Biking for education

For Katerina Parsons, this past year has been an opportunity to experience first-hand how individuals working together can make a difference.

Parsons, a Michigan native from Bethel Church in Jackson, Mich., spent the past year in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with MCC’s Serving And Learning Together (SALT) program. She worked with Asociacion para una Sociedad mas Justa or Association for a More Just Society (AJS).

Public education in Honduras has lagged behind other countries in Central America. “Despite the law requiring 200 days of class per year, schools were meeting an average of only 120 days,” said Parsons. “In other cases ‘ghost teachers’ took a salary from the government without ever showing up to teach class.”

Photo provided by Katerina Parsons
Katerina Parsons (bottom row in white hat) helped facilitate the Coast to Coast bicycle ride across Honduras to raise awareness about corruption in the public education system.

As part of her assignment, Parsons worked with the Transformemos Honduras coalition to help with preparations for Coast to Coast, a bicycle ride across Honduras to raise awareness about corruption in the public education system.

Over a seven day period, cyclists crossed difficult terrain between stops in eight cities. The community events, attended by hundreds of people, included cultural songs and dances and each recognized five local public school students for their academic excellence. Parsons, who got connected with MCC through her studies at Calvin College, participated in the race as a volunteer supporting the 150 plus cyclists.

“It was touching to see the excitement of the children who were recognized and the pride of their parents,” remembers Parsons. “As we drove by communities, people would come out and cheer and wave us on. Honduras is used to a steady stream of bad news, so gathering together to celebrate the success of its children was a heartwarming thing.”

Photos courtesy Transformemos Honduras and Costa a Costa: transformemoshonduras.com/cac/multimedia/

In addition to the bicycle ride, AJS works to mobilize volunteers to help record numbers of school days in class and teacher attendance. Thanks to the increased awareness and social auditing, big changes have taken place over the past six years since the annual bicycle ride began. Honduras celebrated its third year in a row of 200 days in class, and the number of ghost teachers has dropped dramatically. Consequently, test scores have jumped from 15th to 10th place in the region.

For Parsons, her work with AJS has taught her the importance of dedicated people working to challenge unjust systems of laws and government. “Creating peace requires more than abstaining from violence,” she said. “Sometimes it means an entire rewriting of systems that were set up to benefit elites.”

Story by Jennifer Steiner, originally published on the MCC website.