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In November, Mother Nature delivered some devastating blows to the Central American country of Honduras, where hundreds of people were killed and thousands more were left homeless after hurricanes Eta and Iota decimated the already poverty-stricken region.
South Floridians, no strangers to such devastation, often are the first to mobilize and heed the call for help from our neighbors to the south.
As the heart of our communities, teachers always respond to communities in crisis, and so was the case recently. The United Teachers of Dade (UTD), in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers and Education International, were able to collect and ship 50 boxes full of supplies to Honduras’ national teachers’ association (COLPROSUMAH) to be distributed to children and families in need.
The boxes of supplies, which were collected by more than 100 UTD Stewards throughout Miami-Dade County, contained more than 1,700 pounds of dry goods, baby supplies, first aid, and educational materials for the children and families of Honduras.
“When South Florida has been in need, the international community has always stepped up to help us recover and rebuild,” said UTD president Karla Hernandez-Mats. “As such, we feel it is our moral duty to answer the call when these travesties happen, especially in a year that has been marked by a pandemic and so many other crises worldwide.
“We are grateful to our Stewards and our community members who provided of their time and resources to help us do this for our Honduran neighbors,” she added.
Miami-Dade educators often mobilize quickly in the face of a crisis. In 2019, UTD collected thousands of supplies for the people of the Bahamas after it was hit by Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm that stirred violently over the islands for five days. This year, teachers faced their greatest challenge of all when the COVID-19 pandemic upended their classrooms and the lives of their students indefinitely.
Hernandez-Mats described the United Teachers of Dade as an organization that is made up of activists and humanitarians who care about education justice and dignity for all.
“Teachers, by nature, are caretakers, but it never ceases to amaze us how they always seem to find a way to go beyond their own circumstance and give back to those who need it most, especially our children,” Hernandez-Mats said.
