If you are interested in attending the event, see Maya Calendar, page 8, for details.
 

Apollo lunar rock returning to Honduras

An Apollo moon rock that was given to Honduras in 1973 only to later disappear was formally returned to the Honduran ambassador Monday after NASA undercover agents recovered it from the black market by running a sting operation.

Corruption in the Media Discussed This Month in Honduras

By Alejandra Paredes L

A kid cheats during a test. An accountant falsifies checks to steal money. A forest is cut and sold without a reforestation plan. Donated food is sold in local convenience stores. A government official uses tax money to pay for his ad campaign. A journalist withholds information about these things and all corruption in society.

Repeatedly cited as a leading cause of poverty and underdevelopment, corruption has traditionally been linked to violence, drug trafficking, social injustice, and many other human maladies. In Honduras, the subject of corruption took on a new twist this month when it was linked with corruption in the media. Dr. Eduardo Bertoni, a specialist in free press, was invited to the country by the President Ricardo Maduro at the beginning of September. His visit was followed by that of Linda Hemby and Jaime Lopez from Journalists Against Corruption, and Probidad, international organizations that analyze cases of corruption in the media in different countries and the effect it has in societies around the world.

During his visit, Dr. Eduardo Bertoni, a representative from the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, presented the first ever official report on freedom of expression in Honduran society. The report was sponsored by the Organization of American States. Bertoni’s visit included interviews with president Maduro and many other people – including journalists, and members of Honduran civilian society. He was accompanied by Lisa Yagel, also a specialist in the subject.

Bertoni held a press conference at the Clarion Hotel on September 5, recommending that the Honduran State “eliminate from its legislation the obligatory registration of journalists in the Journalism School and the laws that penalize offensive expressions against public officers, known as laws of dishonor or incivility.” He explained that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and that no institution in a country has the right to prevent the expression of any of its members through any medium. He also expressed worry over the increasing numbers of formal complaints filed against journalists for dishonor and defamation that could be reprisals for critically presented information.

Dr. Bertoni’s intervention was reported this week by the media. Linda Hemby and Jaime Lopez, members of Journalists Against Corruption and Probidad also visited the country, reinforcing the efforts made in previous weeks regarding the proper use of communications media. In a seminar sponsored by C Libre and the United Nations Development Program, the speakers went into depth about the freedom of speech situation in Honduras, the right to information, and the role the owners of the media have as actors in our country.

Jaime Lopez from Probidad started the seminar by describing the way the media act as storytellers of the events in society, and how the particular interests behind the media can distort or even annul information critical to the main receptor, which is society at large. Transparency was mentioned as the basic characteristic that a medium should have, so the ultimate truth may reach the population, validating the responsibility of the medium towards society.

The presentation continued with the participation of Thelma Mejia, who presented a general description of the historical moments – both positive and negative – that give us an idea of the behavior of communications media during the country’s most recent democratic period.

The increasing interdependence between the owners of the media and the government in office was shown as a main concern that prevents the broadcast of information critical to public interest. Within this context, advertising of government activities in the media was also cited as a means of mutual dependence. Mejia also gave the list of the cases pending in the courts of justice regarding claims of defamation made by public officers, and the progress made on such cases to date. She discussed the conciliation agreement made that same day (September 16), in favor of Renato Alvarez, from the TV show Frente a Frente, as a step in the right direction with regards to allowing freedom of expression in Honduras.

Linda Hemby from Journalists Facing Corruption had said earlier on Frente a Frente that “There has been a group of journalists in the United States and also a group in France closely monitoring the behavior of the Honduran Media for at least the past thirty years.”

She also outlined the commitment that organizations like Journalists Against Corruption and Probidad have towards corruption in the media all over the world.

The subject of corruption in the media is indeed a touchy subject that we will continue to cover. As Dr. Aristides Soto said to Honduras This Week, “The media in Honduras tend to be extremely superficial, to the point where the truth tends to be altered, distorting the role that the media play in a society.”

If you would like to learn more on Freedom of Expression in Honduras and internationally, log on to http:/probidad.org/libexp or to http:/portal-pfc.org/libexp
Please send your comments to ale_paredesl@yahoo.com

Solar Energy, a bright idea for rural Hondurans

By Jennifer Oladipo

There are still many places in Honduras where when the sun goes down, the world goes dark. But for these rural areas without access to electric utilities, an inexpensive and often unexpected technology is a chance for a brighter future.

Using one of the world’s most abundant resources, the sun’s energy, some people in rural areas are able to experience amenities such as hot showers and indoor lighting, things many take for granted.

Solar energy has been used for more than just domestic lighting systems in Honduras. It can also be used to power radio and cellular communication and refrigeration systems. It is used to heat water in homes and to transport water to the home from an outside source, creating a type of plumbing system.

The technology—photovoltaic—is relatively simple. It involves little more than the sun’s rays generating electricity by traveling through another medium. A basic system is composed of five parts: a solar panel, battery, regulator, cables, and whatever appliance is being powered. Strategically placed solar panels gather enough energy during the day to charge a battery. That battery, in turn, powers devices inside a home, school or a hospital. Batteries range in output and solar panels differ in quality. Varying combinations of these two components provide different amounts of energy.

For about $500, Solaris, a local company, will install a system that will power a black-and-white television four hours every night for five years. Twice as much money will pay for three hours a night watching a 14-inch television, and six hours of light from seven fluorescent lamps. And when there is no sun, batteries will hold enough energy to continue powering a house for about five cloudy days.

On the civic scale, solar energy is being used to power public facilities and street lamps throughout the country.

Setting up one of these larger systems can take up to five days, while a small home can be completed in just four hours, said Ethel Ines Enamorado, project director at Solaris. Her company has installed systems in more than 3,000 homes over the past five years, along with 25 schools, three hospitals and three entire villages. They have also helped power and set up satellite dishes so that students in remote areas could have their lessons via satellite.

Larger projects are usually funded by the Honduran government, international non-governmental organizations and non-profit organizations. In a joint project with the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Solaris brought power to the first solar village in Latin America, San Ramón Centro, Choluteca in 1999. The company designed a solar plan for the town including refrigeration, public lighting, a medical clinic, community center, and a church.

But most of the time, a Solaris customer is just one man wearing sandals and a sombrero, carrying a handful of cash. The company has no advertising in the remote areas where it does business, but word spreads quickly. Office workers have no shortage of stories about a man amazed by the sight of light inside his house, or the old woman who is delighted by her first time viewing television.

People who only have enough money for those first few bulbs can build from there if they choose. The best thing about the system, Enamorado said, is that it can grow with the family. Extra panels and batteries can be added as electricity needs increase.
“It’s not like a car,” she said. “If your family grows and the car you have is suddenly too small, you have to get rid of it and buy another one. But with this you can just add to it as necessary.”

Solar energy has another feature eco-conscious people love – relatively low negative impact on the environment compared to other energy sources. The main natural resource used is the sun, whose energy involves no mining or foresting to harvest. The solar panels are made of silicon, which is made with sand. However, there is not currently an environmentally friendly way to dispose of the battery, said Enamorado.

Despite this negative aspect, solar energy’s ease, low cost, and wide range of uses have made it an undeniable benefit for many rural Hondurans. As technology becomes less expensive and large organizations increasingly fund projects for its use, it will most likely be available to many more in the future.
 

Bus attacks in San Pedro leave 14 dead and a community on edge

By LISA McKIDDIE

The city of San Pedro Sula was plunged into chaos once again last week when 14 civilians were brutally murdered by gang members in broad daylight.

The Mareros opened fire at three colectivo buses in different locations across the city last Saturday afternoon, killing eight people in Colonia Satelite, one person in Barrio Medina, and four people in Colonia Eben Ezer of Chamelecon.

Residents responded to the tragedy with rage, indignation, and deep sadness. Relatives gathered at the Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital, where an atmosphere of hysteria and suffering prevailed as victims were brought in for treatment.

Police have arrested five gang members believed to have been traveling in the vehicles from which the shots were fired. Two of the young men confessed that they had been contracted to commit the attacks against the colectivo buses in return for a payment of 10,000 Lempiras (approximately US$571).

The authorities suspect that the assassinations were the culmination of a route dispute between transport businesses that operate their colectivo buses in the corridor running from Colonia Satelite to the city center. They have also suggested that since the passage is popular with drug traffickers operating in the city, the incident was probably drug related.

“The evidence we have suggests that this incident was related to a drug turf war,” said Jorge Gomez Bonilla, an advisor to the National Security Council. “We think that one of the bus passengers or the owner of one of the buses may have been involved with a cartel and that’s who the gangs were paid to get.

“The other possibility is that the shootings were linked to the fight for business between the people who run the buses. Either way, those behind the assassinations contracted the gangs to do their dirty work. The people who belong to these gangs will do that kind of thing for the hell of it if someone offers them the money.”

A third theory suggests that the gangs were not motivated by money, but by the desire to retaliate against the government’s recent crackdown on gang related crime throughout the country.

The police have carried out intense operations to catch gang leaders over the last few months, particularly in San Pedro and Tegucigalpa. The new anti-gang law, passed less than a month ago by Congress, has helped make it easier for gang members to be brought to justice.

However, many believe that the initiation of a government led war against the gangs has only served to fuel gang activity.

“We cannot verify that there is a link between the criminal acts of Saturday and reprisals from the gangs for the application of the Anti-Gang Law,” said President Maduro in response to this theory. “Although we will not discard the possibility, the information received up to this moment does not point in this direction.”

Maduro also offered his condolences to the families of the victims and promised the people of San Pedro that his administration will do all it can to bring those responsible for the assassinations to justice.

“I have given instructions that all the resources of State Security are to be used to investigate this incident, to identify those responsible, and to make the appropriate accusations against them,” he said.

However, his words brought little comfort to residents of San Pedro. On Monday, mass hysteria throughout the city demonstrated the extent of the terror felt by its citizens.
Schools, institutes, universities, markets, businesses and public offices, including the Municipal Palace, were closed or abandoned when a rumor that gangs were on the rampage in the city began to circulate.

A dramatic police presence exacerbated the tense atmosphere and by midday, the national police had registered over 700 calls from concerned citizens, despite the fact that not one act of aggression had been reported. The magnitude of Monday’s panic points to a lack of faith in both the government and state security.

“People are not happy with the government and the way it is dealing with security,” said Gomez. “Maduro was elected on his promise to bring in a tough anti-crime policy, but to deliver he was going to need a lot of money, which the government doesn’t have. So he has failed to satisfy the people who elected him.”

Although Gomez believes that Saturday’s incident was motivated by a drug related turf war rather than a gang-led retaliation against the government, he acknowledges that Maduro’s campaign against the gangs has its flaws.

“Maduro’s policy is too high profile. The authorities should be attacking undercover, using intelligence to lead them to the people behind the gangs,” he said.

“He has thrown an open challenge to the gangs that should not have come so directly from the government because they don’t have the power, guns or money to carry it through – they will lose the initiative.”

Gangs have been operating in Honduras since the 1990s, when members of the 18th Street Gang arrived from California. The problem has grown over the last decade, and gang related crime now poses a bigger threat than ever before to civil society.

“There is more gang activity in Honduras now than there has ever been, and if the economy gets any worse, it will only increase,” said Gomez. “Unemployment is a factor that pushes young people into joining gangs and less revenue for police funding would make them harder to control.”

He believes that the government’s lack of funds constitutes its main obstacle in the battle against gangs in Honduras.

“So far, police intelligence has led them to the gang members and leaders, but not the people at the very top,” he said.

“With better intelligence and equipment, and a well trained police force, the authorities would be able to apprehend the smarter people with the money, those who pay gang members to shoot their enemies and protect their drug rackets.”

In the meantime, Sampedranos are left wondering if the bloodletting will ever end. Some liberal congressmen have suggested declaring a state of emergency in the city, but it is feared that this would lead investors to withdraw from what is essentially the economic power house of the country. San Pedro is Honduras’ most crime ridden city; it remains to be seen what price its citizens must pay for their personal security.


Casa Alianza mourns senseless deaths of street kids

Balloons representing the souls of dead street children were released by Casa Alianza. Each balloon represented the soul of ten kids.

By LISA McKIDDIE

TEGUCIGALPA – The expectant faces of the children lifted towards the clear blue sky as 200 white balloons gently floated away, high above the city.

In a moment of tranquility last Wednesday morning, the children of Casa Alianza remembered the lost lives of fellow street kids and made a moving bid for an end to the violence that terrorizes the nation’s most vulnerable people.

Each balloon represented the souls of 10 children who have been killed on the streets in the last five years. In total, 2,000 lives were commemorated, bearing witness to both the individual tragedy of each defenseless young soul and the collective tragedy of one of the most marginalized groups of society.

The demonstration followed an incident in San Pedro Sula last Saturday, in which seven children were killed in a gang attack on public transport. These senseless deaths brought the toll to 2002, and provided Casa Alianza with an immediate pretext for the protest.

“Senor Presidente Ricardo Maduro, you promised the Honduran population the security they deserve in your campaign. However, you have entered into a confrontation with people who are clamoring for justice, you do not want to listen to the popular voice, nor to the mothers who demand a response to the assassinations of their sons and daughters, and because of this, we demand an immediate investigation to find those responsible for these executions,” implored Casa Alianza.

Their call for government action comes at a time when the threat to young Honduran lives is greater than ever before. The number of children who are brutally murdered on the streets every year has risen dramatically since 1998.

Shocking statistics show that while in 1998, 93 children were killed; by 2002, the number of lives lost annually had reached 549. It is only September and the death toll for 2003 has already reached 434.

The identity of those responsible for 80% of these murders remains unknown. Fifteen percent are attributed to gang related violence and the remainder to the police, soldiers or private security guards.

The children of Casa Alianza marched from their rehabilitation home, located in the center of the city, to the Congressional buildings a few blocks away. Some of the banners they held contained religious slogans; others carried simple messages such as “Boys and Girls of Casa Alianza want Peace.”

When they reached the Congressional buildings, they formed a circle in front of a brass mural representing the forefathers of Honduras and began singing songs for peace, non-violence, and life. This meaningful location was an appropriate setting for the symbolic act of releasing the balloons.

The scene outside Congress bore no resemblance to that of last Tuesday, when anti-government protests turned violent and police had to disperse the crowds with tear gas.

The fearless children of Casa Alianza gathered there to call for peace, love and life, and their mellow songs, uplifting dances, and moving speeches created the perfect mood to support their appeals to replace a culture of death with general recognition of the universal right to life.
 

Demonstrators defy the government’s Civil Service bill

By DANNY LAMOND

Tegucigalpa - On Tuesday, demonstrators gathered outside the National Congress in an unprecedented public display of opposition to the Maduro government’s proposal to cut public spending through the implementation of a new Civil Service bill. Many teachers, doctors, and other public sector workers had traveled to the capital from across the country to support the demonstration.

If ratified, the Civil Service bill would require public sector workers to pay income tax on their 13th and 14th salaries. These are traditionally untaxed, bonus salaries that exist above the taxed, twelve monthly salaries received by the worker. Furthermore, article 38 would extend the evaluation period for new civil servants, and those seeking promotion, from 60 days to 6 months. Such a provision would effectively invest the government with the legal right to fire civil servants within 6 months of the start of their employment or promotion, without any financial remuneration.

According to President Ricardo Maduro, the bill is evidence of the government’s attempt to cap the “unsustainable” increase in public spending witnessed over the passed few years. Public spending grew from 4,853.5 million Lempiras to 11,628.1 million in the period from 1998 to 2002. Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) requires the Honduran government to make significant cuts in its public spending if the country is to qualify for financial aid.

However, for those opposed to the government’s plans for cuts in public spending like Jorge Gallardo Rius, a freelance journalist, the implementation of the Civil Service bill would serve only to crystallize the manner in which “the burden of financing the high cost of government is falling on the people.”

Many demonstrators outside Congress believe that the government is pursuing a double standard, a standard that only increases the divide between rich and poor throughout the country. The Civil Service bill falls disproportionately on the middle classes that comprise the vast majority of teachers, nurses, and other public sector workers. Yet, only last week, at the opposite end of the wage index, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a salary increase for judges from 60,000 to 65,000 Lempiras per month.

Furthermore, that 66% of Hondurans are unable to meet the costs of living at a subsistence level encouraged many from the poorer classes, unaffected by the provisions outlined in the Civil Service bill, to join the middle class demonstrators.

For Claudine Alvarado, one of those demonstrating against the bill, one of the means of reducing public spending should include “lowering the wages of congressmen and judges.”

Claudine, who is currently training to become a special needs teacher, is already apprehensive about entering the education sector where “the vast majority of public schools do not even have libraries.” Claudine fears that further cuts to public spending will actually dissuade trainees from progressing to employment in the education sector, a sector already suffering from shortages of qualified teachers, and will therefore “increase unemployment.”

Claudine went on to attack the way in which the teaching body at large is being portrayed by the Maduro government, as “the villains” in their opposition to the Civil Service bill. Indeed, Maduro expressed his regret that demonstrators were ignoring channels of “constructive discussion” with the government embodied by the National Dialogue, and located within every municipality in Honduras.

In contrast, a group of doctors demonstrating outside the National Congress believed the National Dialogue to be little more than a talking-shop, designed to absorb public dissatisfaction with the government. One doctor singled out the passage of the recent Water Law, passed in “secret” by Congress and only presented to the nation as a fait accompli, as a worrying precedent which he feared the Civil Service bill could well follow.

The doctor denounced the government as “oppressive,” accusing the government of “forgetting” the mandate given to it by the people. Others joined the demonstration to protest against the government’s policy on land ownership and the recent privatization of water, under the Water Law.

Demonstration descends into violence

However, the peaceful nature of the demonstration descended into scenes of violence and vandalism later in afternoon as anarchists infiltrated the ranks of public sector workers and their supporters.

At around 4.15pm, amidst chants of “down with Maduro,” the first sticks and Molotov cocktails were thrown at anti-riot police and the National Congress building.

Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds, but only after many shops within the vicinity of the National Congress had been ransacked and their windows smashed.

The violence created chaos amongst the demonstrators, taking families and their children by surprise, while those who had traveled from other parts of the country to take part in the demonstration were unable to navigate their way out of the danger zone because they did not know the geography of the city. Nineteen demonstrators required medical treatment for their injuries.

Peace Corps provides positive impact on Honduras

BY LARRY SCHWARZ

When United States President John F. Kennedy officially established the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961, he was hoping that by sending volunteers to developing countries, there would be improvements in those regions that would ultimately help foster world peace.

Since that day more than forty-two years ago, there have been approximately 170,000 volunteers “promoting peace and friendship” in 136 countries. Today the Peace Corps serves sixty-nine countries and operates with an annual budget of US$295 million. If Kennedy were here today, he would probably be elated with how tremendously successful the organization has become.

In order to qualify for the Peace Corps, applicants must be citizens of the United States – a condition that is absolutely non-negotiable. Having a Bachelor’s degree is certainly helpful, but exceptions are made for people with life experience in a useful field. It’s not only a haven for college graduates either. The average volunteer is 28-years-old, and the oldest volunteer was 86-years-old when he completed his service.

Everyone who makes the decision to live and work in some of the world’s poorest countries has a different reason for doing so. Some people simply want to make the world a better place; others see it as an opportunity to have an incredible learning experience and place an extraordinary accomplishment on their resume.

“It was something I thought about since high school,” said Jeremy Padbury, 22, a Peace Corps volunteer who has been in Honduras since July 2002. “I had teachers that had done it, so it was in the back of my mind, and I was an International Affairs major, so it seemed like the best way to experience another place.”

Applying requires a good deal of time and patience and involves many steps. The first step is to fill out an application, write two essays and provide three references. Then the applicant meets with a recruiter who decides if he or she has the personality for this sort of venture. All applicants are subject to medical and legal requirements and receive a background check conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

If all works out, the Peace Corps sends the applicant an invitation and gives ten days to make a decision. Upon acceptance, the volunteer is assigned a country and is sent to a large American city for a ten-day orientation.

Once volunteers arrive overseas, they receive twelve weeks of comprehensive training, which includes language instruction as well as lessons on cross-cultural adaptation. Here in Honduras, all volunteers meet with President Ricardo Maduro and are sworn in by United States Ambassador Larry L. Palmer. Only then does the 24-month life-changing journey begin.

Honduras is a very special country in the Peace Corps’ eyes because it’s the nation with the largest number of active volunteers. In addition, it is the longest running, uninterrupted program. Volunteers first arrived here in July 1962 and have been here continuously ever since. Currently, approximately 270 volunteers are in Honduras; more than 5,000 have served since the beginning.

“We have a great friendship with the Honduran people from all walks of life,” said Ron F. “Cisco” Ruybal, the Country Director for the Peace Corps in Honduras.

Volunteers don’t necessarily choose Honduras as the nation where they wish to participate. One of the main tricks to getting through the application process is to demonstrate flexibility in where you are willing to serve. “I just wanted to be in a Spanish speaking country, and in a place that wasn’t cold,” said Maya Pilgrim, 26, a health volunteer from Austin, Texas.

Over the past four decades, the Peace Corps has had some remarkable achievements in Honduras. In that time, volunteers have supported efforts resulting in the reduction of the infant mortality rate from 13% to 3%, and they have helped to increase the population’s access to potable water from 30% to more than 75%. Since the Peace Corps arrived, they have established nationally protected areas, created programs to provide available credit for those in need, and increased employment in the export industry. These days, though, they focus more on Municipal Development, AIDS prevention, and information technology.

“We are working closely with the government to develop water and sanitation systems,” said Mr. Ruybal, who in addition to being the Country Director was a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire from 1977 - 1979.

Volunteers are treated very well during their time abroad. The Peace Corps provides all immunizations, two vacation days for every month of service, and a monthly stipend (approximately $190 per month in Honduras) to cover food, housing expenses, and local transportation. A “settling-in” allowance of $235 is given upon arrival. Health insurance is provided for the entire duration, and basic medical care is available. A readjustment allowance of $225 per month is put aside, so when volunteers return home, they receive a check for $6,075.  “Most try to live within their means,” said Mr. Ruybal, “and we encourage them to do so. Some kids pay their student loans with the readjustment allowance.”  “It’s like being retired,” said Jeffrey Cohen, the Program and Training Officer for the Peace Corps in Honduras. “You have a fixed income with health insurance.”

Twenty-seven months is a long time to be away from home, and considering what is involved, most people manage to stick it out until the end. In the entire Peace Corps program, only about 12 - 15% of volunteers wind up going home early; in Honduras, the rate is about 9 - 10 %. On the other side of the coin, 10% of volunteers choose to stay beyond the end of their term. Mr. Cohen said that he knew of a volunteer in Bolivia who had been with the Peace Corps for fourteen years. Staying for that duration, however, is not really encouraged. “After four years,” said Mr. Ruybal, “I need to give the national office an explanation.”

If there is any doubt about the impact that the Peace Corps has had on the world, one only needs to talk to Peru’s President Alejandro Toledo. When he was a child, he met two volunteers who later helped him come to the United States for an education. When President Bush visited Peru in March 2002, he announced alongside President Toledo that the Peace Corps would return there after a 27-year absence. They had been expelled in 1975 by the military government that was in power at the time.

United States Senator Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 1966-68 and mentions it proudly on his biography. “One good thing about the Peace Corps,” said Mr. Cohen, “is that it’s a stepping stone for all types of people who have had a large influence.”

Sometimes volunteers return years later to the site where they had once worked. Not long ago, “Honduras 2,” the second group to ever work in this country, came back to La Esperanza for a visit. While they were there, they came across a woman who had once been very poor, but was now college educated and had children who were college educated. She credited the Peace Corps for her accomplishments. “You can’t go too far without hearing one of these stories,” said Mr. Cohen. “We know of a farmer who was once very poor but is now a model farmer with a training center. In every community, you’ll find one of these stories.”

One issue that the Peace Corps take very seriously is safety and security. In Honduras, both the main office and the training center are unidentified, nondescript buildings, and volunteers are reprimanded if they vanish without informing someone of their whereabouts. “Someone always knows where you are,” said Miss Pilgrim. “The Peace Corps is very picky about safety and security.”

“Security has evolved throughout the forty-two years of the Peace Corps’ existence,” Mr. Ruybal said. “9/11 only accelerated it. We’ve designed more efficient strategies to educate volunteers about safety and security, and we’ve really accelerated training and enforcement of safety and security procedures.”

Overall, most volunteers seem to be glad that they’ve taken the plunge. Mr. Cohen, the Program and Training Officer, believes that, 98% of volunteers are pleased with their experience in the Peace Corps. “It’s been great so far,” said Miss Pilgrim, who will be in Honduras until April 2004. “You have the freedom to work in whatever project drives you, and there are different friendships and connections you make with people here.”

“It’s all highs and lows,” said Mr. Padbury, who is helping citizens learn to use Microsoft Excel spreadsheets in order to improve financial organization. “Some days it’s like ‘That’s it! I want to go home!’ and other days it’s such an amazing experience, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. “I’m glad I came,” he continued, “I think all volunteers feel that you are never doing as much as you could be doing. There’s a lot of frustration. So much is out of your hands, especially with education.”

Despite the squeaky clean image of the Peace Corps, the rare controversy does occasionally surface. In December 2002, Russia claimed that volunteers had been spying and “attempting to gather information about Russian officials.” Naturally, the Peace Corps denied the allegations, and virtually everyone agrees that the organization’s ejection from the former Communist nation was purely a political maneuver. Russia, it appeared, felt that the Peace Corps’ presence somehow branded them as a third-world nation not capable of dealing with its own problems.

Peacecorpsonline.org, an independent news forum serving returned volunteers, clearly states the rules regarding espionage on their website.
“By law, the Peace Corps cannot pass information to the intelligence gathering community,” the site declared. “There are legal and administrative safeguards in place to prevent any member or former member of the intelligence gathering community from becoming a volunteer in the U.S. Peace Corps.”

“I hope we’ve never had a volunteer that was an agent for the CIA,” said Mr. Ruybal. “I hope it wouldn’t happen. We have a gentlemen’s agreement to stay out of each other’s business.”

With more and more Fuero Gringo graffiti appearing around Tegucigalpa, and tempers still sore in the aftermath of Gulf War II, one might get the impression that Peace Corps volunteers are frequently on the receiving end anti-American tirades. “There are cultural misconceptions,” said Mr. Ruybal, “but not anti-American sentiment. The Peace Corps is an apolitical organization.”

And the future is as bright as ever. On January 30, 2002, President Bush mentioned the Peace Corps in his State of the Union address. It was the first time that had ever happened.  “We will renew the promise of the Peace Corps, double its volunteers over the next five years and ask it to join a new effort to encourage development, and education and opportunity in the Islamic world,” President Bush said in his address to the nation.

The familiar motto “The toughest job you’ll ever love” is also being ditched for a more modern one: “Life is calling. How far will you go?”  “Some people say ‘it’s the easiest job you’ll ever hate,’” said Mr. Padbury, who is hoping to go to law school or get into public service. “I would never say it’s easy or smooth sailing, but it’s good to look at your own culture from an outside perspective.”

“You must be willing to do anything initially,” said Mr. Ruybal, “no matter how tough the task is.”  “The fact is, there are a lot of snafus,” said Miss Pilgrim. “Things rarely turn out as planned. People don’t always do what they say they’ll do, and they’re not very reliable, but I still love it. Overall it gets a positive recommendation, but it’s not for everybody.”

“You’re automatically a rock star,” said Mr. Cohen. “People will know everything you do. Peace Corps will change your life forever. Once a Peace Corps volunteer, always a Peace Corps volunteer. It changes your life profoundly.”