Many of you have expressed concern in wake of Peace Corps’ recent decision to cease operations in Honduras due to safety concerns. Please be assured that we at Global Brigades place the utmost importance on the safety and well-being of our volunteers and staff. Not only do we have an excellent track record when it comes to the safety and welfare of our student volunteers, but also please know that our programs are structured differently than that of Peace Corps and we provide security personnel to monitor our volunteers twenty-four hours a day. The regions in which Global Brigades work in is a very safe and secure part of the country and should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our travel director, Danielle Starry at Danielle@globalbrigades.org. For more information on our safety procedures, please see this article below:
The purpose of this blog is to update everyone on the safety measures that are in place for all of our Global Brigades volunteers. There have been several news articles recently that are reporting increased drug manufacturing and trafficking in Honduras. We understand that this has created some concern about the overall safety of travel to Honduras.
We want to assure you that Global Brigades’ number one priority is volunteer safety. Since 2004, we have had over 10,000 volunteers participate in our programs without an incident related to violence. We work in small, rural communities where we’ve developed strong relationships with the local community leaders and regional mayors. Our Global Brigade Research and Evaluation team visits each community, assesses community needs, safety and establishes a relationship with the local leaders.
In addition to the above measures, Global Brigades also protects volunteer safety through a formal relationship with the National Police, local police of the communities served, and the National Military in Honduras. All of these entities are supportive of our volunteer activities and we’ve worked together successfully for years to ensure a safe environment for all brigaders. Every Brigade group is accompanied by a police officer, while larger brigades are accompanied by 1-3 military soldiers (in addition to a police officer) to serve as an extra security precaution and to assist with crowd control on Medical Brigades.
Global Brigades staff are continuously trained and updated on safety protocols. Safety is a major consideration in all aspects of our program development. While Central America will continue to battle with issues surrounding narcotics, please keep in mind that this issue does not define the region. Central America welcomes millions of tourists and service groups each year.
If you have any general questions or concerns about any safety issue while on Brigades, please contact Shital Chauhan, Chief Programs Officer (Health), at shital@globalbrigades.org.
