WER's Honduran Outreach

World Emergency Relief (WER) believes all people have a right to human dignity and quality of life. To help restore this, WER combats hunger,
poverty and abuse worldwide, and promoting health and education.

The Current Challenge

Honduras is among the 10 poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. According to the CIA World Factbook, 50.7% of the population lives below the poverty level. Hundreds of thousands do not have access to clean water and improved sanitation.

WER is Making a Difference!

WER 's office in Honduras works closely with the rest of the WER global family on our Honduran Emergency Relief outreach. WER 's Honduran Outreach (HER) includes an orphanage, feeding programs, medical clinics, and sustainable food programs.

A few of our Honduran outreach programs:

Feeding Programs

Providing proper nutrition for children creates new generations of healthy individuals. WER's feeding programs are designed to prevent malnutrition and starvation. Our program began in 2006 with only three centers. In 2008, between our seven center locations, 1,001 Honduran children are fed each day before school. Because they must attend school to receive their meal, these children who might not otherwise go to school are now getting an education.

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Ciudad de Esperanza

Since 2005, World Emergency Relief (WER) has partnered with Ciudad de Esperanza (City of Hope), an orphanage for abused, abandoned and orphaned children near Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The facility currently provides 23 children (ranging from 4-15 years old) with a safe, loving family environment, nutritional meals, clothes and toys. A volunteer tutor helps the children who are struggling in school, and helps all of the children learn English.

The facility includes a children's dormitory with separate rooms for boys and girls, a common house with a study room, kitchen and laundry facilities, a large covered patio, and an outside playground. The patio has a basketball hoop and a soccer net, and allows the children to get exercise during the rainy season. The facility also includes an administration building, which houses staff and volunteers.

WER's future plans for Ciudad de Esperanza include building a girls' dormitory, a vegetable garden and a soccer field, and adding vocational programs.

Ciudad de Esperanza's Cistern Project

The orphanage is located in Yaguacire village, five kilometers south of Tegucigalpa. During the last ten years, water sources have diminished. The village population doubled, creating a greater demand for water. Most of the village water pipes in this area are broken and rusted, and the village water only comes on once or twice a week for two hours. The local river is highly contaminated, making it unsuitable for human consumption. When the orphanage regularly used water from the river, the children suffered from a number of health problems, including dermatological infections, hair loss and intestinal parasites.

    In 2006, World Emergency Relief funded the construction of a small 10,000 gallon cistern for Ciudad de Esperanza. However, 10,000 gallons could not supply enough water during the five-month dry season.

    In June 2008, WER funded the building of a water collection and filtration system and a 140,000 gallon cistern. It will provide enough safe, clean water to support over 70 children (drinking, showering, cooking, washing laundry) through the entire year, tripling the amount of children Ciudad de Esperanza can care for and house.

    The orphanage has already planted a few fruit trees, and intends to add a vegetable garden. The homegrown fruits and vegetables will help supplement the children's diet, providing important vitamins and saving funds. In addition to being emotionally therapeutic, having the children help tend the gardens will help teach them responsibility, and train them in a practical skill they can use later in life. WER is continuing to find ways to improve both the facilities and the children's lives.

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Medical Clinics

In 2005, the WER global family and a partner NGO led by WER Board member Gary Becks, helped WER construct a medical clinic for impoverished indigenous people. The medical clinic is located i n Sih Honduras, and serves over 2,000 people on the Miskito coast jungle, covering areas in both Honduras and northeast Nicaragua.

The clinic includes a labor and recovery room, a dental room, an exam room and triage area, an office with storage, and living quarters for the staff clinician. The medical staff travels on scheduled circuits where they canoe, walk, wade and travel mule-back through areas doing preventative health classes and immunizations. They also provide water wells and pumps to provide clean water villages, breaking the cycle of parasitic infestations.

Most people served by the clinic had never had medical treatment before, and 100% of them had worm infestations and parasites. People who would have died from poisonous snake bites survive due to the immediate care. The average life expectancy in La Moskitia is 55, but is improving due to new access to health care.

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La Moskitia Rice Field Program

Our long-term goal for our programs combating hunger is to provide communities with sustainable food sources that allow them to become self-reliant. People in the La Moskitia jungle (Honduras) face persistent malnutrition and starvation.

WER's rice field project improves the lives of Miskito Indian families, easing the farmers' rice seed storage and assisting their efforts to replant rice fields on higher flood-resistant ground. In 2006, WER helped 170 Miskito Indian families by purchasing rice seed, and funding program supervision and necessary transportation. WER continued the program in 2007, helping families recover from the destruction caused by Hurricane Felix.

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Fundacion de Brazos Abiertos Program (Foundation of Open Arms)

Since 2005, WER has helped fund our local partner's program operations- bringing malnourished children back to health, and teaching local mothers proper nutrition.

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Oncolygy Ward

In 2006, the WER global family paid for a mammogram machine and the construction of an oncology ward in the San Felipe Hospital. It is one of the few centers for cancer treatment & prevention that serves impoverished patients without insurance in Honduras, and is currently one of the biggest and most up-to-date cancer wards in Honduras. At last count, it served over 1,300 patients from all over the country, and serves over 200 new patients every year.

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WER Needs Your Help

Your gift will help WER expand our Honduran Outreach program. CLICK HERE to make a loving donation. Your generosity gives these Honduran children and families “a living chance.”

DONATE

To make a life-saving donation online, CLICK HERE.
Cash and check donations can be mailed to:
     World Emergency Relief
     P.O. Box 131570
     Carlsbad, CA 92013
Credit card donations can be phoned in at 1-888-484-4543.
All contributions from U.S. taxpayers are tax-deductible.

TELL A FRIEND

Let your friends, family members and co-workers know what’s going on.

PRAY

Pray for the thousands of poor and hungry children and families in Honduras.
Pray that they will have access to clean water and job opportunities.
Pray that WER will have support to continue and expand our Honduran outreach.