Chapter 1: A Snapshot of Honduras

Esperanza (Hope) School is the focus of this book but before I discuss the school, I need to tell you about Honduras as I think it is important for a reader to understand more about a country like mine. The key issues of concern in Honduras, as in other developing countries, revolve around poverty and education, or more specifically, the lack of education. Poverty is the result of the influences of economic power from developed countries and my country’s lack of control over its existing resources. As an educator who was a student, teacher and teacher educator in Honduras, I see education, particularly a critical education aimed at raising awareness of fundamental inequalities in Honduras and other developing countries, as the only way out of this poverty. I recognize that entities such as the United Nations have established programs in countries like mine, but I strongly believe that it is only through our own social justice actions that we can achieve the educational, humanistic and intrinsic changes my country needs. In the following sections I provide a brief overview of the Honduran economic system, poverty rate, literacy rate, and the educational system. This overview develops contexts necessary for understanding Esperanza School.