Vignettes from Honduras

I suppose I can't let Linda dominate the blogging too much since my boy B has dropped the ball so badly.  But, since I'm writing this on a plane and can't research my next post, military drafts, you'll get just my musings.  But let's call them vignettes and not musings.  So, over the next ten minutes you'll get to read about, gov't inefficiency, gov't efficiency, community activities, non-profit bumblings, and for profit excellence.

Plates in Process (Government Inefficiency)

I bought my motorcycle in mid December with no license plate and left Honduras in early April still with no plates.  I never got a Honduran motorcycle license either but that’s another issue entirely.  Apparently there is about a one year delay on getting plates of any kind in Honduras.  A friend from work told me that it was due to a lack of materials and some slow bureaucracy.  Last I checked, metal was in decent supply so I’m chalking up about 11.5 of the12 months up to bureaucracy / inefficiency. 

Don’t worry though, I had a permit to drive without plates.  I had to renew this once every three months.  This consisted of standing next to long desk and waving my expired permit and a 50 lempira note a lá late night bar style until a functionary grabbed it.  After about a two minute wait, my permit returned with a smudged blue stamp giving me another three month’s grace.

On the flight back, a chubby American that was living in Honduras told me that if your plates get damaged (in a fender bender let’s say) it is advisable to have a counterfeit plate made.  This pokes another hole in the lack of materials theory.

Overhead (Government Efficiency)

Much of my work required interacting with members of the government’s Promotion of Agriculture office.  This group is part of the larger Secretary of Agriculture (equivalent of our USDA) and is a legit organization of it’s own.  I’m on a first name basis with it’s Director (shoulder brush off).  Anyways.  What an interesting set up.  When you walk in, no reception.   Nothing.  Just stairs.  I told a passerby what I was there for and they led me up to flights of stairs and down a hallway to a door with a rainbow colored word art sign.  This was the office of PRONAGRO.

After my meetings, we would exchange emails so that I can follow up with more questions as I had them.  Everyone uses yahoo, hotmail, or gmail addresses.  No official .SAG or .PRONAGRO or even .gob (that’s spanish for .gov for you gringos). 

That’s how you cut overhead America. 

Soccer in La Esperanza (Community Activities)

I went up to the town of La Esperanza for some interviews and stayed with a co-worker.  On our way back from an evening meeting, we stopped in the central square where there was a soccer match underway.  Every night there are two games in this square between many team’s in various leagues.  The teams were composed of all ages.  Teenagers and 60-year-olds ran around the field with equal abandon if not equal speed. 

There was one especially short player that I noticed.  My colleague told me he was one of the Lencas, an indigenous group that lives in the area.  Apparently he runs into town to play.  10km each way.  Not bad.

Debt Forgiveness (Non-profit Bumblings)

I stumbled across this little gym in an NGO report on Honduras.  I’m sure this was a huge revelation to them.

(ii) the debt forgiveness mandated by the government of Honduras has distorted the lending market and encouraged a culture of nonpayment, which is a challenge to overcome;

Who would have ever guessed?

Data Visualización (For Profit Excellence)

My preferred Honduran periodical, La Prensa, published a little gem of data visualization every day towards the back of the paper.

Impressive and sobering.  It shows the reported crime in San Pedro Sula over the last three days.  The key icons are the sprawled bodies (homicides) and the guns (armed robberies).  The red icons with cars are car robberies and the blue icons with busses are bus robberies.  I worked just under the “s” in Noroeste in the top left and lived on the left side of the map just under BLV Los Proceres.  Relatively safe areas.