Being able to witness UNICEF’s work in Honduras was very meaningful to me. I got involved and went on this trip because of my son-in-law, Matt, who encouraged our family to support UNICEF. Matt passed away recently, and our support for UNICEF is a memorial to him. I think he would be deeply proud of what is happening in Honduras.
It’s not very often you talk about this subject in normal conversation, let alone go to an event where the speakers are constantly using words like “toilet” and “defecation.”
Nancy Kurkowski is a member of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF Southwest Regional Office Board of Directors.
I was excited to be able to go on my first UNICEF field trip this week. 10 of us went to Honduras to see what UNICEF is doing in this country and it has been an amazing experience!
My name is Ander Vasquez from Honduras and I’m 14 years old. I live with my family in Villanueva, a neighborhood in Tegucigalpa which is mostly known for violent gangs.
My life has changed a lot since I participated in “Fútbol para la vida” (Football for Life). It was set up in 2002 by UNICEF and Ricardo Ãlvarez, the former president of the National Commission for Sports Facilities and Héctor Zelaya. Héctor was the first Honduran to score a goal for our country in the 1982 World Cup. He’s a national hero.
I think that “Fútbol para la vida” shows that playing football can change the lives of children. The program teaches us about moral and ethical values. It teaches us to stay away from drugs, alcohol and gangs and encourages us to stay in school. I now study harder because you need good grades in order to be part of “Fútbol para la vida”. Before I participated in the program, my friends and I just used to walk around the streets barefoot. But now, all we do is play football.
Meghan St. John is working as an intern in the Volunteers & Community Partnerships department at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. This is her first blog post for Fieldnotes.
I just returned from my third visit to La Ceiba, Honduras, where I spent time at the Children of the Light, a small organization that provides education, care and safety to the homeless children of Honduras.
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| © Meghan St. John |
| Meghan playing with Josue and other Children of the Light in Honduras. |
While there I spent time with the 23 boys playing endless games of soccer, helping with their homework and slowly tackling the language barrier to learn about each other’s lives. When not spending time with the kids, I helped decorate the organization’s school library to “bring it to life,” updated the organization’s blog and further developed their sponsorship program.
Many of the boys at the project, whose ages range from 5 to 22, had previously been abused, abandoned and left homeless on the streets. Others had been exposed to drugs, gangs and crime. One of the older boys admitted that before coming to the Children of the Light, he did “very bad things.” In fact, on my first day back in La Ceiba, the children and I witnessed first-hand an aggressive fight between a group of Honduran men that involved gunfire and a machete. Bullets were flying right over some of the children who were ducked down in the back of truck just feet away from the violence.
This is the life of violence and crime that smaller nonprofits like Children of the Light, and larger humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF, prevent children and teens from living.
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
Thirty years ago, only one out of five children were immunized against killer diseases like measles and polio. Throughout the developing world, millions of children were dying of illnesses that had all but disappeared in the world’s wealthier countries. Since then, a near miracle has taken place. Now, four out of five children are protected by vaccines. Polio is on the verge of elimination. Measles and tetanus deaths have been reduced dramatically. This miracle did not happen by itself.
Read more© 2013 United States Fund for UNICEF. All rights reserved. 1.800.FOR.KIDS 125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038
