Just a few weeks before I left for Honduras in June this summer, my long-time friend Dr. Luther Castillo Harry told me that if I was in town, to attend his award ceremony as a special guest. I had not planned on wearing a tie in Honduras until after beginning my future role at the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa. However, I'm glad I got some practice sweating when the spotlight was on other people.
I am so lucky to be able to learn about Honduran heroes as Consejo Nacional Anticorrupción (CNA) Honduras - the Honduran anti-corruption society - presented its annual "Cinco Estrellas, Five Stars Awards" to the following civil rights advocates:
- Patricia Elicenia Pérez - Indigenous leader and Secretary of Junta de Agua en Yamaranguila, Intibucá
- Julio Escoto - Author, essayist, and literary critic
- Teresa de María Campos - Social rights advocate and Director of National History and Anthropology Museum in Sand Pedro Sula
- Christhian Joel Murrio - Psychologist and major facilitator at CAPRODI - the Center for Progressive Awareness of Disabilities in Honduras
- Luther Castillo Harry - Garifuna physician and human rights advocate
Thank you, Luther for the invitation. Thank you CNA for the hospitality. I hope my life's path enables me to work with the fruits of your labor in the very near future! The five of you exemplify what is good, what is possible, and what is needed not only in the Republic of Honduras but across the world. I look to you for your leadership and direction.
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Would you like to learn more about how to get involved in Honduras? I lead AHMEN's Rio de Agua Viva team to work with AHMEN's Community Empowerment Program. We teach sustainable health skills to local leaders who then will go on to teach those same skills to the greater community. Our dates for 2020 are July 6-16. The trip costs $1200 + the cost of your airline ticket. No previous skills or experience is required. We will teach life guarding and water safety to fishermen in Garifuna & Miskito communities. We will teach "Clean Communities: Stomping out Addiction and Pollution" in the La Ceiba suburb of Jutiapa. Finally, we will teach methods of non-violent protest and lead a US/Honduras cultural dialogue in the mountain town of Yorito. Join us for the trip of a lifetime. We need photographers/videographers, computer gurus, lifeguards, teachers, medical professionals, students, and people from all walks of life. Ask yourself and others "How can you help?"
Together, we are the difference.
