Los Barrenderos

I have something good to say about Tegucigalpa *gasp*!

I have started to notice more and more street sweepers, or barrenderos, in this city. And they are doing a fantastic job. Yesterday, for an entire block on the Blvd. Morazan I only saw one water bottle. I've also noticed workers planting more trees/plants and watering the grass in the parks/medians.

They have a not-so-glamorous job, but are doing really great at it. And I'm impressed. Kudos to the barrenderos and whoever is running for re-election and therefore putting more on the streets. ;) (There are over 700 of these workers cleaning our streets everyday. Photo above is from this article at elheraldo.hn.)

If you live here/come here often, you have probably seen this park and monument. It's located on the Blv. Suyapa next to Burger King and across from the Clarion. It turns out it was erected in honor of a previous mayor that started this street sweeping initiative. His name was Cesar Castellanos and was affectionately referred to as El Gordito. He was so loved by all of the people in the capital, that they pleaded with him to run for president. Just a few months after he announced his intent to run, he was killed in a helicopter crash. I think he would be proud if he were here to see the improvements. :)

So that's who started the street sweepers, and we have him to thank for our *almost* litter-free streets today. As Paul Harvey would say, and now you know...the rest of the story.