Communication in Honduras is done via mail, pay phone, cell phone and internet. Unlike many Peace Corps sites, Honduras Volunteers can relatively easily keep in touch with friends and family. Whether they do or not is another story.

While not all Volunteers have access to all of these amenities, nearly all Volunteers are within an hour of these resources.

Emergency: 800-424-8580 ex. 1470 after hours, 202-638-2574

Pulhapanzak Falls in central Honduras, near Lago Yojoa

Mail

Volunteers can recieve mail during and after training to the address below. Be sure to write the address exactly and avoid sending cash and expensive items which may be lost or "misplaced" en transit. Electronic items are also subject to a hefty tax, as high as 75% of the items value in some cases. Check with your local Post Office to be sure.

Voluntario (or Aspirante) de Cuerpo de Paz
Name of person
Apartado Postal 3158
Tegucigalpa, D.C. 11102
Honduras, Central America

In most cases letters take 2-4 weeks to arrive and packages take 3-6 weeks, depending on a host of factors.

Once Volunteers are in site they can arrange for their own Post Office Box to have items sent to them directly but the above address will go to their Peace Corps Office mail box.

Hondutel is the national phone company and has offices in hundreds of locations around the country. Calls can be made from there for 2 Lempiras (10 cents) a minute. Cheaper options are to call using a phone card or by using an internet cafe where calls can be made for as low as 1 Lempira (5 cents) or less using a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) program.

Nearly every Volunteer takes the option to buy a cell phone. They range from 500 Lempiras ($25) and up and are generally pay as you go ($5-$20/month depending on usage). Tigo and Claro are the two main cell companies in the country. Volunteers communicate with each other generally through text and can in some cases send or receive texts with US cell phones.

• To send texts via the internet for free to Tigo phones (numbers starting in "9," ex. 9989-0349) go to the Tigo website, click on "mensajeria" and then "envio de mensajitos."
   
• For Claro phones (numbers starting with "3," ex. 3342-0914) go the Claro website, click on online and follow the links to "envio de mensajes" or "SMS". In "destino" add the number to send the message to and click "agregar" to save it. Then type the message and click "enviar."

To receive a phone call from the United States is free on Tigo and Claro phones, long distance charges apply to the one making the call. (10-60 cents a minute).

Internet

Internet cafes are found in most sites and vary from 10 Lempiras (50 cents) to 25 Lempira ($1.15) per hour of usage. Speed varies from really slow to kind of fast.