Honduras Country Information

Fact and Figures

Location - Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Nicaragua and bordering the Gulf of Fonseca between El Salvador and Nicaragua

Capital - Tegucigalpa

Population - 7.9 million

People - Mestizo (mixed Amerindian & European) 90%, Amerindian 7%, Black 2%, White 1%

Language - Spanish, Amerindian languages

Religion - Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant 3%

Literacy rate - 80%

Life expectancy - 70.5 years

% Living Below $1 a Day - 15%

Sources - The CIA World Fact Book 2008, Compassion International, www.news.bbc.co.uk

Honduras

Honduras is the largest coffee growing country in Middle America and the production of coffee plays a key role in the lives of more than 90,000 rural families. Prior to Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Honduras was experiencing moderate economic progress, but the storm dramatically changed the situation: it destroyed about 70 per cent of the country’s crops and 60 per cent of the country’s infrastructure.

The unequal distribution of land and wealth, as well as corruption and exploitation by multinational companies, has also hindered development.

The majority of the population are peasants of Indian and Spanish ancestry. Many children suffer from malnourishment and disease and often work to help their families. Poverty has led to thousands of children living on the streets. These children face being abused, exploited for sex and killed by police as part of an unofficial social cleansing programme.

Gang activity is also posing a major threat to Honduras’s children. It is estimated that there are over 30,000 gang members between the ages of 13 and 30. The gangs are involved in drug dealing, robberies and murders, but the gang members themselves are also in danger of being killed by death squadrons or rival gangs.

Compassion’s work in Honduras began in 1974. Currently, more than 42,180 children participate in more than 170 child development centres.

Compassion partners with churches to help them provide Honduran children with the opportunity to rise above their circumstances, and become all God has created them to be.