Thanks to those of you who have sent questions! We might have to do this more often!
What does the social structure look like in
Honduras? Like the “rich” and those in
poverty?
Gary
We, of course, are seeing what we are shown, but that said,
we have driven through agricultural areas on the way to prisons. We have gone
on prayer walks within the inner cit of Tegucigalpa and we have see a broad
spectrum of the population in the prisons.
I believe that the families we are staying with, the
Ramirez- Reyes families are in the upper middle class. They live in the
suburbs, in the mountains surrounded by their El Tigre National Park. Their homes are quite similar to ours and
their life style is not so different from ours. Their kitchens are very like ours although
they don't seem to have dishwashers.
Everything else is similar in the kitchens having the standard electric
or gas ovens and stoves microwaves and all of the typical small appliances.
Likewise their bathrooms are similarly equipped to our
the bathrooms. One of the big
differences in Honduras and I believe all over Latin America is the water
supply. The supply is adequate in
volume, but not in quality. The caution
"Don't drink the water" should be taken seriously.
They have radios and televisions and they are routinely
on in the background. I don't think they
are as attached to their TVs as we are.
There aren't a lot of children that we interact with, but Daniel the grandson
is the one we do get to see and he seems to like his television, but again not
to the extent that most American children do.
Daniel is bright and interacts with adults well . I believe he is in 1st grade and attends
school each day. The similarities in
their life style and ours is far more striking than the differences.
With regard to the poor, we have only experienced the
poorest from a distance, driving by in the car.
In the city of Tegucigalpa, we drove many times by dumpsters where
people were going through the dumpsters looking for anything of value, to eat,
or something they might barter with. Because it is a warm climate year round, the typical dress
for most of the poor is for men tee shirts and usually jeans or trousers and
their shoes were often flip flops or knock-off Crocs. The women generally are
in tee shirts and skirts or slacks.
The homes in the
inner city were varied. Many of the
structures were very old, the construction of most buildings was reinforced
concrete, or brick. The city's middle
class homes were large enough and generally included multi-generational family
members which was true at the Ramirez-Reyes family homes in the suburbs.
The homes of the poor in the mountains were likewise
mostly of concrete or brick. Roofing
material is mostly corrugated metal.
They have no electricity or running water and although not seen, the
only possible type of sanitary facilities would have been out houses.
Some statistics on poverty in Hoduras
| Population, total (2010) | 7,600,524.0 |
| Population growth (annual %) (2010) | 2.0 |
| Population density (people per sq. km) (2010) | 67.9 |
| Rural population (2010) | 3,891,468.3 |
| Rural population density (rural population per sq. km of arable land) | 0.0 |
| Rural population (% of total population) (2010) | 51.2 |
| Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people) (2009) | 27.1 |
| Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people) (2009) | 4.9 |
| Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) (2010) | 20.3 |
| Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000) (2010) | 24.0 |
| Life expectancy at birth, total (years) (2009) | 72.5 |
| Labor force, total (2009) | 2,795,831.1 |
| Labor force, female (% of total labor force) (2009) | 33.9 |
| Number of rural poor (million, approximate) (2010) | 2,545,020.3 |
| Poverty headcount ratio at rural poverty line (% of rural population) (2010) | 65.4 |
| Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population) (2010) | 60.0 |
| Income share held by lowest 20% (2007) | 2.0 |
| School enrollment, primary (% gross) (2010) | 115.7 |
| Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) (2007) | 83.6 |
| Health expenditure, total (% of GDP) (2009) | 6.0 |
| Physicians (per 1,000 people) | .. |
| Improved water source, rural (% of rural population with access) (2008) | 77.0 |
| Improved sanitation facilities, rural (% of rural population with access) (2008) | 62.0 |
| Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population ages 15-49) (2009) | 0.8 |
| Food imports (% of merchandise imports) (2009) | 18.8 |
| Food production index (1999-2001 = 100) (2009) | 145.0 |
| Crop production index (1999-2001 = 100) (2009) | 153.0 |
| Cereal yield (kg per hectare) (2009) | 1,751.6 |
| Fertilizer consumption (100 grams per hectare of arable land) (2008) | 107.7 |
| Land area (sq. km) (2010) | 111,890.0 |
| Forest area (% of land area) (2010) | 46.4 |
| Arable land (% of land area) (2009) | 9.1 |
| Irrigated land (% of cropland) | 0.0 |
| GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) (2010) | 1,870.0 |
| GDP (current US$) (2010) | 15,400,319,554.0 |
| GDP per capita growth (annual %) (2010) | 0.7 |
| Inflation, consumer prices (annual %) (2010) | 4.7 |
| Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) (2010) | 12.5 |
| Industry, value added (% of GDP) (2010) | 26.5 |
| Manufacturing, value added (% of GDP) (2010) | 18.4 |
| Services, etc., value added (% of GDP) (2010) | 60.9 |
| General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) (2010) | 18.0 |
| Household final consumption expenditure, etc. (% of GDP) (2010) | 79.8 |
| Gross domestic savings (% of GDP) (2010) | 2.2 |
| Merchandise exports (current US$) (2010) | 5,741,923,698.0 |
| Merchandise imports (current US$) (2010) | 8,549,547,323.0 |
| Balance of merchandise trade (US$ million) (2010) | -2,807,623,625.0 |
| Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) (2010) | 797,390,628.3 |
| Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) (2009) | 21.0 |
| Expense (% of GDP) (2009) | 24.3 |
| Present value of debt (% of GNI) (2010) | 14.0 |
| Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and income) (2010) | 7.6 |
| Official development assistance and official aid (current US$) (2009) | 457,100,000.0 |
| Deposit interest rate (%) (2010) | 9.8 |
| Lending interest rate (%) (2010) | 18.9 |
| External debt, total (DOD, current US$) (2010) | 4,167,957,000.0 |
Technology and infrastructure
| Mobile phone subscribers | 0.0 |
| Fixed line and mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) | 0.0 |
| Personal computers (per 100 people) | 0.0 |
| Internet users (per 100 people) (2010) | 11.1 |
Source: World Bank Indicators
