impact of the coup

I've been really thinking lately how the poverty here in Honduras must color this coup and this routine of curfew and rioting for so many people. A very large percentage of Honduras is poor; this is something that I've known for a very long time. Yet, what does it mean to be curfewed if you're homeless? How do you make your living if you're a taxi driver, barely making enough money, who has to completely stop working for several days and then risk danger driving? We have vendors who walk or ride motorcycles through our neighborhoods selling tortillas and fruit, and they had completely stopped until about yesterday. Not hearing them shout the names of the items they sell made a strange silence for the past few days. They say that for each day that Honduras is under a daytime curfew, (there were two last week), the economy loses US$50 million. That is an extreme hit to such a poor country, especially now that the US has pulled out almost all of its monetary aid. I read somewhere that Micheletti (the interim president) thinks that this country could survive 6 months on the food that it has, but that just isn't realistic at all; one day during the curfew, the stores were completely emptied out by Honduran shoppers. Each time there is a curfew, all of the borders close, not allowing any importation of food.

We have vigilantes who stand guard in our (and in most middle class) neighborhoods. They, like so many people in Honduras, are underpaid. But recently, I have realized just how dangerous their job is. The top story yesterday in one of the Honduran news websites was that people have been donating food to guards, especially those in the military. I can't imagine that they have been able to get home much over the past few days. But even if they had, I love that the people are showing their gratitude in that way.

The rich are suffering, now, as well, but in very different ways. International School has many families who are very well off, and with money comes danger. Many children get threats on their lives from people wanting their parents' money. There are threats of kidnappings; there were several actual kidnappings at the end of last year, one of which ended in the child's death. Talking with my teacher friends, there are a significant number of students preparing to leave the country, some of them due to threats of kidnapping and violence. I cannot imagine this life, either.

It's hard for everyone in Honduras right now, and I'm realizing how extremely good I have it.

Watch this video.

Please continue to pray for Honduras.