Habitat for Humanity Honduras started work in 1989 and has completed over 10,000 houses in the country in that time! Very impressive for a country slightly smaller in population than North Carolina!! 53% of the Honduran population lives below the poverty level with an estimated unemployment rate of 28%. It is estimated that the deficit of adequate housing is 1,150,000 units among a population of 8 million. So housing is a huge issue here AND the opportunity to make a difference in a family's life is huge. A Habitat house only costs $4,500. Our tithe from Habitat Wake to Habitat Honduras this year will provide approximately 15 homes in addition to the 20+ homes we will build in Wake County. Today we continued our work on site. We tied re-bar that will strengthen the house in the event of an earthquake, we dug footings, we mixed mortar and once the kids were dismissed from the local elementary school there was jumping rope, soccer, and all those non-construction activities that are so essential to Habitat's overall building philosophy--building homes, building homes, and building relationships. Later this afternoon we visited a local orphanage that is operated by the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa. Our group was able to provide some much-needed play time and human contact for this group of 30 or so infants up to two year olds. The Honduran government does not support international adoptions and adoption is not a big part of Honduran culture, so the future for most of these children is pretty bleak. It was heart-wrenching as we left and the kids were crying and standing at the door wanting to leave with us. As a father of three adopted children, it's hard to put into words how it felt to walk away from that building!!
