STRUGGLE, SOLIDARITY & HOPE DELEGATION
September 10th-18th, 2023
Dear friends, Dear Friends of the People of Honduras, We invite you to join the delegation “STRUGGLE, SOLIDARITY & HOPE” after a successful and rewarding delegation experience in Honduras in December of 2022, once again SHARE with the support of Radio Progreso/ERIC are planning a delegation of accompaniment and solidarity with our partners who are working in the important social, political, and environmental movements there. During our December delegation, we visited communities in the urban and mountainous sector of San Pedro Sula and Bajo Aguan that are highly affected by their natural resources being in the hands of the few and powerful mining and agrobusiness oligarchies. These oligarchies misuse our “common home” for exploitative industries like mining and agrobusiness that contaminate and deplete the soil and the water. We want to deepen our relationship with public pressure and learn about the important relationship radio and journalists like Radio Progreso/ERIC play with water defenders, land defenders, and truth-seeking. We also celebrated with the children of Macuelizo, learning to play locally made guitars, resourced through SHARE, and with the food producers of Vamos a la Milpa, a project to promote small-scale community farming toward food security and sovereignty. We experienced the joy and abundance of these farmers who brought their harvest to share in a community agricultural fair. READ MORE 1.-WHAT ARE THE DATES OF THE DELEGATION?
Delegation to Honduras: September 10th to 18th, 2023, fly to San Pedro Sula Airport SAP
2.-WHAT IS THE COST OF THIS DELEGATION?
$950, it does NOT include round-trip airfare, or tips $20 TO $40.
1st payment of $100 is due August 31st , this is a nonrefundable fee. The 2nd payment is due September 5th. To pay, make out your check to the SHARE Foundation, memo “September Delegation” and send it to SHARE, 2425 College Ave., Berkeley 94704. (Checks are preferred - no fees); or online with a 3% fee at the SHARE website: www.share-elsalvador.org. There is limited partial financial aid available on a need basis. We have many suggestions of how you can fundraise for this trip. No one should be left behind for lack of funds. 3.-which airport do i book my ticket to?
To the Ramon Villeda Morales International Airport in San Pedro Sula SAP
On September 10th please arrive during the day as possible not after 11 pm On September 18th you can travel any time. 4.- ARE THERE CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY?
Honduras is one of the most violent countries in the region. Our itinerary is developed in close collaboration with local partners, who are aware of risks and mindful to reduce them in every possible way. We will be lodged in secure locations; being part of a group provides some safety. We will not participate in demonstrations or knowingly enter situations that would put us at risk.
Nevertheless, it is important to know that there are high levels of crime, gang and narco activity. This is part of the daily reality of living in Honduras and contributes heavily to the continuous flow of people who can no longer live safely at home and who seek asylum elsewhere, including in the United States. This delegation is one of accompaniment, and we encourage participants to consider both the risks and the rewards of this form of activism. SHARE has 43 years of experience organizing delegations to El Salvador and Honduras and has sent over 10,120 delegates. If people are still very concerned about safety, they should not go. Please check and follow the US Travel Advisories travel.state.gov. 5.- WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVES OF DELEGATION?
To remember and celebrate the life of Fr. Guadalupe Carney on the 40th anniversary of his disappearance.
To accompany and be in solidarity with the organized people of Honduras. To return to the U.S. and continue planting the seeds of solidarity. Each delegate will become a promoter of solidarity, including organizing presentations to share their story, educate their elected officials in Congress, and raising funds to support SHARE’s partners in Honduras. 6.- WHERE WILL WE STAY?
In Honduras, our program begins and ends in the northern town of El Progreso, about an hour from San Pedro Sula, where we will be hosted at the Sisters of Notre Dame Retreat House in simple, comfortable clean rooms. We may travel to the Bajo Aguan and/or other areas where we will stay at secure retreat centers. Meals are simple and healthy, and we will have access to purified water at all times.
7.- DO I NEED A PASSPORT OR A VISA TO TRAVEL TO HONDURAS?
A valid passport with an expiration date no less than 6 months from the date you are returning is necessary for travel. U.S. citizens do not need a visa.
8.- DO I NEED TO SPEAK SPANISH?
Spanish is not necessary for participation. Interpretation will always be provided.
9.- ARE THERE ANY CULTURAL ISSUES OR GROUP NORMS THAT I NEED TO BE AWARE OF? yes:
a. Wearing modest clothing is most appropriate. Women in Honduras do not usually wear shorts. Skirts, capris and long pants work best. Men often wear longer shorts.
b. Alcoholic drinks are not allowed in the retreat houses where we stay, and it is not appropriate to be drinking in the context of so much suffering in the communities we visit. c. It is possible that particular people may approach you personally for financial help of some kind. Please know that we offer support to most communities we visit, organization to organization, which is the best way to be in solidarity. We ask you not to give any person-to-person financial assistance if approached. 10.-WHAT ARE THE EXPECTATIONS FOR PREPARATION AND FOLLOW-UP FOR THIS TRIP?
Some weeks before the program begins, you’ll be asked to engage with study materials that will help you understand the people and places we will visit, as well as the long history of US intervention. On your return home, we hope you will find many ways to share your experience and what you’ve learned with your community and engage with your local members of Congress. We will support you with ideas and resources for action and advocacy. We invite you to organize presentations, blog, write and contact the media. Delegates in certain areas of the US will be invited to host a community leader visiting from Honduras in the future. 11.- WILL THERE BE PREPARATORY CALLS FOR DELEGATES?
We will have monthly Zoom meetings to prepare for the delegation, to get to know each other and to answer any questions.
12.-What is the preliminary itinerary?
We will accompany the communities in the Bajo Aguan who have felt very acutely the repression at the hands of those who oppose justice. We will be with the people of Guapinol who are organizing to free from mining in the National Park and we will be with the many land cooperatives that make up the Agrarian Platform. SHARE, the Fruit tree Planting Foundation FTPF and Radio Progreso will plant fruit trees with those who are working toward food sovereignty for generations to come! We will meet with women organized in the Foro de Mujeres por la Vida.
In the spirit of La Milpa of justice, we will join the Honduran people in honoring Padre Guadalupe (James) Carney, a martyr for the rights of campesino Hondurans to land to feed their families. We will be there to commemorate 40th anniversary of the disappearance of Padre Carney, a Jesuit priest from the United States, who disappeared in 1983 by the Honduran military. Come learn about his life among the people and about the struggle for land that continues today. A day to day itinerary is being developed with our partners in Honduras and will be available on the preparatory zooms with delegates. For any additional question please email [email protected] or call at +1 510 848 8487 Question 12
A valid passport with an expiration date no less than 6 months from returning date to Honduras is necessary for travel. U.S. citizens do not need a visa.
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