El Progreso is the sort of place that can give and take away credence from Thomas Friedman’s “flat-earth” idea. On one hand, Honduran unemployment is stemmed to an extent by the surrounding factories (Hanes, Pepsi) and plantations (namely Chiquita). But on the other, massive Burger King, Pizza Hut, and KFC signs dominate the skyline, corroding local culture. El Progreso is Honduras exemplified on a miniature scale- it is at the geographical and political center of major cities and points of interest and where the country’s poorest and richest meet in a swirl of national pride and vague passion.
This is where I stayed during my ten-day service trip in Honduras. I was housed in relative luxury, ate like a king, and had access to the most interesting and important people and places for miles around. I went into Honduras with a notion of political unrest and economic turmoil. In ten days I was briefed on the strife of Honduras and the political crisis of 2009. Unfortunately, and most importantly, I came away knowing how little I know.
I won’t pretend that this trip “changed my life” and revolutionized my thinking. I saw nothing that I’ve never read about or seen with my own eyes. After witnessing the devastation in South Dakota it is difficult to be surprised by poverty. Not to say I wasn’t moved. There is the example of the five women making tortillas for a sum of two hundred limpiras a week (for the whole group). To put in perspective, one personal pizza from Pizza Hut is 199 limpiras. Visiting an orphanage for HIV/AIDS infected children certainly tugged at my heartstrings. But I can honestly say that the impression embedded in my memory will stay with me much longer than anecdotes on poverty.
The adventure came to life when my lovely lady, Sophia, worked out a service trip with the non-government organization, Organization for Youth Empowerment. OYE is unique in its mission and method and I recommend that you visit their website and make your own assessment.
Gathering a group proposed some difficulty, and after the size of the group dwindled from twelve to a small-yet-mighty three, the proposed service project changed from building desks to painting a mural. I regretted not being able to do more, but when we completed the painting my satisfaction surprised me. And as it turned out, I had a chance to fix up a few desks with an OYE staff member and his childhood friend.
When we weren’t working, we spent time visiting neighborhood locales and learning. There were several school visits, both public and private. A current student, rather than a teacher or administrator guided each visit. In a country as corrupt as Honduras it’s not difficult to understand why this was such a blessing. The comment that stood out the most went something like this: Hondurans have a history of dependence on foreign benefactors and when things go wrong, they promptly outsource the blame. This was in relation to one of the public schools where the UN had donated a track while most of the classrooms were overcrowded to the nth degree. The school was failing and it was the global north’s fault for not providing more money. Hardly an ideal outlook for a society in need of progress.
I also met a few interesting people. The first was Mahchi, an older man who introduced himself as the tenth richest man in Honduras. He’s not lying, either- according to people who have visited his home, he owns original Matise paintings. He was one of the few Hondurans I encountered who supported the Golpe de Estado in 2009 but I did not have the good fortune to discuss his thoughts in detail.
The second person, Melli, is the first female radio producer in Honduras. She is thirty years old. She is bold, outgoing, confident… in other words, like no one else in Honduras. When I met her, I had trouble believing she is Honduran. This assumption is hardly unfounded- wherever we went, her personality drew stares from people accustomed to keeping their heads down and not asking for attention.
The third person, and the one who left the biggest impression, was Luis. He is twenty four years old and the current director of OYE. Opinionated and intelligent (a rare pairing in my experience), he spent many days teaching us about the history of Honduras and the political crisis in 2009. Our translator could barely keep up with his rapid-fire style of lecturing. He spewed out fact after fact only pausing for a few brief questions. It was difficult to keep him on topic.
His knowledge of Honduran society impressed me, but not as much as his mission for OYE. When he became the director he quickly turned around the scholarship program and the “capacities” program. OYE kids are required to attend regular meetings where they learn life skills, talk about self-esteem, and discuss “Honduran Reality”. His goal is to instill critical thinking abilities in each OYE student and not let them dully observe the issues in Honduras. Luis shared an example from when the magazine program was beginning. A few of the young writers went to visit a site where locals were battling against the government over the privatization of water. The resulting article was simply a report- “It was bad, and people cannot afford the water.” Now the writers are thinking about why the water issue is bad, what can be done, and so on. And he hopes this thinking will become a habit and change Honduras.
It was these three people that helped me see Honduras live in an awesome way. I don’t know much about Central America, I did not spent much time at all in Honduras, but I do trust my instinct for picking out the bigger picture. Mahchi, Melli, and Luis are outgoing, they have a purpose, a vision, and the will to do something. From what I put together, these characteristics are rare. It takes just a few people to change something for the better or worse.
As we drove to the airport on the last day, we passed familiar sights of graffiti from the crisis last year. Many are angry phrases fighting the golpe and the military. I thought of Luis’ passion when the topic was brought up and compared it to the fading spray paint letters. It’s easy to see where much of the graffiti has been painted over. The one-year anniversary is quickly approaching and I hope Luis sees his dream realized- a group of young men and women who think critically and take ownership of their country.
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