Don't Be Afraid, Gringo: A Honduran Woman Speaks From The Heart : The Story of Elvia Alvarado

Rating:
Summary: INSPIRING!
Review: A truly great read. Luckily, this book was assigned in my sociology class or else I probably would have never read it. It gives you an accurate portrait of peasant life in Honduras. If you want to be inspired read this book. After reading this book I feel like going down there to help them in some way. Her book is put in very simple terms and it is easy to see the injustices going on in her land. If you don't read it tell someone about the book. THANK YOU ELVIA!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best looks at human rights and our own injustice.
Review: I had the pleasure of meeting Elvia Alvarado when she visited Butler University in the Spring of 1997. Her book opens ones eyes to the oppressed life in Honduras - both the corrupt government there and our own government's envolvment. After reading this book, one wants to go out and right all the wrongs that have befallen the Honduran people. You do not need to know much about Honduras to find value in this book, it is well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Good Culture Reference
Review: I read this book in order to learn something about the people
of Honduras and how they live. I found it to be a good source
for learning about the lives of "campasinos"...peasants.. and
their struggle to live and raise their families in general.
It was not such a good source for learning about this country's
small middle class and since the author's struggle is with the rich,
all references to them were in a negative light... so it was not necessarily an unbiased resource for learning about them.


Rating:
Summary: A real joy
Review: I went to Honduras on a short term mission trip last year and I've seen poverty first hand. This book has opened my eyes even further of the rural poor of Honduras. This is the story of a courageous woman who is helping her people overcome their unimaginable poverty by discovering the roots of it.
In a subtle sense she denounces short term mission projects....that we come in to countries like hers and try to put a band-aid on a skull fracture. Americans, like myself, come into these third-world countries thinking we are fixing a country's problems in a couple weeks by donating old Gap t-shirts and building a few houses and then leaving. She urges the fact that if we are to really help the poor, we need to make a long-term commitment to get at the root of the problems. Shes not asking for sympathy, but for us to join us in her struggle. Get this book if you are ready to make a difference.

Rating:
Summary: powerful, fast read
Review: I went to Honduras on a short term mission trip last year and I've seen poverty first hand. This book has opened my eyes even further of the rural poor of Honduras. This is the story of a courageous woman who is helping her people overcome their unimaginable poverty by discovering the roots of it.
In a subtle sense she denounces short term mission projects....that we come in to countries like hers and try to put a band-aid on a skull fracture. Americans, like myself, come into these third-world countries thinking we are fixing a country's problems in a couple weeks by donating old Gap t-shirts and building a few houses and then leaving. She urges the fact that if we are to really help the poor, we need to make a long-term commitment to get at the root of the problems. Shes not asking for sympathy, but for us to join us in her struggle. Get this book if you are ready to make a difference.

Rating:
Summary: the further you stay clear of Medea Benjamin the better
Review: Medea B Wouldn't know justice if it bit her. She has called cuba a paradise where friends of mine are under house watch or have served severe prison terms just for political organization!

Rating:
Summary: A real joy
Review: This book is beautiful and will inspire you and remind you of what is important in life.

Rating:
Summary: courage
Review: this is the ultimate story of courage. this woman has so much to share with you. you will be changed by it. Fast read.