Garifuna night lightens up Tegucigalpa's spirit

The Lagini-Mua dance and music troupe offered a brilliant performance on Garifuna night.

By SUYAPA CARIAS

Color, rhythm and lots of Caribbean flavor, was just what a lucky group of foreigners and Hondurans recently enjoyed during the first Garifuna night organized at the Madrid Hotel School in Tegucigalpa.

The original event, which closed this year's school activities, became the perfect way to celebrate the graduation of two Garifuna students: Maritza Nunez and Edelmira Lopez.
The public had the chance not only to feel the spirited performance offered by the Lanigi-Mua dance troupe, but they also learned a little bit more about this interesting culture, whose members arrived in the Honduras more than 200 years ago. Lanigi-Mua was created five years ago and is sponsored by the Honduran Institute of Tourism. The name means "heart of earth" in the Garifuna language. 

Garifuna students Maritzaunez and Edelmira Lopez received their diplomas from Spanish Ambassador Jose Javier Nagore and Honduran Tourism Minister Ana  NAbarca.

As men played their drums, snail and turtle shells, women kept swinging their skirts with admirable movements of "punta." Meanwhile, assistants tasted the most delicious Garifuna dishes, such as rice and beans, tikini soup (burnt flour with fish broth and vegetables), barafu (green plantain meatballs), fried fish, cassave, plantain bread, and other delicacies featuring seafood and coconut.

In one of the corners of the school's terrace, a round table was dressed up with charming handicrafts, including black coral and turtle shell bracelets. Inside the room, a different area was dedicated to the display of traditional Garifuna utensils.
This special night was presided by the Spanish Ambassador Jose Javier Nagore and his wife Begona Nagore, the Minister of Tourism Ana Abarca, Angelina Ugaldes, president of the Garifuna Communities and the president of the Madrid Hotel School Jose Ramón Martinez. 

The Madrid Hotel School was founded with the financial support of the Spanish Cooperation, with the purpose of providing education in the areas of hotelier, hospitality and tourism. 
Located in Colonia Los Girasoles, an exit point to the communities of Santa Lucia and Valle de Angeles, it has 27 rooms and a cozy restaurant available for the public and tourists. More information at 221-1808.

Discovery School attracts award winning teachers

By TAMARA OBERBECK
Special to HTW

What would make you leave a beautiful 36 acres farm, complete with Arabian horses in Northern Georgia? For Glen and Mechele Jones it was the Discovery School in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Married for thirty years, with over 40 years of combined teaching experience, and both recipients of prestigious teaching awards, this dynamic teaching team left the comforts of their Athens, Georgia home to teach in Honduras.

Glen has been teaching for 26 years. His first love is the German Language and his second is Social Studies. In 1993 Glen was the winner of the very prestigious National Milken Award for Education. This award is given each year, to one teacher in the United States for the innovative use of technology in the classroom. This National award, sought by many teachers in all 50 states, included a trip to Los Angeles California to accept the award.

The audience not only included his family, but the likes of Bill Crosby and Rosie Greer. He won the award for his innovative use of short wave radios in the classroom. He not only taught his students how to use a short wave radio, but then gave them the opportunity to practice the German language with people in Germany. Later when computers became more available in the classroom, Glen was the first in his state of Georgia to introduce the use of computers in teaching a foreign language. He teaches Secondary Social Studies at Discovery School.

Mechele stayed at home those first few years to help raise their four children. When their youngest went off to school, Mechele followed her and stayed, but this time as a teacher. Her love for children did not stop when there were no longer young ones under foot. Michelle has been teaching elementary school for over 13 years. She also boasts a distinguished award for teaching. In 1992 she was selected "District Teacher of the Year" in her school district in Athens, Georgia. This award was given to just one teacher for outstanding excellence in teaching. After visiting Mechele in her classroom for a short time, one can understand why she was given this award. What transpires between teacher and students in her classroom is nothing short of magical.

So back to the original questions as to why this couple from northern Georgia would leave their beautiful home, horses and family to teach in Honduras at the Discovery School.

Glen states that they have had a desire to travel and to get to know other countries and cultures. "We could not do it when the children were young and still at home and we felt we better hurry and do it before there are grandchildren to spoil." So with this window of opportunity, they both took a leave from their teaching jobs in the states and they took off for Honduras.

They chose the Discovery school because of the small class size, emphasis on individual students and because they felt that the Discovery School had an educational philosophy similar to their own. Glen states that at the Discovery School he can set high standards and encourage his students to strive for excellence. "Children need to earn their success, they know when it is given to them and when they have earned it. And there is no fooling children on which way feels better." The entire school, under the direction and leadership of Mr. Mike Kent, is excited about recently being recommended for SACS accreditation. This accreditation has set high standards that the school will continue to reach for.
Mechele states that she feels it is important to guide children in becoming well rounded people. She believes that her role as a teacher is to help them develop not only their educational skills but their social skills as well.

When asked what she likes best about the Discovery school she states that it would be hard to pick between the great teachers, a feeling of belonging to a family, small class sizes, or the great educational philosophy. The Discovery School has a policy to limit their class size to 15 students per teacher. With this small student to teacher ratio you can bet that there is a lot of learning going on each day and every hour.

Glen and Mechele's next goal is to offer a seminar to local Honduran teachers of public schools. They would like the opportunity to share their skills and talents in education. Along with their fellow Discovery teachers they hope to leave something behind before they leave Honduras.

Letter from Honduras: A sick child, a father's anguish

By NIGEL POTTER
Special to HTW

It is the rainy season and after every storm the water pours across the land carrying a long summer's worth of sewage into all the streams, creeks and rivers and so, of course, into the water supply. So it is the diarrhea and vomiting season. I have a regular queue of mothers with small children at my door looking for medicine. I preach my little sermon on "Prevention" and dole out the remedies which 90 times out of a 100 quickly work and bring relief. So it angered me that they didn't do much good when my wee son coming up for three fell victim. They certainly helped but it was a classical case of "the operation was a success but regrettably the patient (nearly) died." The first remedy I gave him did not stop the diarrhea but merely changed it from color yellow to green. The second did just about bring it to a half but now instead of the offensive spouting and spewing, he was evacuating blood. 

Nothing to worry about, I reassured myself, a typical case of Shigella, nothing that a few doses of Metronidazol won't clear up.... I was very worried. getting close to panicky if the truth be told. I have seen so many children die here and have helped bury quite a few of them. Whenever I consult with my female patients I ask the routine questions of how many children and go on to ask, and how many alive? How many dead? Most have a dead child or two along the line to report, and not run over either but dead from diarrhea or chest infection and now my wee boy had both. We controlled the vomiting but then it started up again as he threw up volumes of swallowed sputum.

He could keep nothing down and all our efforts to keep him topped up and stop him from dehydrating were frustrated. At one stage he seemed to revive and at three in the morning was reading a book and playful kicking his older brother, but by six he was one sad sick little boy. 

This was a battle we did not seem to be winning and one we couldn't afford to lose. So we went looking for someone with a pick-up who could be willing (for a price of course) to take him and his mother and father to hospital. We eventually found someone and struck a deal and off we went. Three hours later we arrived at the casualty department. "Is he really an emergency?" growled the first nurse we came across. How my children had Lady Macbeth? How do you define "emergency"? I didn't think he would die in the next five minutes but even I could see my son was beginning to look like an Oxfam ad. with the photo of a scrawny, emaciated, malnourished child of the third world. Fortunately, the pediatrician and other nurses took him more seriously and received us all with kindness and sympathy.

Seeing that small body that was my son wired up to an I.V. drip, his little face covered by an oxygen mask aroused so many emotions I sat numb by the bed, blank, sucking a sweet. I felt we were in good hands, he surely would pull through wouldn't he and life would seem good again? And if he didn't, how does one go on? Yet all these Honduran mothers and fathers with dead sons and daughters seem to do so. They shed a few tears and go on. It is such a vale of tears that the baby is well out of it, or one less mouth to feed, or god's will or what? God's will or what? God's will? I could hardly be so sanguine. If such it be then hell! Goddamn, damn god. Is this the reaction of an over-developed first world, middle-class sensibility, unused to, and thus unable to accept, "the facts of life"? Especially when - it - is - not - somebody - else but your own sweet self whose head is on the block? It is like we all know we are going to die and get on with our lives and then one day it's help! I AM GOING TO DIE! 

Before we came to the hospital, in between the botty - wiping sessions, I smelled a rose in the garden and invited my sister-in-law to smell it too. It was so perfect, so exquisite, so divine that I actually said something along the lines that with perfumes like this, there must be a god in heaven. Well, who is a smug, sentimental, stupid bastard, so full of such crass cliches, I now thought to myself, ready o give way to local despair, to hate the world and god now and forever if things went badly for my son and me and didn't turn out the way I wanted them to?

It is extraordinary really, I have lived in Honduras for over ten years, one of the poorest Latin American third world countries, surrounded by poverty, disease, malnutrition, early death, relatively privileged, but not immune, and in daily contact with all these personal disasters, and it is as if almost I had never left my nice, leafy, Surrey, suburban some. Still the same over-protected, super sheltered middle class rich kid, with no experience of the real catastrophes (yet), or war, pestilence, flood, fire and famine, in a world where, while the delicate aroma of a rose is indeed sweet, the vision is, as Shostakovitch described, a mountain of corpses piled on top of each on top of each other.

Still it is amazing what a few shots of potassium and salt and sugar water dripped into a vein will do. We all, doctors, nurses, my wife and I, were worried sick because the wee one hadn't and wouldn't pee. Then suddenly in the early hours there was this stream of pure gold and everybody breathed a huge sign of relief and within a day or two, though still dreadfully thin, he was running around as good as new, chortling with glee when he climbed on to the base of his drip - stand and was pushed along.

It is a strange irony too: I constant berate the churches, both catholic and protestant, in Honduras. I see them as powerful, manipulating, negative institutions dedicated to the maintenance of the status quo: that the rich hath the good things of this world here and now while the poor endure their god-given lot and wait for their pie-in-the-sky when they die.

And I stand by those criticisms but public relations are a great thing. The churches are supposed to be missions of mercy ad so must be seen to be doing good. So it was a few years ago that the blessed creeping nuns cared for my wife in a catholic hospital and saved her from dying of a specially nasty form of dengue, and now it was the evangelicals' turn and they saved my son and I can't say how grateful I am. Likewise, I spend a lot of time criticizing allopathic medicine. The doctors of Honduras are poisoning the people. The abuse and misuse of powerful chemical drugs have to be seen to be believed and I do what I can to encourage the sick to go easy in them and seek safer (and often more effective) alternatives. And yet this is what saved my son, but then again this is what allopathic medicine excels in : the short-term, emergency intervention. Again I'm thankful for it. But it's not charity of course, it all costs. If I were a poor man, I would probably be a widower with one dead child. As it is we are just about back to normal. We are feeding up the wee fellow (no malnutrition in our house) to fatten him up, and last night, my wife and I went out like thieves in the night to pick our fresh new crop of beans so that the real thieves of the night wouldn't see us doing it and so realize we now had something for them to steal.

Nigel Potter is an expatriate living in Marcala, La Paz.

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Book Review: Barro draws picture of 1915 Banana Company

By WENDY GRIFFIN

So far my favorite Honduran novel is Barro (Clay) by Paca Navas de Miralda. It was originally written in 1943, but not until 1992 was it published in Honduras. In 1998 Editorial Guaymuras released a third edition.

If I was able to give it a new title, it would be called "El Sueño Olanchano", the dream of people from Olancho. The novel centers around two families who immigrate from Yocon and Manto, Olancho to the town of Nueva Armenia, Atlantida. Currently Nueva Armenia is mostly a Garifuna town that you visit when you want a boat ride to Hog Keys or Cayos Cochinos. At that time it was the port of Hermanos Vacaro, a banana company which eventually became Standard Fruit and is now owned by Dole Foods.

The family of Venancio Rosales has hopes. He will work "chapeando", which means cutting weeds by hand for the new banana plantations. His wife will work cooking food for other people who work for the banana company. Since many were single men, there was work "cuidando gente" (taking care of people). The oldest daughter would help her mother and roll paper cigarettes. The second daughter was going to work, too, but her dreams were cut short by becoming ill from malaria.

The author spends a lot of time describing the type of people found in this banana camp. One character is Mena, a man from the Salvadoran border who would like Rosales' oldest daughter to come live with him. He drinks. He gambles. He has a reputation of being "mujeriego" (chases after women). He is even willing to resort to witchcraft to get Carmela to come with him. 

The banana camps were famous as places of violence. The mixture of pay day, alcohol, and men who make their living using their machetes cause several mortal incidents.
The scenes she describes still resonate today like a plan to go fishing on the Lis River, a tributary of the Aguan River. Remigio Hernandez and his companions walk past iguanas, squirrels, and the dreaded tamagas snake before they arrive at the river. Their plan is to go fishing with "pate", a fish poison native to Olancho. They have to build a weir to catch the stunned fish. Then on to the frying of cuyamel fish with coconut oil and the meat of young coconuts for dessert.

The workers of the banana company plan a strike. Actually a lawyer, a general, and other people plan a strike, because as the workers say, "No entendemos ni j de que es una huelga". (We do not understand even the first letter of what a strike is.) The strike is about an issue with the time keeper. He has a name, but everyone up and down the coast calls him Camaron (Shrimp) because, as a foreigner he turns bright red in the sun. There is a supervisor they could go to, Mister White, but he speaks little Spanish and what he can say, he says it badly.

One of the things that makes the book interesting is that the author tries to write how people speak instead of how the word is written in Spanish. If you are used to hearing campesinos speak, this book reads fairly easily. But if you need to look for words in the dictionary, you might not find them as she has changed them to how people speak. For example, the strike was instigated by "los istruidos", instead of "los instruidos" (people with education).

Most Latin American novels end sadly. One of the most beautifully described scenes is when one of the families decides that it will never work on the North Coast, that they should go back to Olancho while they still have their lives. This book was written 10 years before the first paved road in Honduras. To go back to Olancho, they had to walk 14 days through the Atlantida and Olancho jungles. They went with people from Salama, the best walkers among all the walkers in Olancho (los mejores caminantes entre el gremio de caminantes olanchanos).

Things did not go badly for everyone. This was the time when bananas were the green gold of the North Coast. Young men who were willing to work could make money, a great deal of money compared to what they could make in Olancho. These are people so poor that they struggle and work extra to get that great luxury-a good mule. They dream of getting ahead enough to make their house in Olancho a little larger, to get a few cattle.

Now there are buses that drain the areas of San Esteban, Salama, in Olancho. These people still arrive daily wanting to make a new beginning, "en busqueda de nuevos horizontes" . They save up to buy cattle and a pick up truck. Paca Navas de Miralda's book is now over 50 years old, but her Olancho dream continues as a flame that draws many people to the Coast.

The spirit of Christmas in Tegucigalpa

No other season of the year is more emotive, contagious and influential in people’s lives than Christmas. Hondurans like to be part of this universal celebration too, and despite the enormous differences prevailing between the rich and the poor, everybody finds a way to enjoy the holiday season. In the end, what really matters is to keep the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, alive in our hearts.

Missions to Honduras

By projecthonduras.com

Missions to Honduras is a schedule of upcoming volunteer missions to Honduras. If you know of an individual(s) or organization abroad that is planning a humanitarian visit to Honduras within the next 12 months, please e-mail hondo@post.com. Otherwise, please pass along the information contained in this section to anyone you feel may benefit from the services that will be offered. It is important that Hondurans know of these missions in advance so that they can take advantage of them. It is equally important that the groups providing the services be aware of each other’s missions so that there can be some level of coordination. 

The calendar is maintained for Honduras This Week by projecthonduras.com (www.projecthonduras.com). projecthonduras.com is sponsored by Special Missions Foundation, Inc. (www.specialmissions.org) of Georgetown, Texas.

December 2001 — The Friends of Barnabas Foundation (www.fobf.org) of Chesterfield, Virginia, is tracking 19 children in Honduras who need surgery at the Hospital Evangelico in Siguatepeque and also in La Lima. The Foundation, jointly with the International Hospital for Children (www.surgery.vcu.edu/news/International.htm) of Richmond, Virginia, will fund this care. The surgeries will occur in December 2001 and January 2002. Dr. John Ward (www.surgery.vcu.edu/neur-jdw.htm) of the Medical College of Virginia (www.vcuhealth.org) will be visiting the Hospital Evangelico in January to perform some of the surgeries. Contact: Rev. Linwood Cook, friendsofbarnabas@hotmail.com

February 2002 — Peter J. Climo of Buckfield, Maine, will be travelling to Honduras to work at the Clinica Solidaridad y Vida in Tegucigalpa during the month of February 2002. He is looking for anyone who is interested in joining him, either to work or to observe. Solidaridad y Vida is run by Dr. Enoc Padilla-Oliva. The clinic treats patients who have HIV/AIDS. Its phone number is (504) 223-8972 and fax is (504) 239-1204. Contact: Peter J. Climo, peter.climo@webmail.une.edu

February 6-20, 2002 — Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org) of Norfolk, Virginia, will send a volunteer team of physicians to the San Felipe hospital in Tegucigalpa during February 6-20, 2002 to perform facial reconstructive surgeries. Contact: Mona Rowghani, mrowghani@operationsmile.org 

February 15-March 3, 2002 — International Health Service (www.ihsofmn.org) of Minnesota will sponsor a medical mission to Honduras during February 15-March 3, 2002. There will be a total of 115 individuals on this trip, including 21 Hondurans. IHS will send 53-55 people to La Mosquitia to the villages of Uhi, Wampusirpi, Puerto Lempira, Tipimona, Pranza and a couple of villages along the Rio Kruta. Uhi, Tipimona, Pranza and the Rio Kruta will have medical and dental teams. In Wampusirpi, IHS will have a dentist and an optical team, and in Puerto Lempira a surgery team. IHS will also be sending medical/dental teams to Yocon and El Guante. On Roatan, IHS will have a surgery team in Coxens Hole, as well as a dentist in Oak Ridge. The organization will have an administration team working out of La Ceiba and a logistics team in Puerto Lempira. Contact: Cheryl Schraeder, cschraeder@mn.rr.com 

February 25-28, 2002 — Volunteer Optometric Service to Humanity (www.ioa.org/vosh.htm) of Indiana will be working with The Fundacion para Servicios Medicos Voluntarios in Copan during February 25-28, 2002. VOSH will provide eye exams and glasses. It plans to see 1,000 people per day. Tickets will be sold for the equivalent of $1.00 in the weeks prior to the group’s arrival.
Contact: Jeffrey C Marshall, drjcm@att.net 

March 14-16, 2002 — SMART Medical Teams of Overland Park, Kansas, will sponsor an orthopedic surgery team, a plastic surgery team, and a general surgery team in Honduras during March 14-16, 2002. The orthopedic surgeon on the trip
will be from the Wichita, Kansas, area. SMART welcomes information from anyone who knows of plastic surgery patients, orthopedic patients, general surgery patients, or eye surgery patients who require care. The organization has made 36 trips to Honduras with medical teams since 1991. Contact: Teresa Searcy, rxhelpca@ix.netcom.com

Traditional pre and post natal care can save lives

By WENDY GRIFFIN

The first time I became interested in Honduran midwives is when I was working with the Pech. I was visiting with a woman on her way to the town of Culmi, Olancho. She was in her mid- to late thirties, pregnant with her eighth child—skinny arms, skinny legs, tired look and a huge stomach. In the US she would be a good candidate for a high risk pregnancy program.

She said she was having her baby with Dona Betulia, a Ladino midwife in Culmi. “She knows a lot about plants. She has never lost anyone.” looking down at her stomach. Rather than a time of joy, she was concerned. Childbirth is still a cause of death.

The place with the highest level of mother mortality is the Mosquitia where most births are attended by midwives. In general, mother mortality is not very high among the Garifunas. I thought it would be helpful to study what the Garifunas do, so we can see if it would be something that could be taught to Miskito midwives.

Dona Clara Garcia of Cristales, Trujillo has been a midwife for six decades. She let me interview her about midwife practices. Garifunas believe a great deal in pre-natal care.

The first three months, a pregnant woman can not be massaged. The fetus is very delicate. The fourth and fifth month, it alright to give massages (sobar) to the mother.

This can help detect cancer. The midwife knows how babies feel. Sometimes the midwife will say, you are not pregnant. What you have is a tumor. Go to the hospital. Recently there was an article in the daily newspaper, La Prensa about a Ladino woman with a 44 kg tumor. She thought she was pregnant. This would not happen with Garifuna prenatal care.

Some women can not eat anything while they are pregnant. Everything gives them nausea. The woman should drink lemonade with sugar and ice.

Dona Clara recommends to the mother that she should eat well, drink milk. When the baby lives, but the mother dies at child birth, this is usually due to anemia. She recommends to her patients to take vitamins. Some Garifuna remedies for anemia that can be used during pregnancy. Take cana santa. Chop it up. Mix water with rapadura or raw sugar cane. Let the cana santa ferment in the sugar cane liquid for four days. Then drink a cup a day. This is also an impressive cure for hepatitis.

Another Garifuna midwife uses sureci or calaica for treating anemia. This also lowers blood sugar. Some women have problems that their blood sugar shoots up while pregnant. The Garifunas use one clove a day to control blood pressure.

Before the eighth month, a woman should not drink cinnamon tea. It can cause a miscarriage. The eighth month she can drink tea with cut up ginger root, oregano, and a lot cinnamon. This helps the baby come quickly. Cinnamon relaxes smooth muscles and raises estrogen.

The week before the baby comes, the midwife checks to see if the baby alright. If there needs to be cesarean, she tells the mother. She also knows if the baby is presenting feet first.

When the baby is ready to come, the midwife puts almond oil on the mother. After she has the baby, she washes the mother and uses more almond oil. She washes with and gives the mother to drink a tea of manzanilla or chamomile, romero or rosemary, and pimienta gorda or allspice. Other people use chamomile, allspice and cloves. Chamomile is anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and anti-spasmodic, according to the book Common Medicinal Plants of Honduras.

Sometimes there are problems with the placenta coming out. She makes a tea of San Antonio. Let it get cold and add sugar. Then the placenta comes out. For hemorrhaging after child birth, she makes very strong coffee. If the woman is cut as the baby comes out, she boils leaves of pinon or pion and the milk of the plant. She washes the woman with this. In three days she is as well as if she has stitches. Pinon is effective again yeast and staph infections. If the woman still feels pain after childbirth, she chews rapadura.

Death by fever used to be a cause of childbirth death in the US. Dona Clara recommends her patients to take sulfatiacina. To get the milk to come, boil cilantro with bitter orange. Both plants are anti-biotics.

The mother gets a massage after three days and wears a wind belt. She is supposed to avoid heat from below while she is still bleeding, such as heat from a comal stove.

The Honduran Ministry of Health has been very active in training midwives. Part of this training could be identifying the best medicinal plants that people use and other aspects of traditional pre and post natal care. One step in this direction has been a training course for Garifuna nurses that also included traditional Garifuna healing techniques.

500 thousand children are better math students thanks to APREMAT

President-Elect Maduro, founder of Ferema

By SUYAPA CARIAS

In a gesture of gratitude for the support they have provided to the successful radio program, Aprendamos Matemática (Let's learn mathematics) or APREMAT, Directors of the Ricardo Ernesto Maduro Andreu Foundation for Education (FEREMA), offered special recognition to a large group of private radio stations, enterprises and other institutions that have contributed with this cause.

The event, which took place last week in Tegucigalpa's Hotel Real Intercontinental, was presided by FEREMA's leaders María Elena M. de Villar (President), María Antonieta de Bográn (Executive Director) and Mario Ramírez (Executive Director). Education Vice-Minister Armando Euceda also attended. 

The three year-long project consists in transmitting a series of 150 math radio classes offered every school day for half an hour. It has the purpose of contributing to the improvement of the academical performance of more than 500 thousand children from first to third grade, while supporting around 16 thousand teachers throughout the country. 

APREMAT has been carried out along with the Ministry of Education and the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). So far, APREMAT classes have been transmitted by 25 radio stations, from H.R.N., Radio America and Radio Nacional de Honduras based in Tegucigalpa, to Radio Antena 5 in Olancho, Estereo Maya in Copan and Coral Radio in the Bay Islands.

"APREMAT has proven to efficiently reduce the rate school reprobation. It is the best math teacher, since by only turning the radio on, it reaches any remote village where there is a public school," said Ramirez. Access to the program is virtually cost free. Today, six out of every 10 schools are tuning in.

FEREMA directors expect to reach over 800 thousand children and 20 thousand teachers by 2002 through APREMAT. Other sponsors are World Vision, Cerveceria Hondurena, El Heraldo and La Prensa dailies, Christian Fund for Honduran Youth and Save the Children.

With a slogan that reads: Educar para vivir, FEREMA was created in January 1998 at an initiative of Ricardo Maduro, in memory of his son Ricardo Ernesto, who was killed the previous year in the city of San Pedro Sula in a foiled kidnapping attempt. 

The non-profit association seeks to promote the permanent improvement of the quality, equality and efficiency of Honduran education, while assisting in the design of policies that make it possible to give education its true role in the national development.

The president-elect arrived a few minutes later to personally thank the representatives of all participant entities. "At this moment I am playing a double role as citizen and elected president," said Maduro. 

"When I first founded FEREMA, I still hadn't decided to get involved in politics. I firmly believe that private organizations that support education are very important, since they have a long-term vision. I am no longer the foundation's president, but my heart will always be here, and once I leave the presidency, I will definitely come back," he announced. 

For more information on APREMAT and FEREMA, call 236-6645 ext. 234, fax 236-8951, e-mail: ferema@infanet.hn

United Nations celebrates International Volunteer's Day

Part of the participants and attendants to the first National Volunteer Fair held in Tegucigalpa last week.

By SUYAPA CARIAS

Through the First National Volunteer Fair held at the facilities of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) in Tegucigalpa, the United Nations celebrated International Volunteers' Day last December 5.

In 1971, the U.N. decided to consign such date as a way to recognize the volunteer work carried out by thousands of men and women around the world. More recently, it assigned the year 2001 as the International Year of Volunteers (IYV), in an attempt to make humanity reflect for a longer period of time on the role each one can play in improving the global population's living conditions.

In Honduras, there are more than 120 organizations that sustain themselves through constant, active volunteer work. These include the Honduran Red Cross, the Scouts, the Foundation for the Children with Cancer, the Youth Christian Association, the Maria Foundation, the White Cross and Educatodos.

Only in Educatodos, a program oriented at taking literacy to the most remote corners of the country, the work of four thousand volunteers is estimated to amount to at least Lps. 80 million per year. 

Approximately 15 thousand people in this country are involved in volunteer entities in the areas of health, education, economy, culture, peace and other sectors. With their actions, they have become important supporting pillars to both governments and local communities. 
According to Mark Malloch Brown, General Manager of the United Nations Development Fund, "without the help of 10 million volunteers, it would have been impossible for UNICEF and their partners to immunize 550 million children against polio".

Meanwhile, it is believed that this effort has represented at least $10 million, an amount much higher than what the U.N could have collected on it's own. 

The fair-exhibit held for the first time at the UNAH was attended by the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System, Claudia Von Roehl, the coordinator of the National Committee of IYV, Claudia Castro, and representatives from different volunteer institutions and First Lady Mary Flores. In an emotional essage heard worldwide, Sharon Capeling-Alakija, Executive Coordinator of the U.N. Volunteer Program, asked all volunteers to stop and take stock of all that has been done throughout the year.

"Thanks to your efforts, many governments, as well as the European Council, the Interparlamentary Union and the United Nations have approved resolutions and laws that will help national and international volunteer work in the years coming ahead."

She informed that during the year 2001, more than 19 thousand volunteer organizations and particulars have joined the IYV website. "This provides an enormous, active platform to support and expand the volunteer's spirit in the entire world." 



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Medicinal plants help eye care

By WENDY GRIFFIN

(Last of four parts)

Many times people say to me, “I am having eye problems. I am 72 years old and I am having problems reading.”  Medicinal plants will not help if what the person needs is glasses.  But there are other eye problems that medicinal plants can help.

Eye infections are common among both humans and dogs.  The book Common Medicinal Plants of Honduras has a recipe to use Bougainvillea or Napoleon to treat eye problems.  Take the flowers and let them sit in water that has been boiled.  Red flowers are considered the best.  We tried five flowers to a cup of water and washed the eyes of a friend’s dog who had an eye infection.  In two days it cleared up.  In humans this infection is called mal de ojo and in dogs it is sometimes called colorido (red).

People complain of nubes en los ojos (clouds in their eyes).  It is not clear if this the beginning stage of cataracts or not.  To treat this chop up rue (ruda) and mix with cow’s milk or mother’s milk.  Rue can be bought at most medicinal plant stands and some people have it in their garden.  Soak up this mixture in a cloth and put drops in the eyes.  It will break up the “clouds”.  After this treatment, there will be sleepers around the eyes which Garifunas believe are pieces of the clouds.  Do this treatment for a week, take a week off, then do another week, as this is a strong medicine.

Another kind of cloudiness in the eyes people describe as ojos empañados.  This is treated with the soco.  Mash it with a cloth.  Mix in holy water. (This is literally water that the church blesses). Put drops in the eyes.  The last two recipes are from traditional Garifuna healer Clara Garcia of Trujillo.

The other plant used for eyes is Cardo Santo, does not grow around Trujillo, although I am told it grows around Ilanga. It is used to treat “clouds in the eyes”.  The recipe from Common Medicinal Plants of Honduras is to boil the leaves and wash with this.  Other people say to boil leaves and expose the eyes to the inhalations of this plant.

What is happening on the North Coast is that people are losing knowledge of medicinal plants.  They do not know the names of plants, can not recognize the plant if they know the name, and/or do not know the recipe of how to use the plant. Sometimes they even know all that, but they have lost faith or are embarrassed to use plant medicine as if they were some Indian from the mountain. The UNAH is testing which medicinal plants do what they claim to do, but they have not tested these ones yet.

Eye infections and cataracts are significant problems on the North Coast, which sometimes only get attended to when there are medical brigades for eyes which include cataract surgery.  

A hundred voices join orchestra in performance of Carmina Burana

The Christmas concert was held in the Cathedral in downtown Tegucigalpa.

By ROSIBEL PACHECHO DE GUTIERREZ

On Wednesday, December 12 in the Tegucigalpa Cathedral, the Choir of a hundred, the UNITEC Chamber Choir and the Philharmonic Conservatory's Children's Choir along the National Symphony Orchestra made a wonderful Christmas presentation. 

Their strong and passionate interpretation of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana was greatly enjoyed by the audience. Young voices accompanied by the orchestra brought justice to this important composition. The choirs were directed by the director, composer, Master Jorge Mejia. Mejia was born in La Ceiba and after graduating from the School of Music continued his studies and preparation in Germany for 15 years. He now possesses two Bachelor's degrees, one in Music Theory and Language and another in conducting as well as a Master's degree in composing. Soprano Chitose Shiraishi, the tenor Leonel Lopez and the baritone Lester Mendoza also participated.

These events are opening new roads for talented young Honduran musicians. Many wish to continue singing in choirs. Rosbinda Antunez Pacheco, a 17 year old girl participated with a lot of enthusiasm and happily told us of her willingness to distribute her time between her other activities and music. Music motivates, elevates, liberates and provides discipline as well; we hope that many more young people continue these paths. 

CULTURAL EVENTS  

Guillermo Anderson and his band Ceibana will perform in Tegucigalpa on December 21.

MUSEUMS & GARDENS

TEGUCIGALPA 

MUSEO DE HISTORIA REPUBLICANA

The Museum of Republican History is located at the Villa Roy building in Tegucigalpa's Barrio Buenos Aries.  It is open 8:30 to 3:30, Tuesdays through Sundays and features portraits, paraphernalia, and other interesting items from past presidents.  Admission is Lps. 20 for non-resident foreigners and Lps. 10 for Hondurans and Central Americans.  For more information, call 222-3470 or 222-1468. 

CENTRAL BANK MUSEUM

The Central Bank of Honduras located at the Comayaguela annex building is open from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.  It has a permanent coin and painting exhibit.  For special presentations, call the Emision y Tesoreria department at 237-2270 (-78), ext. 2117 (-2120). [CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.] 

NATIONAL ART GALLERY

The Galeria Nacional de Arte features rock art, pre-Columbian ceramics, colonial paintings, religious art and a wide selection of 20th century Honduran painters.  The gallery is located at the Plaza de la Merced in downtown Tegucigalpa.  It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10-5 p.m. and Sunday from 10-2 p.m.  Admission is Lps. 10 for adults, Lps. 5 for senior citizens, Lps. 3 for students and Lps. 1 for children accompanied by adults. 

IGUANA FARM

The Biosfera Ecocentro Iguana Farm in Colonia La Joya invites the public to come and learn everything about iguanas.  Admission is Lps. 5 for adults, Lps. 3 for children.  The facility is open every day (except Wednesday) from 9 to 5.  For more information, call 230-6346.

COMAYAGUA, COMAYAGUA 

COMAYAGUA MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY

Located in the city of Comayagua, two hours north of Tegucigalpa, the Comayagua Museum of Archaeology is in the building that served as the seat of government in the 19th century.  Exhibits include prehistoric fossils, cave art, ceramics, and objects used by indigenous cultures during the pre-Colombian era.  The museum, which also has a small library, is open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

COMAYAGUA RELIGIOUS MUSEUM

Located in the Casa Cural in front of Comayagua's cathedral, this museum features religious paintings and objects dating back to the 16th century.  Hours are 8-12 and 2-4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.  For more information, contact Leonardo Letona at 772-0348.

LA PAZ, LA PAZ 

LA PAZ HOUSE OF CULTURE

The La Paz Casa de la Cultura is located in downtown La Paz.  It features an attractive exhibit of the Lenca handicrafts and culture.  It is open Mondays through Sundays.

SAN PEDRO SULA, CORTES 

SPS MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND HISTORY

The Museo de Antropologia e Historia de San Pedro Sula features exhibits on the development of Sula Valley, from 1500 B.C. to the middle of this century.  The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays.  Admission is Lps. 10 for adults, Lps. 5 for students and children under 12, and Lps. 2 for senior citizens.  For more information, call 557-1496/557-1798 or fax 557-1874. 

MUSEUM OF NATURE OF SAN PEDRO SULA

Sponsored and managed by the Fundacion Ecologista H.R. Pastor Fasquelle, this new museum was inaugurated last December in its current location at the Biocentro on 3 Avenida and 9 Calle Noroeste.  It has 24 exhibits on the environment, natural resources and biology of Honduras.  Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and 8 a.m. until noon on Saturdays.  Admission is Lps 5 for students from public schools and Lps. 10.00 for everyone else.

YUSCARAN, EL PARAISO 

YUSCARAN HOUSE OF CULTURE

Yuscaran's Casa de la Cultura is located at the former Casa Fortin in downtown Yuscaran, El Paraiso department, just 45 km from Tegucigalpa on the road to Danli.  It is open Mondays through Saturdays.

OLANCHO 

PECH CULTURAL CENTER

The Pech have built a small house in El Carbon, Olancho to display their modern handicrafts.  An exhibit of archaeological finds in the area is planned.  You can ask to see the collection and/or get a tour of a Post Classic era fortified site.  The Pech Cultural Center also offers medicinal plant tours, nature hikes, Pech dinners, etc.  There is no admission fee to the cultural center.  Hours: If you ask, they will open it.

COPAN 

COPAN ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Located in the village of Copan Ruinas, Copan department, the museum exhibits a splendid assortment of Mayan pieces that have been found in the Copan Ruins Archaeological Park just 1 km away.  

LA PUENTE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Featuring a sizeable collection of Mayan handicrafts and photographs as well as a room with Japanese antique ceramics, this museum is located at the El Puente Archaeological Site, about an hour's drive from Copan Ruinas. 

MAYAN SEPULTURAS MUSEUM

Inaugurated in 1996, this is the premier Mayan museum in the Mundo Maya, featuring the finest examples of Copan's tombs, sculptures and architecture.  Located at the Copan Ruins Archaeological Park, the museum is open Monday through Sunday.

TELA, ATLANTIDA 

LANCETILLA BOTANICAL GARDENS

Located 2 kilometers from Tela on the Atlantic coast highway, the gardens feature one of the largest collections of tropical and subtropical plants, shrubs and trees in all Latin America.  It is open from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Mondays through Sundays.  There is an admission charge.

LA CEIBA, ATLANTIDA 

TROPICAL BUTTERFLY FARM

The Tropical Butterfly Farm & Gardens of La Ceiba is open to the public Wednesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  The farm is located at The Lodge at Pico Bonito in the village of El Pino, about 25 minutes west of La Ceiba.  Admission is Lps. 30 for adults, Lps. 15 for children and $6 for international visitors. 

BUTTERFLY AND INSECT MUSEUM

Thousands of butterflies and insects from Honduras and 18 other countries are on display in La Ceiba' private Butterfly and Insect Museum.  It is located in Colonia El Sauce, 2nd etapa, casa G-12.  Visiting hours are 8-12 and 2-5, Monday through Saturday.  The museum is closed Wednesday afternoon.  Fees are Lps. 15 for adults and Lps. 10 for students.  Tel. 442-2874, e-mail: rlehman@ns.gbm.hn

TRUJILLO 

TRUJILLO RUFINO GALAN MUSEUM

A private museum which has a memorabilia section, old chairs, anchors, silverware, beds of famous people locally.  There is an industrial archaeology section on how lights, axes, stoves, sewing machines, typewriters have changed over time.  They have a good collection of Garifuna handicrafts and the best collection of NE Honduras archaeological pieces -- all unmarked.  A written guide to the museum is available at the Trujillo Tourism Office in English and Spanish.  The museum is open 8 to 4, closing for lunch.  Adults Lps. 20, children Lps. 10.  Located on Calle 18 de Mayo, next to the Crystales River and the famous "piscina" or pool, about a 15-minute walk out of town.

ROATAN, THE BAY ISLANDS 

CARAMBOLA BOTANICAL GARDENS

The private Carambola Botanical Gardens and Nature Trails is located in Sandy Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands.  A wide variety of exotic plants is featured here, including "Roatan's most extensive orchid collection."  It is open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.  For more information, call 445-1117 and ask for Bill or Irma Brady. 

BAY ISLANDS MUSEUM

A private museum at Anthony's Key Resort, Sandy Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, it mostly includes archaeological pieces, but there is a small section on the modern Bay Islanders.  Museum admission is included in the cost of the dolphin show at Anthony Key's Institute of Marine Sciences.  Small buses or taxis will take you to Sandy Bay from most Roatan towns.

Painted photos of days gone by bring the past back to life

The antique building that was once the Bank of Honduras 
comes back to life with Veronicas's brush.

By ROSIBEL PACHECHO DE GUTIERREZ

Veronica Ferrufino Kozlova is a young painter with a degree in Foreign Languages. She also completed law studies at the Autonomous National University of Honduras (UNAH). 

Born in Russia to a Honduran father and a Russian mother, she came to Honduras when she was still a teenager. Today, her maturity and sensitivity as a painter have been widely recognized as she has set up a series of exhibits. It was satisfying to identify a new trend in Veronica's works. She is now painting the old Tegucigalpa from the beginnings of the 20th century. 

The churches, palaces (many of them have been demolished), the people and the atmosphere of those years come back to life through her brush. 

Veronica has given back the dignity to these buildings, she has restored their beauty. In this facet, she has done historic researching and has used original pictures from that time.

By painting the past of the city where she currently lives, she pretends to motivate Tegucigalpa's residents to love and take care of their city. "A Tegucigalpa with such a past deserves better luck."

Try natural cures and medicines for the flu this cold season

By WENDY GRIFFIN

(Third of Four Parts)

In most third world countries the leading causes of death are respiratory diseases and intestinal/diarrhea type problems. The rainy season brings many people to health centers seeking treatment for colds and flu or gripe. One Garifuna treatment for gripe is to go and take a bath in the ocean at dawn. "The sun should find you in the sea." said Rigo Alvarez. This treatment probably works because salt water will usually unclog sinuses. If you can not try this remedy in the sea, mix salt and water. Lay down. Put about three drops in each nostril. You will find it dissolving into your sinuses. When you can not stand it any more, sneeze. Lots of ugly green stuff will come out and you will feel much better.

Have you ever eaten something with a lot of chile and said, "Boy, that will clear your sinuses." Actually there is a chemical in hot chile that will clear them. Fortunately this chemical is in the leaves, too. Boil nine leaves to a cup of water. This will stop an asthma attack in about ten minutes and maybe it will drain your sinuses. If it is not strong enough, dissolve three small hot chilies in one cup of water and drink the water. 

Usually the sinuses will drain. A Garifuna recipe for sinus problems or a stuffed-up nose is with cypress or pine. Boil the leaves and drink the tea. Use the tea also as nose drops. Either pine needles or cypress needles can be used with a weed that has dark and light orange flowers called viboran. It grows near houses. Boil these plants together and drink the tea. Pine needles are a proven expectorant and viboran is an antibiotic.

Another way to treat bronchitis is to boil bitter orange leaves with ginger root. Drink twice a day morning and night for nine days. Ginger is a decongestant that is good for coughs while bitter orange leaves are a wide spectrum antibiotic. If you get laryngitis and lose your voice, try eating pieces of ginger. You can buy ginger root in the market, but you have to know someone with an orange tree to get leaves. Sweet orange leaves can be used, but they are not considered as good as bitter orange leaves. Someone is missing a business opportunity when they do not bring to market the leaves of orange trees.

Another way to treat a cough is to boil guanabana leaves alone or with valeriana leaves and mango leaves. Lemon is also popular among Garifunas to treat cough and flu. One recipe is lemon juice, honey and nutmeg (nuez moscada) in warm water. You can also drink a tea of lemon leaves. Recipes with lemon or orange leaves usually helps you sleep better at night. Lemon is a natural decongestant, too.

When people have colds and coughs, it is also common to get ear infections. Both cilantro and oregano help ear infections. In desperation, I have even tried boiling the dried oregano that we use for cooking to see if it would still work when I had a raging ear infection at night. It still works. Boil these leaves, put the water and the leaves in the ears. By morning, my ear infection was gone.

Other plants that are used are wild basil (albahaca de monte) and guajaca, a flower that has purple flowers or white flowers. For wild basil, which is a weed that people can grow from seeds in their gardens, boil the leaves and the seeds. Put the leaves and the water in the ears. The seeds are confirmed as an antibiotic.

For guajaca, rub the flower and leaf until they come apart and produce a few drops of liquid and put two drops in each ear. The flower, leaf and root show antibiotic qualities against some bacteria, reports the book Common Medicinal Plants of Honduras. I have tried letting these flowers and leaves sit in water and then used the water, as well.

Guajaca or Mulatta is also used to treat swollen glands. Boil the flowers and the leaf of the white guajaca and gargle. Do not swallow this liquid. People also drink the tea from the flowers for high blood pressure (white) and low blood pressure (purple). Half a cup of tea of the flower three times a day is also used to treat coughs.

For some people the rainy season worsens their asthma. Instead of the chile leaf recipe, Garifunas chop up one clove of garlic and half an onion. Put these in one cup of water and leave them until the next day. Then drink. 

Guiffity is a traditional Garifuna herbal drink. Guiffity contains rosemary leaves, allspice seeds, a few cloves of garlic, sureci (calaica), china root (cuculma), palo de hombre, and contrigo. These plants are left in guaro rum for three days. For asthma drink two teaspoons of guiffity in the morning and three at night. If you do not drink rum, the plants can be boiled in water.

The raw materials to make Guiffity can be bought at GariArte in Trujillo. Guiffity already made is available in almost any little Garifuna store.

Central America's street children heading North, in search of the American Dream

By BRUCE HARRIS
Special to HTW

Abandoned and despised, scores of young homeless children from strife ridden Central America are giving up on their governments and, incredibly, walking some 2,500 miles north to the United States of America. With support from US migrant groups, many are applying for asylum and winning a chance to become a child again. And their home countries don't seem to care.

Their status as street children is central to their identity, in that it defines both society's view of them, as well as their view of themselves. Society attaches a stigma to these children based upon their membership in the group, which comprises a separate and distinct group within Central American society. Ironically, according to US Immigration law, that status is precisely their ticket in to America. All these children have a well-founded fear of future persecution should they be returned by the US authorities to the bowels of San Salvador; to El Hoyo in Guatemala City; to El Estadio in Tegucigalpa or to the depths of El Mercado Oriental in Managua. They would only have two options - often illegal detention or the graveyard.

The estimated 35,000 children roaming the streets of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras' urban centers fall into two groups: runaways from households eroded by overcrowding, poverty, alcoholism and physical or sexual abuse; and children abandoned or cast out by families no longer able or willing to provide for them. Viewed as vermin, a blight, parasites, and criminals, unwanted, unloved, the ubiquitous outcome of dysfunctional societies, they are invariably labeled bad for the neighborhood, bad for tourism, bad for the fatherland. Bolstered by indifferent or openly hostile governments, this perception - this stigma - has inspired wave after wave of bloodletting against children. And they have had enough. And they are fleeing.

Inspired by images of reruns of Bay Watch and Charlie's Angels, these homeless children have nothing to lose as they start heading north looking for the elusive El Dorado, where the streets are supposedly paved with gold and voluptuous women. They do not understand the inherent dangers of being a kid without papers in a foreign land, where migrants are preyed upon with brutal force by Mexican bandits who have no understanding of piety. Where hundreds, if not thousands, of children are beaten, raped and even killed in their desperation to reach the land of Mickey Mouse and opportunity. These children are both haunted and driven by beatings and violence, yet they are resilient enough to dream of going to school - to learn to read and write; to be a child. But what generally awaits them is immediate arrest as they step over the highly policed Texan or Arizona borders. No red carpet is laid out for wetbacks. The Immigration and Naturalization Service officials are hardly known to ask if the children are hungry or tired or afraid.
Fourteen year old street boy Ronnie - at least he thinks he is 14, but his birth was never registered by his alcoholic mother and he has never known his father - is from Puerto Barrios, Izabal, Guatemala. He hardly calls it home as he has no positive memories to recall. In his sworn declaration to the US border authorities in California after having been detained in his struggle to reach the illusory American dream earlier this year, he explained, I have never been to school. I never attended school because we were too poor and my mother never expressed an interest in me going to school. I am unable to read or write. Since arriving in the United States I have learned how to write my name. I am quite proud of this accomplishment. I never thought that I would be able to read or write.

Proud or not, Ronnie is still not there yet. Later this month he will face a stern California judge who will decide the slight boy's fate. Scared, yet supported by top notch pro-bono lawyers that thousands of dollars could not buy, Ronnie continues to practice his letters and numbers, seemingly oblivious to what is about to be decided. 

Casa Alianza has been called upon in more than a dozen cases to be an expert witness for the defense of the former street children. With much of our information used in the US State Department's country reports on human rights in the different Central American countries, Casa Alianza's experience is considered vital in order to soften the unrelenting efforts of US Immigration and Naturalization Service attorneys to deport as many illegal aliens as possible. To date, none of the score of cases in which Casa Alianza has participated have been lost. All have had a relatively happy ending with the formerly homeless children being embraced by caring foster families in the land of the free.

In March of this year, an immigration court sitting in Phoenix, Arizona granted asylum eligibility to a 15-year old Nicaraguan child from Chinandega, in great part because of his status as a street child. Driven by his desire to go to school and running from police beatings, Ramon was determined not to have to sleep in a tree to be safe anymore. His story was so dramatic that TIME magazine ran a six part report on his drama. Yet in Nicaragua, too worried about power, politics and plata, not one of the Presidential candidates missed him.

The Phoenix immigration court ruled that, "Abandoned street children are a recognizable group. They are abandoned by their families, by society and by their government and persecuted because of such status. Street children all share a common characteristic. They are children forced to live on the street due to government and societal neglect. Because the children are susceptible to exploitation and crime, they search out other similarly situation children to form social groups, which serve as substitute families. Each member cannot change their status in the group because the government provides no opportunities for street children to advance their status. To the contrary, the government actively mistreats and persecutes such children." Many people reading this will be cynically thinking, that's great, a few street children less; they should all leave!. That is precisely what the courts meant by societal neglect. 

Who knows how many children have died along the way; killed by thieves or drowned in sorrow as they swam across the Rio Grande. Either way, it is shameful the way that these children have been treated with such indifference by their elected leaders who have often worried more about padding their own bank accounts and consolidating political power than providing for the street children, who's numbers continue to grow exponentially. 

And as for the new gringos, hopefully they will never forget their original homeland, although I can understand if they do. Hopefully, one day, Central America's most important asset - its children - will be respected and treasured by all. And hopefully Ronnie will win his freedom from both economic and political repression through direct action and inaction and have the chance to write his own positive future. And all of us, we must demand that our elected leaders and power brokers start to realize that the street - any street - is no home for a child.

Bruce Harris is the British born Executive Director of Casa Alianza, a rehabilitation program for street children in Mexico and Central America. The agency serves more than 9,000 Latin American street children each year. Harris was just decorated by Queen Elizabeth II of England for his lifetime work for Latin America's children.

Harris may be reached in Costa Rica at +506-253-5439 or bruce@casa-alianza.org
Please visit Casa Alianza's award winning homepage www.casa-alianza.org

Cigars: a laborious process behind a chic, smoky tradition

Women make up seventy percent of the total human resources involved in cigar manufacturing.

 


By SUYAPA CARIAS

If there was one positive effect that the 1959 commercial block imposed by the United States government over Cuba brought to Honduras, it was stimulating the development of one of today's most important industries in this nation: cigars. 

As we all know, until the late fifties, Cuba was one of the main producer's of tobacco for U.S. cigar factories. After the famous embargo, however, such factories had no choice but to put their eyes on other countries that could supply them with the raw material they needed. Moreover, many tobacco and cigar producers from the Caribbean island left for other countries, including Central American ones.

The manufacturing of fancy wooden boxes for packing cigars is another source of employment in this area.

Cuban heritage 
Some of these families established themselves in the Southeastern region of Honduras, close to the Jamastran Valley, and started to cultivate black tobacco. At the time, the government lent them adequate support, especially the then Minister of Economy, and Finance Jorge Bueso Arias. Until then, Honduras had been concentrating its production on a kind of tobacco used mostly for cigarettes.

The first cultivations of cigar tobacco took place in this area and in the western region of Copan. After the third year, they were ready to sell some amounts of cigars", said Nestor Plasencia, the head of Tabacos de Oriente. 

Plasencia has continued the job started by his ancestors in Cuba. After Castro's revolution, the family moved to Nicaragua, only to leave again in 1979, due to the 1979 Sandinista revolution.
"In the beginning, the idea was only to produce tobacco leaves for export to the States, but then producers went along and ended up making a very exclusive, fine type of cigar." Plasencia estimates that Honduras exports between 250 and 300 million cigars a year to the U.S.

Three stages
Speaking with an accent that immediately reveals his origins, the dynamic businessman explained the laborious process that comes behind every single cigar we find at the most prestigious shops. 

"The first Cubans who came to Honduras taught the locals about the three different stages that are involved in the production of cigars. The first stage is the agricultural one, the cultivation of the plant in the fields. Then comes the pre-industrial stage, were the tobacco leaves are cured and then undergo a very meticulous selection process according to their texture, color, size and smell."

The third and last stage is manufacturing, which consists in working with filler leaves and wrapping leaves to roll, shape, dry, seal and pack a great looking cigar. 

While some companies dedicate themselves to just one stage, others, like Tabacos de Oriente, have integrated all three. Perhaps the most important aspect of this long process is that it is an intensive, entirely handmade product. 

It is interesting to know that about 70 percent of all workers involved are women. In average, one person manufactures 200 cigars per day. Under a mechanic system, the number can reach up to 15 thousand in the same period of time, but this is not the way it is done in our country. 

In the case of the Plasencia's, they are proud to give jobs to approximately 3,500 people. In addition, they have established their own factory of fancy cedar boxes that are used to pack the cigars prior to be exported. The facilities stand just a few meters away from his home in the city of Danli, in the Department of El Paraiso.

Ups and downs
In the seventies, the cigar industry experienced an international boom. During that period, Honduras actually became the main cigar exporter to the United States. 

But good times didn't last long. The next decade, the fungus known as blue mold attacked the fields for the first time in Central America, destroying many hectares of plants. "It was necessary to import leaves in order to meet the demand," said Plasencia.
Moreover, producers had to work hard at cultivating new, stronger varieties of tobacco, modifying cultivation patterns to take advantage of the hot weather, and create seed greenhouses. At the same time, they launched a public campaign to raise awareness on the importance of this activity for the country's development.

But if during the eighties things were slow and uncertain, the nineties were just the opposite. Suddenly, cigars were more in fashion than ever in developed countries. Famous Hollywood actors would feature in publications like Cigar Aficionado magazine, promoting the benefits and pleasures of smoking a high quality cigar. It was just something "in" to do.

"That was the industry's resurgence, the years of bonanza. It was crazy. By 1997 U.S. alone increased its regular imports from 100 million to nearly 600 million cigars, and more foreign investors came here to open new factories, or buy existing ones." 

A matter of taste 
Eventually, waters went back to their normal level, but Honduran cigars continue to have a solid, prestigious position worldwide. Currently, we are the second largest exporter after Dominican Republic, not including Cuba. 

Besides the U.S., the market for this rolled herbal delicacy includes Canada, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Holland and Japan. "The Honduran cigar is very popular for its quality and aroma." Meanwhile, a smaller amount of leaves is still exported.
The brands, varieties, presentations and prizes of cigars made in Honduran plants are just too many to mention, since each one of them must fit specific requirements from the clients. Some of them even ask for cigars with tobacco 80 percent Honduran and 20 percent from Dominican Republic, for example.

Plasencia took the opportunity during the interview to talk about the advantages of consuming cigars. "Contrary to cigarettes, cigars are a 100 percent natural. They don't have any chemical substances or paper. When smoking a cigar, you don't inhale the smoke, you just taste its flavor for the pleasure of it." 

For Plasencia, this activity is somehow similar to viticulture. "I compare cigars to wine. It is about tradition, about putting love in making them. It is not something improvised."

AIDS explosion in Honduras

By MARCO CACERES
Special to Honduras This Week

WASHINTON, D.C -AIDS has been around for nearly two decades now. In all that time, I have maintained relatively little interest in the illness, primarily because it hasn't significantly affected me, my family, or my friends. That I know of, I have had only one acquaintance die of AIDS. His name was John.

Whenever someone has approached me to get involved in efforts to raise money for AIDS research, I have always politely declined. My answer was always... "Look, this just doesn't happen to be my cause."
Well, ladies and gentlemen, things have changed a little. While AIDS is still not what I would call one of my causes, the issue of AIDS in Honduras has indeed become an interest of mine. I do not personally know individuals who are dying of AIDS, but I am keenly aware that my native country is suffering from an epidemic of this syndrome.

I know that there is an increasing number of Honduran children who are orphans because their parents have died of AIDS. I understand that people such as the Garifuna on the Caribbean coast are being decimated by AIDS. I also realize that this is a health care crisis that Honduras is ill-equipped to deal with effectively, which means that the problem could get much worse very quickly.

AIDS in Honduras is not a topic many of us want to discuss at length. There's almost no way you can enter this discussion and come out of it feeling good. It is a controversial topic for business because it's not something that can have a positive impact on investment in Honduras, notably in the country's tourism industry. It is also an uncomfortable topic for some religious institutions because, inevitably, you have to talk openly and frankly about sex.

Like it or not, though, there is an AIDS epidemic in Honduras. We can choose to address the situation now or we can do it later when it is infinitely worse. But it's not one of those things that will conveniently disappear if we simply opt to close our eyes to it. That is the reason that the Conference on Honduras in Washington, DC has initiated a dialogue on this issue.

At the first Conference on Honduras on November 13-14, 2000, guest speaker Rhoda Johnson-Tuckett of the Boston Public Health Commission gave a statistical overview of AIDS in Honduras, underscoring its gravity. That presentation led the planners of the conference to create a "Panel on AIDS in Honduras" at the second Conference on Honduras on October 12-13, 2001 and begin to look more in depth at the epidemic.

The panelists at this year's conference included Peter Climo of the Clinica Solidaridad y Vida, Dr. Sam Maldonado of the Janssen Research Foundation, and Emy Reyes of Planet Aid. Solidaridad y Vida is a clinic in Tegucigalpa that cares for patients with HIV and(or) AIDS. It is run by Dr. Enoc Padilla-Oliva. The Janssen Research Foundation, which is a part of the Johnson & Johnson company, is involved in healthcare research and development. Planet Aid is a non-profit organization involved in international development.

Each of these individuals covered AIDS in Honduras from different perspectives. Peter talked about his work with Dr. Padilla-Oliva and the needs of the clinic. Sam discussed the medical aspects of HIV/AIDS... what we know and what we don't know. And Emy briefed us on the progress that has been made in AIDS education and awareness in Africa and how some of those efforts could be emulated in Honduras.
In listening to the panel presentations and the questions and comments from the audience during the subsequent open forum session, it was clear to me that there are huge gaps in our knowledge base, as well as in the strategy for combating the epidemic in the country. Of course, there's a lack of money for purchasing medicines and educational materials.

I have to say, however, that what concerned me about the presentations and the open forum was that we could not come up with a clear understanding of the most basic question with regard to AIDS in Honduras... "What is the primary cause of AIDS in Honduras?" Is AIDS in Honduras primarily caused by the growing problem of prostitution? Is it primarily caused by the growing problem of illegal drug use? Is it primarily caused by the large number of merchant marines from overseas who are reportedly infecting the population? Is it primarily caused by a lack of basic education and awareness? There is no consensus.

Even more troublesome is that we could not come up with even an educated guess as to why the incidence of AIDS in Honduras is much worse than in the rest of Central America. In estimates cited recently by the World Trade Organization (WTO), more than 60,000 people in Honduras have AIDS (... note that some estimates range as high as 100,000 AIDS cases in Honduras). Some 13,000 Hondurans have died from diseases or health complications related to the syndrome.

By comparison, Guatemala counts 3,338 cases of AIDS, with 537 deaths attributed to it; El Salvador, 3,300, with 305 deaths; Panama, 3,067, with 330 deaths; Costa Rica, 1,277, with 840 deaths; Nicaragua, 214, with 117 deaths; and Belize, 194, with 190 deaths.

Why does a country that accounts for about 17% of the Central America's population have more than three-quarters of the reported AIDS cases in the region? What is it about Honduras that makes the country ground zero for the AIDS epidemic in Central America? You'd think the answer would be obvious. After all, Honduras isn't that much different from its neighboring countries. Or is it? Could it be that prostitution, illegal drug use, merchant marine traffic, and a poor educational and public awareness system in Honduras combine to fuel the AIDS epidemic in the country? It is possible that no other country in Central America has all of these factors present, at least not to the degree that they exist in Honduras.

I have a general sense that all of Honduras' neighbors, except Nicaragua and perhaps Belize, are in sizably better shape economically and socially. The reason the AIDS cases in Belize may be so low is because that country is relatively isolated and mostly rural-factors which reduce opportunities for the spread of the illness. In Nicaragua, it may just be a matter of poor reporting and record keeping.

Keep in mind that this is all purely speculation on my part. The point is that we have to start somewhere. We have to start seriously thinking, researching, writing, and talking about AIDS in Honduras and the impact it could have on the country during the next decade and generations to come.

One of the closing comments during the discussion on AIDS in Honduras at the Conference on Honduras 2001 was that we need to have an honest and robust national dialogue on this crisis. All sectors of the Honduran society must take part, and it should be done with a level of urgency and bipartisanship.

Every week, I learn of another orphanage in Honduras, another home for streets kids, or another foundation or clinic to care for youngsters with HIV/AIDS. Something is going on here, and we can't afford to ignore it.
The issue of AIDS in Honduras will continue to be a staple of the Conference on Honduras each year... for as long as it is necessary. The conference will be used to help develop and nurture a national dialogue, and we welcome anyone who is interested in participating.