apparent based on people's comments here that my accent is more mexicano than catracho. Abe has been assigned the task of correcting that problema, but I will admit on this blog that I do not consider it a problem to use "chido" rather than "cheque" or "andale" rather than "vaya pues." Maybe I should just mix the phrases: "chidoque" or "anda pues." Vale.
I still need to blog about the different projects I have heard about while spending mis vacaciones aca, but that will come when mas Coca venga. Coca: la leche del pueblo and the refresco preferido de los Bloggers.
As Jonathan likes to say to me whenever 11:00 p.m. comes around, "Go to bed. Park skeleton."
Gracias por los comentarios! I love receiving feedback, especially when it comes from people who have experienced similar situations (la muchacha who previously stayed with my family even left a note!).
Today (only a few days before my salida) has been slightly more relaxed, but mainly because the event that was scheduled for this morning ended earlier than expected. Let me first fill you in on what occurred post-blogging yesterday. Abe (in his half-souped-up Mazda Protege (essentially, it has a CD player with an interactive face plate)) whisked me away to Decora--the place of employment of his esposa hermosa--where I was able to quickly peruse the toilets and tiles that only the wealthiest gente in Teguc are able to afford. Then, after bringing Cynthia (la esposa) to the university she attends, I was treated to dinner at Pupusas Miraflores. As it had been an incredibly long time since I had tasted pupusas, it was a real treat, but more so because I spent un rato with Abe and Cynthia. They are a pleasant pair, and there is no way I could find reason to chocar with people who like movies almost as much as I do. Los dos brought me back home, spent about an hour with the Cerrato family, and left me at just the right time--the two most popular Disney shows were beginning (think Demi Lovato & Selena Gomez, who coincidentally happen to be latinas), and the chavalos do not appreciate any interruptions during this period. I fell asleep at a reasonable time (11:30 p.m.) and woke up this morning to the familiar sound of children running barefoot through the home, cereal bowls crashing to the floor, and a stern, motherly voice reminding her chaotic children in Spanish that school was beginning "ahora mismo!" When I actually found my way to the breakfast table, one of the children (Jonathan) joined his father in teaching me some new vocabulary: chasta, charula, masiso, papo, and pereza. If you have a hard time understanding the meanings of these words, you best come down south to ask!
Arriving at ASJ, I was immediately rushed to the vehicle (I am pretty sure it belonged to the group of vehicles that was purchased via assistance from the foundation I used to work for) that would take me to the community where several young girls and their mothers were going to be picked up and transported to the tribunal. Today happened to be the day that one of the Rescate cases was reaching its final stage, which means that an individual was being tried by ASJ and an appointed prosecutor for sexually abusing menores de edad (minors). I was fortunately invited to not only attend the trial but to also accompany the team that had worked on the case for over a year when they went to retrieve the victims and their families. The trip to the community was somewhat eerie, and it didn't help that whatever was being talked about on the radio had something to do with being addicted to sex. However, the mood turned to relatively comical (at least for me) when we arrived at the spot where the girls and their mothers were waiting, as we attempted to fit 9 individuals in what amounted to a large pick-up truck (4-door) and the two girls who were at the heart of the case--the two most important individuals--opted to sit in the bed of the truck on the way to the courthouse. Meanwhile the gringo was pushed up against the window trying to decide whether taking a photograph was at all possible...
When we arrived at the courthouse, I was able to see the tail end of one unrelated case (the prosecutor essentially read the thousand-page writ sitting on his desk while the lawyer representing the defense put his best foot forward by way of one- or two-word responses) and what I imagined would be a harrowing experience via the ASJ-led trial. Sadly (and happily a la vez), the trial was cut short when the prosecution side asked for the trial to be made private so that the girls' privacy could be respected and so that both sides could come to what amounted to a plea bargain for the accused individual. The audiencia was asked to leave the room, and I began to talk to the investigator who gave me more information about the way these cases tend to work. It seemed very similar to the way the system functions in the los Estados Unidos except that the biggest penalty a criminal could receive for his crimes is 30 years. True, 30 years is still a ton of time, but if you compare such a sentence to those in the U.S. you realize that we have much longer sentences in similar cases. Apparently this is done in Honduras to avoid over-crowding in prisons and because of the squalid conditions present in such facilities, but it still provokes a lot of uneasiness. Eventually we learned that the now-reo had agreed to a sentence of 7 1/2 years for each of the crimes he committed, which in this specific case turned out to be two...at this point. I found out later that this same individual is going back to trial in August for two other suspected crimes of the same nature. When all is said and done, this former security guard could be on the opposite side of the law for the full 30 years.
What struck me most about this experience was a. the bravery of the victims, who came prepared to testify against their attacker, b. the amount of time and effort the ASJ employees put into the case (the private lawyer assigned to the case informed me that there was no duda in her mind or in the minds of her companeros that they were going to lose the case because of all the work they had done), and c. the numerous other cases that are being investigated at this point in time. Speaking with the lawyer, I caught that nearly 40 cases have already reached the courts and that dozens more were being investigated--all involving sexual abuse and children. Que horror that these crimes are so prevalent here, but que macanudo that there are people like the ASJ staff who care enough to risk their safety to bring justice to the most vulnerable populations.
On another note, I thought I should mention that regardless of the time I spent in Honduras a few years ago, it is apparent based on people's comments here that my accent is more mexicano than catracho. Abe has been assigned the task of correcting that problema, but I will admit on this blog that I do not consider it a problem to use "chido" rather than "cheque" or "andale" rather than "vaya pues." Maybe I should just mix the phrases: "chidoque" or "anda pues." Vale.
I still need to blog about the different projects I have heard about while spending mis vacaciones aca, but that will come when mas Coca venga. Coca: la leche del pueblo and the refresco preferido de los Bloggers.
As Jonathan likes to say to me whenever 11:00 p.m. comes around, "Go to bed. Park skeleton."
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