A bit more on education, a few words about public transportation, and some more pictures

I’ve been reading up on Honduras a bit. Here are a few statistics from the U.S. Department of State [http://foia.state.gov/MMS/postrpt/pr_view_all.asp?CntryID=65] to go along with my previous entry on education:

“Education in Honduras is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 7 and 13. The government has pledged to raise the literacy rate, which stands at 82%. In 1998 the national average for years of education completed was 5 for urban and 4 for rural areas. The percentage of the population completing primary school is 61%, secondary school 17%, university 4% and 18% have no education.”

As usual, facts & figures do not give the complete picture. The report claims that education “is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 7 and 13.” While it is true that parents do not have to pay for the classes, they still have to pay for such things as books and pencils and uniforms (mandatory in all schools). Many families do not have this kind of money, especially when there are numerous children to support. Furthermore, parents often keep their children at home to help with housework or to work informal jobs (like delivering tortillas around the neighborhood). So while education may be “compulsory” and there may be laws against child labor, neither is enforced. [Actually, no laws seem to be enforced here… Traffic is a mess – people speed and run red lights right in front of the police. When crimes are reported, the necessary investigation and follow-up never take place. Etc…]

The statistics above may seem outdated because they are from 1998, but they are really not too different today. Notice that only about 17% finish secondary school (high school). I’ve met people here who are in their late 20s/early 30s and attending night school to finish secondary school. One of the women I am living with is attending classes on Sundays to finish primary school. (Her 10 year-old daughter is in a higher grade than she.) As you can imagine, I have great respect for the people here who persevere and put in the effort to be educated.

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My class at the Unversidad starts Wednesday, not Monday, so I am still anxiously awaiting for it to begin. On Wednesday, the doctor/professor and I will leave from the clinic and go to the Universidad together since I am not familiar with the area. But starting Thursday, I’ll probably venture over on my own on the bus after spending the morning at the clinic and after eating lunch at home. The public transportation here is worth mentioning… The yellow school buses that don’t pass inspection in the U.S. get shipped here to be used as public transportation buses. They break down all the time. The drivers are careless, and when, say, a window shatters (happens quite frequently because kids throw things at them), the drivers just keep driving. As far as punctuality goes, there’s really no such thing. The bus sits at one stop until it fills up (might take almost an hour). It can also be quite dangerous on the bus. Muggers have been known to sit next to a person, pull a knife on him/her, and demand money. But, while the U.S. government understandably warns their personnel to avoid riding public buses (taxis are quite cheap and most diplomats and other personnel living here have cars,) taking the bus is also a way to gain acceptance with the people here. The majority of the people are too poor to ride taxis or own cars. They have to rely on the buses, no matter how unsafe and unreliable they are.

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Some more pictures:

Suzy’s house [see entry 2 from October 14, 2005]. I’ve been spending the weekends here to help out with the children. As I mentioned in my second entry, this is a beautiful house and big property, even by American standards. (There are 3 other houses on this property – one that is only slightly smaller, with its own fenced yard, and two that are much smaller.) It’s quite a contrast to all the make-shift, run-down shacks that predominate the country.


The driveway to the front gate.









Gate to the front patio/courtyard outside the front door, which no one uses. (Everyone uses the garage door.)






This is the view behind the house. I’ve spent a few hours looking out over this view. The houses that you see were pre-sold and built, only to have the government ban the opening because they are supposedly too close to a dam that, if it were to break, would cause great devastation in the area. (Or some story along those lines…) The people who bought the houses never got their money back, and people now believe it was a big scam from the beginning. I’ve spent hours looking at the houses, thinking about the people who barely have a home, and wondering how this corruption and misfortune can be rectified…