“We feel motivated about being agents of change in education. It motivates us to know that we can help so many young children to have access to education and encourage the parents to be an active part in improving the system.”
- Cynthia Flores
A New Beginning for Education/ Justicia Winter 2026
February 19, 2026
A Spotlight On Our Dedicated Volunteers
2025 Year-end luncheon with our volunteers.
The first week of February is when, ideally, Honduran schools should welcome students to the classrooms. However, this has only happened a handful of times. Honduran law also requires schools to provide at least 200 days of classroom instruction. This has also only happened a handful of times.
From 2002-2012, children only received an average of 120 days of school per year. Our advocacy work resulted in an increase in school days from 2013-2018, when children received an average of 218 days of school per year. Even during the pandemic, ASJ continued to work for Honduran children’s right to a good education.
When children returned to their classrooms in 2022, they received an alarmingly low number of 97 days of school. So, our team designed a tracking tool, accessible to the general public, that compiles the days-of-class data that our volunteers collect. This platform has become an important reference tool that holds the authorities accountable to improve the quality of public education.
The success of this school days counter, called “Aulas Abiertas” (Open Classrooms), is a testament to our dedicated volunteers. Every Friday, a group of young collaborators come to our office ready to conduct hundreds of calls to Honduran parents and ask them the following questions:
- How many days of class have your children had this week?
- For how many school days have your children received a school lunch?
This data feeds our dashboard and informs our advocacy to improve the education system. Our volunteers do their work enthusiastically, and, at the same time, they receive valuable experience and mentorship from our staff. We asked the volunteers what motivates them to do this work with ASJ, and here is what some of them responded:
“I joined because I wanted to help the community, specifically the children, with education and access to the school lunch because I know there are so many families that truly need it. And if I can help them in any way, I will.”
- Diego Figueroa
“I like seeking out volunteer opportunities, and I think that the work of collecting the data about school days and school lunches is very important. I am happy to be a volunteer here and to be a part of this change.”
- Eva Ángela
At the end of the year in 2025, we held a luncheon to thank these amazing volunteers, and we were extremely grateful and encouraged to hear so many of them already talking about volunteering again for the next year. The fulfilling work they have been doing and the deep friendships and professional relationships they developed at ASJ were some of the highlights mentioned often.
We are excited to continue our work in tandem with our volunteers, staff, and civil society allies this coming year. Even though the school year has only just started, we already have so many significant wins to be grateful for! Here are a few highlights from the start of this school year:
- School started the first week of February, and this gives children a higher chance of receiving the 200 days of school they deserve.
- The first shipment of school lunch supplies was also delivered the first week of school.
- The first shipment of new textbooks for this school year was delivered to the poorest children in nine different departments (states) in Honduras!
We are grateful and motivated because Honduran children deserve a better quality education.
READ MORE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE OF JUSCTICIA
A Welcome Message
Read MoreWords from the Executive Director
In November, I had the privilege to travel with ASJ supporters from the US and Canada to Tegucigalpa as a team of international election observers. The experience was profound. I’ve been sharing about it with anyone who will listen ever since. One of the most common questions I get is, “Were the results legitimate?” After I answer with
an emphatic, “Yes!”, there is the inevitable follow-up, “How do you know?”
It’s a good question. And I have a good answer.
An International Observer's Experience
Read MoreA Reflection from ASJ-Canada Board President, Matt Van Geest.
Canadians went to the polls in 2025 in an election that, for most of us, was over in the time it takes to grab a coffee. For me, I showed my ID, marked my ballot in private, dropped it in the box, and headed home, all within 5 minutes. Results arrived before bedtime. Democracy in Canada has always felt, to me, efficient, orderly, and secure. In late November, I was in Honduras as part of an international delegation observing that country’s national elections. The contrast was striking, and instructive. If you want to understand the fragility of democracy, sometimes you need to leave home.
A Honduran Celebration
Read MoreHow Hondurans Live Out the Joy of Democratic Participation.
by Ernesto Cortés
In the months leading up to the presidential election in Honduras, there was an atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty. The media frequently broadcast news stories that suggested public institutions were being exploited for partisan purposes. There was strong polarization between political parties, fake news, attacks and hate speech against candidates. In this context of democratic crisis, I signed up to be an observer with the Network for the Defense of Democracy (RDD)—a civil society alliance led by ASJ—because I believed that only by participating actively and consciously could I contribute to building a more just society for all Hondurans.
How Hondurans Live Out The Joy of Democratic Participation
A Reflection from ASJ-Canada Board President, Matt Van Geest
Words from the Executive Director
Thirsty For Justice
Hondurans cast their ballots during the November 30, 2025, general election, which saw historic voter turnout and a peaceful process supported by more than 12,000 national and international election observers working to safeguard transparency.
ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US Congratulate the Honduran People, Call for Full and Transparent Results As sister organizations committed to justice, peace and hope in Honduras, ASJ-Canada and ASJ-US extend our deepest congratulations to the people of Honduras on the peaceful conduct of their national elections on November 30, 2025. With the initial tally showing an extraordinarily close vote, we call on election authorities to do what is necessary to ensure a transparent count of the remaining ballots in order to guarantee public trust in the final outcome. We commend the Honduran voters for their dedication to democratic participation and their commitment to shaping the future of their country through civic engagement. We also recognize the efforts of electoral authorities, civil society organizations, the international community and the thousands of volunteer observers who worked to ensure a transparent, orderly, and secure process. We are especially proud of our sister organization, ASJ-Honduras, for their unwavering commitment to democracy demonstrated through their electoral observation efforts, their analysis activities, and their consistent call for a fair and orderly process. Now that such a process has been achieved, the work turns to counting the votes with accuracy and transparency. The results remain close, increasing the possibility of a contested result. We support the work of the election officials at the National Electoral Council to give Hondurans confidence in the final results by conducting their count with rigor and transparency. We remain hopeful that the spirit of peaceful participation in the democratic process embraced by the electorate will carry forward into the post-election period to come. We look forward to continued collaboration with ASJ-Honduras as we all work together toward a just and hopeful future for all Hondurans. Matthew Van Geest President, Board of Directors ASJ-Canada Russ Jacobs President, Board of Directors ASJ-US
A call to action for Honduras
The Association for a More Justice Society-US Supports the Network to Defend Democracy; Calls for Free and Fair Elections in Honduras November 25, 2025
Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections
Dear friend, I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Of course, there had been plenty of inspiring photos from this summer’s Prayer Walk for Peace and Democracy. The sea of blue and white rising and falling as hundreds of thousands walked the Honduran hills through Tegucigalpa, flowing like a never-ending stream. Catholic nuns praying their rosaries alongside Pentecostals dancing in the streets. But the picture that still knocks me flat is the closeup. The one of the two men standing side by side (picture enclosed). They are exhausted, and the shorter collapses into the taller. The tears mostly hold joy and relief, but they are mingled with something darker. After all, there had been threats—promises of harm done to themselves and their loved ones if they led their followers through the streets of Honduras in prayer. Despite the fear and intimidation, Pastor Gerardo Irías and Monsignor José Vicente Nácher forged ahead. They knew Honduras needed unity and, above all, prayer before the looming November 2025 presidential elections. As an ASJ supporter, you know that these kinds of threats aren’t out of the ordinary, and your support has helped slow and reverse violence in Honduras. Today, I am writing to share a way you can continue standing with brave Hondurans like Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José in hope. The Evangelical pastor and the Catholic archbishop put the word out as widely as they could to their churches, hoping to mobilize 20,000 to walk and pray. Instead, an estimated 230,000 walked in the capital of Tegucigalpa alone. It was a historic moment. And without your past support for ASJ, it may have never happened. After all, two years prior, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José didn’t even know each other’s names. They first met in 2023 at ASJ’s offices. They were two of many civil society leaders convened by ASJ to discuss safeguarding democracy– especially before the election in 2025. It was at that meeting that they shook each other’s hand and learned each other’s name. It was at that meeting–and many subsequent meetings–where old religious prejudices began to be replaced by trust and mutual affection. So, when the moment came this summer to act, Pastor Gerardo and Monsignor José knew what they had to do. And they knew that they had to do it together.
