On October 14, Peace Brigades International-Canada hosted a webinar to encourage the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project call for applications for field volunteers. The deadline to apply is October 30.
The webinar featured Christopher Castillo of the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras (ARCAH) and Beatriz with PBI-Honduras joining from the team house in Tegucigalpa. The webinar was moderated by Marianna Tzabiras, a member of the PBI-Canada Board of Directors based in Toronto.
Forty-eight people from around the world registered for the webinar.
The information to apply to be a PBI-Honduras brigadista is here.
The application and selection procedure
During this webinar, Beatriz explained: “We need to distinguish between the application procedure and the selection procedure. The application procedure is very simple. You have to go to our website, which is pbi-honduras.org, and in a section called Involucrate, you’re going to find three parts, one information about the role, the requirements that the person must comply with. For example, having a nationality that’s different from Honduras to speak Spanish, have a commitment towards the different sexual and gender expressions, to be able to commit to stay 12 months there.”
“Then you’re going to have a second PDF, which is the request itself, not just the CV itself. It’s more like a questionnaire. And you’re going to be asked if you’ve ever lived in a community, what you understand with concepts like nonviolence, to get to know you a little better. And the third PDF are some references, somebody that knows you from work, a boss, or maybe an academic supervisor, a teacher, some people that you volunteer with.”
“Then there’d be selection procedure, which is a bit longer. And first of all, it would be like a phase with personal interviews. People that pass these interviews would then pass to a self-training phase and information. Workbooks are sent so that you understand what is Honduras, what’s happening here. And finally, the people that complete that self-training go to a training week.”
Beatriz added: “Many people ask, why is the process so long? It’s not that long, but it’s a bit long. And I see that as a question of responsibility for human rights defenders that we accompany here in Honduras, and also for the volunteers themselves, because the context is a bit complicated here.”
International accompaniment works
Christopher highlighted during the webinar: “People who are defending the land, this is a very special lack of security context, because we don’t only have to face companies, but also organized crime. When we defend a river or we face a businessman, this businessman is usually tied to organized crime. This is why it’s important to understand this accompanying.”
He further commented: “Something that works is this international accompaniment, because the very presence of international organizations is a warning that the world is watching. Our very national police, our army, there are less cases of repression when international observers happen. Mainly if it’s organizations of human rights, this is something important, because international press has a lack of respect here. Journalists are already repressed here, harassed. But human rights organizations and international accompaniment organizations still have some respect due to the awful image of Honduras in terms of human rights.”
Additional reading: PBI-Honduras seeking applicants for 12-month field volunteer positions, deadline to apply is October 30 (PBI-Canada article, October 12, 2026).
