Give Hope 2 Kids Blog

Using Education to Broaden Horizons

School has been back in session in Honduras for about a month now.  This makes life quite a bit busier around here.  It's been fun watching our new kids head off to the village school in their little uniforms.  So far, they've done really well with their schoolwork and have made a bunch of new friends from the community. 

We're proud to say that we have our English classes up and running again this school year.  These classes will give a good head start for the kids who go on to high school.  Monica and Erin are our English teachers for the 3rd-6th graders at the school.  The teachers are enjoying the extra time with the kids in the community and the kids love practicing their English, so everybody is having a good time.   

Since school started for the older kids, we've started preschool for the three 4-year-olds living with us.  Twice a week Lilian, Carlitos, and Fernando all head up to the Library with their backpacks and notebooks to practice shapes, counting, and coloring.  We spend time playing outside and reading books.  This has proved to be an great way to get them excited about learning and prepared for school.

In January we started new classes as a part of our Library Program.  The most faithful Library attendees had the choice of computer classes or music lessons for our first round of these classes.  It's been so fun to see the kids get excited about this.  Most have never had the opportunity to learn an instrument before and they see the computer classes as a way to have a head start when they get to computers in high school.  One of the things we're really enjoying about these new classes, is that the teachers are local young people.  So not only are we furthering the education of our village kids, but we're also giving work to young people from our area.  

Now that we've finished the addition on the Library and reorganized everything, we've discovered a mountain of great resources to use with the kids.  Previously we had so many kids and supplies squished into such a small space, it was hard to get creative.  We're really enjoying having more room now and we know it's helping us improve our Library Program. 

It's been a great few months of launching new educational programs.  We see that this is such a great way to broaden the horizons of the kids in our area and we're excited to see where a love of learning will take them in life.

The 2011 "Cows Edition" Gift Catalog

Here it is:

The 2011 “Cows Edition” Gift Catalog

Just click on the link above to see what it's all about.  Why is it the “Cows Edition” you might be asking?  Good question.  That’s going to be our focus this year, because we’re rolling out two major projects that have to do with cows. 

The first cow-project is pretty obvious.  We are planning on raising our own cows both for milk and for meat.  Last year we bought 3 milk cows, and this year we are hoping to buy 3 more milk cows and 4 young males for meat. 

The other “Cows” are not as obvious.  It’s our new “Computers On Wheels” program (get it…COWS!).  This is going to be a mobile computer lab that will allow us to give computer classes to students from three local communities.  We received a donation of 15 laptops, which arrived on our container, and we want these machines to be used extensively in our library and our community schools.   Giving young people training in this practical skill can often make the difference between having a job and not.  We’re hoping to sponsor the computer carts we will have to build, the voltage regulators to protect the machines from the frequent power surges, the computer desks, and the teachers who will help us instruct the students.

There will be other projects available to sponsor too, but this year, it’s all about the cows.  

 

Our Graduates

November is graduation month for schools in Honduras and we've been partying with lots of graduating students.

First we celebrated with Ruby and Ronald at Instituto El Rey's graduation.  These two were part of a class of twenty-one students that graduated with a Bachillerato (a degree that lets them go on to university) and a technical degree in computers.  These were the first students Jason taught as 7th graders back in 2006.  

We are so proud of this whole class, but especially of these two that have lived at our place for the last couple years.  We know how hard they've worked.  Both Ruby and Ronald have overcome a lot to be were they are today and they're the first ever in their families to graduate from high school.  They also both received a special award for their proficiency in the English language.  

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We were also invited to celebrate with the graduating 6th grade class at our elementary school in Urraco. They asked Jason to be the padrino (sponsor/guest of honor) for the graduating class.  This was to honor Give Hope 2 Kids and what we've offered the kids of the community through English classes and Lee's Library.

One of Ruby's younger sisters, Jenny, graduated with this class.  Here's a picture of Jason presenting her with an award for academic excellence.  We are excited that she and her next older sister, Areli, will be entering Instituto El Rey as 7th graders in February.

Assembling Our Computer Lab

We want to share the news that we're about to start computer classes with our new mobile computer lab (otherwise known as COWs: computers on wheels).  The kids in our area are very excited to start learning about computers and this is a great way to give them a head-start if they choose to study beyond the 6th grade.

In the next couple of weeks we will be expanding our Library Program to include computer classes and music lessons.  We'll offer these extra classes to the most faithful Library attenders first and go from there.  Once the school year starts in February we will be doing computer classes at the elementary school here in Urraco.

We want to say thank you to Eric (far right in photo) who traveled down from Minnesota to help us network the computers.  Thanks for contributing to make our work possible!

Celebrating Five Years of Ministry

We are celebrating five years of ministry!  God has blessed us with a very productive season and we are thrilled as we look back and see how far we've come in our quest to care for children who desperately need help.  

To celebrate these years we put together a memory book summarizing the time.  These pictures show how we prepared to, and now are caring for abadoned children, and how we've reached out to our community.  Click on this link, choose to make it full-screen from the bottom right hand corner, and enjoy watching a ministry be born!

http://www.blurb.com/books/2356454

Please feel free to share your comments with us

and share the link on your facebook page!

 

Thanks to the Clover Hill Group!

We just enjoyed having a group come from Clover Hill Church in Virginia.  It ended up being the same week we brought the first kids into our Children's Home, so it made for some busy days.  We really appreciated how flexible the group was as we changed things to accommodate the new kids.

While they were here this group spent a lot of time with the children in our village.  At the elementary school they taught English classes and put a fresh coat of paint on one of the buildings (with lots of assisstance from the kids!).  They also helped with our Library Program and put on a soccer camp.  Our village kids had such a fun week.

The group kept busy by visiting Instituto El Rey for a day of work projects and a soccer camp and they also helped us do some work on David & Olga's house.

Thanks guys for all your hard work and great attitudes!  We enjoyed having you.

Launching a Children's Ministry

You may remember that last year we built the Activity Center.  One of our main reasons was to create a space for our future Children's Ministry.  We've lived in Urraco for the past three years.  As we've taught classes, opened the Library to the community, and simply developed friendships with people, we've seen those relationships deepen and grow in trust.  One fantastic example of this, is that at our recent community movie and game night we had more than one hundred and ten people come and participate, from our village of five hundred!  

We feel it is the right time to invite our friends to know the God that we love and serve.  Right now we're working on getting together a leadership team to prepare solid teaching and worship.  David Martinez, who many of you have met, is going to be in charge of the teaching times.  José Rito (who Sarah talked about in a recent blog) will be working with the worship team.  We plan to launch this Children's Ministry soon.  Please pray that God will use our lives to make an eternal difference in the lives of these young people. 

How Time Flies: Off to Senior Internships

Just over five years ago Jason came down to Honduras and started volunteering as a teacher at Instituto El Rey.  In January of 2006 he started teaching 7th grade English and Science.  Now that same class is in their senior year of high school.  They're down in La Ceiba right now, the big city, doing their senior internships.  It's amazing to look back and see how quickly time has flown by.  From wide-eyed junior high kids to near graduates, we're proud of these students. 

This video is of the students getting set up for their class picture, in their internship uniforms.  It's a very proud moment for them. 

 

 

Help Roof the Volunteer House

As we’re getting closer to opening the Kid’s Home we need to free up the houses we’ve been using for other purposes.  Right now we (Jason & Sarah) live in one of the homes for kids and volunteers, groups, and other visitors also bunk up in the kid’s homes when they’re here.

In January, we began work on our personal home on the property and we’re continuing the work on the Volunteer House.  We hope to finish these houses in the next several months so we can free up houses for kids.

During the second week of May we have a group coming down that hopes to put a roof on the two new houses and wire them for electricity.  Our problem is that right now we lack the necessary funds to purchase the roof materials for the Volunteer House.  This is the only chance we have to get this house wired for a long time and we need the roof on first.  We want to offer you the opportunity to help.  The estimated cost of this roof is: $4000.  If this is a project you would like to donate towards, you can click on the donate button below.

 

 

Investing in Students

During our time living and working in Honduras we've seen how much education changes lives for the better.  Without education, people have few options in life and often end up trapped in poverty.  There are almost no jobs where we live and if people move to the city without resources they often end up in the roughest neighborhoods with drugs and gangs.  But education changes things.  We know kids that are in medical school that come from families where the parents only went part way through grade school.    We really believe that education means more options and opportunity for a better life.

One of the main ways that we help students is by giving them work.  Every year we give at least a dozen kids part-time work so they can cover the expenses of studying at Instituto El Rey (the school where we volunteered for a year-and-a-half).  We have about six students that work year round for us, helping with the library, construction projects, and property maintenance.

Ronald is a student that's lived with us for close to a year-and-a-half now.  As an older student (he's a 23-year-old 12th grader) he's had to fight to stay in school.  When he lived with his family, they expected him to be up at 4am to help with the cattle and then he worked for us after school to pay for all his school and living expenses.  Ronald was thinking of dropping out of school until we offered him a place to live.  He still works after school, but now he has the time he needs to study and he's looking forward to graduating from high school this November.

When we started our library program a year-and-a-half ago,  Alma was asked to help.  She has grown into running the day-to-day program and has discovered that she is a natural teacher.  We've enjoyed seeing her grow in confidence and ability as she works with the kids. 

 

 

Many of you remember Ruby and her five younger sisters that we've helped through the years.  While we're not as involved with all six girls as we used to be, we still try to spend time with them and encourage their studies.  When the new school year started in February, we outfitted them all with the new uniforms and school supplies they needed.  We're amazed at how much they've grown up since we've known them.  The youngest, Abi, was only two when we started helping them and now she's in 2nd grade!

We still spend quite a bit of time with Ruby and Roxana, the oldest two from this family.  Last year Ruby lived up at our place for much of the school year.  She and Roxana still come and stay over often.  They work in the library and do other projects to help pay for school expenses and practice their English with us.  In this photo, Roxana is in her school uniform (she's now in 10th grade) and Ruby is dressed to head out to her internship.

This week Ruby, Alma, and Ronald are all down in La Ceiba, starting their 12th grade internship.  In Honduras, students are required to do a month long internship as a part of their last year of school.  For all their work in the library, we are providing Ruby and Alma with a place to stay for this month.  We are certain that this experience of living and working in the city will help prepare them for their transition to university studies next year. 

Another student that we're investing in is José.  José is in 11th grade at Instituto El Rey this year.  He is a kid with a great heart and an amazing musical ability.  With very little help, he's taught himself guitar, piano, and trumpet and he now helps with the music at three churches and his school every week.  He often comes over to our place to hang out and practice on our piano.  Jason is starting to teach him to edit music and video on the computer and I (Sarah) ended up giving him an impromptu voice lesson last week. 

As we look towards the future with these young people we are excited about helping them fulfill their dreams.  Next year we'd like to send José to La Ceiba every week for music lessons from the biggest name group in Spanish praise and worship.  Ruby will be off to university next year and Give Hope 2 Kids has committed to give her a scholarship for her first couple of years.  We hope that in the future we can provide scholarships to more students.  This is just the first wave of kids heading out into the wider world that Give Hope 2 Kids has touched.  Behind these are kids like Lincy and Edil, who are being trained as our new library assistants.  We are passionate about continuing to invest in the education of young lives, to give them a future with greater possibilities.  We want to say our thanks to so many of you who enable us to be a blessing to these young people.