Empowering Women With Literacy Classes

September 29, 2016

ASJ’s (formerly known as AJS) youth clubs are designed to transform entire communities, involving parents, family members, and neighbors in the pursuit of safer and more connected neighborhoods.

As ASJ staff poured into children in these neighborhoods, they found that parents and other community members were also hungry to learn. In March of this year, in the community Las Minitas (“the Mines”) where they have served for 12 years, ASJ volunteers began a small literacy project to serve these adults.

Las Minitas is a community built into the backside of a mountain. Amenities like electricity and water have only recently reached community homes. Many adults have no formal education, not even having completed first grade, and many are unable to read and write.

These are the adults the literacy program targets – adults like Doña Francisca, a 50-year-old mother of 10 who lives in a three-room house where she cares for her family and extended family. Four of her children graduated from youth clubs and one more is currently attending.

Doña Francisca was excited at the idea that her children would learn to read and write, but she was not open to the idea of learning herself. She said she suffered a head injury that left her with memory problems. She said she was too old to learn. “I know nothing,” she repeated to the volunteers, and only promised to send her adult children to the classes to study.

Three of Doña Francisca’s children joined the first literacy class. They bowed their heads along with the rest of the class as they opened in prayer. As the prayer finished, Doña Francisca appeared in the doorway and asked if she could give another prayer. She thanked God for the opportunity to learn, then took a seat and participated in the class.

Since that day Doña Francisca has attended faithfully. She also has kept her promise to God to encourage her children’s attendance. Two of Doña Francisca’s children were the first class members to learn to read, and all three are doing extremely well in the class, learning alongside their mother.

On the day her daughters read their first words, Doña Francisca sat with her head bowed. At first glance, it appeared she was studying and did not realize the huge accomplishment of her children. But Doña Francisca was actually deep in prayer. When she finished praying she looked up, eyes full of tears and asked if she could sing. Since that day, Doña Francisca’s unique songs of praise, though embarrassing to her children, have become a regular part of the class.

Doña Francisca does struggle with the literacy classes. However, she no longer believes that she knows nothing, and no longer believes she is incapable of learning. On the first day of class when assigned four pages of homework, she completed 32 pages! She is never discouraged, grateful for her small improvements, and quick to praise God for everything that she and her children have accomplished.

For her entire life, Doña Francisca had signed her name by rolling her thumb over an ink pad and pressing her thumbprint onto the paper. Last month, instead of the thumbprint, she carefully wrote her name, “F r a n c i s c a”, and agreed that she will never again substitute a thumbprint as her signature. The class celebrated – Doña Francisca thanked God.

Doña Francisca’s biggest goal is to one day be able to read the Bible. Though she can’t yet read for herself, she has her favorite passages memorized, and loves to open her Bible and recite passages like James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Programs like this literacy class go outside of ASJ’s regular programs through the passion and commitment of volunteers. Their connections with the communities are helping women like Doña Francisca to learn that they are capable of more than they thought possible, strengthening families, increasing opportunities, and giving praise to God.

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ASJ-US and ASJ-Canada Joint Statement on Honduran Elections

December 2, 2025

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

Artisans of Fraternity, Guardians of Hope

November 28, 2025

A call to action for Honduras

November 2025 ASJ-US Statement about Honduran Elections

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 25, 2025

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

Context Updates on the 2025 Elections in Honduras

November 13, 2025

Honduras’s Institutional Crisis Deepens Ahead of the 2025 Elections

HOPE

By Elizabeth Hickel • November 12, 2025

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.