At the beginning of the
year Jennifer and I applied for the Peace Corps. This is an organization run by the
US government to assist underdeveloped nations with
development. We had discussed this before we got married,
however we were not sure if it would be the Peace Corps or some
other organization we would join. In the interview and
application process our recruiter told us it would probably take
12-18 months to be placed, as it is more difficult to place
married couples. In April, we were called with an invitation
to go to Honduras. We then went through a rigorous
criminal, medical, and dental screening and were given an initial
departure time of July 27th, 2001.
We cleared our various tests, and were given an official offer to
join on 06-12-01. We have accepted and left on 07-24-2001
for training. We flew to Miami, where we stayed for one
day, and left the next day for Honduras. Our first three
months were spent in Santa Lucia, Honduras, where we received
training in the language (Spanish), the culture, and the jobs we
would be doing. We then moved to our permanent site, Concepción de Maria, where we will spend
the next two years developing
programs to improve various aspect of life in Honduras. I
have read that successful projects are those which run after a
volunteer leaves, and I am sure this will be a challenge.
The initial job descriptions we received were very general.
I will be doing Municipal Development with a focus on integration
of technology. Jennifer will be doing business development
with a focus on Human Resources. We are very excited and look
forward to a great adventure.
Honduras is a peaceful country, however one of the poorest
countries in Latin American. Its main export is bananas
along with shellfish (lobster and shrimp), wood, coffee, and some
precious metals.. The climate is sub tropical to temperate
depending on the altitude, there is a beautiful ocean on the
northern coast (Caribbean) and a large fresh water lake which is
supposed to have the best bass fishing in the world. There is a
small tourist industry in Honduras and it is located particularly
close to Belize, in the north coast.
Check out our Photo Album for images from Honduras.
Here are some Vital Statistics on Honduras.
Click here for Honduran news. Cut and paste the following address "www.tiempo.hn" and select "Spanish to English".
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