Give Hope 2 Kids Blog

Honduras' Orphans: Part 1

People often ask us why there are so many orphaned and abandoned kids in Honduras, so I'm writing a series of articles to answer that question.  I write this from our 8 years of experience in working with students, abandoned kids, the Honduran social services, and many other non-profit organizations in Honduras.  While we will keep our kid's histories private, these are the types of stories they could tell.    -- Sarah Furrow

Teengage Moms

Young teenage moms are commonplace in Honduras.  Statistics from a major hospital here record that the average first pregnancy is at 15-years-old. 

I could probably write all day on our observations of and experiences with teenage moms here, but I’ll try to simplify it into a few main points:

• It’s common and even fairly acceptable for a girl of 13 or 14 to run away with an older guy.  Teenage girls often see this as an escape, often from boredom or an abusive parent or stepparent.  People here call this “getting married,” but there’s usually not a wedding and the relationships generally don’t last long.

• Young girls here often feel trapped by poverty and a lack of options for their lives.  In Honduras, most kids don’t study beyond the 6^th grade or the 9^th grade, especially in rural areas.  It’s common to be 14, be out of school, and have no job prospects or anything else different over the horizon.  For a young girl, finding a guy and having a baby might seem like a "start" to their lives.

• People here, especially in rural areas, assume that you have to have your babies very early in life.  You’re supposed be finished having kids by your mid-20s.  People don’t criticize teenage moms; it’s normal and expected.

It’s a common scenario for a girl of 20 to have two babies from two different men and be currently alone.  What options does she have?  She’ll either have to move home and hope her parents can support her family, or leave her kids behind and look for work in the city, or find a new man.  If she does find a new man, he very well may say he doesn’t want her other kids.  

Teenage moms often can’t support a baby, financially or emotionally.  Moms sometimes abandon their kids in an effort to "start over" in life when they feel they've run out of options.

In our years in Honduras we've seen this story repeated over and over.    So many girls we know have gotten pregnant young and stopped short their dreams of an education and career.  Unfortunately, they don't believe that they have any other options in life.  

Part of our job here is to encourage girls and help them set goals for their futures.  We tell them to wait for marriage until they're older and educated, and tell them that they're worth waiting for.  We are teaching young people how to have healthy marriages and good parenting skills.  Hopefully we can encourage positive change, for a better future for Honduras and it's young people.

September Highlights

September is a busy month in Honduras, mostly because two of the big holidays fall in this month.   First we celebrated Dia del Niño, Kid's Day.  This year the kids had a party with a piñata in either school or preschool, depending on their age, and then we hosted a carnival during Library time.  Click here to see more photos of our Dia del Niño partying.

Right after Dia del Niño comes Honduras' Independence Day.  The biggest tradition here is that all the kids march in parades with their school.  This year we had kids in every section of our village parade, from the military corp, to the pom-pom squad.  The kids really enjoy participating in this show of national pride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This September though, we were even busier than normal, because of our new classes, called Tutoria Estudantíl La Esperanza.  Below you can see all the kids lined up on the first day by class level.  We have 60 kids coming, from 4 villages!  

 

 

 

 

 

The older kids are studying English and computers, taking a music class, and participating in Bible, library time, and sports.  These classes are much more formal than anything we've done on-site before and the kids are really responding and rising to the occasion.  More parents are asking when their kids can start.

Somehow we always think we're building as much building as we'll need, and then we start a new program like this.  We've already outgrown all our Library and office areas!  The above English class is in the "garage."  Plans are already in the works to add on more classroom space to this area.

 

 

 

 

 

We're tutoring the younger kids in the basics: reading, writing, and 'rithmetic, and incorporating other fun learning activities into their class time, like pirate treasure hunts!

So far our new class system has been a success!  We're so excited that we can offer great learning opportunities to our local kids.

Our Little Ones Love Preschool

We are now offering our 2 to 5-year-olds an awesome preschool program and they are loving it.  The newest excitement for the kids is that they each have their own chair with their photo on it.  The excitement for the adults, is that after only a couple months of this program we are already seeing improvement in the kid's development.  

Most of our kids have neglect and malnutrition in their life history, so several are behind in their language development or have sensory sensitivities.  Thanks to some great volunteers though, who have expertise in early education and special needs, we are giving these kids a great place to work through these challenges.  

In preschool our little ones sing and dance, practice following directions, plays games to sort colors, do painting projects, and more.  They're excited about learning and we're encouraged that they're getting the specialized attention that they need to thrive.

Introducing Our New Kids

For over a year now we’ve had 10 kids in the Give Hope 2 Kids Home.  Yesterday we added 6 more kids to the mix!  It is an honor to be charged with caring for these kids.

So, there are now 16 kids living in our Children’s Home.  While that’s the official number for the Children’s Home though, it’s not how many kids live here.  If you include the 14 kids from our staff and volunteers, we actually have 30 kids living on this property – and 21 adults!

You may be asking why there’s such a crowd living here, so we’ll explain.  When a child comes from a background of neglect and abuse, we feel the best way to get them healthy is to surround them with healthy families that reflect God’s love.  We’ve found three great families – mom, dad, and their kids – to take in and raise our “orphans.”  Then we try to surround these families with great support, in the form of our volunteers and staff. 

By God’s grace we are creating a community where kids can grow up feeling secure and loved.  

We had to wait a few months for this newest batch of kids.  In June the new house-parents,  Jesús and Rina, moved here with their family.  They're from our village and we've known their family for several years.  We've seen how well they've raised their own kids, so we are excited to watch them incorporate these six new children into their family.  We've already seen Jesús out playing soccer barefoot with the kids,  in a culture where dads don't play much, so we're encouraged about the future of this newly blended family.

There are two families represented within the group of 6 kids.  The first family includes Carlos: 9, Ingris: 8, Agustín: 4, and Jorgito: 1.

The second family includes Yensi: 9 and Dennis: 6.

We have seen so much improvement and growth in the lives of the kids here.  It is a privilege to offer them a home and hope for a better life.  We anticipate watching this new batch of children adapt and thrive.  

 

 

(Sadly, since the above was posted, these kids had to leave our Children's Home at Give Hope 2 Kids.  They are missed.)

 

 

Time for Kids: Thoughts from GH2K Volunteer Becca

We asked our volunteer Becca to share what she's learned in her first few months here at the Give Hope 2 Kids Children's Home.  Here's the wisdom she has to share:

St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.”  I never really knew what that meant until I came to Honduras. 

In November 2012, I decided (or should I say God told me) to go to Honduras for 5 months.  The only experience I had with Spanish was high school.  I could only remember one phrase and that one was not going to help me.  So, how do you convey to these children that you care and love them, that they are something special, without knowing their language?  

Some of the most valuable gifts we have to offer anyone are our time and actions.  Whether it is going swimming with the kids (their favorite activity), pushing them on the swing, listening to the girls talk about their day, even when you don’t understand a word, or making bread to bring a smile - - it all counts, from the smallest act to the largest act. 

I never realized how much our actions and time matter until I saw how they had the power to break though culture and language barriers.  Maybe this is why the Bible warns us against being lazy and to number our days.  With only one and a half more months left here, the thing I regret is not spending more time with the kids and remembering that my days are numbered (they go by faster than you think).   But isn’t that true in our everyday lives, whether we are hanging out with abandoned kids in Honduras, or with our family and friends back home.  We are only here on this earth for a limited number of days. 

Being in Honduras has taught me to make my time matter, to make my actions count, to resist procrastination and feelings of laziness.  Actions do speak louder than words.  Time is our most valuable gifts.  They are some of God most powerful tools that He uses through us and for us.

Playing, Growing, and Being Loved

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the day to day drama of caring for kids, with "this kid won't do their homework" or "that kid jumped off the top bunk and bumped his head."  It's easy to get side-tracked and take our mind off the big picture.  These kids are very normal kids; they're sometimes frustrating and stubborn.  But when we think about this last year that they've lived here and compare our first months with them to what their lives are like now, we know we've made huge progress. 

These kids are loved on and cared for by their house parents, the families that live here, and our volunteers.  They've been learning in the Library, gaining responsibility through chores, and getting a chance to romp around outside and be kids.  We're seeing growth in everything from self-confidence, to better behavior, to the overcoming of physical limitations.   

The dream of giving these kids a new life, a better life, is really happening!  Little by little we are seeing their lives change.  The process is not without its bumps and set-backs, but we are really making a difference in their lives.  These kids will have a much different life because someone cares about them.  

With that being said, we want to announce that we are ramping up to open a third home for children in the first half of 2013!  We feel blessed with the 10 children that we care for, but also know that there are many more unwanted and unloved children that a need a place where they are wanted and loved.  

In this season of thanksgiving, we want to give a hearty thanks to those of you who help make our ministry possible!  You are making the difference in these kid's lives.

Pictures of Our Kids

 

 

 

 

Here are some photos of the precious kids we work with.  In the short time they've been with us, we've seen so many positive changes in their lives.  They've progressed in so many areas, from Junior's increased mobility, to Javier learning to do his homework before he plays.  We're proud of the direction these kids are headed.  We have big hopes for their futures, because we trust that God is looking out for these little ones.

After years of dreaming about helping kids like these, we can say without hesitation, that we’ve started to see the realization of our dreams.  Praise God for making this possible!

 

 

 

We want to say thanks to Daryl Brewton for these photos.  Daryl volunteers his time and skills to help promote ministries like ours.    

Our "Families"

We wanted to let you see the kids in our Children's Home in their "family" context.  

Our first house parents are Will & Sinndya.  They have two kids of their own, José (7) and Dana (1), and then five more kids that have been with them since January.  There's a sibling group of three -- Carolina (9), Javier (7), and Fernando (4) -- and two more 4-year-olds, Carlitos and Lilian.  This group of kids abound in energy and enthusiasm!  After being together for 4 months, we feel we're really see positive long-term growth in the kids and that they are bonding well as a family unit.

 

 

(top) Dana, Will, Sinndya, Carolina;  (bottom) Fernando, Javier, Lilian,  José, Carlitos

Our other house parents, Oscar & Belkis, have been working with us for about 9 months now, but just recently came to live here as house parents.  They have three, very helpful daughters of their own, Irlen, Tanya, and Pamela and then the five newest kids.  These kids are all related to each other and all came from the same foster home before being placed with us.  We have two sibling groups here: Eugenio (9) and José Antonio (3) are one, and Jared (5) and Juvana (3) are the other.  The last little guy is Junior (5).  We're really enjoying getting to know this group of kids.

(top) Oscar, Irlen, Tanya, Belkis;  (middle) Eugenio, Pamela, Jared; 

(bottom) Junior, José Antonio, Juvana

New Kids Have Arrived!!

We wanted to let everyone meet the five new kids that have moved in to the Give Hope 2 Kids Children's Home.  We are so excited that they're finally here and feel blessed that we can provide them with a good home.

First of all, let us introduce you to the new family on our staff.  Over the past few years we've gotten to know this family from our village of Urraco.  We met the girls through our Library Program and English classes, then met their Mom, Belkis, through church activities, and finally their Dad, Oscar, when he joined our construction team.  We've been very impressed with their whole family and are so excited to have them working in our Children's Home.  They already feel like family.

On Tuesday we brought up five new kids to live in their home.  These kids are transitioning here really well, probably because they're all either siblings and/or cousins to each other, and because they all came from the same foster home.  Still though, please pray for their adjustment, as this type of change is never easy on a kid.

This group of kids is  such a contrast to our last bunch that came.  The previous group is all made up of kids bursting with energy and vivid personalities.  This group is much quieter.  The older ones are really into their studies and we can barely get the younger ones to talk!  It's fun to be widening our group and the personalities that make it up.  

Please consider sponsoring one of these kids.  Our sponsorship program starts at $35/month and will help provide these kids with a good education, a great home, and a loving family.   Right now only 2 of our 10 kids are fully sponsored, so we need your help!  For more details, please click to visit our sponsorship page. 

Fun Times with the Kids

As the kids in our Children's Home have adjusted to our place, we've tried to teach them to expect a balance of work and play in life.   Along with their schoolwork, they're learning to help with chores around our property, from picking cocoa, to feeding the pigs, to collecting eggs.  Since they're kids though, life is mostly play now.

For fun things around home, the kids get to go swimming in the creek, watch a movie, or walk up to the village for a pepsi.  Occasionally though, we like to send them out for a bigger adventure.  

A couple of weeks ago most of the Give Hope 2 Kids crew took the kids on a jungle hike to visit the place where David, our property manager, grew up.  Everyone had a great day of swimming in the mountain streams and having a picnic.  Maybe the biggest adventure of the day though was when one of the kids spotted an iguana, which the men chased, caught, cooked, and everyone ate!  

We're now starting the hottest, driest time of the year in our part of Honduras.  This is "summer" here and the favorite time to head to the beach or the rivers.  So, to celebrate our Semana Santa (Holy Week) Honduras-style, we took the kids to the beach.  

Our first house parents are from a beach town and they wanted to introduce the kids to their family and neighborhood and treat them to a fun day in a new place.  People where we live rarely get to the city, let alone to the ocean, even though it's only 25 miles away.   For some in our group, it was their first trip to the ocean!

Once we hit the beach, the kids couldn’t get in the water fast enough.  They loved the waves and the salty water, but their favorite part was making new friends in the tidal pool.

While we enjoyed the fun the kids had, these trips have been great for unifying our group.  We're creating a big-family culture at our place and we're loving it.  

Plus, there's one more thing that excites us about these trips:  We've invited a particular family from our village to go along on these adventures and become a part of our "family."  They've spent a lot of time helping our current house parents and doing other projects for the ministry.   And now, just last week, they agreed to be our second set of house parents.  With their family, we will be able to open a 2nd house for kids in the near future!