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Alpha Stage
Starving in Honduras
November 13, 2006






As the second installment of its “Children of the Americas” series, the
Miami Herald has published an article entitled, “Poor Children Forced
to Live Off Garbage.”

The article states, "Many Latin American nations have pepenadores,
Spanish slang for people who scour garbage dumps for recyclable
goods they can then sell. But Honduras has the highest rate of children
working at dumps -- an estimated 2,000, according to UNICEF, the
United Nations Children's Fund.”
Read the article!!


Discussion-Starters:

  • Ask your child(ren) to define the following words, "starvation,"
    "poverty," and "education." You might also ask your child(ren)
    to spell each of these words. Ask them if they know what
    smaller words are the root words of “starvation” and
    “education.”

  • After reading about the children of Honduras who work in
    garbage dumps, many people can’t help but feel thankful for
    what they have. Ask your child(ren) what they are thankful for.
    For what are you thankful?

  • Somebody once said that "the words 'thank you' are the two
    most important words in the English language." Why might
    someone think this? Ask your children if they can think of any
    words that are more important? Can you think of any more
    important words? What about, "I love you!"

  • Inquire as to what the following phrase means, "education can
    lift people out of poverty." Do your child(ren) agree that this
    phrase is true? Why/why not? What do you think? Some people
    speak of having too much education. Is it possible to have too
    much education? Encourage your child(ren) to support their
    opinions. Offer your own ideas, as well.

  • Tell your child(ren) to imagine the following situation. The
    leadership of the Honduran government has come to your
    family for advice. They want to stop the practice of children
    (and adults) picking through garbage dumps for food. To do
    this, they hope to provide an education to all children. But they
    know that hungry people, people who have not eaten for a day
    or two, will not be able to focus on their studies. The
    government does not have enough money to simply buy
    everybody food. What should the Honduran government do to
    successfully implement its plan?

  • A powerful slide show of the Honduran Pepenadores, people
    who scour garbage dumps, that you might want to watch with
    older children is available here.
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