Honduras
Welcome
The Honduras staff will do everything possible to help you have a good mission experience. Thank you for coming and being a part of this work.
Be sure and tour our Centro Cristiano de Servicios Medicos while you are in El Progreso. This permanent clinic thrives as an Eye Hospital and teaching program..
Geography
Location: borders the Caribbean Sea, and is between El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.
Area: Honduras is 240 miles from north to south and 405 miles east to west (slightly larger than Tennessee).
Terrain: mountains in the interior make up 70% of the terrain, there are also narrow coastal plains.
History
Western Honduras was at the southeastern edge of the great Maya civilization during the first millennium AD. Ruins exists at Copán . The Maya were already in decline by the time Christopher Columbus reached their shores on his fourth voyage in 1502. Spanish conquest and European diseases decimated the native population. As part of Spain's vast empire in the New World, Honduras became as independent nation in 1821. After two and one-half decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected civilian government came to power in 1982.
Weather
Subtropical in the lowlands and temperate in the mountains. The costal lowlands: 88-95F (31-35C). Rainfall: The southern and central highlands average 30 to 60 inches of rainfall annually. The tropical rainforest receives more than 100 inches.
Goverment
Democratic constitutional republic with its capital city being Tegucigalpa.
Economy
Currency: Honduran Lempira
Industries: sugar, coffee, textiles, clothing, wood products.
Agriculture: bananas, coffee, citrus, beef, timber, and shrimp.
Project Sites
You will travel to El Progreso (30 minutes from the San Pedro Sula airport) for your evening meal and overnight lodging at the Notre Dame Center or the Casa Blanca Hotel. After a good night's rest, breakfast, church service and orientation session, the team will travel to the project site.
Accommodations at the project site will be either dormitory style or in a modest hotel depending on the region. We will try and make you as comfortable as possible. Come prepared for the electric current to be 220 volts. (North America is 110 volts.)
The San Pedro Sula and Morazan projects are in the valley where it is warm.
The El Filon and the Ocotepeque projects are in the mountains where it is cooler. Lempira and Copan is also in the mountains.. La Nueva Esperanza is also in the mountains.
San Luis and Colinas are in the hills— warmer during the day and cooler at night.
People
Population: approximately 265,000
Ethnic groups: Creoles (African-European), Mestizo (Spanish-Indian), Mayan, Anglo-European, Middle Eastern and Asian.
Religion
Roman Catholic and Protestant
Language
English and Spanish
