At first glance, Ana Bessy Zelaya looks like a typical teenager. She wears blue jeans and sneakers, and her hair is tied back with a barrette. She’s quiet and occasionally flashes a quick, shy smile. But her eyes carry a weariness that exceeds her 18 years.
Ana is the single mother of two young boys, Daniel, age five, and baby Julio. She supports the boys by selling clothes in a clamorous market in Honduras' capital city, Tegucigalpa. But the money is modest. And Ana used to worry how she would provide her sons with basic things: food, medicine, school. “Now,” she says. “I don’t worry.”
Thanks to an inventive, UNICEF-supported program, Ana’s oldest son, Daniel, gets food, health care, and an education—all in the same place. Adjacent to the La Isla market is a special center where the children of vendors like Ana can go to school, get nutritious meals, and receive an array of other essential services. “People may think the help is little,” says Ana. “But it is not. For me, it’s everything.”
Daniel was enrolled in the program two years ago. Ana’s baby is still in daycare; in a year or two, he may join his brother at the center.
Vendors in Tegucigalpa used to sell their wares on the street. Some of the busy vendors would lock their children in their homes while they worked. Others brought the little ones along to the market, and they played in the labyrinth of stalls. The children did not go to school and lacked access to health care.
In 2002, the local government constructed a new building to house the market. Four years later, UNICEF helped the government create the neighboring center for vendors’ children. It has been sustained with funding from UNICEF corporate partner, American Airlines, through the Change for Good program. This innovative collaboration between UNICEF and the international airline industry allows passengers to donate unused foreign currency to support lifesaving programs.
When the center first opened, most of the children who came in suffered from malnutrition and other ailments. Now, with UNICEF support, the center feeds the children and provides them with vitamins. Trained health professionals perform regular medical check-ups.
“UNICEF has been a great help,” says Nancy DeFlores, an official at the center. “The first money we received was from UNICEF.”
One morning last spring, inside one of the center’s many cheerfully decorated rooms, a giggling group of toddlers excitedly took their seats in a dining area with rows of little chairs and tables. They each got a good-sized helping of rice, beans, and tortillas. Before the meal was over, they also got a dose of multivitamins.
Also that morning, in one of the center’s bright, airy classrooms, Ana’s son Daniel hunched over a desk and concentrated on his schoolwork. He’s a curious student who studies hard and also helps out with household chores, says his mother.
Ana’s greatest dream is “that my children can go to university and get a better job than I have.” She’s grateful that UNICEF is helping her and her sons come closer to realizing it.
