Youth In ASJ Program Pitch In To Improve Their Community

June 30, 2016

In a small community in Tegucigalpa, small houses dot a dusty, treeless hill. Most of the year, the sun beats down; during the rainy season, drops of rain soak the ground until streams of water pour down the hill.

Despite the unforgiving weather, every Sunday, almost one hundred children and adults gather together at the soccer field to watch the local league play. The league is made up of 12 teams of at least 11 members each, ranging in age anywhere from 12 to 60 years old.

In this community, which has one of the highest homicide rates in Tegucigalpa, there are few public spaces where men and women and people of all ages can safely gather together. This soccer field is one of them; but in the heat of the sun or the pounding rain, the games aren’t always very comfortable for spectators.

Fourteen-year-old Fabiola* (*name changed for security), the president of one of the Association for a More Just Society’s three youth projects in the community, decided to get her group of 25 children and young teenagers to do something about this. Together with the local soccer league and members of the community, the ASJ (formerly known as AJS) youth club constructed covered stands to shield spectators from the sun and rain.

A ninth-grader at a local public school, Fabiola said this was a way for young people to give back to their community.

“There is nowhere to sit, if you sit on the edge of the field you’re in the sun,” she said, “This project isn’t just going to help us, but also the whole community.”

ASJ’s youth clubs have deeply impacted Fabiola, “The group for me is like my third family,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot about God. I also like to help other people and feel at home,” she added, paintbrush in hand, covering one of the stands’ wooden columns in a bright turquoise blue.

ASJ’s community projects seek to instill values in children particularly vulnerable to involvement in crime or unhealthy relationships. One of those values is citizenship, which is why every youth club does regular community projects to improve their local communities. Youth clubs work together to plan the project, arrange materials, and gather volunteers.

Francisco, president of the local soccer league, was thrilled to pitch in and help with construction, seeing the stands as a positive benefit for community members who come together to watch the games.

“We’re grateful because no one has been interested in helping us before. This is something that we have to value,” he said, looking out at the packed-earth field. “We also have to collaborate.”

In 2015, over 350 children participated in youth clubs in communities in the capital with the highest rates of homicide. In two years, another 350 children will graduate from the program, successfully joining society as citizens ready to help their neighbors and work for a more just society.

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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.