Honduras National Profile ICYE Long-term (6-12 months) Programme INDEX Whe re is Honduras? Page 4 G e ne ral Informa tion Clima te Page 5 Environm e nt History Page 7 Re ligion Economy Page 9 Ethnic Dive rsity Page 10 Tourism Caribbean Creation Trop ic a l Na ture Page 11 C o lo nial Ric hne ss Mayan Renaissanc e Gastronomy Page 17 Disc over Honduras! Page 18 Prac tic a l G uide Ab o ut ICYE Ho nd uras Page19 ICYE Hond uras Inc o m ing Prog ramme Ma in Re q uireme nts Before coming to Honduras… Required Doc uments ICYE Hond uras Visa Re q uireme nts He a lth & Insuranc e Ele c tric ity Page 22 Currenc y & Money Spa nish Pa c king C he c klist Se c urity Me a sures & Prec a utions Once in Honduras… Arriva l in Ho nd uras First we e ks in Ho nd uras Page 28 ICYE Hond uras Inte rc ultural Ac tivities C o st o f Living Living Situa tion Page 32 Volunta ry Se rvic e Page 33 ICYE Honduras Ac tivitie s ICYE Minima l C o nd itions Ac tivities with Extra C o m p o ne nts Page 34 ICYE Hond uras Ad d itiona l Ac tivities Agreement betwe en Partic ipants & ICYE Honduras Page 36 ICYE Honduras C onta c t De ta ils Page 37 ¡Bienvenidos a Honduras! ¡Ho la! If yo u a re rea d ing this Na tio na l Profile , it me a ns that you either have decided or are making up your mind about going a pe rio d a b roa d . Yo u will leave your familiar surroundings, your family and friends and take a step to wards the unkno wn. Curious to experience new things and discover exciting new places, the question arises: where to go? In the following page s, we want to give you inte resting info rma tio n a b o ut Ho nd uras to he lp yo u make your dec ision. Honduras is a five-star country! We could say that Ho nd uras, located in the heart of Central America, has five g rea t wo rlds, o r sta rs: Ethnic Dive rsity, C a rib b e a n C rea tio n, Trop ic a l Na ture, C o lo nial Ric hne ss a nd Mayan Renaissanc e. This variety of natural and c ultural reso urc e s ma ke o f Ho nd uras a unique d e stina tio n. Unfo rtuna te ly, Ho nd uras is o ne o f the p o o rest c o untrie s in Latin Ame ric a ; the c o untry suffe rs from an e xtrao rdinarily une qual distribution of inc ome, as well as high unemployment and underemployment rate s, a mo ng o the r fa c to rs. C o nsid e ring this, if yo u vo luntee r in Honduras, yo ur help and support make a real difference, especially because many organisations depend a lot on volunteers’ support. Ple a se rea d the fo llo wing p a g e s c a refully, so tha t you have clearer information about our beautiful country and about the application and preparation proc ess to bec o me an international volunte e r in Ho nd uras! If yo u have any questions after reading o ur Natio na l Profile , p le a se fe e l free to c ontac t us (inc oming@ic ye.hn). We are lo o king fo rward to welc o me yo u in HONDURAS! ICYE Ho nduras Team Ho nd uras is lo c a te d in the he a rt of Central Americ a Latitude : 14° 05' No rth Longitude : 87° 14' We st Area: 112.492 km² Its b o und a rie s a re : No rth: Caribbean Sea West: Guatemala Southwe st: El Salva d o r South: Pac ific Oc ean Southe a st: Nic aragua Where is Honduras? Where Honduras fits approximately... 3 time s in G e rma ny 5 time s in Kenya 4 time s in Swe d e n 6 time s in Franc e 4 time s in Mo roc c o 2 time s in Ne w Ze a la nd Taiwa n a nd Switze rland e a c h fit a p p roxima te ly 3 time s in Ho nd uras O ffic ial Na me : República de Honduras Po p ulatio n: 9.113 million (2016 est.) O ffic ial Lang ua g e : Spa nish Currenc y: Lempira (L.) Standard Time Zo ne : C ST (UTC−6) C a p ita l: Tegucigalpa, M.D.C. Founded the 29th of September 1578 Government: De mo c ratic C o nstitutio na l Re p ub lic C urrent Presid e nt: Juan Orlando Hernández (National Party) Period 2018-2022 Honduras has 18 departamentos (d istric ts) a nd 298 munic ipa litie s. General Information General Climate The c lima te in Ho nd uras is typ ic a lly tro p ic a l, b ut it is te mp e rate in the hig he r reg io ns. The average annual temperature in the central portion is about 21°C. However, the c oastal regions are warmer, the humidity is oppressive and the average temperature is abo ut 29°C. The no rthe rn reg io n is ho t and humid, the c e ntral region is mo derate and the so uthern regio n is hot and dry. We o nly have two seaso ns: dry and rainy. Environment Ho nd uras is p a rt o f Me so a me ric a . The re g io n is c o nsidered a bio diversity hotspo t due to the numerous animal and plant spec ies that c an be found here. Ho nd uras ha s humid trop ic a l rainfo rests, c lo ud fo rests (whic h c an rise up to abo ve 9,800 feet), ma ng rove swa mp s, isle ts, e ntire isla nd s whic h a re natural reserves, and the se c o nd largest c o ral reef syste m in the wo rld. Many of the protec ted areas c an be visited by the public . Some of the mo st imp o rta nt p a rks in Ho nd uras a re the Pic o Bo nito Na tio na l Pa rk, the Je a nne tte Kawa s Na tio na l Pa rk, the C a p iro & Ca lentura Na tio na l Pa rk, the C e la q ue Na tio na l Pa rk, the C a yo s Co c hino s Re se rve , the wild Re se rve o f the rive rs Cue ro and Salado and the Guaimoreto Lagoon. The Rio Plátano Biosphere is one of the precious “lungs” of the Americ an c ontinent, sec ond largest after the Amazon rainfo rest. A little bit of History... The 17th o f July 1502, C hristo p he r C o lumb us, in his fo urth a nd la st trip to the Ame ric a s, a rrive d to the no rthe rn c o a sts o f Ho nd ura s. Afte r the Spa nish discovery, Honduras became part of Spain’s vast empire in the New World; a ruling full o f sla ve ry a nd mistrea tme nt tha t la ste d three c e nturie s. Honduras dec lared its independenc e from Spain the 15th of September 1821. In 1822, the Central American nations annexed to the Mexic an Empire of Iturbide , b ut it wa s d isinte g rate d in 1823, a nd the Fed e ral Re p ub lic o f C e ntral Americ a was formed. In 1838, this federal republic ended and each natio n became an ind e p e nd e nt sta te . The Ho nd uran fla g rep rese nts: 5 stars for 5 independent states and at the same time the unity of the five C e ntral Ame ric a n na tio ns that share a c ommon history (Guatemala, El Salvador, Ho nd uras, Nic a rag ua and Costa Ric a). Religion Before the Spanish arrived in Honduras, eac h indige nous group had its own relig io n, whic h we re p rima rily p o lythe istic . C hristianity was introduc ed in the 16th Century. Nowadays, the predominant religion of Hond uras is C a tho lic ism, a nd there is an ascending number of Evangelic followers. The re a re a lso sma lle r g ro up s tha t p rac tise o the r relig io ns a nd fa iths, suc h as Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Bahá’í Faith, among others. A relig io us trad itio n is the sa wd ust c a rpe ts, whic h are layers of c oloured sawdust laid on the ground forming intricate designs and pa tterns, made during p ro c e ssio ns rela te d to Easte r We e k.