SOS Children in Honduras
Honduras is the second largest republic in Central America. Military rule, corruption, a huge wealth gap, crime and natural disasters have rendered it one of the least developed and least secure countries in Central America, and Honduran society is rife with economic inequality. The average daily income is less than £1.80 (£46.60 in the UK).
Malnutrition, poor housing and infant diseases are widespread. Poverty, and the prospects offered by drug trafficking, have contributed to a virulent crime wave, conducted mainly by scores of youth gangs. Social problems include high rates of infant and child mortality and malnutrition in children under five, as well as a sharp increase in HIV/AIDS.
Hurricane Mitch in 1998 compounded many of these problems. At least 5000 people were killed and 70 per cent of the country's crops were destroyed. The damage was estimated at three billion dollars, setting development back by decades. Our charity began working in Honduras in 1970 when our first community opened in the capital, Tegucigalpa. Twenty-five years later the original village was closed and a new village rebuilt to modern standards, in the residential area of Colonia Las Hadas de Comayaguela, south-east of the city and close to the airport. The new village has 12 family houses and 2 youth houses, where the older children live while taking their first guided steps towards independence, and a kindergarten also open to children from the surrounding area.
In 1974 SOS Children built a second community on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras, the country's second largest city, following a national emergency. It was rebuilt in 1991 on a site surrounded by trees and hills. SOS Children San Pedro Sula has 14 family houses, a youth house, a kindergarten and an SOS medical centre which treats on average 50 patients a day from the local community. A farm provides produce for the village as well as vocational training in farming skills.
The charity built a third community called Village Tela was built in northern Honduras in 1979 following severe flooding in the area. As well as 12 family houses and twelve youth houses, the village has a kindergarten and two schools (primary and secondary). Vocational training is provided, with a nursing school, and workshops and training in carpentry, dressmaking, electronics, metalwork, IT and office skills. The village farm also provides agricultural training opportunities as well as produce for the SOS families.
SOS Children started in La Ceiba in 1984 in the village of Aldea la Ruidosa, about 12 miles from the town of La Ceiba in northern Honduras. It has 14 family houses, a youth house and a kindergarten. The children attend local schools.
The following year, a village for physically handicapped young people was opened in the valley of El Zamorano, about 20 miles from the capital of Tegucigalpa. At San José the community has 6 houses and four specialist treatment rooms. A school provides education tailored to individual needs, with pottery and handicraft workshops, while an agricultural training centre provides work and training opportunities.
SOS Children Valle de Ángeles is 20 miles from Teguciglapa and is specifically for seriously mentally and physically handicapped children. The village has been adapted to provide the children with as much mobility as possible, and a special needs school, a clinic and treatment rooms for occupational, hydro, speech and physiotherapy, as well as massage, have also been established. A youth house provides handicrafts training for older girls.
When Hurricane Mitch struck Honduras in 1998, SOS Children Villages mounted an emergency relief programme providing shelter, food and medicines for over 3000 families. Because of the large numbers of orphans and neglected children left in its wake, a new village was built in one of the worst affected areas in southern Honduras, close to the border with Nicaragua. The first children moved into SOS Children Choluteca in November 2000. The village has 10 family houses which are home to 90 children and a kindergarten .An SOS Social Centre provides day care for the children of local working families and single mothers.
A seventh SOS Children's Village opened in Santa Rosa de Capan in Western Honduras. there are 14 family houses for orphaned and abandoned children
Local Contacts
SOS Children in Hondurus:
Fundacion Aldeas Infantiles SOS Honduras
Colonia Lomas del Mayab,
calle Uaxac casa 3101,
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.
Postal Address:
Apartado postal 3660
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.
Honduras. C.A.
Tel: +504/232 60 87, 239 04 21, 239 04 20
Fax: +504/232 65 31
e-mail: aldeassos@cablecolor.hn
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