WHAT IS THE NEED FOR EL REFUGIO?

The widespread poverty in Honduras is the common denominator for its huge social problems. According to World Bank statistics from 2005, 63 percent of the 7,4 million Hondurans live below the poverty line. The GDP was 1,270 Dollars per person in 2006. This makes Honduras one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere.

But what do these figures mean? They mean,

-  hat almost five million people in Honduras are in a daily fight for survival
- that 1,5 million people do not have enough to eat
- that over 1 million children are malnourished

In this critical social environment hundreds of thousands of children are exposed to a variety of risks each day. Many parents cannot provide their children a decent upbringing. Thousands of boys and girls flee from poverty or violence and end up in the streets where they come in contact with drugs and gangs. Some beg in the streets, others do dangerous odd jobs just to survive.

Still other children are just abandoned by their families. Also, AIDS has caused some 17,500 children to become orphans, a shocking number that keeps rising steeply.

Poverty is especially notorious in rural areas, where an estimated 300,000 landless families have to work on large farms. These families – some have 8 children or more – mostly live in precarious sheds with no electricity, water or access to schools or hospitals.

No wonder people from rural areas flock into the large cities to improve their life. San Pedro Sula is a magnet for the poor people in Western Honduras. Yet only very few newcomers actually find a better life in the city because their low educational level only allows them to work in informal sector jobs such as domestic helpers, guards, at the market or selling goods in the street. And their children have to go to work early on to help support their families, which keeps them from going to school and breaking the vicious circle of poverty.

Based on the documented facts, we can say that hundreds of thousands of children in Honduras grow up in unhumane conditions. Their families are too busy just trying to survive to cover their children’ most basic material and moral needs. Without proper protection, these boys and girls are exposed to many dangerous situations and have no hope for a better future.