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GBUMC mission group safe after armed coup

Honduras (in red) has a population of nearly 8 million people. Should Bianca Takacs be instructed this fall to write an essay titled "What I Did on My Summer Vacation," it should make for a pretty good read.

Takacs, a rising senior at Gulf Breeze High School, was among a group of 28 youth and adults from Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church participating in a mission trip to Honduras when an armed military-led coup Sunday ousted the Central American country's sitting President, Jose Manuel Zelaya.

The action, which led to the sitting of new President Roberto Micheletti, occurred in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, six hours inland from the GBUMC group's mission location on the eastern Caribbean coast.

Still, the coup's effects were felt in the town where Takacs' group was staying.

"There were riots by the park

across the street from our hotel," Takacs said in an exclusive text message to Gulf Breeze News. "Two people were shot on the sidewalk.

"We all stayed together in the inner rooms of the hotel that didn't have windows looking out. We hung out by the pool in the middle until things settled."

Takacs Zelaya was relocated to Costa Rica. On Monday, he refused to accept the overthrow and said he planned to attend a summit of Central America heads of state.

Adults in charge of the GBUMC group were assured it was safe for the Breezers to travel Tuesday to the airport in Tela and depart for the United States. They were due back into Pensacola Regional Airport late Tuesday night after Gulf Breeze News went to press.

The GBUMC group initially arrived in Honduras, a country of 8 million people, on Monday, June 22. It worked at an orphanage and school house in the jungle. The goal of the mission was to complete some muchneeded construction work, immunize both teachers and students for Tuberculosis, and share the excitement of a Vacation Bible School with the children.

"It was an authentic look at life in a third-world country," GBUMC Director of Communications Sarah Bennett said.

"While they remained on the eastern coast of Honduras, ripples of the tension felt in the coup were evident on Sunday. There was a complete loss of electrical power across the country, and a disturbance brought out in a park near the group's hotel," she said.

On Monday, the group took a ripcord tour of the rainforest before turning its focus to flying home.

The United States Embassy assured the youth that all was safe. Airports were open to regular traffic. Takacs and her friends eagerly were looking forward to their return to Gulf Breeze.

"After our experience here, we were all much more appreciative of our safety, freedom and protection of home," she said via text message.

Other youth among the group were recent GBHS graduates Maci deMahy, Thomas Farmer and Brittany Wheeler; rising seniors Brandon Buchalter, Matt Dannheisser, Tyler Fairleigh and Rachel Viglione; and rising junior Eric Adams.

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Gulf Breeze News sports editor Jason Thompson contributed to this story.