Honduras is a land of many contrasts. It is a land that has been blessed with much beauty, yet much poverty. Catacamas is located in the North central mountains of Honduras in the largest department (equivalent to state) of Honduras, Olancho.  Catacamas is very sparsely populated and is a vast rural, heavily forested area.

Catacamas sits in a valley surrounded by peaks of 3,000 feet. The vegetation is tropical with lots of flowering and fruit trees, like papaya and citrus. Also, hardwoods that looked like cottonwoods, oaks and mahogany. There are lots of pod bearing trees as well fichus, poinsettia trees, and bougainvillea. The weather is similar to Central Florida, only warmer.

It is a town of 38,000 with dirt roads, stuccoed adobe buildings with barrel tile roofs. Nothing fancy, however neat. Income is based on agriculture and services. People in Catacamas don’t know they are living in deprivation unless they are told. They are very friendly people predominately of native Indian decent. We found them to be rich in love and open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  They are very modest in their dress. The men wear pants and the women dresses or pants. It was in the year 2000 that they have begun to see the outside world through the eyes of cable TV that the younger women have begun to wear tight jeans and midriff tops.

Dogs, cows, horses, pigs and goats share the street with pedestrians and old compact cars and trucks. There is a sewer, but the system design is so inadequate flushing paper is discouraged. There is electricity and running water, but many cannot afford them.