Housing Projects in Honduras
On September 1st, 2015, Tzu Chi began a large-scale housing project in Honduras, an impoverished nation in Central America. Tzu Chi Honduras volunteers have been active here for many years, and have a deep bond with the country’s kind-hearted people: Although many endure great poverty and high unemployment, they are always ready to help others.
The story of how Tzu Chi started building houses in Honduras began in late 2011. Following a series of floods, Tzu Chi Honduras brought disaster relief to the regions affected. It was then that Jorge Chang, the head of Tzu Chi Honduras who was in charge of the food distribution operation, noticed that people were not only hungry, but many were homeless and living under plastic sheets in terrible conditions. A number of transitional shelters were quickly imported and erected, but unfortunately the structures didn’t last. And so a dream arose in Jorge’s heart: To build permanent homes for these people.
Not long after in 2012, Quintin Soriano, the Mayor of Choluteca, initiated a Work For Cash Program to help those affected by the floods recover: This region had suffered the greatest devastation in the whole nation. City Government gave out more than 100 horses to flood victims, so they could use them to collect and recycle garbage. The workers, who were called “Cochero” (Rider), also got $100 Lempira (Honduras Dollar) each. But one year later, the Cocheros were making very little money from recycling, and in desperation, were riding their horses to the mountains to get wood to sell in the market. Something more had to be done since they were still living in dire poverty and needed help.
