Honduras - Overview 

Capital: Tegucigalpa
Area: 112,088 km²
Population: 7.3 million (July 2006)
Ethnic groups: mestizos, indigenous or African descent
Official language(s): Spanish
Religion(s): Roman Catholic, small Protestant minority
Currency: 1 lempira = 100 centavos

SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country

The social and economic situation in Honduras in the 1960's was catastrophic. A lot of children had been rejected by their families and had to live on the streets. In 1968, Sister María Rosa Legoll committed herself to establishing the SOS Children's Village idea in Honduras. The first SOS Children's Village was built in 1970 in Tegucigalpa, the capital of the country.

As the economic and political situation in the country declined, so the number of orphans grew. In 1997 the relations between Honduras and neighbouring El Salvador improved as the border controversies were laid to rest. However, the political situation in the country remained unstable. SOS Children's Villages increased its commitment in Honduras and built five more SOS Children's Villages. Numerous additional facilities were also set up.

Hurricane "Mitch" devastated vast parts of the country in 1998. Straight away, SOS Children's Villages started a wide-reaching SOS Emergency Relief Programme. 3,000 families were provided with food, medicines were brought to the hospitals, children and their mothers were given temporary accommodation and families, who had lost their homes, were given financial help to rebuild them. Out of this SOS Emergency Relief Programme came an SOS Children's Village and an SOS Social Centre in Choluteca, one of the worst hit places.

In 2005 SOS Children’s Villages started to operate Family Strengthening Programmes, which enable children who are at risk of losing the care of their family to grow within a caring family environment. To achieve this, SOS Children’s Villages works directly with families and communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children, in cooperation with local authorities and other service providers.

At present there are in Honduras seven SOS Children's Villages, five SOS Youth Facilities, one SOS Vocational Training Centre, six SOS Social Centres and one SOS Medical Centre.