Corona virus and more in Honduras

COVID-19

The corona virus continues to plague Honduras, as it does most of the world. The major cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula are hard hit, as are several of the departments on the north coast. Here in the department of Copán there have been fewer cases, though the situation seems to have worsened in La Entrada and Santa Rosa de Copán.

The president and his wife have been tested positive for COVID-19. He was hospitalized for about 11 days in the Hospital Militar and was released after on July 2. But many people don’t really believe it. There’s a photo of the president getting tested – beardless. He made the announcement with a beard. My guess is that there was sufficient time between the test and getting the results to grow a beard, but what this tells me is the growing lack of confidence of the people in the government.

There have been more tests, up to 2000 a day. Despite major backlogs of testing and reporting results, official reports (as of July 1) state that more than 52,350 tested with 29,262 positives and 542 deaths – in a country of more than 9.5 million people. The neighboring country of El Salvador has tested 170,000 for a population of 6.4 million. The positive rate person 1000 persons in El Salvador from the tests is about half of the rate in Honduras.

There are more and more reports of corruption and malfeasance in the responses to COVID-19. One of the most recent was a shady deal for mobile hospitals which appears to be a clear case of corruption.

There are also continuing pressures on the public health system, with people lining up in long lines at some public hospitals and continuing concerns about a collapsing health system.

ATTEMPTS TO OPEN UP

In an effort to re-open the economy about a week ago, the country had been divided into three types of municipalities (called regions, even though they are not contiguous.) Region one, which includes four municipalities in our parish, could begin opening up slowly. The other regions would have to go about reopening much more slowly. But this had to be revised.  In Tegucigalpa, in region three, they pulled back the small steps that they had taken toward reopening.

In an effort to cut down on the movement of people in the streets, the government proposed a new control mechanism. For the past few months, we could circulate once every two weeks, depending on the number of our IDs. The new proposal would let people go out to banks and supermarkets once every two weeks but in a way that people could circulate in their vehicles only once a month. It provoked all sorts of resistance, including sarcastic memes on Facebook, and only operated for one day. Supposedly the police will be now out in more force, enforcing the circulation of people according to the last number of their IDs. We’ll see.

There are continued serious concerns about human rights violations during the curfew. Also, there are very serious situations in the prisons, including positive cases and even deaths.

THE PARISH

The churches are opening up – but they are supposed to be enforcing strict measures of biosecurity. In the main church in Dulce Nombre, masks and social distancing are enforced, as well as the use of gel. 

Supposedly the churches in the villages, if they are having celebrations, are supposed to do the same. I don’t know what the situation is in other places, but they are complying to a degree here in Plan Grande.

Three weeks ago they were even giving out masks provided by the municipality and the people were told that masks were obligatory. That’s when I began to preside at the celebrations here. The next week I was there and one of the musicians was seated without a mask. I told him that he had to put on a mask; he said he had left it at home. I told him to get it, a bit more forcefully than I should have. He left and sent back a mask for his wife and daughter. There were others who didn’t enter or were told to stay in the last pew because they had no mask. I asked a few and they said they had no masks. I told them to ask the mayor for masks. But I decided to buy some masks when I read that a friend in Santa Rosa was selling them. I got 200 when I went into the city last week.

In the midst of this, the main church of the parish, in Dulce Nombre, has been broken into twice. In the first case, the office was broken into and money and an electric sander were stolen. about two weeks later the church was broken into. The donation boxes were stolen and the tabernacle was broken into. The thieves stole two ciboria, one of which contained consecrated hosts. Thanks be to God, the hosts and at least one of the ciboria were recovered. 

It seems as if the police did investigate and found a larger amount of stolen goods in a house in Dulce Nombre. My guess is that there was enough of an uproar that they had to do something.

NEW PENAL CODE

During this time of pandemic, a new penal code was supposed to come into force, passed by the National Congress which is ruled by the National Party. There are serious problems with the code, including lesser penalties for corruption as well as for instances of domestic violence and sexual abuse of children. The bishops have been rather critical and just recently Vatican Radio had an interview with the bishop who is president of the Honduran Bishops Conference who said that the law favors the corrupt.

But I was surprised a few days ago when I read the Facebook posts of some members of the National Party who work with city halls where the mayor is from that party. The post is below. I hope that this is a good sign of people looking out for justice and not just for their party.

MY LIFE

On the personal level, I’m doing well, largely staying at home, except for the days when I am permitted to circulate in car. However, this may change a bit. The Catholic Church in Honduras has managed to get salvoconductos, safe conduct passes, for clergy. (And this deacon is clergy.) We can circulate for church services Monday through Friday. This will enable me to get to come communities where there are persons preparing for the sacrament of matrimony and who are waiting for the final interviews (which I usually do.) There is a temptation to abuse this, but I am committed to giving the people a good example.

I’m doing a lot of reading and some praying (not enough). I’ve been cleaning the house a bit, finding things I’ve accumulated over the years. I keep trying to find ways to keep my mind active. I took ten hours of Spanish classes by internet and a four-week certificate program on abuse within families (as I mentioned in a previous post). I’ve also participated in a number of Zoom session, two from Maryknoll. I’m also trying to do a little more contacting friends by phone or Skype. A spiritual direction session last month really helped.

I’m also trying to walk out in the community at least twice a week. It’s partly for exercise but it ends up being a way to connect with people. What would normally take 30 minutes walking ends up being between ninety minutes and an hour as I stop and talk with folks, keeping social distance by staying in the road. It’s been a great experience as I hear what people are thinking.

Finally, a surprise. Sunday morning, four men from the coffee association in nearby El Zapote (which exports EL Zapote Coffee to Ames, Iowa) came by and dug a hole (2 meters by 2 meters, with about 1 meter deep) to plant an avocado tree. Since the ground is mostly clay, they added good black dirt, coffee husks (to aerate the soil), and cal. They told me to wait two days before planning the seedling. It will be a few years until I have avocados, but this was a nice generous gesture.

And so life goes on – as the people struggle to survive the poverty and the threat of COVID-19. Please pray for us.

ADDENDUM:

Have I mentioned that two cousins in Plan Grande have a tomato project, growing beef-steak sie tomatoes in a greenhouse. They are great (and cheap - about 45¢ a pound). I just hope that plants keep on giving.

----

Statistics for COVID-19, Centro de Estudios para la Democracia  (CESPAD) and an international website, as well as nightly reports from the Honduras Department of Health.

Where do I start - today?

During this lock down, I continue being well, staying at home, for the most part. I got to Santa Rosa last Wednesday (to do some grocery-shopping) but probably won’t get out of Plan Grande until Wednesday, June 10.  (We’re restricted in circulating in vehicles depending on the last number of our ID.)

Yesterday was my seventy-third birthday. Not much of a celebration, but several phone calls, e-mails, and WhatsAp messages, as well as over 225 Facebook greetings.

I took part in an internet class for two hours in the morning. Then I went out to take a walk and went to the parish coffee field, where volunteers (as well as the pastor) were cutting down the weeds and fertilizing the coffee pants. Then back home and a one-hour Zoom session with some folks on Catholic Social Thought.

It’s been raining a lot, which means that the rainy season has arrived. We need the rain since it has been very hot and dry for several months.

But what else is up?

COVID-19

COVID-19 is devastating the world. Many people are confined to their houses. Here in Honduras it’s almost a complete lockdown, though they are beginning to allow some openings for businesses in stages, based on the number of positive cases of COVID-19, population density, capability to provide medical attention, and economic relevance. The four municipalities in the parish (Dulce Nombre, Concepción, Dolores, and San Agustín) are in the first group of 238 municipalities (out of 298 total).

There is even a plan to open churches. I need to study the document before commenting.

We cannot go out during an overnight curfew, which is stricter in some areas, especially the cities where COVID-19 has affected more people. We are limited in how often we can circulate in vehicles or go to banks, gas stations, or supermarkets – once every two weeks, dependent on the last number of our identity card.

This is not hard for me – since I am able to go in my truck to Santa Rosa de Copán and buy groceries. But the lack of public transportation makes it impossible for most people in the countryside to get out of their villages.

We are also supposed to wear face masks outside. Because of the failure of many to use masks, they have recently placed a fine on not wearing masks. In Santa Rosa masks are common, but in Dulce Nombre and in the villages, there are many who go around without masks.

There are nightly announcements on the number of persons tested and the number of cases.

The number of persons being tested daily has increased but the total is only 17.908 out of a population of almost ten million. Yesterday 575 test results were announced. In total, there have been 5,362 positives and 217 deaths. See more statistics here.

Most of the cases of the corona virus have been in the two most populated areas, centered in the cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. But there have been cases in almost all parts of the country.

What concerns me is that since many areas have not seen cases of COVID-19, either because of the lack of testing or the efficacy of preventive measures, some people are lax in their adherence to security measures.

The ability of the public health system to respond is questionable. The lack of medicine, the lack of sufficient intensive care beds and respirators, as well as the corruption that makes it difficult to get enough medicine and equipment, make the country vulnerable.

The other problem is that many people have no or a limited source of income. Many people survive by what is often called the “informal economy,” street vendors and small sidewalk stands. I think of a woman who sold vegetables on a street corner in Santa Rosa de Copán; I often would buy strawberries or papaya from her, but now she is nowhere to be seen.

The government has had two distribution campaigns of “bolsas soldarias,” with some basic foodstuffs as well as soap and bleach. I accompanied the two distributions in our municipality where it seemed to be done efficiently and without corruption or political favoritism, trying to meet the needs of the poorest. There have been major complaints in other areas and cases of elevated prices (corruption) and political favoritism (giving only to those connected with the party in power). In some areas the distribution has been politicized with the presence of political leaders. In addition, in a few areas the distribution is being done by the military.

There have been a number of efforts by non-governmental groups as well as donations by individuals and businesses to help. Yet there are concerns about hunger.

It is important to remember that the pandemic of COVID-19 is, as Pope Francis has said, only one of the pandemics that devastate the lives of the poor. As I see it we need to work to alleviate the pandemics of hunger, lack of education, corruption, and more.

When the COVID-19 pandemic is under control, we have our work to do.

SEXUAL ABUSE

A few weeks ago, I saw a note of a four week on-line course -  a diplomado, a certificate program – on the Intrafamiliar Abuse, run by a center of the Mexican Pontifical University. I knew of the center, CEPROME, because of its programs for the prevention of the abuse of minors and those in vulnerable situations in the Catholic Church. So I went forward and signed up. We’re about two-thirds through the program which has been good.

Yet in the midst of this, I just read on the website of ERIC-SJ and Radio Progreso that the proposed new penal code in Honduras will reduce the penalties for crimes of sexual violence. This is despite the continuing number of cases. According to a National University of Honduras report, between January and December of 2018, there was an average of 248 legal complaints per month. 87.4%of the victims were female and 69.1% were between the ages of five and nineteen. And this, of course, doesn’t include the number of cases not reported.

From time to time I hear of cases in our area and there are situations that seem to indicate some type of abuse. I need to be more attentive and we need to take more measures of prevention, as well as formation of people in ways to respond to the cases and to respect and protect others from any type of abuse or violence.

We have work to do.

AND MORE

For the last few years we have had all-night Pentecost Vigils in the parish. I ended up spending three hours, praying, reading, and writing on Saturday night and two hours on Monday morning. It was like a min-retreat, but with concerns about COVID-19, the plight of our people, and the events in the US framing my prayers and reflections.

Today or tomorrow I will try to put together some of my thoughts on what is happening in the US – in regard to the killing of George Floyd, the responses to the killing, the protests as well as the polarization wrought by some groups and some politicians, as well as my thoughts on violence. But I need more time.

What's up now in Honduras and in my life

The Honduran government has set very strict guidelines. Now you can circulate in the streets and in vehicles only once every two weeks, depending on the last number of your identity card.

The most recent change is that it is now obligatory to wear a face mask in public – with actual fines.

 Last Wednesday was my day to circulate and I went to Dulce Nombre and Santa Rosa – to check in with the pastor, to get food and supplies, to fill up the tank of my pick up, and go to the bank.

There were stops by the authorities at several places: before entering Santa Rosa and most notably at the turn off to Dulce Nombre from the international highway, where they took down my name and ID number as well as the license plate number – both when leaving the Dulce Nombre area and returning. They disinfected the car – and in a few places the soles of my shoes and my pants.

To enter a public building, we had to stay two meters apart and wear face masks. Our temperature was taken and we walked our shoes in a disinfectant tray.

Last week I got to Mass for the first time since March, for a Mass on the first anniversary of the death of a man whom I knew, as I mentioned in my last blog post.

The streets of Pan Grande are not as busy as usual. But life goes on, yet people are not taking precautionary measures as seriously as I think they should. Almost nobody in Plan Grande goes around with a face mask, only some folks on motorcycles or in cars. This is another question which I may address later.

The situation in the cities is much more serious than here in the countryside. Most of the cases have been in the major cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa as well as on the north coast. In some of these areas there are more restrictions on movement.

Many people in the cities are part of the informal economy – selling on the streets. Many others would have worked in small shops. Small stores, called tiendas or pulperías, which are like what might be called small mom and pop stores or corner grocery stores in the US, can operate for several hours. But the markets are closed as well as restaurants and most businesses. There are many people who have no source of income.

The government is doing some distribution of basic food and hygiene products. There have been two so far in our municipality (Concepción, Copán) and I’ve accompanied them. From what I’ve seen they generally try to respond to the neediest and, at least in our municipality, are not encumbered by politicization or efforts to aid only those who support the party in power.

There have been complaints in other parts of the country that the neediest are not getting what they need and that the aid is politicized. There have been some protests – which have put down by army and police forces.

In some areas of the country, especially in the large cities, it seems as if the military and police have had a role in the distribution, something which I don’t think is healthy.

But there are always some who will slip through the cracks. I think especially of the workers who have come in from Guatemala to work on the coffee fields. I don’t think they are eligible for Honduran government aid. I know of one family and arranged for them to get some food and supplies from a donation that came to the parish from a Santa Rosa grocery store. When I gave it to the father of the family he told me that they had not eaten the day before.

There are a lot of other questions about the distribution of food stuffs as well as the effect of the curfews on the poorest. This worries me.

But I thought I’d share some of what I see going on, in rural areas, despite the restrictions.

People are connecting a lot less than usual. But they are still going out to work in the fields, working in some construction projects, and more.

The two times I went out with the municipal workers to give out food, I noted people working on making bricks, baking bread, or drying tobacco.

I even saw one young man, studying his first year of high school in the alternative Maestro en Casa project in his area, working on tasks in his home – on the computer. First of all, I was surprised to see someone with a computer at home.

 Another surprise is the prevalence of smart phones here. I never knew what you could do on one until I decided to get a cell phone plan several months ago. I’m guessing that some distance learning might not extremely difficult, though my guess is that not many teachers or students really know how to use smartphone technology efficiently. I may be wrong. I still don’t know how to answer a phone call on my smartphone.

The rainy season is beginning and we have had several severe afternoon storms – usually after a day where the temperatures had risen to close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

As I mentioned, people are going out to prepare fields to plant corn and beans.

In some areas of the parish there are abundant bananas and plantains. People would often sell these outside their communities, but without transportation that is not possible. So one community gave bananas to us who were distributing the aid packages.

This is also the season when the izote trees flower. People here like the flowers and often eat them with eggs. At times they are a little too bitter for my taste, but I am told that the bitterness is due to the way they are prepared.

Just outside my house is a small “grove” of izote trees. Every year there are a few blooms but they have not always been harvested, since they are at the top of the trees, three to five meters above the ground. But kids and young guys often climb – as I look on with some trepidation. This year the grove by the house has had 20 flowers. Only three are left after some neighbor kids cut five about ten days ago; then I cut three last week and a young guy cut about ten the day the pastor came for Mass. He took them to share in Dulce Nombre.

I feel very blessed that I am not lacking for tomatoes. A local young man and his cousin have a project that grows large “beefsteak” tomatoes in green houses. The first tomatoes came a few weeks before the shutdown. A major problem they now have is marketing, since transportation is difficult. But I have bought from them three or four times, and even made and froze spaghetti sauce. I hope that the farmers can survive this.

I am baking bread, making soup, and cooking a bit more than usual. I have more than enough – including a reserve of brown rice. I was going to buy coffee last week but a friend who works with the association exporting coffee to Iowa gave me two bags of ground coffee from his farm.

The association is going strong, though I think the quality of its coffee may have suffered from the high temperatures and close to drought conditions mid-year. But they will be sending close to 7000 pounds of green coffee to Iowa shortly. They are working with a Santa Rosa beneficio which processes and ships coffee to Houston. The coffee is now in San Pedro Sula being processed. I pray that this goes well.

One last set of commentaries on my life.

Outside of a bi-weekly trip to Dulce Nombre and Santa Rosa, I’m staying in a lot and only going out to but bottled water and necessities from local pulperías. I am reading a lot and praying a bit more than usual.

This may change a little. There are about 20 couples in the parish who were preparing for the sacrament of matrimony before the curfews and travel restrictions. One of the ways I serve in the parish is to do the last interview with them and two witnesses, which is mostly to see if they know what they are getting into and that there are no impediments to a sacramental marriage. I normally did these at the parish. But now, since we can only go out on certain days depending on our ID numbers, it is almost impossible to have five people get together on the same day. I’ll be trying to get to the villages to do the interviews there. If I can get a salvoconducto from the mayor that enables me to circulate in my care, I’ll try to begin the interviews in a few weeks.

Though I’m reading a lot – novels, theology, and more – I want to try to use this time to find ways to improve my ministry.

I have written a paper on my thoughts which I will try to publish in a few week or so.

Yet I've felt a need for some intellectual input. So last week I decided to find other ways to use my time.

I found a Honduran Spanish language school that does classes by internet. I’ve already taken four hours of classes and will be taking six more. The woman teacher is really good, helping me with some details.

I also found out about a diplomado, a short course, on abuse in the family run by a center at the Mexican Pontifical University that also is working on the prevention of abuse of minors and the vulnerable in the church. It’s four weeks long – and I’m hoping it will help with my ministry, since domestic violence and sexual abuse are serious problems here in Honduras.

Over all, I’m feeling very much at peace – in the midst of all this.

God is good.

And weird things happened. After I had finished a draft of this blog post, I heard a noise and went out and saw that a car had fallen into a drainage ditch on the road beside my house. They finally got it out - but I have no idea how he got that stuck.

Pastoral work and worship in the time of COVID-19 – first thoughts

Last Monday our pastor came to Plan Grande for a Mass on the anniversary of the death of the father of a member of the community, a dear man, Raul Aguirre. I knew him and his sons. Though enfeebled he would walk each Sunday from his home about two miles from Dulce Nombre for the 9 am Mass there. I would often give him a ride when I saw him. He’d throw his crutch into the bed of my truck and sit next to me in the cab.

There were probably twenty five persons in the church in Plan Grande – carefully separated. We also remembered three other deaths in the community in the last few months.

This was my first Mass and the first chance I’ve had to receive communion since March.

I’m been thinking a lot about what we can do. Many here think that because we have not had cases of COVID-19 in our parish one can move toward a life as it before the emergency, I try to get people to think about this more carefully. But I have serious concerns about opening up too soon, giving a false sense of security.

In March, just before the pandemic was being felt here, I went with the pastor and a seminarian in our parish to a remote village that has not had pastoral work for many years. We visited the abandoned church and prayed there. But what I noted was that two words were written on the front of the church - Cristo vive - Christ is alive. I believe that this is the message that needs to guide our present and future pastoral work. 

I am trying to put together an article to share here to help us respond. In this post, I’d like to share some of my ideas, concerns, and observations (some of which are probably wrong.)

Some people are concerned about the life of faith. I have people calling me asking about return to religious education of children. I strongly advise against it, explaining the reasons – and now that the pastor and I have talked we have agreed that we should put off any religious education and not have classes.

I urge the catechists to encourage parents to pray together with their children in their family, perhaps beginning this month with the rosary, a traditional Marian devotion which is practiced especially in May and October.

I have heard that there are a few families that meet together to pray and read the scriptures from the lectionary. That is admirable and a great idea.

But the problem is that many families do not really know how to pray together. We have failed to teach them

There is a lot of promotion here of the family as “the domestic church,” but have we really given the families the resources and the formation to be a domestic church?

There are base communities in our diocese, but some of them are rather large (20-30 people) and their meetings are more mini-celebrations of the Word than places to share together about their faith and their daily lives. I fear they have become too institutional, connected with filling the needs of structures in the parish and, in some places, as requirements for receiving sacraments. Have we formed communities where people can share their faith and grow in solidarity?

As we think about living with COVID-19 for months, and perhaps years, we need to think about alternative structures of worship, the sacramental life, and parishes.

Most of all, I believe, we need to find ways to help people grow in their faith in a way that is personal and participative. It is not enough to watch a Mass on the television, as a fairly passive spectator. If a family is finding ways to make their televised Masses a time to pray together as a family, perhaps including a time for personal intentions and sharing on the scriptures, that makes of what might be a mere spectacle into moments of family intimacy with each other and with God.

I think we also need to help people learn how to pray – on their own, not dependent on a priest or the local delegate of the Word. This is perhaps one of the most critical challenges here – and throughout the world.

This means faith formation of parents as well as young people and children and faith formation that is not linked to receiving sacraments. Religious formation of children which is only preparation for sacraments is a major issue here and the diocese is promoting programs of religious formation by ages or grades. This is a needed first step and the material does see a role for the parents in the formation, but more is needed. Perhaps we should think in the long term of family catechesis. Who knows what might work, but we need to dream and experiment.

Base communities and small groups might become in the future places where adult can grow in their faith – not receiving instruction but reflecting together on their faith and their lives. This means training of leaders in their faith and in promoting participation and reflection by all members of a community.

A major challenge in this is the sense that many people have here in Honduras that they really don’t have anything to contribute. There are people who know – and we need to have them teach us. (I almost wrote indoctrinate us.) Whether these are the clergy or delegates of the Word or professors or people with degrees, they are the “authorities” and we have to obey them and accept what they say. I will write more on this later, but I think this is what has led to the political mess we have today with corruption, boss leadership, and partisan politics. But that’s another blog post.

I am not pessimistic; neither am I optimistic. But I have hope, a hope that can challenge us to look for imaginative, creative, and life-affirming alternatives.

But that’s a lot of work. I look forward to this work and I am trying to use these days of confinement as an opportunity to read, think, and pray for a new Honduras.

Aid to the hungry

Monday through Wednesday of this week, the municipality of Concepción, Copán, distributed bags of food stuffs and of soap and bleach to more than 1600 households. 

I accompanied them as I had done in the first distribution in Holy Week when 1623 or so bags were distributed.

My truck ready to go to a community

The contents of the food bags were each worth a little more $25 dollars and included basic food stuffs, like salt, sugar, beans, rice, shortening, tinned fish, and coffee.

Bag from the first distribution

This time a non-governmental organization that works in the area with a child-sponsorship project, Plan International, was also distributing goods, but only in two communities. To prevent duplication, and to open the way for more assistance, they worked with the municipality to avoid any duplication and in hopes of expanding outreach to needy families that had been missed in the first distribution.

The municipality of Concepción was perhaps the first to do the distribution in April. From my experience, they tried to avoid any favoritism and politicization. In at least one village where I was, I saw that they adhered to the decision not to give more than one bag to a household. (I have been told that there might have been problem in another village whose authorities had presented a list with more than one person from a household.)

A few days ago I saw the public announcement of the president of Honduras about the distribution. What disturbed me was the decision that had been made to have the military distribute the goods in some cities. In a highly militarized society, where there are serious human rights issues, especially in relation to the military, this worried me. But in our municipality the distribution was mostly done by employees of the municipality with no military presence that I saw, except for a few in one village during the first distribution (because there were some concerns about the situation there.) I was very happy to see that the distribution was not militarized here and that this time neither the mayor nor a vice-mayor were present, as far as I could determine.

Helped by a member of one of the communities

The distribution went fairly well, though we found some needy families who had not received anything in the first distribution. This ended up being a problem. The government had decided that only those who had received the first distribution would receive the second. I think this was done to minimize the problems of the first distribution in some areas. But I think it was misguided. There were places, even in our municipality, where more than one person from a household received a bag in the first distribution; this should have been corrected. There were any number of persons who did not receive anything in the first distribution but were obviously in need. In addition, at least in our area, it was determined not to give a bag to people who had a small grocery store – a tienda or pulpería; but some people who had only a trucha, a small area where they sold mostly drinks and snacks, and who are obviously poor were denied a bag in the first distribution.

What ended up happening in our area is that the coordinators in the villages were told to contact the persons in charge of the distribution about those needy families that had not received anything. Because Plan International covered a number of households in two communities, there were perhaps fifty sacks that could be distributed to those in need.

Our experience, it seems, is not what people are experiencing in other parts of the country. I have already mentioned the militarization of the aid in some cities. In addition, there are charges of politicization of the aid, favoring those who belong to the party in power. In addition, the aid has arrived all too slowly in some urban areas and people have come out in protest.

                                                           

But worst of all are charges of inflated prices for the goods. I don’t have details of this but I would not be surprised if this happened due to the rampant greed and corruption in the country.

But there are other possible problems to keep in mind.

In Honduras the political parties have used aid to the needy as a weapon in their political campaigns, as a way to sway voters. It is not always aid that does not help those of other parties but it does give the impression to some that if they want to get aid they have to support the party in power. Some of this is a political naïveté that confuses government aid with aid from a politician or political power; I once heard of a woman who showed off the concrete flooring in her house and said that the president had given her this. Sometimes it’s not so subtle as the bags I saw being distributed about a year ago with the name and picture of the president on the bag.

A second concern is the way that this aid seems to take away people’s initiative to do things themselves. I remember a few years ago when I visited a village and had to take an elderly woman to a nearby clinic. She had fainted. When I entered the house I knew what had happened. The house was low with a tin roof: it was an oven. We left her at the clinic overnight because she was dehydrated. I recommended that the village members, most of them close relatives of the woman and her husband, make adobe bricks to raise the roof of her house. It never happened until a few years later when the mayor’s office gave them funds for this.

This sort of dependency can help perpetuate the corruption of political leaders, having the people feel that they need these leaders to get things. Such dependency just leaves a larger space for corrupt politicians.

It also creates a belief that they need to seek the favors of these politicians. A commentary on the Jesuit-supported Radio Progreso recently spoke about this:

Favors are given when people stop believing in their rights and when their dignity has been crushed. Leaders of the society, for the most part, have de-educated society. They have educated people to expect the favors to come from above, in response to people's pleas and humiliating requests.

What is valued is begging. Demands are seen as rude, as enemies of democracy and national reconciliation. This practice of begging and granting favors is typical of a society based on patrimonialism [what the government gives is a gift of the ruler to his subjects]. And what is patrimonialism? It’s the mentality, culture, and political practice which educates in order that  the entire society is convinced that the assets of the State are the properties of  the politicians, who can use them to grant favors or make donations in exchange for loyalty, silence, and obedience. Whoever receives a favor, shuts up, can no longer say anything against the one from whom he received the favor. A favor is never a right. It's a gift, and one gives thanks by shutting up. 

Patrimonialism needs people who don’t think for themselves.

But what does one do when there is great need?

I believe people and governments must respond in ways that respect the lives of the people and their dignity, without any political ties.

At times, giving out the bags, I heard the people say thank you. Several times I said, “No. It’s what you need and ought to receive.”

In the long run, I think we have to think of ways that people can get together and help each other. This is happening in some areas of the country, but it needs to be encouraged and promoted so that, when this ends, people can begin to live with less dependence on the politicians and with a greater sense of interdependence -  a sense that we are in this together.

ADDENDA:

I did hear of one case in another municipality where the person receiving the packet said he didn't need it but would give it to someone who did. That is one step.

One last note. In one community the people brought us bananas and plantains. They probably have more than they can use because they can't get out to sell them. But it was a nice gesture - and I;m looking forward to frying some plantains today or tomorrow.

Corona virus in Honduras, day unknown

It’s been more than two months since corona virus has affected us here in Honduras. I don't know how many weeks we've been in some type of curfew. Here is the first of a few posts on what I think and see here.

The situation has been precarious and there have been problems that continue.

Honduras was not prepared, to put it mildly. The healthcare system has been broken for years, with insufficient medicine in the clinics, without a budget that pays medical personnel on time and that sees that hospitals and clinics have the equipment they need. This is not to mention the scandalous crime of a few years ago when there was serious corruption in the national health service.

Thus there were – and are – doctors and nurses without adequate biosecurity equipment. There are not enough machines for inhalation therapy. And, according to one report, there are not enough places in intensive care units in at least one hospital in San Pedro Sula.

One of the problems has been the availability of tests. First, the only facility to analyze tests was in Tegucigalpa. Later it was possible in San Pedro.  This week, there is a private testing facility in San Pedro which is assisting. In mid-April there were less than 100 tests being reported each day. This past week they have begun reporting more than 400 tests per day.

As of last night, according to reports from an international source, there have been 1461 cases detected, 99 deaths, 132 recovered patients: 1230 active cases detected. But this means 10 deaths per million inhabitants of Honduras and 148 cases detected per million. There have been 5635 tests, which means 571 tests per million. A quick comparison: the US has 3840 cases per million and 228 deaths per million inhabitants, but 24,416 tests per million. My guess is that there are more cases here in Honduras that are not reported due to lack of testing and backlogs of reporting of tests.

The largest number of cases in Honduras come from the San Pedro Sula area, the industrial capital of Honduras. There are also a significant number of cases detected in the region of the capital, Tegucigalpa. Other parts of the country have been seriously affected, especially the north coast. There has been only one case detected in the department (the equivalent of a state) where I live, Copán. The patient recovered and returned home from the hospital with a warm greeting from her neighbors.

The measures taken here are very strict on paper. They have gotten stricter over the course of the past five weeks. At first we could go out once a week, depending on the last number on our identity card. The first weeks they had three or four id number per day. It was, in my mind, a disaster that could endanger people. Later, one could circulate only once a week but only two id numbers per day. This week only one id number can circulate each day and so it’s two weeks between the time when you can get to the bank or a grocery store. You can go out to local small stores (tiendas or pulperías) but what you can get is limited. This means a lot of planning (and also helping or seeking to help your neighbors.)

In addition, we are supposed to wear face masks in public.

In addition, people are not to congregate and no one should be out between 5 pm and 6 am.

In the past week or so there has also been a complete curfew in the department of Cortes and in two cities, El Progresso-Yoro and Las Vegas-Santa Barbara, where there have been serious outbreaks of COVID-19.

Some see this as a type of military control – and there may be an element of this. But one of the problems that I detect is that the idea of keeping a distance between person is something foreign to the culture. I still see people shaking hands. In addition, wearing masks is a problem. Some see this as giving in to fear and have no idea of the problems of contagion. In addition, there is the problem of obtaining masks – and the cost for the poor!

One of the measures taken in our part of the country is control of entry and exit from communities. In some places this has been done by local authorities who have set up road blocks, checking on the persons and where they come from as well as spraying disinfectant on the vehicles and the shoes, pants, and hands of the passengers.

There are still a few road blocks within the area of our parish but the number has decreased. Part of this is due to the fact that there are roadblocks, with military presence, at the three major points of entry into the parish.

I don’t know if this isolation is really effective, but I think it has cut down on the dangers in our area. We’ll see.

What about the future?

I think what is important is the need to keep one’s guard up.

I have been receiving calls and text messages for people regarding religious education in the villages. I advise the catechists to put it off, because of the continuing risks. But I hear of people getting together for Sunday celebrations and fear that this may open the people to future risks. One community is taking a little better approach; only one neighborhood of the village can come to the Sunday celebration to lessen the number of people present. I still have some problems with this, but at least this is better than other places.

Another problem is that some think that because COVID-19 has not come here there is no problem, not recognizing that the measures taken may have contributed to the safety here. To let down one’s guard could be disastrous.

There are other concerns.

There are people who do not have enough food. I’ll write about this in a future post since it’s a complicated issue and there have been different responses in different parts of the country.

There are also questions of what to do in the long run, when COVID-19 has decreased. How are we to respond, especially in terms of pastoral work. That’s material for another future post.

In the meantime, I’m staying at home (except for my assisting the municipality’s distribution of food stuffs and May 13 when I’ll try to stock up on food, pay bills, and connect in person with the pastor).

Pray, study, stay at home, keep well and safe. And imagine a new way of living together as we move out of this.