Project assistance completion report : displaced Honduran families assistance program, grant no. 522-0326

The project helped about 379 families. The employment component benefited 230 people, while food rations and/or agricultural packages were provided to 322 families. Monitoring by Caritas -- the PVO implementing the emergency food assistance program -- indicated a significant impact on the nutrition levels of children. Midway through the project, the percentage of displaced children suffering from moderate or severe malnutrition was 7% lower than for other El Paraiso children. Work activities were initially centered in the areas to which the displaced population had fled, but once people began returning to their villages, these activities were transferred to the home communities. The most notable of the work projects in the home communities were the construction of a potable water system in Arenales and the improvement of the 24-km road extending from Capire to Arenales. Beneficiaries also installed culverts and dug drainage ditches along the road by hand. Construction work also improved 8 schools, a health clinic, and 4 municipal properties. Three major lessons were learned. (1) The isolation and perceived dangers of working in the Nicaraguan border area make it difficult to attract and maintain capable promoters. (2) Emergency projects for displaced families should avoid providing a standard of living higher than that enjoyed in the village of origin. In the present case, the high quality of interim housing -- built prior to the inception of this project -- deterred some families from returning home. (3) In sensitive projects such as this, a politically aware grantee with sound judgment is essential. Numerous situations with the potential for attracting unfavorable media attention arose under this project, but were identified and resolved by the overall grantee -- Cooperative Apaguiz of Danli -- before they could become damaging.