Flooding in Honduras

The Honduran President declared a national emergency last week in response to the extensive flooding that occurred due to heavy rainfall throughout the country. Over twenty people have died and over two-hundred thousand have been affected by the flooding, according to reports on Honduras This Week. Early reports from the UN News Centre indicate that UNICEF is extremely concerned: “The aftermath of a natural disaster like this one can be deadly for children, who are highly vulnerable to waterborne diseases,” UNICEF Regional Director for Latin American and the Caribbean Nils Kastberg.

We have been lucky here in Copan Ruinas. Our biggest challenge resulting from the deluge of water nationwide was a damaged water system. As I mentioned last week, the large volume of rain we received, caused a pipe in the town's water system to explode, thus cutting off running water to all of Copan. Parts of town were without water for well over a week, including our neighborhood.

I could complain about the fact that we didn't have water until Wednesday afternoon (and I did), but more than anything else, the experience reminded me just how privileged a situation we were in. First of all, for the first 3.5 days the rest of the town was without water, we were blissfully unaware, due to the fact we have a relatively large water tank. Then, when we really should have suffered due to our lack of frugality, our landlady saved the day by gifting us with barrels full of water. I'm not going to pretend that trying to bathe using a bucket of water and cup was a pleasant experience, but at least I had a water supply. We were able to wash dishes and counter-tops and ourselves without giving it too much thought.

Our neighbors, on the other-hand, were faced with a choice between no water at all or hauling back buckets from the chocolate-brown Rio Quebrada or the streams running into the Copan River. What kind of options are those? What health risks arise from a week of bathing and washing dishes in a river that is surely contaminated? What other alternatives exist?

I have never had to grapple with these kinds of problems in my own life, and chances are, because of where I was born, the color of my skin, and my family's status in society, I probably never will. The more I explore the world, the more undeniable the advantages of my birth become. In Copan, I am painfully aware of my wealth and privilege. I have a house full of furniture and food. I have indoor plumbing and wireless internet. I don't bat an eye at going out to lunch or paying to have my clothes laundered. My Fulbright stipend, which would barely cover my rent living in a city like New York, pays me in a month what a Honduran field laborer can only hope to make in a year. Taking that into account, it's not difficult to understand why so many Hondurans have made their way north to try and make their fortune in the United States. The money they send back builds houses, educates their children, provides health care to ailing relatives, and pads the struggling economy of Honduras.

I don't have any effective way to wrap this up. So, until next week, adios.