A Honduran girl doesn't let her lollipop get in the way of a big smile in her classroom in Ciudad España, a city of about 10,000 people.

That was the impression I had again this summer when I spent a week in Honduras. The children there like bubbles, stickers and coloring books. They tease each other and visitors. And, of course, they play soccer – any place, any time.

It sounds cliche, and cheesy, but the smiles they give are enough to communicate beyond my broken Spanish.

Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. According to U.S. government statistics, the nation has a 28 percent unemployment rate, 53 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and the life expectancy is under 70 years.

Forty percent of the population is 14 or under, and only about 4 percent of the population is 65 or older.

Given those challenges – and given the population breakdown – I can’t help but think the future of the country is in the hands of the children, the ones who share their smiles so easily.

Even in a country that is, in many ways, primitive by our standards, that gave me hope.