VolunTravel Blog – Honduras Educational Improvement
Panel of volunteers from Friends United
Teachers helping teachers at Honduras Educational Improvement Program
I traveled to Honduras from July 11th to July 22nd with Friends United. Our objective was to equip teachers with strategies for teaching literacy and math, follow up with teachers who attended previous workshops, and resupply teacher resource centers at a Honduras educational improvement program.
Friends United is a small nonprofit located in Independence, Missouri. It is composed mostly of educators who built a sustainable relationship with teachers in Honduras. They operate with the principle that true learning takes time, so they prioritize reconnecting with teachers each time they travel to Honduras. Friends United also brings teachers form Honduras to the United States so they can observe and talk with teachers in Independence, MO.
Leading a workshop
My total trip cost was $1500 and that covered my airfare, most meals, lodging and transportation. I led two workshops that were attended by teachers from the city and the surrounding rural areas. We also put on a physical education workshop with kids while teachers observed. We had plenty of time to explore the sights of Honduras when we weren’t prepping for or leading the workshops.
I am grateful to Friends United for the many hours of organizing that created the conditions for such a successful trip. The evidence in Honduran classrooms and resource centers from previous Friends United trips impressed me, and distinguished the organization from others I traveled with. I have never encountered such thorough follow up and follow through.
Playing with some local kids
I am continuing the conversation of educational improvement with the teachers I met in Honduras. We plan to create an e-mail list of the seminar attendees of the Honduras educational program to keep teachers connected with each other and informed of new instructional ideas. I worked with the teachers again when they visited Missouri in September of this year.
