InterAmericana : Community Self-Development Society

The training programs will enable villagers to positively address perennial challenges concerning agricultural sustainability, natural resources, and business skills. Moreover, program graduates will be better equipped to find employment and afford sufficient health care, sanitation and other basic requirements that will help them remain firmly rooted in their community.

Once their most important needs are satisfied at the community level, they will no longer need to migrate to the large cities like Tegucigalpa or San Pedro. This pattern of migration has compounded the problems of the already overcrowded cities with their high rates of violent crimes, drug trafficking, drug addiction, and HIV-Aids. The other equally negative and dangerous alternative involves reaching North America as illegal immigrants.

The training programs will be free of charge, and the courses will include classroom instruction followed by (or running parallel with) a work placement period in which trainees practice their new skills. Trainees will learn how to apply the classroom knowledge they have acquired through shop work and field activities. All of the courses will help to carry out Interamericana's goal of developing the local communities' natural and human resources to improve their standard of living.

Graduates will be expected to instruct other individuals with similar needs from neighboring communities. The training programs and the skills that they teach will be directly related to the needs of each community. These needs will be established through a comprehensive assessment process that will lead to a series of program recommendations. While program details will vary according to the specific needs of each village, the basic program structure will remain consistent within appropriate local regions. Through the center's work, Canadians will be assisting these people in the current, vulnerable stage of Honduras' development.




HONDURAN VOCATIONAL CENTER PROJECT The Honduran Vocational Project is our lead initiative, and it responds to the education and vocational training needs of underprivileged people in the rural village of El Chimbo. This village is located within the municipality of Santa Lucia at the very edge of urban Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. This pilot project involves building and operating a permanent education and vocational training facility for adults in El Chimbo to increase their social, economic, and environmental self-reliance and sustainability. When fully completed, this facility will teach the following programs to address local needs: Traditional Medicine Natural Resources Management Shoe and Clothes Repair Women's Leadership Child Care Basic Business and Marketing Office Computer Skills Native Languages and Cultures English The training programs will enable villagers to positively address perennial challenges concerning agricultural sustainability, natural resources, and business skills. Moreover, program graduates will be better equipped to find employment and afford sufficient health care, sanitation and other basic requirements that will help them remain firmly rooted in their community. Once their most important needs are satisfied at the community level, they will no longer need to migrate to the large cities like Tegucigalpa or San Pedro. This pattern of migration has compounded the problems of the already overcrowded cities with their high rates of violent crimes, drug trafficking, drug addiction, and HIV-Aids. The other equally negative and dangerous alternative involves reaching North America as illegal immigrants. The training programs will be free of charge, and the courses will include classroom instruction followed by (or running parallel with) a work placement period in which trainees practice their new skills. Trainees will learn how to apply the classroom knowledge they have acquired through shop work and field activities. All of the courses will help to carry out Interamericana's goal of developing the local communities' natural and human resources to improve their standard of living. Graduates will be expected to instruct other individuals with similar needs from neighboring communities. The training programs and the skills that they teach will be directly related to the needs of each community. These needs will be established through a comprehensive assessment process that will lead to a series of program recommendations. While program details will vary according to the specific needs of each village, the basic program structure will remain consistent within appropriate local regions. Through the center's work, Canadians will be assisting these people in the current, vulnerable stage of Honduras' development.