Team RFM Honduras
The Honduran team of the Franciscan Network for Migrants (FNM or RFM for its initials in Spanish) is made up of women and men, religious and laity, people with a Franciscan heart, who work in different areas of the country. They execute service projects related to some link in the migrant chain, especially terms of the roots of migration and awareness of the issue. Despite geographic distances, communication challenges, and many other practical and spiritual commitments, together they have developed a vision and strategy for working on behalf of migrants and refugees.
Honduras is one of the main migrant sending countries, with Mexico and the United States as destinations. Extreme poverty and violence, along with environmental degradation and political unrest, have driven thousands of families from their homeland. Dreams of safety, shelter, and economic stability drive them north. RFM-Honduras is building an organizational base on which to address the root causes of forced migration while providing emergency support to families who are targeted and persecuted.
The franciscan family in sending countries helps people with information, support and guidance in order to reduce the risk of their journey. They provide information about the help that can be found on the route. Arriving deportees receive pastoral and mental health care, and reintegration assistance. There are so many risks in Honduras, among them, the biggest are violence and organized crime. The maras (gangs) get stronger every day, and this generate an alarming situation of poverty. On the other hand, the lack of job opportunities, especially for young people, contributes to the departure of many of them towards the north of the continent.
In Honduras, this initiative is being built and strengthened, and is moving forward. At the same time, it requires many hearts that are supportive, empathetic, and committed to the cause. The RFM-Honduras has forged a strategy with three axis:
A) Formative: the experiential process of personal and social encounter.
B) Organizational: the systematic distribution of operational control.
C) Advocacy: to influence something on a given matter.
In this process is linked: the collective participation of information, training, and actions to welcome, integrate, promote and protect Hondurans leaving Honduras.
Tegucigalpa – Honduras
