“I’m calling to tell you about this trip...” began Katie Reynolds at the beginning of January, 2009. The first thing that came to my mind was that perhaps there was a hunger-related conference somewhere in Canada. What she actually offered me was something completely different, unexpected, and very informative.

My name is Meghan Pesclovitch, I’m the Evening Group Supervisor here at Winnipeg Harvest. I love speaking to our groups, young and old, who come here to work and learn something about our community. However, soon after that phone call I needed to switch my role from that of a facilitator to that of a learning participant.

Katie told me that there was an opportunity to go to Honduras with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank to study food security issues. The trip was less than a month away and I had a day to respond. Within a half an hour of first speaking to Katie on the phone, I knew I was in.

A month later I found myself immersed in a culture, language and experiences that were completely new to me. I spent two weeks touring the beautiful country with a group of young people visiting schools, communities, farmers and families. At each stop we learned something about the complexity of food security and poverty.

I saw absolute poverty in the hot and windy Tegucigalpa city dump where over 1000 adults and 250 children try to survive by finding food and recyclables in materials that have been discarded by others. Amidst the rubbish, dedicated teachers and volunteers at the AFE School for the children of the dump are bringing education, love, and hope to these families like a much needed breath of fresh air. With education the children can aspire to more than a life of poverty. Many dream of careers in computers, soccer, or anything children anywhere might imagine for themselves. After ten years of teaching at the dump, educators have seen these dreams realised for many students. One young man has since returned as an experienced welder to construct the roof for a new school building.

The tour visited farms producing coffee and bananas, which are two of Honduras’ biggest export products - and two things Canadians enjoy consuming at a relatively low cost. For these farmers and plantation workers, the money earned for a day’s work seems to offer survival and a simple life. Because a few large companies own most of the fruit and coffee in the world, a monopoly situation has been created that depresses prices for these products and makes it impossible for famers to ask for more. Yet those we met expressed pride in their work and desired to preserve the land and waters for future generations.

Each person we met had different hopes and concerns for the future of Honduras. One topic we often discussed was that of textile factories, which have become a dominant industry in Honduras’ economy. In North America, we often refer to such factories as “sweatshops” and in Honduras they are called “maquilas”. These foreign owned factories produce the clothing that you buy in both designer and discount stores around the world. Undoubtedly, they have created a lot of opportunities for employment in Honduras, but many are asking at what cost? The workers are subject to repetitive tasks, low wages and long hours. The Honduran government is reluctant to hold the maquilas accountable because they can easily pick up and move somewhere else at whim or when demand decreases.

We toured a maquila on the last day of our trip. I did not see emaciated children chained to sewing machines as one might expect but healthy young adults. The managers who spoke to my group said that they were quite proud of the work they do for Honduras’ industry. Even so, I asked myself if the life of a maquila worker is one that I would accept for myself or want for my children. I urge you to ask yourself the same question next time you go shopping. If questioning consumerism is something you’re interested in I urge you to pick up a copy of Adbusters or Geez magazine next time you visit a newsstand or public library.

The goal of the trip was to create connections between our communities in Canada and those in Honduras, and to try to understand some of the similarities and differences in our shared goal of eliminating hunger. For my part, I would like to help people in Winnipeg understand more about where our food and clothing come from. It is my hope that with more understanding, there will be more respect for the people and ecosystems that create our goods, and that respect will inspire healthier choices, more sharing, and less waste.

Meghan Pesclovitch

Photo descriptions: Meghan in a park overlooking Honduras' capital city Tegucigalpa;  Bananas on the tree; A Honduran chicken soup