The bullet holes in the president's back door belie the docile version of the Honduran coup, the story many have latched to through snippets of news.

Was Manuel Zelaya removed from office because he attempted a power grab, bent on reworking the constitution to allow for more than a single four-year presidential term?

Or was his removal — as two Kansas Citians now firmly believe — a military coup in response to reforms that would help the poor of the Central American country?

The U.S. has been tepid in its response to the late June coup and subsequent protests. Barack Obama has termed the coup "illegal" but not military. A military coup would trigger cutting off of U.S. aid, except for humanitarian purposes.

Judy Ancel and Alice Kitchen traveled along the best example of how those U.S. dollars are being spent — a nearly completed major road between San Pedro Sula and the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa that they saw on an eight-day trip.

It was a journey that garnered them remarkable access, like having Honduran first lady Xiomara Castro de Zelaya show them her home — and the bullet holes. The first lady says her husband was grabbed in the night, forcibly removed.

Ancel says that was the backlash to Zelaya bringing reforms such as raising the minimum wage and making primary school feasible for more people by eliminating fees.

The other version insists the Honduran Supreme Court ruled against Zelaya, forcing his exile.

Ancel, a longtime labor rights leader, was shocked at some of the places she found herself in. Not only did she visit with the first lady, but also with U.S. Ambassador Hugo Llorens, labor leaders and human rights workers.

This was her first trip to Honduras. Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based human rights organization, arranged it, but Ancel and Kitchen, a social worker, paid their own costs.

Honduras' greatest public relations' problems come in the form of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and the U.S. public's general lack of knowledge about the nation. That makes it difficult for many in the U.S. to build a sound opinion.

Mention Chavez's support for Zelaya and the Honduran is tainted by the image of the bellicose but often oversimplified Chavez.

Unfortunately, unrest in Honduras doesn't receive the media coverage other nations benefit from receiving.

So for now, the calls to action that Ancel and Kitchen are advocating include one that is especially sound. They want more video cameras sent to Honduras to record police tear gas attacks they witnessed on protesters as well as other violations of human rights, but mostly to record the views of Hondurans caught in the struggle for their country's future.