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| All ages, sexes, genders, and backgrounds gather quarterly to problem solve. |
AHMEN's Río de Agua Viva team is a
teaching team. Every successful teaching session, however, is not a
one-sided lecture, but an open discussion. Successful teachers
listen.
While listening to members of
ASI-Jutiapa talk about what is going on in their lives this past
June, I heard something that broke my heart. Two bright, young, and
enthusiastic members of the program expressed their hopelessness over
their future in Honduras. Each expressed befuddlement at the
likelihood of ever earning enough money to lift their families out of
poverty. One said he was fifteen minutes away from joining the
gangs, and the other said he plans to leave for the United States
next year. The waves crashing against the beaches of Limon from my
first team to Honduras over sixteen years earlier were the only
sounds I could hear as I vainly searched for the right words to tell
these two young men to “stick it out.”
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| An investment in ASI is an investment in these kids' futures as prosperous Honduran citizens. |
But then, they don't need the right
words; they still have hope. Instead of already joining the gangs or
departing for the U.S., these two joined Byron Morales' CommunityEmpowerment Program, the AHMEN-SIFAT Initiative, in Jutiapa. They
just need encouragement to continue, and this is exactly what ASI
does. ASI is a community level partnership with Honduran leaders
that reinforces the mantra that “YOU can be the change your
community deserves.”
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| Respect of difference and attentive to others' opinions form the basis of ASI's initial paths toward empowerment. |
There
are macro issues at work. The United States must resolve its
immigration dilemmas so that Honduran immigration to the United States
is less of a solution. We then must invest in the Honduran
infrastructure so that the daily struggles to ward of disease and malnutrition are not greater battles than dismantling the government
corruption and gang life leading so many to emigrate from their
country in the first place.
In the meantime, ASI is a solution, and
it develops the capacity in its community agents to know that they
are the solution too. While bureaucracies, congresses, and presidents
delay decision, AHMEN is taking charge. While the International
Monetary Fund enables the rich to get richer off of the poor, ASI
empowers families to be their country's most-prized resources. You
can too! To learn more about what Byron Morales does in Honduras, or
to make a donation, don't hesitate to contact me.
The way forward is not continuing to
permit an exodus of Honduran youth but to empower neighborhoods to
transform their country. Join us today.
Together, we are the difference
