Watching an elite police force pray before going out on duty gives a flavour of the danger facing all Hondurans today.
In this video, shot in San Pedro Sula, the second biggest city in Honduras, the police force face into policing what is officially the most dangerous city in the world. The daily murder rate in the city has overtaken all other cities in the world outside a conflict zone.
The most recent statistics put the murder rate san Pedro Sula at 19 per day - a slight decrease on the 20 per day recorded last year (Source: UN Office on Drugs and Crime). These murders are directly linked to the dominance of now-notorious gangs that dominate the city and operate an illegal drug industry that has gripped Honduras and made migration to the US a popular but extremely dangerous alternative.
It's in this context that Kenco have set up a one-year training course for young people to offer them a route out of gang membership and give them opportunities to work in the coffee industry in their own country. Called Coffee vs Gangs, it is unapologetic in its ambition and the director for the project in Honduras intorduces it in this video.
The Irish Times will be documenting the success of this project over the coming months, including a visit by Gary Quinn to Honduras. We hope that you'll stay with us as we get to know the 20 young people involved.
[ irishtimes.com/coffeevsgangsOpens in new window ]