Give Hope 2 Kids Blog

REWIND 2010: Our Year in Review

Each year we like to put together a visual summary of what we've accomplished.  This year we decided to try and put it online so that it's accessible to more people.  

2010 was incredible for us.  We finally are a Honduran nonprofit and are working directly with the Honduran Social Services to take in kids.  Most homes only have to wait a few months once they're at this stage. 

Also this year, we finished our Activity Center, bought cows, bought sheep, and bought beehives.  In our REWIND we also talk about our plans to start a Children's ministry for young people in surrounding villages.  We've got lots going on.  Thanks for helping us be here and make a difference in the lives of vulnerable young people.  Click below to visit the site. 

 REWIND 2010: Our Year in Review 

 

Outside Fun & Games

Along with all the books, puzzles, and computers inside, the kids love to come to the Library Program for the activities outside.  Like kids anywhere they tend to have the favorite activity of the month, which everyone wants a part of, before they move onto the next fad.  For awhile the "best" thing was jumping on the playground bridge, then it was soccer in the new Activity Center, then it was twisting up and spinning in the swings, like in the video below:

Right now the community kids are entralled with basketball.  This was a totally new game to elementary aged kids up in our area.  We think they must be naturally gifted at sports, because they've taken to it like little pros.  Most may be under 5 ft and may be playing barefoot, but that doesn't mean they aren't enjoying themselves and getting good at their game.

In the future we are looking forward to getting the equipment for other sports, like volleyball and tennis.  We want to expand the horizon for these kids, open them up to more things they can excel at, and keep the playground fads coming.

Our "Udderly" Wonderful New Milk Cows

We now have three future milking cows living in the mahogany plantation with our sheep.  With our 2010 Gift Catalog that we had up during the holiday season, people seemed quite excited about our dairy project.   So, with the funds that came in for the dairy we decided it was time to add cows to our land.  Thanks to all who gave towards our dairy project!

For significantly less than the price of a full-grown, good milker, we were able to purchase three cows that are a year-and-a-half old.  They will be ready for milking in about another year.  Since we’re not ready for gallons of milk every day at this point, we figured this would be the most cost effective way to go. 

One interesting thing we’ve just learned is that cows supposedly make good shepherds.  They are supposed to have a calming effect on a flock of sheep.  Right now the sheep that we have are a bit wild and unused to being around people.  They are quite literally very jumpy (who ever thought counting sheep jumping over a fence could be literal?).

The cows had their wild and crazy time too though, as our guys worked to get them to the mahogany field.  It made for a fun video, as you can see here:

 

Sheep...lots and lots of 'em

Now when you sit in our kitchen there is a new sound from outside.  Along with the river's constant gurgle and the crickets and cicadas racket, we've now added the bleating of sheep from up on the mountain behind our house.

We've purchased sheep from a few different places and we're now up to 16 and expecting some more lambs soon.  Most of these are hair sheep (with hair like a goat), a breed which is much better suited to our climate than the woolly ones.  We want sheep for their meat and for the free lawn care service in our mahogany plantation. 

People have asked: why not cows?  So, here's a little math for you, to see if you can follow our logic:  You can feed 8 sheep in the space of 1 cow.  The meat you get from butchering 8 sheep is equivalent to that of 1 cow.  The difference comes when you look at how fast you can raise the animals for meat.  Sheep are ready to butcher in 6 months, where cows need 1 1/2 years to grow first.  Theoretically then, we'll get 3x the meat production from sheep vs. cows. 

Right now we're still trying to tame the sheep.  At the point we got them they were a little wild and unused to being around people.  They would go "hide" up at the top left of the mountain, when the water and best grass was down on the bottom right.  Now we're training them to come down to their corral everyday to look for food or a salt lick, so we can see how they're doing and get them used to people.

Hydroponic Experiment

 

Beehives...finally!!!!!

Bees from Give Hope 2 Kids on Vimeo.