Orphan & Street Children

Orphan & Street Children

The sad reality facing many children in Honduras:

Families

«53% of all households are single mothers.

Many couples are in “free union” instead of married.

Teen mothers

«The average age for a “woman’s” first pregnancy is 15.3.

(Honduras has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Central America.)

80% of registered births do not have father’s names.

AIDS

«Honduras has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the region. It is estimated that within 10 years, 60-80,000 children will be orphaned by AIDS.

It is estimated that 520,000 people (in a nation of 6 million) are living with HIV.

In San Pedro Sula, the numbers soar up to 240,000, nearly half the residents.

The Garifuna may be the first people group to be wiped out by AIDS.

Poverty

«65% of population live below the poverty level of $2 USD per day.

“One of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere with extraordinarily unequal distribution of wealth and massive unemployment.”

«Unemployment rate is 27.8%

(1 out of 3 persons (about 2 million people) suffer from critical hunger.)

Orphans

«Estimated more than 220,000 children in Honduras are orphaned or abandoned

Many are glue sniffers, child laborers, beggars, easy prey for traffickers and gangs.

Youth violence

«Current level of youth violence is the highest in Central America

(Honduras also has the highest gang membership in Central America and one of the highest criminal incidences in the world.)

1,293 children were murdered in 4 1/2 years (Jan. 1998—July 2002); most under 17 years old.

San Pedro Sula is the most dangerous city in the world that is not in a country at war.

Central America, according to a U.N. report, has become the region with the world's highest murder rate, an average of about 1,300 a month. Much of which is due to gang violence.

Child exploitation

“Authorities estimated that 20 to 30 children (96 percent of them girls) crossed the border daily (approximately 15,000 a year) for purposes related to sexual exploitation.”

10,000 children are prostituted and sexually exploited in Honduras each year.

According to one study, 70% of the Honduran population believes that the child is the one responsible for the sexual exploitation; 5% blame the clients and offenders.

Children in exploitation by age: 5-9 years old: 7%, 10-14 years old: 47%, 15-18 years old: 46%, 72% are girls; 26% are boys, 62% were initiated into their sexual life by rape or abuse.

Trafficking

7 out of 10 women who go with coyotes fall prey to sex trafficking. Many are young girls or single mothers, desperate to support their families