Carlos, Guillermo, Joe, and I all returned to our respective homes this weekend, but I will continue to write about our adventures this week. Last week was packed with visits and meetings, so I’m just now returning to these updates.

On Thursday morning, our team drove to La Ceiba’s bright blue municipal building downtown, where the mayor’s office is located. We were scheduled to have an MOU signing with the mayor at 9:30 am, but I quickly learned that almost nothing starts on time in Latin America! The event began thirty minutes later; we had a full house of citizens and reporters interested in learning about the Honduras Pilot Project and its significance for La Ceiba.

After the ceremony, Mayor (and former soccer coach of the Honduran national team) Carlos Aguilar, sat down with me to share his vision for the city. La Ceiba has one of the highest homicide rates in Honduras, but Mr. Aguilar reminisced that it was much more peaceful ten years ago. He believes there are two ways to deal with crime: police response, or prevention through alliances created with other cities and countries. CityLinks will allow the mayor to expand upon his current crime prevention efforts that have already helped reduce violence by 20% in the past two years.

Mr. Aguilar proudly pointed outside his window to a large, open plaza situated directly beside the municipal building. The plaza was clean with street lamps positioned around the perimeter, a tourist center, a new bus stop, and park benches were built for citizens and visitors to enjoy. Before, the mayor claimed that this plaza was much more enclosed with looming walls and statues creating places for criminals to hide. Businesses downtown would close early as it became dark, and no one felt safe lingering in the park at night.

However, now these businesses stay open later, and people bring their families to the plaza at all times of the day. These are good indicators that positive changes are occurring in the city, and this park is also an example of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design). The open space in the plaza increases visibility of the area, encourages pedestrian traffic and informal gatherings, and provides a perception of safety for individuals. New light fixtures illuminate the plaza at night discouraging criminals from committing unlawful activities, and now the plaza serves as a welcoming and popular hangout spot for locals.

Plaza in La Ceiba.