International Operations: Honduras

Republic of Honduras
Population: 6,249,598 (2000 est.)

Ethnic groups:
Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) 90%,
Amerindian 7%,
Black 2%,
White 1%

Languages: Spanish, Amerindian dialects

Age Distribution:
0-14 years: 43%
15-64 years: 54%
65 years and over: 3% (2000 est.)

Religions: Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant minority

The Crisis
Honduras, the second poorest country in Central America, has an extraordinarily unequal distribution of income and high unemployment. The environment of extreme poverty in the majority of Honduran homes contributes to the breakdown of the traditional family leading to abandonment, physical abuse, expulsion from the home, alcohol and drug addictions, and gang involvement.

The nongovernmental organization Casa Alianza estimates the number of street children in Honduras at 10,000, with the majority living in Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula, the two largest cities in the country. These children beg, steal, do odd jobs and dig through trash to survive. They are disconnected from education, undernourished, vulnerable to numerous diseases, and are daily victims of violence and sexual abuse. Most of them become addicted to toxic "yellow" glue, which is highly addictive and extremely damaging to the human body. Many Honduran street kids do not make it to their eighteenth birthday.

The government has been unable to improve the living conditions or reduce the numbers of street children and youth. Only about half of the children living on the street have access to some type of shelter. The Tegucigalpa city administration operates 12 temporary shelters with a total capacity of 240 children. Casa Alianza operates three shelters for 160 children, one shelter for victims of commercial sexual exploitation, one shelter for street children, and one shelter for children with substance abuse problems.

Traditional adolescent social programs in Honduras have been ineffective because they have lacked an integrated approach to include families and the community. This is why our current efforts to train and equip all child/family serving organizations with more effective methods are so vital.