Sensenti, Ocotepeque
Honduras, Central America
EN ESPAÑOL
(Updated July 1, 2014)
I am presently trying to get this page updated. It is now July 2016. I haven't started on the Spanish language page yet. This data is pretty old -- outdated. I will get my friend Elder Portillo to help me get more accurate information in the next three months. As you can see on this page, Don Elder is the middle school prtincipal.
I will also get some photos that are current.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************** The town of San Francisco Cones is located on top a small rise in the Western part of Honduras, about an hours drive to the west of Santa Rosa de Copan. It is rarely visited by North Americans. The U.S. Peace Corps no longer sends a representative here.. It is a coffee producing village, inhabited by very poor people who scrape a living out of the soil mainly in the production and sale of coffee (beans). They also produce corn, beans and cattle, normally for local consumption. Perhaps the town's most outstanding feature is the old San Franciscan style catholic church.
ELEVATION: 1500 meters.
POPULATION: Approximately 2000
HOUSING: Approximately 260 houses, mostly made of adobe, some of block CHURCHES: Old Historic Catholic church (photo), Amigos Church, 2 Pentecostal Churches
EDUCATION: Grade School and Junior High, referred to as Centro Básico José Maria Medina. (This school is in very poor condition. Classes are given in old, dangerous buildings.) There have recently been some new classrooms built and I will try to get pictures of them to post here.  

Principal: Elder Leonel Portillo Valle
Staff: 12 teachers
Enrollment: 314 students

There are 2 newly constructed kindergartens in the village.

 
 

LIBRARY: The town has a beautiful new library donated by the Riecken foundation and has more than a 1000 books. The internet service there has been discontinued because of lack of funds.  

 

MEDICAL: Cones has a Medical Center, operated by a nurse. The center serves several surrounding communities as well. The nearest Hospital is in the town of San Marcos, Ocotepeque, approximately 20 miles from this village. There are several private clinics in San Marcos. There are 2 private medical clinics in nearby Sensenti, Ocotepeque and another Public Medical Center which is better staffed and equipped.
GOVERNMENT: The areas are divided into Communities which include several smaller villages. Each town has a council called Patronato Comunál which is the final authority in the village. The council is elected by the community for a period of 2 years. The Cones council has a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, 2 accessory members and a monitor (fiscal). The council answers to the mother community, Sensenti. The council meets monthly and tries to solve community problems and brings in outside help in the form of projects.
WATER: The system is about 17 years old, has a water board which meets monthly. The board serves for two years. The water originates at a spring on a nearby mountain top and is brought to the community by polyvinyl chloride tubing. It is somewhat problematic due to design flaws and abuse. The water is not considered potable but is usually clean looking and can be boiled or chlorinated for consumption. Many locals drink the water from the tap, although annually there are cases of hepatitis. Part of this comes from drinking contaminated water from other sources. Many do not know the cause.
ELECTRICITY: The town boasts a recently installed electric system which was donated by Norway. It is a very reliable system by Honduran standards with few failures and minimal variations of line voltage. Failures are usually due to violent weather conditions or preplanned maintenance which are usually announced by radio.
COMMUNICATIONS: There are several private telephones in the town and several long term, short distance CB radios. Cellular phones are a new addition to this area. Nearly every family owns one. The nearest radio station is in San Marcos. These days, the majority of communications is done via cell phone.
TRANSPORTATION: A local bus service operates between Cones and Sensenti. The vehicle is an old school bus brought from the U.S. There is bus service from Sensenti to San Pedro Sula and anywhere within the country..
LANGUAGE: Spanish is spoken, spiced with a lot of old Indian words from the Chorti, Lenka and Pipil tribes and slang.
OTHER:

INFRASTRUCTURE: There are 3 through roads running through town. They are all weather roads (Dirt and gravel). One leads to Sensenti, another to Corquín de Copan and the third winds around the hills to San Marcos.
TERRAIN As the name "Honduras" suggests (in Spanish) the region is a series of steep hills and deep canyons. The word Honduras implies depth. There is a certain quality of beauty of the hills and valleys, but it is difficult to farm or travel in the mountainous region. Roads are dirt in rural areas so they become mud pits in the rainy season. Huge landslides occur along the roadways making them impassable. It isn't practical to try to use tractors or other modern equipment to farm the region. So even though buses and pickups are in use some of the time, the horse, donkey and mule remain the mainstay of travel and agriculture. People become accostumed to walking long distances and carrying their heavy cargo on their backs or on animals. In the town of Cones and its surrounding communities, there are only about 15 pickups. Most are four wheel drive. There are a lot of motorcycles now in use. (No Cars)
BUSINESS, INDUSTRY and AGRICULTURE
The main source of income is from growing coffee. There is one carpentry shop and one sewing shop
ORGANIZATIONS AND CLUBS:
There are several local community help and self-help organizations.
Send comments to sfcones@yahoo.com (Attn: Jimmy)