It was the hottest day of my life. You could feel the proximity of the equator sucked the life out of our gringo bodies like water on the line. Our band of misfit volunteers had been led on an unexpected journey into the deepest parts of Honduras then known to us. We were beaten by the road, hungry, dehydrated, and sitting in a closed mud brick room, which was surely warmer than outside, just to get out of the sun. Our fearless leader came in and calmed a crowd eagerly awaiting information and proclaimed with cheer "Don't forget we're having fun!"
This is Bill Camp, folks!
In my previous blog I wrote about a relationship that we
have seen blossom over the years in Honduras.
However, Dr. Luther Harry Castillo, the new Secretary of Technology and
Innovation in Honduras did not march to where he is today without a key alliance
of his own. I also would not have made
it to see the first woman president of Honduras sworn live and in-person
without the support from the same leader.
Bill Camp is the founder of CHIMES (California Honduras Institute
of Medical and Educational Support). He
is also the former Executive Secretary of the Sacramento Central Labor Council. One thing you notice immediately in
conversations with Camp is that titles don’t mean a thing for his ego. Camp’s sense of self worth comes from the particular knack for making the world a better place around him.
Upon meeting Dr. HarryCastillo, Camp took it upon himself
to make quick friends of the union establishment in Cuba. He found so much success that he was able to
form his own regular delegation to the country called Building Relations With
Cuban Labor. The basic premise of the group
is to build mutual trust and understanding between members of the labor
movement in the United States and their counterparts in Cuba with the ultimate goal of ending the economic and political blockade of Cuba by the United States and closing of secret U.S. prison facility in Guantanamo Bay. Over the years Camp has brought dozens of
union members from the U.S. to Havana to learn more about how the U.S. blockade
has crippled the Cuban people’s economic freedom more than the Cuban government. In addition, quite a few organizers from the island
nation have visited Sacramento over the years to share their perspective with
California’s elected officials.
In his approach to Honduras, Bill Camp is no different. He sees the success of the people of Honduras
as fastened to the success of the labor movement in Honduras and the power of unions
worldwide. That is why on our labor
delegation to President Xiomara Castro’s inauguration, Camp ensured we met with
as many labor leaders as we could during our 3-day trip as possible.
Our group arrived in San Pedro Sula on the afternoon of January 25th and immediately set out for a meeting at STIBYS with 33 union leaders from:
- CUTH: Confederacion Unitaria de Trabajadores de HondurasThe United Workers Confederation of Honduras
- SITRAINA: Sindicato de Trabajadores del Instituto Nacional Agrario (The Union of Workers at the National Agricultural Institute)
- SITRAMEDHYS: Sindicato de Trabajadores de La Medicina Hospitales y Similares (The Union of Workers in Hospital Medicine
- SITRARENAPE: Sindicato de Trabajadores del Registro Nacional de Las Personas The Census Bureau Union)
- FESTAGRO: Federacion de Trabajadores de la Agroindustria (Federation of Workers in Industrial Agriculture
- FESITRANH: Federacion Sindical de Trabajadores Nacionales de Honduras (National Workers Federation Union of Honduras
- SITIAMASH: Sindicato de Trabajadores de La Industria Mieles Alcoholes y Similares de Honduras (The Alcohol Beverage Workers Union
- STIBYS: Sindicato de Trabajadores de La Bebida y Similares (The Beverage Workers Union)
On the 26th we traveled to Tegucigalpa to meet
with the National Union Federation of Honduras at the Solidarity Center. In both meetings, our goal was to find out
the three “requests” each union would make of their government and what message
our group should take back to our unions in the United States. The requests were different and pertained to
each of the guilds' specialty areas, but they all shared a common vein – corruption
and murky business practices prevent the people from owning their own labor and
accessing wealth.
We did not make any promises that we could meet the requests
of each union and federation. Instead,
we promised to bring their messages home with us to share with labor leaders in
the United States. We also promised we
would raise a team of union members to come hear these stories themselves.
Thank you, Bill, for inviting me to see you in action. I have taken your mentorship for granted and know I have a lot more to learn. Camp’s strategic thinking, political bend, and one-track-mind for completing the mission make his leadership one to admire and utilize in our own contributions to society.
If you would like to join my teaching team to Honduras to partner with communities of educators in Honduras, contact me today! If you would like to volunteer to teach a class on a special topic in Honduras, let me know! If you simply wish to donate to, fundraise or pray for the progress we are making, send me a message! Individually we can make the world around us different, but together we are the difference we want to see in our culture. (I know..I know…I didn’t sign off with my tag line. Instead, I want to end with one of Bill’s! Happy Birthday!)
Don’t forget we’re having fun 😊
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