Do you want to help Honduras in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, but are unsure how?
Hurricane Mitch struck not only cities but also national parks and people who live and work in them. German Martinez and Fabian Gonzalez are bilingual nature guides trained by RARE Center. They live on the North Coast of Honduras and their homes were destroyed by the storm. German's brother Fernando, a park guard at Pico Bonito National Park, also lost his home. To help their families get back on their feet, and to enable German, Fabian and Fernando to resume their important conservation work, RARE Center and a local Honduran non-profit organization, REHDES, are soliciting donations to rebuild their homes.
RARE Center will collect donations in the U.S. and then transfer the funds to REHDES in Honduras. REHDES and I will oversee the distribution of the funds and their use. Here in Honduras, a house can be rebuilt for as little as $1,500. Thus, our goal is to raise $4,500 to cover the cost of rebuilding the homes of German, Fabian and Fernando. If we surpass this amount, we will work with our Honduran counterpart organizations to help other homeless neighbors inside national parks on the North Coast where RARE Center works.
Please make your checks payable to RARE Center. It is very important that you write ñHonduran Relief Effortî in the ñmemoî line on the check so that we can track your contribution. Your donation is tax-deductible. You can mail your donation to: RARE Center for Tropical Conservation (Attn: Honduran Relief Effort), 1616 Walnut Street, Suite 1010, Philadelphia, PA 19103. We urge you to send your donation before December 15, 1998 so that we can make a special Christmas gift to German, Fabian and Fernando (and others if possible). Include your e-mail address for an update, and please feel free to pass this letter on.
German Martinez was a park guard for the Pico Bonito National Park, the largest national park in Honduras. When RARE Center interviewed him for admittance to the guide course, German, who never finished elementary school, nearly failed the reading and writing test in Spanish. His non-profit employer who manages the park pushed for German to be given another chance. German was widely known as one of the most respected and humble people on the park staff. RARE admitted him to the course and despite his lack of education, he achieved one of the most impressive increases in English language capability in the class. Unfortunately, his house and that of his brother were built on the Bonito River's shoreline inside the park. Mitch overflowed the river, destroying not only the main bridge down river, but every house built along its winding trail. When he and his wife showed up at the office, they owned nothing more than the clothes that clung to their bodies.
In Honduras, Hurricane Mitch killed at least 7000 people, left over 12,000 people missing, 1 million homeless, and $2 billion in damage to the Hemisphere's third poorest country.
Thank you,
Jon Kohl
Program Manager-Honduras
Ecotourism and Community Development Program
RARE Center for Tropical Conservation
La Ceiba, Honduras
Eco Travels in Honduras Nature Guides in Honduras - Jon Kohl
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