Dicing with Death: Honduras – The Force to Live

In this acclaimed series, we journey on some of the world’s most dangerous routes and explore the lengths people go to in order to change their destinies.

In Honduras, travelling by road takes courage, especially during the fearsome rainy season. And yet thousands of Hondurans continue to live and survive in parts of the country cut off from the world because of the deplorable state of the roads. Villagers there owe their last link with society to a handful of souls who find the courage to travel these roads to come to their assistance. The stories we are about to tell you illustrate the point to which living in Honduras demands a terrific amount of courage. And fortunately for them, Hondurans are not short of that.

Hugo is one of the rare few in his region to own a car so, whenever he can, he takes on the role of taxi-driver to bring help to those most deprived. “There’s no public transport here, so how do you expect people to get around? It’s my duty to help them!” Today, Hugo is taking an injured child to hospital… on the other side of the border in Guatemala! There, treatment is free, unlike in Honduras. However, getting to the child, like getting him to the hospital, is no easy matter in the middle of the rainy season.

In Honduras, Rosa is a woman unlike the others. “Ironing and dishes aren’t my thing. What I like is adventure!” And Rosa gets plenty of adventure. Every week this shopkeeper and her driver take to the most impractical roads. She weathers 260 km of tracks and a three-day trip to sell her vegetables in the most remote villages.

On these mad roads, there are children hard at work: Juanita and her two little girls spend their days braving the rain and the cold, filling in pot holes in return for a little cash. Today, living conditions in Honduras are driving thousands of families to emigrate to the United States. According to one politician: “They’re not pursuing the American dream, they’re fleeing the Honduran nightmare.”