I was privileged to participate in a
field visit to Honduras last November with Trócaire. The first thing I would say is that the
situation in Honduras makes pretty grim reading. The poverty in which the majority of
Honduran people live becomes evident very quickly when you travel through the
country. 64% of Honduran people live below
the poverty line and 45% on less than €2 per day. Corruption is rife throughout the
country. Human rights, resource rights
and land rights are violated on a regular basis.
Yet despite all these challenges
there are signs of hope and of positive change. I was really struck by the
warmth and hospitality of the people and their willingness to share what they
had with us.
The
water is coming….
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| Maria José (age 6) and her Mother Miriam Marivel Campos Perez |
The Cuyamel community in the North
of Honduras is the focus of this year’s Trócaire Lenten Campaign. Honduras is the most vulnerable country in
the world to climate change. I saw
first-hand the devastating effect that rising sea levels and extreme weather
has wreaked on a community of 84 families (approximately 500 people). Miriam Marivel Campos Perez and her 6 year
old daughter Maria José feature on this year’s Trócaire box. Miriam and Maria live on the Cuyamel sandbar. The area where they live is very beautiful –
wouldn’t anyone love to live on the beach?
The problem for Miriam, Maria and
their neighbours is that the sea is encroaching further and further into their
community. There used to be an 800 metre
beach between the community and the sea.
This is now reduced down to 35 metres.
Between September and February is the rainy season in Cuyamel. At least once a week people have water coming
into their houses. They wear flip flops
all the time because the ground is so wet and muddy.
At least twice a year the area is
flooded and the community has to evacuate in fear of their lives. The evacuation usually happens at night; one
single mother of six small children described the terror of the water coming in
and trying to get her children to safety.
The road gets flooded so the only route out is via boat on a narrow
canal. The community has access to only two
boats with the capacity to evacuate 25 people at a time. Trócaire has supported the community with
training and resources to establish a disaster committee to coordination
evacuations and emergency responses.
They have also supported the dredging of the canal which had been
blocked with mud and debris from previous storms and floods.
 |
Elvia
(age 65) and her husband Candido (age 70)
|
Candido and Elvia also live on the
Cuyamel sandbar. When we visited them
they had suffered some damage to their house during a storm towards the end of
October 2016. Candido and Elvia have
lived on the sandbar all their lives; they have raised their family there and
were hoping to enjoy their retirement there.
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| Eliva and Candido’s home after a storm on the 8th of January 2017 |
On the 8th of January 2017 another storm came, the water came, the community evacuated and sadly Elvia and Candido’s home was taken by the sea. This retired couple are left with no home.
This is the reality of climate change for the people of Cuyamel; their homes and their livelihoods are being swept away leaving them vulnerable and dependent on support from agencies like Trócaire. The irony is that a country like Honduras contributes the least to climate change yet they are the ones that suffer the most. When we visited Cuyamel one of the community leaders asked us to convey this message:
“Thanks to God that you have come here; can you pass on the message to the international community – we need help”.
This Lent if you contribute to Trócaire you will be helping people like Candido and Elvia to re-establish their lives, you will be helping Miriam to ensure her daughter Maria gets a good education and you will be helping the people of Cuyamel to survive the detrimental effects of climate change.
Turning
the Tide on Gender Based Violence
One of the statistics given to us
in Honduras remains ingrained in my mind; that is that 9 out of 10 women in
Honduras have suffered some form of physical violence; physical violence will
almost always inevitably also include sexual violence[1]. Gender based violence is a very serious issue
in Honduras, and unfortunately many other countries. We asked the question as to what is the cause
of violence on such a scale. Its roots
are cited as being cultural; a ‘macho’ culture that has managed to perpetuate
itself over many generations without being challenged; alcohol, drugs, poverty
and oppression were also mentioned.
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| Eduardo, Rose, Merlyn and Elvina, La Cuesta Community |
I was deeply moved by the Honduran
women; their great faith, their courage, their resilience, their desire for a
different future for their children. MerIyn
and Elvina (in the photograph) are both survivors of gender based violence.
Merlyn shared some of her own story; how her teenage daughter’s attempt to take
her own life drove her to take action and get her family out of a violent
environment. Merlyn has trained as a
community leader. Eduardo (also in the
photo) is hoping to train as a youth leader.
Merlyn and Elvina and many other women are turning their lives around
with the support of Trócaire and its partners - Ayo in La Cuesta and AMDV in
the South.
I was greatly inspired by the work that Trócaire
is doing, working with local community partners providing leadership training,
legal support and empowering local women to find their voice and stand up for
what is just. Collectively they are
slowly, slowly turning the tide on gender based violence. Women are being empowered; young girls and
boys are being educated to recognise that the norms and culture they have been
operating in needs to be challenged. I
believe we have a lot to learn from the women of Honduras.
“What
greater grief than the loss of one’s native land” Euripedes
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| Welcome banner prepared by the local community in Zacate Grande |
We visited the Zacate Grande Peninsula in the South of Honduras. It is a stunning area; these beautiful houses that you see below have been built by Honduras’s elite – there are approximately 15 families in Honduras that have the power and influence to control the economy and the media.
The reality is however that they have effectively stolen the land that
the houses are built on from the local people; families who have lived there
for multiple generations. Through
corrupt means they have acquired the rights to the land and evicted the
families, subjecting them to legal challenges; a number of people have been
imprisoned for trespassing on their own land.
By contrast the photo below gives you a sense of how the local people
have to live.
 |
| Zacate Grande Peninsula |
Trócaire is working with ADEPZA to provide legal support in challenging the land rights and also the human rights of the local people using the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The President of the community association Nelly Canales expressed gratitude for the support from Trócaire by saying
"thanks for always being on our side in the fight of the people".
Eco-Farming & Diversification
The final project we visited was
also in the South of Honduras supported by Trócaire through AMDV.
 |
| Women farmers in Namasigue |
We met this group of women in the
photo who have been trained in eco-farming methods. They were so proud of their work and their
achievements. They have been working on
diversifying their crops growing chillies, cucumber, beans, corn and pumpkin –
we got to sample some of their produce.
Trócaire has supported them with
training and an irrigation system. It
was lovely to end our visit on such a positive and hopeful note.
There are a number of strengths of
Trócaire’s approach – firstly the fact that Trócaire is seeking to address the
root cause of the challenges in Honduras; whether it be in the area of climate
change, land rights, resources rights or human rights including women’s right
to live a life free of violence. My
sense is that this is the only way to address the issues in the long term. It would be easy to fall into the trap of
focusing on alleviating symptoms and achieve short term ‘quick wins’ however
the real issues would still not be addressed.
I was very taken with Trócaire’s
policy of working with and through local partners. It doesn’t parachute in support from
outside. Local partners have the benefit
of understanding the nuances of the local context and culture and facilitate
connecting with the communities. This
really helps with the process of building up capacity within communities;
identifying and training local leaders who can in turn train more leaders.
Finally I believe the approach of
aiming for long term change is ultimately the best that Trócaire can do for
Honduras. By building capacity and
empowering the people themselves Trócaire will leave a sustainable legacy that
will have longevity beyond any aid programme.
Investing in the people facilitates them to be masters of their own
destiny.
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| Young children in Namasigue |
I will be keeping the people of
Honduras in my heart for a long time to come; there are so many parallels
between their struggle and our own history.
They are strong and courageous people.
When you see Miriam and Maria on your Trócaire box this year I hope you
get a sense of the people behind the picture.
Every penny you put in that box will help to make a difference in their
lives and lives of others like them.
Rosemary O'Connor
[1]
According to figures from COSC and the CSO 9% or 1 in 11 Irish women have
experienced domestic violence.
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