Efficiently helping the people of Roatan

Hey gang, I often "over research " things and will be hitting Roatan Hondouras, on a stop on a Princess Cruise, Coral Princes. Didn't realize that Hondouras ranks below NIGERIA in yearly income at less than $600 per per person PER YEAR! That's PER YEAR

So yes, once you leave the port, you will get hit pretty hard from kids, teens, taxi drivers, etc.

SO MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION............... What's the best way to help the poor as a cruiser there for one day?

Doing my RnD , found out, as tempting as it is, don't give stuff to the kids as that is an incentive for them to stay out of school. Secondly, if a poor kid gets something valuable ( a tee shirt?, a flashlight from the dollar store) a bigger kid might beat him up and steal it.

So I reached out to a fellow Realtor in Hondouras, Steve Hasz, and he put me in touch with "nurse Peggy" , an expat from Ohio who moved there and ended up building and running a healthcare clinic that services up to 1500 folks per month. Check out the video of her clinic at clinicaesperanza.org. Nurse Peggy is quick with emails and she can be reached at peggystranges@yahoo.com . Interest in Real Estate? Then I must plug Steve, who clearly helps folks buy in this Paradise as well as cares about the locals http://www.roatan.NET

Cab drivers know it, located at km10, near Anthoneys Key Resort

So Peggy is an angel and we have a couple of large bags filled with dollar tree stuff.....disposal razors, nail clippers, tooth brushes/paste, reading glasses ($1!). Peggy would suggest more medical related items, ibuprofen, feminine hygiene things, bandages , etc

OK,

Off my soapbox, happy cruising

Nice. Thanks for reaching out. I know Rony often takes tours to the local orphanage or a school. So for those wishing to reach out and assist, this is another place to put on their list.

However, yes there may be children and adults looking for handouts outside the cruise port gates in Coxen Hole, but they aren't prevalent directly outside the gates and local police will shoo them away. I've never been accosted along the street in Coxen Hole, but it's been a few years since I had an occasion to be in that part of town. Local vendors will indeed push you to buy trinkets at West Bay and West End beaches. But there aren't the masses of "urchins" ganging up on you in Roatan.

For Princess cruises, you'll be docking in Mahogany Bay. It's no where near an urban center. the "gate" is a quarter mile away from the shopping area and the entrance road from the highway is another 1/2-3/4 mile further up. Nothing around at that intersection. No cruisers have any reason to walk that far as they'll be 3-5 kilometers from anything else and no way to get there. So you don't have to "fear for your life" or" feel "guilty" about anything you independently give to any youngster being bullied away by others, because you'll not have that opportunity in MBCC.

But I do hope you get over to see "Nurse Peggy" and deliver your supplies, she, and her clients will be grateful.:)

Thanks much, crew sweeper, again, I have never been there so certainly appreciate your good thoughts....... Don't know much at all about the lay of the land, simply wanted to help some impoverished folks in the most efficient way.... Certainly never suggested an "unsafe/ fear for life" scenario? .......Clearly over hundreds of thousands of cruise folks wouldn't land there each year, with no problems, if there was a safety issue.. ...... ; the # of expats from Canada and USA, and elsewhere supports the safety and Awesome quality of living! Thanks again, simply trying to create awareness

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Crews weeper, feel free to contact me privately, hhbartman@aol.com ... I have several uninflected soccer balls and school supplies so if you have a cabbie in mind, let me know

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Whenever we go to Roatan on vacation we take a bag full of school supplies. We give to our dive shop, who take it to the school for us.

I am not sure where such items should be delivered by cruise shippers... but glad to see someone else cares to help.

We've visited several of the places on this list...

http://familytravelnetwork.com/articles/opportunities_dogood_honduras.asp

Great people on the island -- we love giving back.

Thanks ABQ. and OZ

Great stuff....... Everything I've read pegs Roatan as a safe happy place....... We all have a bit of stuff sitting around that would be deeply appreciated......

Thanks to your post, will drop the uninflated soccer balls by the school along with the mini pump

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OZ..... just read your entire post ....... wow, what a great organization

We just got back from our Carnival Magic cruise which stopped in Roatan. We took a private excursion with Rony Tours which included a stop at Sandy Bay Orphanage with has a school attached to it. Currently there are 10 boys and 9 girls living there ranging in age from 3-16. They gladly accepted school and art supplies as well as clothing donations from the 5 of us who went there. Just a heads up that you need to go to Guest Services before getting off to have them clear the donations. The paperwork has to be presented at the exit gate as well as to your guide. Since we weren't aware of this regulation, it took us an extra 30 minutes to process in order to get off the ship. No one actually collected the form so we took it home for tax purposes.

It is an extremely poor country which can be seen best on the east end of the island. Our driver had a government bank job prior to doing the excursions and made $250 a month. Tourism is their mainstay so just buying local goods helps them too. God bless you for considering helping them.

Any suggestions of items we can bring to donate that are small & light (we are paying for checked luggage when we fly to the ship)?

Any suggestions of items we can bring to donate that are small & light (we are paying for checked luggage when we fly to the ship)?

Toothbrushes, pencils, rulers.