Jump to:
- How can I help the Drew Honduras Project?
- How can I help Honduras?
- Donations
- Larger donations
- Shipping
- Volunteering
- Activism
- How can I start a Honduras Project at my school?
- Is volunteering always beneficial?
- Can't the volunteer groups connect and work together?
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How can I help the Drew Honduras Project?
If you'd like to help the Drew Honduras Project, there are
a number of things we need, but the thing we need the most
is money. It costs about $1,100.00 to send each student
on the trip (for airfare, accommodation, food, materials
for
the work projects, and donations to the children's homes
and groups we work with). Each group participant, including
the faculty and staff who accompany the students, must
raise that money themselves, working alone and with the
group in
project fundraisers. Every penny we raise is spent getting
us to Honduras, paying for the materials we need to do
the work there, and making donations to the people with
whom
we work. We will happily accept (tax deductible) donations
of money or frequent flier miles (Continental Airlines).
If you have suggestions about how we might raise money,
we'd love to know that too!
To make a donation, please contact Sandra Jamieson, the
faculty advisor for the group, at sjamieso@drew.edu.
How can I help the people of Honduras?
There are many local things you can do to help the people
of Honduras. When the Drew Honduras Project goes to Honduras
each one of us carries two suitcases of donated clothes,
shoes, school supplies, medical supplies, and other things
the communities we work with need. Colleges, churches,
schools,
community organizations, and individuals regularly organize
drives and then send what they have collected to Honduras.
There is a huge need for school books--in English and in
Spanish--and supplies such as notebooks and pens. Shoes
are also important because kids can get both infections
and parasites
through the soles of their feet, and most poor children
are barefoot, as you can see from our pictures. Children's
homes
get through huge amounts of blue jeans, tee shirts, children's
underwear, sneakers, toothbrushes, and so forth. These
things are also easy to collect from your neighbors and
friends.
Shoe drives, book drives, school supplies drives, etc.
are generally very successful. On a larger scale, the children
need computers so that they can participate in the global
networks that some of us take for granted in the US.
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Large scale donations
Some groups prefer to become involved on a larger scale, sending
an ambulance through "Paramedics for Children," for
example (you can find them at: http://www.paramedicsforchildren.com/),
a minivan to a school or an orphanage, or equipment to a
hospital or clinic. Many children's homes, orphanages, and
volunteer groups have websites that include wish lists, or
you can contact people already volunteering in Honduras via
the project Honduras website (at http://www.projecthonduras.com/links.htm).
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Shipping/transporting materials to Honduras
Donations can be shipped to Honduras by individuals or groups
(although this is not a good idea for larger items if you
don't know what you are doing, as there are all kinds of
import taxes and restrictions to be negotiated). Groups
going to the country will also often take donations down
with them
if you can find a local group (check the project Honduras
website for some lists of volunteer groups). Finally, you
can network with other groups via the listserves organized
by Project Honduras at http://www.projecthonduras.com/links.htm
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Volunteering
Many people volunteer in Honduras alone, not with a group.
Some are long term volunteers (3 months to a year), but some
places look for shorter term individual volunteers as well.
The best way to find out about volunteer opportunities is
to search the web and check out the Project Honduras listing.
Some people volunteer with projects run by branches of their
church (children's homes, building projects, schools, medical
clinics, AIDS outreach programs, or programs working with
homeless children), but others volunteer as part of medical
groups, or education programs.
To get a sense of the kinds of groups and opportunities,
check out the "Project Honduras" listing of volunteer
groups (listed by type of group), which you can find at at
http://www.projecthonduras.com/links2.htm
As you consider volunteering, there are a number of questions
you should ask. The first are general questions about the politics
of volunteering (see below). However, you also need to think
about the kinds of work you want to do--and the kinds of work
you don't want to do--and the kinds of group you want to work
with. Many organizations, (such as the Micah Project, which
took over some of the work of Casa Alianza in Tegucigalpa)
do wonderful work but have a strong religious or missionary
component. If you are not religious, or practice a different
religion, you may find it difficult to uphold the values of
the organization to those you work with. Some organizations
simply give, which can create a culture of dependence. Others
work hard to avoid such a problematic side effects of their
work, as Paramedics for Children explains in connection with
their "lollipop logic" (read it at: http://www.paramedicsforchildren.com/lollipoplogic.htm).
Finally, think about your own personality. If you go abroad
alone, you'll spend a fair amount of your time alone, especially
at first. If you need a lot of company, you might find this
hard to deal with. Most children's homes expect volunteers
to follow the same rules as the children, including remaining
on site, and refraining from smoking and drinking (on or
off the premises). Ask about the rules before you go. And be
realistic
about your strengths and weaknesses. Over the years we've
met a few unhappy long- and short- term volunteers who hadn't
thought
about these issues, and some have ended up being a drain
on the group they are supposed to be helping!
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Activism
Others concerned with the situation in Honduras try to understand
the larger context for the economic situation and work
on such issues as trying to persuade the World Bank to
forgive
some of its loans to Honduras, or the various US companies
that operate in Honduras to pay a living wage, provide
childcare facilities for their workers, and stop hiring
children. Other
political and social questions are asked by a number of
groups working in Honduras, especially those working to
stop child
prostitution and deal with the issues of homeless and glue
addicted children.
This website provides links to some information about such
issues (at http://www.groups.drew.edu/honduras/news_info.htm),
but you'll want to conduct your own research and think about your goals
before you go out and act (see below).
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How can I start something like The Drew Honduras Project at
my school?
We're working on producing a full set of guidelines for doing
this. In the meantime, you could send any of us an email message
with any questions you have. Basically, you need a lot of energy
and determination. The first few times you propose leading
a trip to Honduras without a faculty member organizing it for
you, you'll need to persuade the administration at your school
that you know what you're doing and won't get everyone killed.
Then you have to convince parents of the same thing. After
that it is easy!
Seriously, we would be delighted to help others create their
own Honduras Project. As the founder of the Drew project said, "It
will change your life."
You could get very ambitious and begin something like Lafeyette's "Alternative
Spring Break" program (although Lafeyette's trips are
organized by faculty, not students as Drew's trips are).
Is there an organization that connects all volunteer efforts
and allows them to work together?
Yes there is! It is called "Project Honduras," and
you should very definitely check it out. The project serves
to "to maintain a website and to develop and moderate
listserv forums of individuals worldwide with special interests
in Honduras." You can find it at http://www.projecthonduras.com/
Project Honduras also has adopted a number of projects that
you might want to check out at http://www.projecthonduras.com/projectspage.htm
This fall Project Honduras is organizing the second of what
we hope will be annual conferences where you can learn the
answer to many questions and get ideas about how you can
help, and learn about other projects and strategies for
improving
your own. You can find out more about this conference at: http://www.projecthonduras.com/conference/
Special Missions Foundation is another group to look at. They
are affiliated with Project Honduras, but also have their own
website and goals. You can find them at http://www.specialmissions.org/index.htm
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I'm concerned about the politics of volunteering, do you have
anything to say on that issue?
Yes we do. In our opinion, all volunteers should consider
this question and think seriously about what they are doing
and
why. You need to ask about your personal motivations and about
the structure and motivation of the group you are volunteering
with. How do you define "doing good" and "helping"?
Would the people you are working with offer the same definitions?
Have you asked those people what they would like you to do?
Have you asked how much money the organization you give to
actually spends helping those it was founded to help? How much
do you know about the people you are "helping"? How
much do they know about you?
There are a number of books you might read to help you work
through some of these issues. It is very easy to do harm while
trying to do good (which is why one of these books is called "The
Road to Hell...")
As you read about and plan volunteer
work, remember this advice: if you find something you don't
like, DON'T GET CYNICAL: GET
ACTIVE!
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