“Thanks to the Strong Communities program I have become a leader in my family and my community…it really changed my life and that of my family.” 

– Orquídea Maradiaga, community leader

This week (February 6 to 12) is International Development Week (IDW). Started in 1991, it is a national campaign that engages Canadians each year on global issues and offers an opportunity to acknowledge Canadian contributions to poverty reduction and humanitarian assistance around the world. To celebrate, World Renew is taking part in events highlighting our work and key partnerships around the world.

World Renew and our local partner, Association for a More Just Society (ASJ), are working together to bring the Strong Communities program to communities in Honduras. This program focuses on creating safe spaces where 402 vulnerable young people can grow through service-learning, leadership-building activities, and learning important values like responsibility, community, and peacemaking. Every week, youth participate in group meetings and they have access to a community mentor. Their families also receive counselling and psychological support to encourage healthy family relationships. The Stronger Communities program is also supported by the generosity of the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (MCIC).

In the community of Los Pinos, Orquídea Maradiaga was one of the committee members chosen to conduct social audits for the program, including monitoring the quality of service provided by the local health centre, as well as the quality of education provided to the children of the community. A single mother, Orquídea is very grateful to the Strong Communities program because it has been of great help to her, both economically and in the knowledge acquired throughout the training process.

As Orquídea says, “Thanks to the Strong Communities program, I have become a leader in my family and my community, all the learning and training I have received has helped me to continue doing social audits in other areas outside the community…the program motivated me to continue studying at the university and I chose to major in Social Work…and everything I learned is serving me a lot now in my studies; it really changed my life and that of my family.”

As of 2021, the Strong Communities program ended its cycle of work in Los Pinos, but continues in other communities in Honduras, making a positive impact in the lives of youth and helping to train leaders like Orquídea. World Renew would like to thank Canadians and the government of Manitoba for helping to make this program possible and for transforming young lives in Honduras for the better.

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