Historical and curious facts from Honduras

Compiled By ROSIBEL PACHECHO DE GUTIERREZ

A very special classified ad

I'm selling very cheap, new house located on the main street of Villa Concepcion. Includes front and back yards, several inside rooms and some fruit trees. For price and conditions, talk to the writer of this ad, this person desires to return as soon as possible to Father Dario Cruz the money he loaned her as he is currently driving her crazy.  Francisca Espana


Guenguensi Island and the pirates

Guenguensi Island is located in the Gulf of Fonseca, southeast of the San Lorenzo Port. It has an area of four square kilometers. An abundance of small pots were found on this islands' coasts, at water level, at the beginning of the 20th century. 

Between the years 1938 and 1940, some North American archaeologists studied the materials these pots were made of, yet they never revealed the results of their research. It is believed that this place was host to English pirate Frances Drake's barracks, where he buried all the treasures he had robbed from the Spanish colonies in America.


Boa Review: Conflictive interests between major cities

By WENDY GRIFFIN

(Second of Three Parts)
According to Reinterpreting the Banana Republic: Region & State in Honduras 1870-1972, one of the reasons that coffee growing was slow in taking off was a shortage of knowledge. This situation didn't change until Pompilio Ortega founded an agricultural school and a state run nursery in the 1920s. Ortega had studied coffee cultivation in the United States. In 1900, coffee was being exported, but in small amounts in comparison to bananas. Much of the production was marketed internally, local consumers had abandoned traditional breakfast drinks such as tiste (made of cacao) for coffee by the late nineteenth century. The second half of the book covers the period from 1930 to 1972 and emphasizes the tension between the Tegucigalpa elite (which eventually includes coffee growers), and North Coast elite from San Pedro Sula, Progreso and La Ceiba. The latter were more involved with the banana industry, manufacturing, retail sales, and sugar, while the former, who controlled the government in Tegucigalpa before 1930, was more related to cattle ranching, mining, and perhaps the lumber industry.

The power of the manufacturing elite in San Pedro Sula and the north coast is recent and a twentieth century phenomenon. Although now recognized as the industrial capital of the nation, during colonial times and through the nineteenth century, San Pedro Sula was a tiny place. Up until 1920 the population of the Indian town of Chinda, Santa Barbara was as much as three times the size of San Pedro. La Ceiba was founded in the 1880's. The port of Tela was not even used until the 1830's when the Blacks of Omoa and Trujillo blockaded those ports to Republican forces.

Euraque does not raise the question of the availability of land for the expansion of banana plantations but not for coffee. If we could look at Linda Newson's book "The Cost of Conquest" we would see maps of which lands the Spanish controlled in 1820 and those controlled by free Indians. We would find the lands where the Tela Railroad Company (now Chiquita) and Standard Fruit Railroad (now Dole) were built were under the control of the Tolupan Indians in the 1820's. There are land titles for the Tolupans of Tela as late as the 1860s.

However, given the Tolupans were not conquered by the Spanish, they had very few colonial land titles. Except for a handful obtained for them by Spanish missionary Manuel de Jesus Subirana in the 1860's, the lands in the Departments of Atlantida and Yoro were not protected by any land titles when the railroad companies arrived. The Honduran government gave these lands to the railroads claiming they were uninhabited. The Tolupans retreated further inland. The complete story of how Tolupan land came to be railroad land has not yet been investigated. As Euraque points out, most of the early banana workers for these two railroads were from inland towns such as Copan and Santa Barbara. Euraque does not discuss much the Truxillo Railroad line that extended from Puerto Castilla and Trujillo to Corocito, then east through Garifuna municipalities as far as Palacios/Batalla, south from Iriona along the Paulaya River to the Paya River in Olancho where they displaced the Pech. The map in Euraque's book for this railroad and its proposed completion is not correct, and thus he misses the ethnic interaction. The Pech say they were displaced from their lands by the Railroad officials coming into their homes and simply stating, "The government has given us this land, you have to move." They moved into communities closer to Dulce Nombre de Culmi. This railroad was never completed, neither does it exist any longer. The Carias government allowed the railroad company tear up the rails and leave the country, a task it completed in 1942.What makes the 1928-1930 period a good time to divide Honduran political history is the beginning of the Cariato, or the rise to power of General Tiburcio Carias, a native of La Paz. Euraque states that during this time the first Honduran State emerges. However, Euraque does not explain the difference between Carias' government and preceding periods.

In my opinion, a major difference was communication. The highway to the North was finished and linked the areas cities. Airports opened in the Bay Islands and other places. Telegraphy was available in much of the country. Each department had a Political Governor and a Commandant. Every morning, President Carias received a report on what was happening in each department and gave orders for the commandants by telegraph. Some of these orders, now in that National Archives, are in code. They are thought to represent troop movement. At last the president could have troops in the field follow him without leaving Tegucigalpa. Carias followed a policy of "Enterrar, Desterrar o Internar," that is to bury, exile, or jail the opposition. The Commandant in Trujillo and Sub-commandant of Colon in Iriona reportedly each had their own personal cemeteries. Internal passports were used. For example to travel from Tela to Trujillo, you had to carry a passport. In this way, every person was counted, and accounted for.




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Operation Smile: 
Ready for sixth mission in Honduras


Maria Auxiliadora (right) is one of the 1000 Honduran children who has benefited from Operation Smile.

By SUYAPA CARIAS

Hundreds of volunteers are currently getting ready to carry out the sixth Operation Smile international mission in Honduras. This missions objective is to provide free reconstructive surgery to 125 children who suffer from cleft lip and/or palate. This year, the team will be headed by North American and Honduran surgeons Brad Herman and Omar Mejia.
From February 7 to 20, national and foreign medical experts will gather at the San Felipe Hospital in Tegucigalpa first to screen and than to operate the lucky patients.

Screenings will be conducted on February 7 and 8, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Medical seminars are programmed for Saturday the 9th, while the surgeries are scheduled for February 11 to 15. During this period, most of the hospital's personnel, dental and High School students, private companies and individual volunteers will be offering their support. 

In Honduras, this kind of corrective surgery costs at least US$1,000 in private hospitals. However, over the past few years, a growing number of patients have been taken care of in public hospitals. Each surgery costs Operation Smile approximately US$750. 

From 1997 to date, almost 1000 people have benefited from five two-week long missions, but this number falls short in comparison with the incidence of the anomaly. Although no specific research has been conducted in the country, it is estimated that one in every 600 children in developing nations are born with congenital deformities. In order to reach more people, Operation Smile Honduras is currently raising funds so as to keep up the annual international mission, and to establish a permanent clinic in Tegucigalpa.

For more information, call Giannina Guell, Operation Smile Honduras Executive Director, at tel./fax 235-7988, 235-7719.

htw3
Maria Auxiliadora (right) is one of the 1000 Honduran children who has benefited from Operation Smile.

CULTURAL EVENTS  

The "Baile de los Diablitos" will be presented next February at Comayagua.

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.

Father Humberto's day care centers: An admirable alternative for poor, working parents

Father Humberto's greatest satisfaction is watching 
the children's physical and mental health improve. 

By SUYAPA CARIAS

In 1992, in a small house in the humble Reynel Funez barrio on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, Father Humberto Reyes opened a child care center. Located a few kilometers south of the capital city, this neighborhood was originally inhabited by victims of Hurricane Gilbert. Today, Reyes' initiative has grown into a newly built and recently inaugurated day care complex. 

The academic, creative and spiritual development of the little ones is a basic aspect of the centers.

In the "Centro de Cuidado Diurno de Niños Solidarios con los Niños" center, more than 70 children receive three square meals a day as well as schooling and spiritual guidance in a safe, clean and loving atmosphere. An inspiring example of good will and solidarity worth following.

A change of life
That is, precisely, what several little compatriots like Carlita are experiencing in the center. She was so malnourished that she had almost no hair. Fernandito suffered similar luck, for when he arrived, he was so weak he could barely walk. His grandmother used to leave him alone everyday while she went to work.

"Most of the children come in very badly nourished. However, within a few short weeks, it is really impressive to see the change in their appearance, from the color of their skin and the texture of their hair, to their state of mind," says the religious leader.

The difference lies simply in proper nutrition and a little care. After saying a thank you prayer, the children are fed breakfast, lunch and a snack Monday through Friday. During the rest of their daily stay, two devoted teachers are in charge of developing their intellectual and creative skills.Forging better destinies "To work here is a gift from God," says Juanita Caceres, a friendly 65 year-old empirical educator. "We teach them things like the alphabet, vowels and the parts of a plant. The meals they get help them learn faster."

On more than one opportunity, Juanita has been driven to visit the homes of some of her pupils after they have arrived at the center with signs of physical abuse. "I visit their parents and offer them counseling to keep them from beating up their children."

During lunch time, HTW chatted with some of the students and discovered a general interest in further studies. "I love coming here because they give us food, we do homework and we play," says Gustavo Sanchez.

Most of the children's parents labor in the informal economy: street vendors, domestic employees, masons. Many come from broken homes where only mommy is in charge.

Volunteers
Getting this far has cost Father Humberto and his collaborators much time and effort. "The idea was born in 1992, and after a meeting held with some friends from Tegucigalpa, we began the search for a place," recalls Reyes.

A previous work experience in BANCAHSA gave Father Reyes, an economist, the possibility of gathering a group of dynamic volunteers. When additional aid was obtained abroad, the first center Amigos de los Ninos, was opened on a piece of land donated by the Mayor's Office.

Later, when Father Reyes was sent to Spain for study purposes, his friends were left in charge of the center. Upon his return to Honduras in 1995, with the help of the Honduran government and private donors from France, Reyes was able to open a second center. 

On a more recent trip to the European nation, Reyes established contacts with several residents of the city of Sevilla, who offered him their help and founded "Proyecto Honduras." They organized several fund raising events and were able to collect enough money to build 80 percent of the new facilities, which cost approximately Lps. 1.2 million. 

Meanwhile, the Honduran volunteers, nearly 100 of them, formally created the "Amigos Solidarios" Foundation.

Urgent needs 
Presently the center is comprised of two large classrooms, one kitchen, an eating room, bathrooms and a big recreation area. There is one director, one coordinator, two teachers, two cooks and a guard.

However, Reyes hasn't been able to make authorities bring potable water to the area, and must pay expensive water trucks to fill up the tanks every month. Since money is always short and food is priority number one, salaries are pretty short too. 
"We need to increase our budget from Lps. 25 thousand to around Lps. 40 thousand so we can contract more personnel and improve upkeep. Of course, we urge authorities to provide us with a potable water system, and we solicit both in-kind and cash donations. Food, toys, didactic materials are always welcome." 

For more information, call Father Humberto at 236-9193.


Joel Castillo: Vivid, colorful, alive landscapes 

By ADOLFO MUNGUIA SANTOS
Special to HTW

Joel Castillo's work has the ability to display a multicolored gamma of the chromatic variety in a magical way across a canvas. His paintings present color with a simple, but dazzling richness in each part of his landscapes. Using nature as his main theme, his art is a flaming daydream of color and fertility, converting him into one of America's classic landscapers.

Through his work, Castillo has not put his dreams on hold, but rather has defined his way of life as a true, permanent celebration of spontaneous artistic exuberance. He captures movements imperceptible to the common human being; without a doubt, the word modesty does not fit his artistic expressions.

He was born in Guinope, El Paraiso, Honduras on July 16, 1948. He graduated at the National School of Fine Arts, as Fine Arts Professor. His first individual exhibit took place in 1968 at the "La Botija" Art Gallery.




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Book Review: One hundred years of Honduran politics explained

By WENDY GRFFIN

(First of three parts)

It is always exciting to see a new book on Honduras written in English. Reinterpreting the Banana Republic: Region & State in Honduras 1870-1972 is especially welcome because it is by Dario A. Euraque, a native of Honduras who teaches history at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He is the author of other excellent materials concerning the north coast of Honduras, emphasizing San Pedro Sula.

The book begins by stating that in order to understand the Banana Republic Era in Central America and the military dictatorships that followed in Honduras, it is first necessary to understand the period 1870-1930. The period 1860-1870 sets up this period because bananas begin to be exported to the US after the end of the U.S. Civil War. Also coffee first comes to Western Honduras in the 1860's. Honduras is finally in political control of its entire territory after gaining control of the Mosquitia and the Bay Islands in the 1860's from Great Britain. Bananas and plantains grew in Honduras before 1865, but they were used only for domestic consumption. This gives them a jump start on coffee. 

He cites other researchers who claim what happened to Honduras in the period 1870-1930 is different from what happened in the rest of Central America. In other countries where there were Indians-Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador, the Ladino elite got control of the local municipalities (counties) apt for coffee and subsequently of central governments. 

These other Central American coffee elite pushed for "reforms" to dispossess Indians of their communally held lands. They also passed laws requiring forced Indian labor. In Costa Rica, the coffee elite also got control of the government, but the few Indians they had were not in the way of coffee production. Thus coffee was the motor in the formation of national bourgeoisie and a strong state in the rest of Central America.

He claims that since the mountainous lands apt for coffee remained in the hands of peasants in Honduras, except in Choluteca, a different process happened here. He attributes this to an elite which chose to respect Indian ejidal (communal) titles. In fact, in the 1860 -1865 and 1890-1913 periods when other Central American countries were dispossessing Indians of their lands, the Honduran Central government was giving new land titles to the Tolupans, Pech and Garifunas. Forced Indian labor laws did not exist in the Independence era in Honduras.

The situation was more complicated than Euraque portrays it. The Lenca and Nahuat Indians who held most of the land titles for the mountain lands apt for coffee in Honduras had two types of land titles. One was for ejidal land titles, controlled by the mayor, and the other were for lands en mayordomia held by Indian Catholic organizations called cofradias. At the beginning of the nineteenth century about 18% of Honduran lands were held by these cofradias according to Linda Newson.

In the nineteenth century. the Honduran government did try to confiscate the land en mayordomia. The Lenca Indians rose up to protest this and other abuses many times and as late as the 1920's. The Ladinos only gained control of the last land of the Lencas in mayordomia in the 1990's. Until 1910 the Indian municipalities were controlled by Indian mayors. Euraque ignores the later period when municipal governments in Western Honduras switch from Indian to Ladino mayors and the Indians lose much of their coffee lands.

Euraque says it is unclear why coffee capitalists did not take over the Honduran government in the period 1870-1930 as they did elsewhere. Foreigners trying to invest in Honduras in the late nineteenth century wrote that there was insufficient labor to grow coffee. In fact, there was a shortage of labor even for cattle ranching, which uses significantly less labor. Ladino land owners did not take to coffee quickly. When the market for the Honduran produced dyes cochinilla (red) and indigo (the blue of blue jeans) died in the 19th century because of the invention of chemical dyes, these land owners mostly switched to cattle raising instead of coffee growing.

A tribute to Mary Flores: A box of Twix for the First Lady 
"That they could see Honduras, my Honduras, through my eyes." 

Mary Flakes de Flores is well known for her work with Honduran children.

By LAURA Y. FACUSSE

Special to HTW

People say that Mary Flake de Flores is loving, humble, and simple, but these words don't even start to describe who she really is and what she has done in our country. I only learned this the moment I read her biography and asked her for an interview. 

I am a Honduran and I've lived most of my life here. However, I've been privileged with the opportunity of studying abroad and seeing things many of my countrymen can't even imagine exist. Here, I'm surrounded by poverty, and sometimes I feel helpless, guilty, annoyed, and caged as if my privileged existence belongs to another world that sets me apart from the crude reality that I'm immersed in. 

When I first got the idea to interview Mrs. Flores I didn't understand how special she is. I was in New York City and I asked her courteous secretary if I could get an interview with the First Lady. She informed me that Mrs. Flores was in Salt Lake City, Utah and that it would be hard to get an interview. I began to resign myself to the idea, understanding that Mrs. Flores must be busy, especially as she was out of the country. To my surprise, I was notified that Mrs. Flores not only had been contacted but that she had kindly answered my questionnaire, by means of a note that she had handwritten herself, on her hotel's stationary, and faxed it back to her office. In addition, she was thanking me for selecting her for the interview. 

I thought, why is she thanking me? I was the one who was grateful for her incredibly kind and immediate response. After learning more about her, I felt a sudden urge to write this article as a Thank You note not only from me, but on behalf of all Hondurans in hope that we can someday give back some of what she has given us. I was proud of having someone like Mrs. Flores as First Lady of our country because her example and true leadership are the qualities that will allow us to conquer the deception that has been the common characteristic of most rulers here. 

In truth, she is not unlike many renowned and great women leaders such as Evita and Umm Kumthulm that I admire. She is an inspiration to all women and to Hondurans, politicians and otherwise. Sadly, indeed I think that she loves our country more than many native Hondurans do and this makes me realize how special she is and how much we have to learn from her. 

Many things would be different if we all felt a little more pride and love for what we have. I learned that, surely, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", and that we are victims of faulty vision if we cannot appreciate the unique beauty of all that is Honduran as she has. Mrs. Flores has set an example of love and patriotism to all of us so that we can, as she says, "…feel a deep pride in our country and see the amazing majesty of the history, the culture, the generous and beautiful people and the great diversity of this small nation." 

"That they could see Honduras, my Honduras, through my eyes," as she tries to explain.

But what has made her a remarkable person is that she "knew the opportunity was there to help the poor of Honduras" and that she resolutely took it. 

Mrs. Mary Flake de Flores was born in Tennessee but was raised in Cincinnati. She met her husband, now President Carlos Flores, when they were both students at Louisiana State University, were she received a B.A. degree in Textiles and Marketing. They married in 1973 soon after coming to Honduras and become the parents of two. 

Mrs. Flores then naturally continued her charity work here as she had done back home. People recognize and appreciate the fact that she served for twenty-five years as a volunteer in public hospitals and cultural institutions, that is, long before becoming our First Lady and that is how her positive image was established, she believes. 

Upon becoming First Lady, she not only continued but increased her work by establishing her own charitable foundation, "Fundacion Maria", in order to separate her work from the Government's, using private donations to accomplish her many initiatives. "With a small staff of five and hundreds of volunteers (who risked their lives during Hurricane Mitch, October 1998, to distribute thousands of donations)," Fundacion Maria has helped the most needy and marginalized sectors of the country in healthcare, children's issues, education, and even sports. "This is the best way she has thought she could help Hondurans", she says. "She listened to the people as they told her their hardships and, at night, thinking of their plights, her imagination would take over until she found solutions to their problems". 

She describes her major contribution, as "having the opportunity to alleviate some of the needless suffering children must bear as a part of poor person's apparently inevitable destiny in a developing country." 

Her charity work is constantly growing, but she has already concluded several projects such as the Expansion of the Pediatric and Obstetrics-Gynecology Emergency Area of the Hospital Escuela, a Sports Center and a Children's Car and Skating Track in the United Nations Park at El Picacho Mountain in Tegucigalpa. and several shelters in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula hospitals. 

There are also on-going projects like the Hospital Maria for Specialized Pediatric Care, a Center for the Attention of Girls in Social Risk "Las Flores," a Chiminike Interactive Learning Center, and many more. 

Her extensive charity work is almost endless, but this is merely a demonstration of how she has submitted herself entirely to her vocation, that of helping people and Honduras. She has been recognized nationally and internationally, by the United Nations Women's Guild, International Woman of the Year; she has also been recognized for her humanitarian labor by McDonald's of Central America, by the Municipality of Tegucigalpa, and the list goes on. 

She isn't only a volunteer, a leader, and a doer, but also a woman, a natural woman. She is a symbol of strength, will, and authority, a strong role model for all women, regardless of their socio-economic and ethnic background. With her characteristic lock of hair falling over the right side of her forehead, gleaming eyes, and an unveiled smile, she has cast her charm and earned the respect and become Queen of Honduran Hearts. 

When asked what she dislikes the most, she answers, 'Hurricane Mitch and people who do not keep their promises or who do not believe in challenging goals." 

Sometimes, eyes get weary of poverty and begin to ignore it or to accept it. When you ask me whom I value the most, I say it is those who do not tire but continue to help others, not for fame, but out of true love. Such is Mary Flake Flores.



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