It's school deworming time in San Pedro Sula

After more than a year in Honduras, I remain in a state of near-constant amazement.

San Pedro Sula is the country�s largest city, with glitzy malls - way nicer than any in Victoria, our old hometown - and all the North American fast food chains.

Take this, you'll feel better

But El Tiempo reported this week that students at C�sar L�pez P�rez kicked off the first day of deworming, 2013.

Some 700 kids lined up for the chewable tablets, thanks to the municipality�s Healthy Schools Program. By the end of the campaign, 96,000 students in 344 schools will have been dewormed.

It�s the fourth year for the effort, supported by Operation Blessing, a U.S.-based charity/aid organization.

Deworming is likely a good thing. (You can never be sure, I�ve learned. It�s always possible someone�s brother-in-law has the monopoly on Worm-Be-Gone tablets and is making big money.)

And I might not have thought twice if the campaign had been in a rural community, where water and food supplies would likely be suspect.

But the idea of mass deworming campaign for kids in the country�s largest urban centre is a pretty stark reminder of how far Honduras has to go.