Traveling in Honduras

For the past week and a half I have been traveling non-stop trying to find workers to interview, many appear to be shy and scared. It was hard but I found a couple people in Santa Barbara and Tegucigalpa that were willing to be interviewed, because of the low amount of interviews I will have to travel back to those places, when we have more communication with workers. While traveling it became apparent that Tegucigalpa the capital of Honduras has a completely different environment than San Pedro Sula and Santa Barbara, the reason I say this is because there is such a high crime rate, even the locals are scared to walk down the capital’s streets. The whole time I was in Tegucigalpa I was escorted by at least one worker. The streets are extremely crowded and “it’s very easy and likely that you will be robbed”-Taybo (CGT organizer). Hearing all of the advice that people had given me before I left and while I was there made me a little paranoid, I can’t emphasize how frighten I was the walking down the street. I will return to Tegucigalpa again but not as scared as I was the first time, because I have a better sense of the surroundings and at least know secure hotels and taxi drivers. I don’t mean to make Tegucigalpa sound scary at all I think it was my host family’s way of trying to protect me by making sure I understood how different regions in Honduras can be. I do have to say that the weather in Tegucigalpa was amazing it was warm with a nice breeze; it was a nice change of climate from the hot humid weather of San Pedro where there is rarely breeze. So I am looking forward to the cool weather.

3 thoughts on “Traveling in Honduras

  1. You are on a very brave journey–the quest to interview workers who might be able to describe their working conditions to you. You are wise to be alert and cautious and also to recognize that people can be afraid to be interviewed because they need their jobs, and they don’t want to jeopardize their livelihoods. I know how challenging this must be and it sounds like your internship organization is giving you good advice about staying safe. This is one of those situations where you have to feel your way through and as always, if you feel uncomfortable, follow your intuition and draw back. Michele

  2. Wow, that is scary. I was at a market here in London the other day and a lady at a jewelry stand started flipping on and screaming at a man who had apparently been to her store and pick-pocked a bunch of people the previous week. It’s a different way of life outside of out little cozy Monmouth. Be safe over there, just keep your eyes peeled. Sounds like you have good people to be helping you along with your journey. Good luck! 🙂
    Rachael

    • Thanks Rachel,

      It is a different atmosphere here in Honduras than in Monmouth for sure. It’s crazy that in London petite crime is still an issue, I appreciate your story it just revels more of the world that we live in. I wish you well.

      Joanna

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