Women Helping Women

Don’t miss a great opportunity to learn about how women are building community together in one of the poorest countries in Central America. This talk and discussion will be taking place when Edwin Escoto, Executive Director of Vecinos Honduras, comes to the Okanagan as part of a public education tour. He will be speaking at the Vernon Library on March 7th at 3:00pm and the Kelowna Main Branch Library on March 8th at 3:00pm. He will also be visiting three different schools on March 9th. These events are all free of charge and they are for the purpose of education and not fundraising.Honduras is one of the poorest, deadliest and most corrupt countries in the world. Thousands of Hondurans risk their lives to travel in caravans to the US. 17% of the Honduran population lives in extreme poverty. Even though the homicide rate has fallen, it is still is one of the highest in the world for a country not a war. Transparency International rates Honduras in the bottom 30% of the most corrupt countries in the world. Against this background, Vecinos Honduras is a very successful NGO that developed a holistic model to empower local people to manage their own affairs, improve their lives and address the root causes of migration. The work begins with training local leaders, learning about healthy food systems, empowering women, improving maternal and child health, developing entrepreneurial activities, and developing local expertise to advocate and seek additional resources.Edwin Escoto, is the Director of Vecinos Honduras. Since 2009 Edwin has helped build Vecinos Honduras into a leading NGO promoting rural development and agroecology. Edwin has also been appointed to be the new Regional Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean for Groundswell International, a non-profit organization with a mission of strengthening rural communities to build healthy farming and food systems from the ground up.Vecinos Honduras is supported by World Neighbours Canada, a small, non-denominational, volunteer run NGO based in Central BC. They fund their partners in Nepal, Honduras, and Burkina Faso. Under the current program supported by World Neighbours Canada and Global Affairs Canada, Vecinos Honduras is working with over 900 families in the El Paraiso and Valle departments to promote maternal and child health and nutrition.This tour is made possible with funding support from Global Affairs Canada. These speaking events are cosponsored by World Neighbours Canada, the Okanagan Regional Library and the Global Empowerment Coalition of the Central Okanagan.