o—Lancaster Farming. Saturday, September 21.1968
HONDURANS ARE TAUGHT to keep
chickens in pens by the agricultural mis
sionaries Gailand Gmgench reports
Agricultural Missionory Reports (Pert N)
, the chickens in Honduras We
Hondurans Are Poor
ot the fowl they are keeping are
, „ „ not too fai lemoved fiom the
gram They are left to shift for Wlld 3un g] e fowl
themselves finding what forage
they can Sows in Honduras frequently
Chickens lay an average of 20 raise only 2 or 3 pigs per litter
:o 25 eggs per year Chickens These pigs m turn take 9to 12
ire left run throughout the vil- months to reach'a weight of 200
age including a fi ee run of the pounds As with cattle and chick-
by Garland E. Gingerich
Penn Manor Vo-Ag Teacher
Ed. Note: This is the second
part of a three-part series.
During the 1967-68 school year
Garland E. Gingerich was on
sabbatical leave from his posi
tion as teacher of agriculture,
Penn Manor High School, Mil
lersville. During that period
of time, Gingerich served as
an agricultural missionary in
San Pedro Sula, Honduras,
Central America. He served as
an agricultural education ad
viser for a coordinated effort
by three church groups to pro
mote communit} development
on the northern coast of Hon
duras.
Honduias, like most develop
ing nations has two classes a
uch class and a pooi class The
uch class makes up about 10 °o
of the population the pooi class
35 the remaining 90% Theie is
nc middle class of any measui
i'ble size
The large masses, the 90%
who are pooi, aie veiy. very
poor From Hondman Govern
ment leports we learn that then
aveiage income is S4B per yeai
This salary does not go very far,
a loaf of biead costs 25c and a
quart of milk 18c At those pnc
es on their income they do not
a 1 ink veiy much milk They eat
meat about once per week The
poor, the masses of the people,
Lve a subsistence type existence
Every day is one of getting food
on the table.
What aie some of the physical
factors contnbutmg to this deep
set poverty’
There are seveial physical
things Some of the mme notice
able-include 1) watei. pure po
table watei 2) education 3)
slash and burn agncultuie 4)
b anspoitation 5) agucultmal
pioduction 6) pioductive land
Let’s look at some ot these
L ii ngs individually and see how
tney aie causing poveity in Hon
dui as
Fust of all, agucultmal pio
duction Most cows pioduco 3 oi
4 quails of null: pei day as then
average pioduction The^ajoi-
chickens in Honduras lay an average of 20
to 25 eggs per year and are left to run
throughout the village.
houses No attempts are made to
house or feed the majority of
ons, hogs are left to run and to
shift for themselves. They too
are in and out of the open doors
of the houses creating health
problems from the worms and
parasites with which they are
constantly infesting the area in
and around the house.
Corn production pegged at 35
bushels per acre is considered to
be a good crop.
These are a few of the agri
cultural production figures that
further illustrate the fact that
Hondurans are poor.
Education certainly has to
rank high as one of the root
causes of poverty. About 60% of
the Hondurans are illiterate. At
the present time most of the
children do have the opportunity
to receive a third grade educa
tion. But, for the majority, third
grade is the end of their formal
education. Education beyond the
third grade is not readily avail
able to children in Honduras.
There is practically no vocation
al education. Only one school in
all of Honduras offers a course
in vocational agriculture. The
ability of the people to read a
newspaper or bulletin from
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which they could learn new ways
ofdolng thing* on their own 1*
just out of the question at the
present literacy level.
Transportation is probably the
most dilTlcult problem facing
Honduras. Honduras is a country
about the geographical size o£
Pennsylvania, It’s hard roads
would reach from the Ohio state
line to Pittsburgh and from Phil*
adelphia to Harrisburg. It’s dirt
roads would connect Harrisburg
and Pittsburgh and reach from
Philadelphia to Scranton. These
dill roads are impassable during
2 to 3 months of the year be*
cause vast areas of Honduras are
in a high rainfall area. Some
areas get up to 150 inches of
rain per year and as high as 50
inches in one month, a total
more than we get in a full year
m Lancaster County.
Honduras does have about -234
miles of railroad. But of this 234
miles there are 3 different gaug*
es, making the convenient inter*
change of railway cars impossi
ble.
Airplane travel is not at all
reliable. Vast areas of Honduras
'Continued on Page" 7)
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