Change is Possible for Youth in Honduras

Last month, I had the opportunity to travel to Honduras and visit our site there, Covenant House Honduras. Some experiences in life change us in loud and obvious ways, while others are much more subtle, and soft. This trip for me was the latter, and yet no less profound.

With two decades working in public health and prevention, I found my time in Honduras was a powerful affirmation of my recent decision to join Covenant House International to lead our advocacy and strategic partnerships work, and to serve as a steward of our strategic vision, The Journey Home. More than that, it reminded me that raising our collective voice to effect systems change is not only possible, but, also, it is happening. The message is both urgent and hopeful.

Led by our inimitable CEO, Cándida Sauceda, Covenant House Honduras is a dynamic and vibrant safe haven for children and youth who have experienced unimaginable hardship. Over half of the young people in CHH’s care are survivors of human trafficking. Even more have experienced adverse childhood experiences, including familial violence and abuse and extreme poverty. All this transpires in an environment of scarce institutional resources or coordination.

In response, Cándida and the team provide powerful protective factors that, woven together, change the trajectory for youth toward a much brighter, healthier, and safer future. This is happening on a one-on-one basis with young people at Covenant House Honduras and at scale through national policy advocacy and regional coalition work.

Unconditional Love, Relentless Support

It was remarkable to me how tangibly Covenant House’s values of unconditional love, absolute respect, and relentless support shine through in every interaction, in every space at CHH. This was true of our gracious colleagues who hosted us for generative conversations about The Journey Home. It was also clear across what I quietly observed between the youth and staff, and among the young people themselves.

Admittedly, ahead of the trip I steeled myself a bit in anticipation of sitting with child survivors of devastating human rights violations, the trauma they carry, and a context that is indeed so different from my average day in Boston. I started my career in violence intervention, and I have visceral memories of the pain youth can be forced to endure. Upon reflection, I think this was a self-protective mechanism for my memories of those early professional years and of my own survival as a young person experiencing violence and homelessness.

While these experiences were early catalysts for my entry into policy advocacy, I stay because of learning experiences like those in Honduras, and the hope these moments encourage. That every child deserves to be safe is a belief I hold sacred, and something I saw put into action at CHH.  This trip served as a reminder of the power of walking with an open heart and mind, and of what is possible when we design and lead for collective impact.

To me, it speaks volumes that upon immediately stepping into Covenant House Honduras, I was greeted by a sense of safety that was both palpable and completely disarming. On our first day, we met the teen girls residing at Hogar Querubines, a safe house for girls who are survivors of trafficking, abuse, and exploitation. They were using their free time to crochet baby caps for the local hospital’s labor and delivery department as a volunteer project.  They spoke to us about their goals and hopes for the future, and how the programming at CHH was preparing them for careers in baking, entrepreneurship, tracking them to university, and other impressive endeavors.

For me, the afternoon was a resonant demonstration that healing, growth, transformation — they happen in relationships, and these girls are living proof. One of the girls had been trafficked from Vietnam. She does not speak Spanish. The staff and girls went to great lengths to hang up bilingual Spanish-Vietnamese signs, teach each other common phrases so they could communicate, and wrap around her to help her feel at home — while she was thousands of miles and an ocean away from home. The genuine affection and care they all had for one another was deeply moving.

The next day, we visited the main residence, a mixed-gender home and center that cares for the whole child. We shared a delicious lunch with the children and youth who quickly moved from shyness in the presence of strangers to being gregarious and bubbly. Their youngest, an eight-year-old girl was living there with her three older sisters. Her smile was infectious as she excitedly told us about her volcano project for school. Beyond the amity and respect the young people demonstrated, their joy was unmistakable and illustrated the safety of their environment — to be able to just be kids and grow up.

International Youth Congress

The absolute highlight of the trip for me was being able to have lunch with two members of our International Youth Congress, Viviana and Celeste. They’re both undergraduate students — one is studying finance and international business, and the other is studying psychology and wants to pursue a career in clinical social work.

I expected this to be a pleasant meet-and-greet around an exciting new initiative for Covenant House International to integrate lived expertise into our work. Instead, it turned into a poignant and inspiring intergenerational conversation on women’s leadership, healing, and bridging hope into action. It was a mission moment for me — why I stay in this work and why I hope those reading this will join us.

These young women were poised and eloquent far beyond their years. I was bowled over by their desire to pay it forward for other children in circumstances similar to those they had survived.

What we see in the news about cartel violence, displacement and migration, and trafficking can feel a world away. It’s quite close when we choose to look at it head-on. These young women are not just shining a light on the problem; they are actively working on solutions. We talked about what it would take to expand the services and reach of Covenant House Honduras, as well as affordable-for-youth housing and the importance of well-supported transitions into adulthood.

They are determined to make the future better for other youth and, even more importantly, build systems to prevent violence and abuse from taking place. In my role at CHI, it’s an honor to lift them up and work alongside them. I can’t wait to see where the future takes them. They are among the leaders our world needs, now more than ever. The International Youth Congress is prevention in action, and our Honduran representatives are helping lead the charge. 

Community Partnership and Prevention

Another great experience was learning about Covenant House Honduras’ robust prevention and advocacy work from the staff leading it. First and foremost, Covenant House is a direct service provider. Meeting youth in their moment of crisis is the top priority. Given the scale of youth homelessness and violence against children, we are constantly in rapid response mode. 

It can be hard to lift our heads and look up the road to larger-scale solutions like prevention. Yet, we know we will never solve these wicked problems of youth homelessness and child trafficking if we don’t get out ahead of them. CHH is holding the both-and.

They accomplish this through dynamic approaches, and their strategy of deep community partnership and engagement shined through. CHH staff shared their concept of community as a primary site for prevention: a robust ecosystem, where everyone is involved in keeping kids safe and well.

This includes efforts like public art projects with a message: murals that amplify prevention, engage neighbors in painting, and encourage the entire community to be vigilant and care for their public spaces. Another example is their prevention education: training school children, staff and faculty in developmentally appropriate curricula that address bullying and sexual harassment — two risk factors for trafficking.

The latter example brings CHH teams to communities far beyond the capital city of Tegucigalpa — to the rural reaches of Honduras. They partner with other aid organizations to provide basic needs services, including healthcare. This work in turn has served as opportunities for identification of young people in need and intervention with them.

Staff shared a story with us of a girl who was pregnant. Our Covenant House Family was able to connect her with healthcare, provide transportation, and circle back with her teachers and school staff to assess the situation and intervene. This is an incredible example of public health in action — of Covenant House weaving together the social determinants of health — covering basic needs that are key drivers of health outcomes — to wrap around a child in trouble.

Experience-based Advocacy: An Opportunity for Real Change 

We could all take a page out of Covenant House Honduras’ playbook. I learned a lot from CHH’s inspiring staff and their day-to-day work on the front lines combatting child trafficking. I was humbled by the youth themselves: not only their incredible grace and resilience in the face of adversity, but their insights into solutions to advance the rights of children.

I’m embarking on my third month at Covenant House, and I’ve never been more excited by an advocacy opportunity proposition: we bring over 50 years of practice expertise from across 34 sites in five countries. This is experience — both lived and frontline — that can directly translate into policy solutions to end youth homelessness and child trafficking.

Visiting CHH and being in fellowship with colleagues and our youth was a powerful reminder of our ability to make change when we raise our collective voice in service of others. In this case, we have an opportunity to follow the lead of our young people: pay it forward to end youth homelessness as we know it and ensure holistic well-being of all children.

_____

This blog was written by Samantha Calero, Covenant House International senior vice president of advocacy and strategic partnerships. Join Covenant House in advocating for experience-based solutions to the youth homelessness crisis: Advocacy for Youth Experiencing Homelessness and Trafficking