Honduras Children

VA Tech Blog: http://vtupep.blogspot.com/

admin — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:46:47 +0000

Many thanks to the recent group from VA Tech. They spent four weeks in El Porvenir (just left yesterday) and did a fabulous job! Read about their adventures and impressions in this blog:

http://vtupep.blogspot.com/

Project HEAL – Duke University 2010

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:21:43 +0000

Thanks again to the students from Duke University and Project HEAL. “The Dukes” (as we call them) spent 4 weeks in El Porvenir and did some great work at our kinder and for the community of El Porvenir!

Here’s a great blog post to learn more about what they did:

http://projectheal2010.wordpress.com/

Our survey said . . .

admin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:08:35 +0000

As we reach mid-year we did another survey to see what feedback and advice our volunteers would offer to the incoming volunteers who will take their place. Transition is hard and we really appreciate that our volunteers have always been very supportive to help prep new folks coming in to work with the children.

Here are some of the questions and answers.

• How did you learn about our project?

Searched internet mainly for low cost volunteer options

100.0%

Searched internet for opportunities to work with children

33.3%

• What is some advice that you would like us to share with upcoming volunteers? It can be essential items to bring, kinder info, travel tips, suggested weekend excursions, etc.

~ It is worth treating yourself to Utila once, it is fun and can be done on a budget.

~ Bring a computer if you can, most volunteers like to use wifi and write on them at home. You can make your own decision about how much time you spend on it.

~ It is better to bring supplies for crafts and activities than gifts for individual children, although it seems like a nice thing, it is unwise to give presents, and they will just sit in the basement where the kids who see them will ask for them constantly and be disappointed not to get them.

~ Transition is hard, give yourself at least a few weeks before judging the program and/or how you fit in it.

• Please give an estimate of what you spent WEEKLY on the following:

~ Housing at the volunteer house - 300 to 400 Lempira a week.

~ Food – 500-700 Lempira per week.

~ Supplies for your work at the project – 100-200 Lempira each week.

~ Weekend travel – 300 Lempira a week.

• What was the most challenging aspect of your volunteer experience with HondurasChildren?

~ Working with people who live in such poverty because it breaks your heart to see how hard they work and how little they have. It is difficult knowing you have so much money and basically all you could ever need and seeing all the things they don’t have. Yet still they are very grateful and appreciative.

~ The program can only do so much in the community, and it can be hard to disagree or not understand those perimeters, sometimes even disagreeing with them. Since the dynamic between the organization and the people it is helping is so complicated and nuanced, often one’s take on it does not match up with the official decisions. That can be hard to deal with on a daily basis, while I know that there are reasons for these decisions, being the arm of them can feel bad.

~ Coping with misbehaved children without any support from their families.

~ Four months seemed so long when I first came to El Porvenir but now that I am almost finished, it is clear that I am only just beginning to gain an understanding of the issues that the children and the organization face each day.

• What was the very best part of your volunteer experience with HondurasChildren?

~ The people. I love the coordinators and the other volunteers and feel quite close to many of them. Even people you do not get along with well here have an intimate understanding of you and the complicated situation we live in here. This makes them like family. Also I love the children we work with and many people in the community very much. Learning about each child, understanding what makes them special, and knowing all the intricacies of their personality is a wonderful thing, and it makes it easier to help them grow and learn. Knowing all of the challenges in their little lives can be sad, but understanding the community better and the context for some of these small tragedies has been interesting and powerful.

~ Living and working with such fantastic people. Each of the volunteers who I have met has worked so hard with me and also laughed so hard, if that makes sense. Sharing these great times with these great people has been an experience that I will always treasure.

~ Working with the amazing children! Getting to know the real life in a developing country. Meeting and becoming friends with volunteers from all around the world.

~ Getting to work with such great kids! They are so amazing and wonderful, hardworking and fun! I really can’t even imagine how much I will miss them when I go and I know I will think of them every day.

Thanks again to all of the volunteers who shared some input about their experiences!!

Creative Expression leads to Problem Solving and Critical Thinking . . .

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 19:22:39 +0000

Our experience is that when children are offered an opportunity to express themselves creatively, it leads to a better ability to problem solve and to think critically.

Kudos and many thanks to current Kinder volunteer Sanna S. from Sweden who has developed and implemented a 3X a week art program for children living at a children’s home (orphanage) not far from El Porvenir.

The children are having a great time!!

p.s. Donations for and of art supplies and materials are very helpful and welcome!!

Fire Ants & Runaways . . . a day in the life.

admin — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:58:01 +0000

Michelle A. recently returned to the U.S. after volunteering with us for about 4 months. While we were together in Porvenir I asked her if she would write a “real life” description of life as a Kinder volunteer. Michelle warned me in her email that, ” . . . it was a particularly grueling, hot day. But, it does give an idea of how hard it can be working there.” . . . and I wrote back that what I think shines thru in her writing is that although it IS really hard sometimes and there ARE fire ants and runaway kids sometimes, there is also a genuine love and affection for the children and for fellow volunteers. With that said, we send much appreciation to Michelle A. for sharing a day in her life!

” It would not be fair to say that today was a normal day at Kinder,
because we simply do not have normal days. Ours is a job with enough
ups, downs, changes and excitement to balance out a whole lifetime of
doing nothing, though I don’t know that any of us volunteers are the
sort to want that type of balance. I let Andrea Ugne and Shauna out at seven-thirty, waiting behind to hang up my clothes and Shauna’s, which were still tumbling around in the washing machine. Once the wash was finally done and I had managed to hang everything over the enclosed railing, Ofer let me out and I
walked as quickly as I could to catch up.

I was secretly glad to be coming late because on our way to Kinder we stop by and pick up Luis. His new game is pretending not want to go to
Kinder in order to have us try to convince him, sometimes sitting in
the road, sometimes running away, and sometimes just pouting and sticking out his tongue at us. We all get pretty frustrated, especially because all of us love him and know what his hard life is
like. We all, very much so, want him to come to Kinder with us to give him love, support and education. So, we play all of his games,
kneeling down and talking sweetly, more harshly commanding him, holding his hand and trying to get him to walk, etc. This time, however, Andrea had promised him that if he behaved well, she would take him to the beach after Kinder. So, when I met up with the others at Grandma’s house, he held my hand and walked on his own with me all the way, prattling on about the beach and sometimes attacking my hand with aggressive little kisses, or holding it up to his cheek.

Once we got to Kinder, Rosa (the teacher) was busily tracing a worksheet over and over again for the kids to do, something with two
lines drawn in bold, then dotted lines to trace the same shape, then
empty space to try on your own (a very typical Kinder worksheet). So,
for the first bit of class us four volunteers took turns playing with
the kids and hurriedly tracing copies of the two worksheets over and
over for the fourteen children who had shown up that day (usually at
least three or four of our students stay home sick, and this time it
was six, not including the children who hardly come at all anymore).

After singing some songs and relearning the merienda (snacktime)
prayer, Rosa had each of the children come to the blackboard and
practice writing their vowels. Our four and five-year olds couldn’t
just sit in their seats and pay attention to something so repetitive
and passive, so they started to tease each other and take out toy cars
and write on the tables with crayon. I tried to get the kids to behave
and pay attention, but I couldn’t help concentrating a little more
than I should have at Rosa’s son Alex (who is three and a little young
to participate) trying desperately to fit his whole body inside a
cardboard box, squirming and crawling and squealing right under where
the kids were practicing their vowels.

Afterward, we handed out an activity for the kids to do. On the one side was a worksheet for writing the letter “Ch” and on the other was
a photocopied parrot that I had drawn for the kids to color, as
dessert for finishing their writing-practice-vegetables. A few of the
kids, namely Jared and Rossel, are really hard on themselves and never
want to try a new skill, for fear of failing. They just stare at the
paper, maybe trace the ones with points, and say “no puedo” over and
over, crinkling their foreheads up and raising their eyebrows towards
the middle. We grab their little hand in ours and help them hold on,
leading their pencil into the shape of a letter and holding it less and less.

With some of the slightly older children, you can see them improve little by little, sometimes even in one day, and gain the confidence they need to write “Ch” or “A” or whatever we are working on. Their worried eyebrows fade into proud, happy eyebrows and they cannot seem to believe that in the end, “si, se puede.” With some of the younger children, or the ones with really bad motor skills, you can feel their muscles buckling under yours, trying desperately to control the pencil. Activities like this require a lot of jumping around from kid to kid, trying to devote as much of yourself to as many of the kids in need of extra help as you can, without short-changing the more advanced kids (impossible).

Today, we were short one volunteer for the writing exercise because little Bryan pooped his pants. Since his mother is neglectful and he dresses himself, he does not wear underwear. So, Shauna was off by the pila washing him and, I am sure, washing and rewashing her hands.

After each child finished writing their Ch’s, they colored the parrots in all sorts of different colors and patterns. Luis had been doing relatively well, but he is bright enough to know how to be a slacker. So, he quickly scribbled yellow all over the parrot, knowing that when he finished it would be playtime. He bore his teeth, half-grinning, half-terrifying, and ran outside, probably to kick down someone’s carefully built tower, or climb into one of the forbidden trees. Ugne and I both like coloring a little too much for adults, so after we helped the kids by coloring the talons or beaks while they did the feathers, we made our own, multicolored parrots. After work comes playtime, surprisingly one of the least hectic times of day.

At playtime, the often-messy, always-over-excited children do not need to be coloring in specific colors, or tracing dotted lines or counting triangles. At playtime, they can chase each other around the schoolhouse, put play dough in their hair, and push each other back
and forth until someone falls. Usually at least one child escapes the property of the Kinder, either pushing open the iron gate and running down the dirt road, or ducking under the barbed wire to gleefully taunt us from the construction site next door.

Running away like this usually gets them the exact attention that they did it for, with one of the sweaty volunteers walking then running, coaxing them out of
holes and grabbing them by their arms to hoist them down from trees and steep hills.

Since the equinox, too much activity results in bucketfuls of sweat and thick red heat rashes everywhere your skin touches itself. So, at least half of the volunteers use playtime to sit, catatonically hot, inside the Kinder, which is in the shade and relatively safe from the fire ants that always always attack me when I step outside. We let the kids climb unto our laps, where they usually get bored and climb down. I did go outside today. Even though I got bit by fire ants, it was worth it to cuddle under a tree with Annie (Alex’s twin sister) and read her a Richard Scary story. I love reading the kids stories. After pushing and climbing on each other a little to get the best spot somewhere on my lap or back, even the wildest children become very still to listen.

After playtime is merienda. All of the kids sit at their tables and put their heads down while Rosa sings a song and we pour out bowls of cereal and milk. When they’ve gotten seconds and eaten each other’s leftovers, the kids wash their own bowls in the pila. By now, they
barely need supervision and share the sponge and water on their own. One or two kids need an intervention, or else they would wash and rinse and rewash their bowl all day. I joined in at the end to help with a couple of bowls that were left on the tables dirty, which some of the dishwashing addicts helped me with. The kids are only five or so, so it is to be expected.

Once having washed the dishes, the kids crowded around Shauna, who was handing out toothbrushes. Some of the kids like brushing their teeth and others have a hard time with the coordination, of course. But everyone likes to spit, and often if I am outside during the toothbrushing, I walk home with spots of bluish sticky saliva-water on my shirt.

After Kinder, we walk home Luis (who was going to the beach), as well as Rossel, Bryan and Yeison, who live at Grandma’s House. Today Rossel and Yeison did not come to Kinder, since their mother has started working in the pineapple fields and their older sister was told to watch them at home, herself skipping school and the older kids program she participates in. So, the five of us who worked at Kinder walked little Bryan and Luis home, which took a long time because little Bryan’s legs are very small and he was walking slowly anyways, a
little lonely without Rossel and Yeison and a little deprived of the physical attention he gets when he is not covered in poop.

Sponsor Blanca Celina V. to attend University

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 23:36:33 +0000

. . . Blanca Celina V. has been sponsored by her “padrino” for more than 5 years. Blanca is now old enough to attend university . . . and . . . well, here is her story.

Blanca Celina V. has lived most of her young life at a ‘Children’s Village’ (orphanage) just west of La Ceiba, Honduras. About 5 years ago there was a fire in the house where she lived with her two brothers and a sister and a number of other orphans. Little 8 year old Luis Villatoro was trapped in one of the bedrooms. None of the adults or children dared to go into the flames to rescue little Luis, except for Blanca who ran through the fire, and with a burst of strength, broke the door down and pulled little Luis to safety. She was 15 years old.

In honor of her bravery one of the sponsors of the Children’s Village decided to help her attain her dream of becoming a Child Psychologist. He paid for a several years of additional schooling and Blanca is now ready for her university education at the Catholic University in La Ceiba.

Because of economic conditions, Blanca’s sponsor is not able to pay the entire amount of the tuition. We are looking for several additional sponsors to share the joy of giving to this very deserving young lady. We are looking for an additional $100.00 per month to help Blanca achieve her goals. If you would like to help cover the cost of her education, we would be honored to receive your monthly gift.

One of the problems with many orphans in Honduras and elsewhere is the issue of what happens to the children as they ‘age-out’ of the program. There’s money enough for the cute little children, but as they reach their teens the dedication to help them is not as strong and at some point they are left to their own defenses.

In a country like Honduras with its 40% unemployment, jobs are scarce and most good jobs are given to applicants because of family connections. Orphans do very poorly in this system, and after a lifetime of care and nurture, many of them, especially the girls, are condemned to a life of poverty and want.

Blanca addressed this when she wrote her sponsor a letter. In her letter she told him how he would never know how hard it was for the children at the orphanage as they grew older and started becoming fearful of their future. They saw what happened to many of the older girls who left the orphanage, and how so many of them came back a year or so later with a baby in their arms and begged for food. Blanca told him that he had “saved” her and that he had transformed her life. She went on to tell him that she wanted to become a psychologist working with orphans because she had so many issues when she was a young girl and had no one to talk to. As an orphan herself she knows the feelings of loss and abandonment that all of these children live with.

It’s a sad fact that there are so many deserving children and we can’t help them all. However, we can help a few, and it’s our dream that if we get enough sponsors that in addition to Blanca, we can offer one or more additional sponsorships to other deserving candidates. Donated funds designated for Blanca will only be used for her tuition sponsorship.

To sponsor Blanca right now, click HERE or on the ‘Sponsor A Child / Donate’ button on the top, right of this page. In the comments section please note that you wish to designate your sponsorship to Blanca.

For more information about sponsoring Blanca or any of the children in our program, please contact Karen at sponsor@honduraschildren.org. We’ll keep everyone updated about how Blanca is doing.

Many thanks from Blanca, Blanca’s sponsor and all of us at HC !

Just got back from El Porvenir . . .

admin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:35:49 +0000

Hi, this is Eve! – - I am the volunteer coordinator for HondurasChildren and I just got home after a week in El Porvenir. The current volunteers are working on a newsletter to send out about what’s going on in the kinder so I’ll give an update on how things are with volunteers. Our volunteers are just GREAT! We are so fortunate to have amazing long-term volunteers from all over the world working with not only the children in our kinder but also supporting several additional projects in the El Porvenir area.

Our volunteers are helping to start a five day a week English program in the public schools. They are working at an evening IHNFA program to help 6th graders gain the necessary skills to move up to ‘collegio’ (high school). They are helping with the brand new El Porvenir volunteer fire department and giving homework help and remedial skills to children at a local orphanage. YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!!

Our current group of volunteers is from . . . Spain, Lithuania, the UK, Israel, Sweden, Canada and all over the US. The summer will bring us folks from Australia, Switzerland, Germany and India . . . Our friends from Peacework will be back as well with groups from Duke University and VA Tech.

During Semana Santa a few weeks ago we had a return visit from the First Presbytarian Church of Marietta Georgia. Our children had a great time and we really appreciate the hard work and fun activities the group did.

- – - Oh and our friends from Amigos of Honduras (who have supported HondurasChildren in so many ways) will be coming by for a visit next week as well. I wish I could be there!

Lots of great energy in El Porvenir!!

If you would like to come and volunteer as an individual or part of a workgroup, an application can be found on the ‘volunteer’ page of this site. If you can’t come personally, the next best thing is to become a sponsor. We really appreciate folks who can sponsor a child or a project on a monthly basis. We are all volunteers so donations go right into the projects to help the children. Contact Karen at sponsor@honduraschildren.org if you’d like to become a HondurasChildren sponsor. . . . And please contact me (Eve) at volunteer@honduraschildren.org if you’d like to come and volunteer!

Thanks to everyone for all of the good work you are doing and an especially a BIG THANK YOU to Amalia and Charlie, two of the nicest and most caring people on this planet, who started the kinder in their side yard and who keep it all together and running great!

Abrazos,

Eve

Ofer’s pix

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 02:03:16 +0000

Ofer C. from Israel is a current volunteer at the kinder and is living at the beach house. Click on this link for some great pix from January, February and March 2010. – - http://picasaweb.google.com/ofer16/ElPorvenir#

Don’t miss a thing . . .

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 05:54:52 +0000

Our volunteers are working hard to compile and send a quarterly newsletter about what’s going on in El Porvenir. If you would like to be on our email list to receive a copy, please write to us at info@honduraschildren.org. (Don’t worry, we don’t send out lots of emails . . . just 4-5X a year.)

Views of El Porvenir . . .

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 05:48:38 +0000

While El Porvenir is a very poor town just west of the small city of La Ceiba, it’s also a very beautiful and active place. The Caribbean sea is just to the North and the Pico Bonito mountains and waterfalls are just to the south.

There is a lagoon just a short walk from where the volunteers live and it is where the river runs into the sea. . . . It’s not always so quiet though! It’s a favorite place for the volunteers and the children to play and swim.

If you’d like to see what the rooftop view is of El Porvenir, check out this quick video from Charlie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbWoTASYOpo

More pix coming soon!