October 10, 2024
Answering some additional questions from our summer webinar.
Over the summer, we were grateful to connect with our community of justice seekers in the US through our webinar “Café & Conversación.” We were excited to see so many of you and to hear from our guest speaker, Jessica Pavón who is the director of communications for our ASJ-
Honduras team. During the session, Jessica shared her invaluable insights on strengthening democracy, the importance of free speech, and the critical role of citizen participation in building a more just society. Her passion and dedication to justice in Honduras shone through, making for a truly memorable experience.
Since we were not able to answer all of your questions during the session, we will feature a few of them in this edition. Our Café & Conversación sessions will continue. This fall, we will feature ASJ-Honduras Executive Director, Carlos Hernández. Stay tuned for more information on our next session!
WHAT DO YOU THINK IT WILL TAKE FROM THE AVERAGE CITIZEN TO MAKE THE BEAUTIFUL DREAM YOU DESCRIBED A REALITY
Active participation. When we think that things won’t change, we fall into despair. But it takes all of us actively participating, raising our voices, and working together to enact change. Things don’t change overnight, so we need to keep in mind that seeking justice is an ongoing process. It may take some time, but we have seen change happen before, and we know it is possible. Also, curiosity and willingness to engage with an open mind in tough conversations. When we always avoid hard topics at the dinner table it pushes us even farther apart - justice work is meant to be done together and that requires curiosity. Active participation. When we think that things won’t change, we fall into despair. But it takes all of us actively participating, raising our voices, and working together to enact change.
WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN TO BE THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY FOR ASJ
TO COMMUNICATE WITH THIS GOVERNMENT
One of the ways we communicate is through our press conferences. We get a lot of news coverage of our press conferences, so the Honduran government often responds quickly to what we present. Increasingly we have found that instead of being defensive, they accept the facts we present and assure the public that they are working on the problems (and often they do).
The second way we communicate with the government is in one-on-one meetings with government officials. We have been able to connect with officials who are frustrated by inaction and truly want to make a difference like the minister of education, the minister of health and with others in the Honduran police and court system.
HOW HAVE YOU SEEN OTHER INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS RESPOND TO ASJ’S WORK?
WHERE HAVE YOU FOUND UNEXPECTED PARTNERS OR UNEXPECTED OBSTACLES IN YOUR RECENT WORK
We have been very grateful over the last two years by the support we have received from international organizations, churches and individuals when ASJ been threatened by the Honduran government. That outspoken support has led the government to back off on their threats a number of times. Within Honduras we have been thrilled to see the Catholic and Protestant churches, public and private universities and numerous organizations join ASJ’s Alliance for the Defense of Democracy–a clear sign that others see the importance of speaking up to ensure that democracy flourishes in Honduras.
WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO NOT FALL INTO HOPELESSNESS AND TO KEEP WORKING FOR JUSTICE IN HONDURAS
Justice work is “long obedience in the same direction”. When we feel hopeless, it has helped us tremendously to look back on timelines of our work to see how far we have come. Sometimes it’s hard to see it day to day because the progress is slow, but when you take a few steps back and look at the big picture and all you have accomplished in moving the needle of justice you can feel hope grow again.
