Central Honduras

Area of Central Honduras in which we work (orange star)

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras (now Belize). The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea. Its size is just over 112,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,000,000. Its capital is Tegucigalpa. About a third of the population of the country live on less than US$ 2 per day. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduras)

Central Honduras - Zambrano (blue star), San Francisco de Soroguara (yellow) and El Ocotal (red)

Honduras can be divided into three discrete topographical regions: an interior highland area, and two narrow coastal lowlands. The two coastal lowlands comprises of the Caribbean lowlands to the north, while the Pacific lowlands to the south run along the Golfo de Fonseca. The interior terrain is mountainous in nature, while the coastal lands are marked with alluvial plains.

Within the Department of Francisco Morazan, the Central Honduras Education Fund focuses on the areas surrounding where Dave, Aaron and Mike worked and lived as Peace Corps volunteers. Although not an actual geographic location, this is our unique designation of Central Honduras.  Of course, a more specific definition of central Honduras would comprise a much larger area. Nevertheless, we decided from the outset to remain focused on this relatively small area of the world, largely to be realistic in what we could accomplish from 2,000 miles away, and to focus our attention on places, people and unique challenges with which we were all very familiar.

El Ocotal, Zambrano, and San Francisco de Soroguara

El Ocotal - click for larger image

Saira’s home and Aaron’s former Peace Corps site in El Ocotal

Zambrano - click for larger image

Dave’s former site in Zambrano

San Francisco de Soroguara - click for larger image

Walter’s home and Mike’s former Peace Corps site

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was formerly known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras (now Belize). The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea. Its size is just over 112,000 km² with an estimated population of almost 8,000,000. Its capital is Tegucigalpa. About a third of the population of the country live on less than US$ 2 per day.