Honduras

World Vision is committed to partnering with the people of Honduras to improve their lives today and to help enact sustainable solutions for the future of their children, families, and communities. World Vision’s child sponsorship program plays a vital role in this partnership, with donors from the United States sponsoring more than 21,200 girls and boys. In addition to sponsorship, World Vision operates other programs that benefit communities in Honduras. Highlights include:

• Helping farmers improve agricultural techniques and diversify their products to increase their income and reduce malnutrition.
• Raising community awareness of HIV and AIDS and helping those who live with this disease support themselves.
• Increasing families’ access to clean water and sanitation, as well as offering training in sanitation and hygiene basics.

World Vision began ministering to the people of Honduras in 1974 by providing financial support to help those affected by Hurricane Fifi, a storm that killed 1,200 people and left thousands homeless. Since then, some of World Vision’s major accomplishments have included:

• Assisting refugees from neighboring Nicaragua with food, tents, and emergency kits in the late 1970s.
• Helping people affected by drought and floods throughout the 1980s.
• Providing medical and dental care, nutritional supplements, and school supplies for children in need in the 1980s.
• Supplying families affected by Hurricane Mitch with food, blankets, and medicine, as well as helping them rebuild their communities, since 1998.
• Offering microloans to small business entrepreneurs to improve the quality of life in southwest Honduras since the 1990s and into the 21st century.

Geography and people

The second largest country in Central America, Honduras shares its borders with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Mountains, valleys, and fertile plains make up most of the terrain. The climate is tropical with cooler temperatures in the mountains.

Natural resources are plentiful and include timber, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron ore, coal, fish, and hydropower.

Most Hondurans are mestizo—a mix of Amerindian and European ancestry. Spanish is the official language, but residents also speak English and several Amerindian dialects.

Hondurans use both of their parents’ surnames. They use the father’s name as the family name, but the mother’s last name comes at the end of the full name. Women keep their surnames when they marry.

History

Honduras, along with four other Central American nations, declared independence from Spain in 1821 to form a federation of Central American states. Over a decade later, Honduras left the federation and became fully independent.

After decades of military rule, democracy returned in 1982. The 1990s brought economic reform when the government administration helped to reduce inflation, restore economic growth, and hold down spending.

Reform, however, slowed in 1998 with the arrival of Hurricane Mitch. The hurricane killed over 7,000 Hondurans, injured another 13,000, and caused $3.8 billion in damage. Nearly one-third of the highway infrastructure was destroyed along with thousands of homes, displacing 1.5 million people.

The Honduran government collaborated with international relief organizations to help get the country back on its feet. The government has continued to focus on reform over the years. Democratic elections resumed in 2010 after a 2009 military coup.

Please pray for:

The protection of families from violence.

All children to have enough food to eat.