Accompaniment Needed in Honduras – Training Opportunity

This alert was originally distributed by the Friendship Office of the Americas.

The first training for people qualified and interested in doing accompaniment with the Honduras Accompaniment Project (HAP)/Proyecto de Acompanamiento en Honduras will be led by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) in January 2011 in the Bay Area, California.

HAP/PROAH accompaniers are required to have fluency in Spanish, significant prior experience in Latin America and receive training before leaving for Honduras. If you or your organization is interested in participating in this training as preparation for accompaniment work with HAP/PROAH, or sponsoring a long-term volunteer accompanier, please contact us for an application and more information. Space is limited so please let us know if you are interested as soon as possible.

The Honduras Accompaniment Project (HAP)/Proyecto de Acompanamiento en Honduras (PROAH) was established to accompany the Honduran people in their historic, non-violent, struggle to transform their society by providing international accompaniment for human rights defenders, communities and social movement leaders working for systemic change in an environment of repression, political persecution and personal risk in the interest of dissuading violence to bear witness to and support the documentation of events and human rights abuses to provide consistent and accurate information to the international community communicate with international partners regarding emergency response needs on the ground in Honduras.

The Project sponsors an accompaniment team in Honduras as well as US/Canadian Human Rights Accompaniment Delegations to increase the international presence and help to get information out. We also place short term accompaniers to accompany specific individuals/organizations who request and require it.

Training: Prospective HAP accompaniers are currently required to receive training before leaving for Honduras which is carried out in coordination with US and Canadian partner organizations with extensive experience in accompaniment work in Guatemala. The next training will be in January 2011 in the Bay Area, California. The one week training program costs US$400, and there will be a travel pool to offset travel costs. We encourage people to seek support from a Honduras/Latin America solidarity committee, church, union, community group, student association, etc. in their area to cover training as well as accompaniment costs.

What support will you receive in Honduras?
An in-country orientation is carried out by the Honduras Accompaniment Project coordination in Tegucigalpa once you arrive in Honduras. The in-country project coordinators make the final decision about candidates. Following the orientation and an invitation to accompany with the project, you will be assigned to the accompaniment team based in Tegucigalpa, and most accompaniment assignments will be done in pairs. Other team members will not necessarily be from your country of origin or speak English, and Spanish is the common language of the project. While you are volunteering with the project, shared lodging will be provided in the same house where the accompaniment offices are located, though you will need to provide your own food and there is a kitchen available for your use. You will be in regular contact with the HAP coordinators in Tegucigalpa. Should there be a crisis international Urgent Action Networks will be alerted immediately.

How much will this cost? The cost while accompanying will depend somewhat on your individual situation. It is recommended that you budget $300 US/month to cover transportation and food costs while accompanying as well as unexpected expenses you could incur.

Where will you get this money?
Accompaniers are asked to raise their own support. You can ask a solidarity committee, peace, student, church, or community group to sponsor you or help you with fundraising. If you do not have such a committee in your vicinity, you can organize your own support group to help with fundraising. We’re happy to help make connections and suggest fundraising ideas.

How can you participate? Request an application from Jenny Atlee at [email protected]. Once we have received your application, an interview will be scheduled the a Friendship Office representative in order to be accepted for the accompaniment training (by phone or in person if possible). We will then notify you of the interview committee’s recommendation.

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