Their Lives

Honduras is the poorest country in Central America, where the average income for a teacher is $100 per month. San Pedro Sula counts 8,000 orphans and homeless children where approximately 50 percent die before the age of 16 from malnutrition, murder, venereal disease and AIDS.

How do children in Honduras end up in an orphanage? Well, it begins in the late teens or early 20's when boy meets girl. They get married or not, and have one, two or three children. Dad has a job where he works 6 days per week and makes between $100 and $140 a week. They live in a one room house or part of a house. There is no money for a car, vacation, eating out, bowling or movies etc. Their recreation becomes drinking and sex. After a period of time, the father chooses not to be a head of household and abandons the family.

Now we have a woman with a few children. She will accept any man who will feed her and her children so they have a few more children over a period of years. In Honduras, it is macho for a man to have many children. He does not necessarily feel a sense of responsibility to house, feed, educate or protect his offspring. For a Honduran woman, she often feels that having children is her only worth so she is not willing to give that up by preventing childbearing.

At some point, this man decides it is too much to provide for everyone and he abandons the group. Now we have between 3 and 6 children with no breadwinner. Mom looks to the older children and tells them to go out and get money or food. They beg, rob or do whatever they can to please Mom. After a period of time, it is too difficult and very dangerous to get money or food with no skills or even life experience. They then stop going home and live in the street where they are only responsible for themselves. They soon realize that they are a prey to the gangs so eventually they too must join a gang to survive. Many are dead before reaching 15 or 20 years of age.

The children come to an orphanage from a few avenues. Often, the courts send them. Sometimes, a family member surrenders them because they are completely incapable for caring for them. Some also are just found wandering the streets with an unknown past and some come when their parent or caretaker dies and a relative can't be found who will care for them.