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| From Honduras 2011 |
I learned from a young man that Lempira, the Honduran currency is named after their national hero fromm 1502. We were soon on a roll, and things moved smoothly with the distribution.
I had the good fortune of handing out bedkits to the smiling, and beaming children, and just having some fun with them. It was so touching to see those faces light up from sheer joy to disbelief at being actually able to point and choose their own bedkit. Wide-eyed children showered me with hugs -- another gift in abundance -- and such gratitude is, indeed a rare gem. SO,we've established without a doubt that Spiderman bedkits rock! They elicited great thrills and enthusiasm by the boys -- not so much, and least popular were the yellow/flowery ones.
After a scrumptious lunch, compliments of Rotarian Roberto's wife, we headed off for an afternoon visit organized by Roberto who is in charge of procurement for SCAW's bedkits to the Inmeca Mattress company, the only mattress company in central Honduras. There's one more further afield in San Pedro.
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| From Honduras 2011 |
The Canadian travelling team, pictured here are (Left to right) Ken Teslia, Valerie Teslia, Linda Taiabjee, Irene Harrison (Team Leader), Jan Fine, Jim Gibson.
On the way, we sampled some tortillas being made in a little roadside shop. And, we even got a taste of what a Tegucigalpa traffic jam was like. At the thirty year old factory, Javier the manager gave us an excellent tour of how the mattresses are produced not only for SCAW, but also for the general community. Our pillows are also made here from foam. Cheaper raw materials are imported from Pakistan and China. Today, they were expecting the chemical to arrive that treats the foam. They couldn't keep up with the demand because of the recent rains that caused mildew damage to a few hundred mattresses. It's a rudimentary type of industry. The factory covers one acre of land.
FACTS:
- On good days, the average of 1,000 mattresses for Sleeping Children are produced.
- October-March is the busy time
- 45 employees earning 6,500 lempiras a month (approximately 19-$1) are equally paid
- The work day is 7:15-4:15 with an hour for lunch, plus they get paid for overtime
- They do receive benefits which is insurance for government, i.e. dental,and health paid between the owner and helper
- Vacation time is between 10 days(one year) to 20 days(5 years) a year
- No material is wasted, scraps being used to say tie bundles
- Also springs are made here too (metal imported from Brazil) for all sizes single to king
- For anyone interested in purchasing a mattress you are going to pay for a full (double) one between 2,200-5,000 lempiras.
Janet Fine
for the Honduras 2011 Travelling Team
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