Endless Smiles & Meaningful Accomplishments

 

 

We returned to Honduras in early June and, yet again, it was the best trip ever… filled with significant achievements, countless stories, God Winks and hysterical laughter. We worked and played very very hard.

• Delivering new shoes and 120 dresses to rural village children
• Participating in an event at San Juan del Rancho school in which the students were challenged to create something by recycling found objects.
• Delivering Spanish story books to the schools
• Purchasing and delivering much needed food
• Teaching classes and visiting the communities of Suyatillo, Flor Azul & San Juan del Rancho
• Celebrating friendships at lively a Mariachi party
• Spending memory making time with our residential students in Santa Lucia

 

 

Life is a song - sing it.
Life is a game - play it.
Life is a challenge - meet it. 
Life is a dream - realize it.
Life is a sacrifice - offer it.   
Life is love - enjoy it.

Sathya Sai Baba

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEET OUR SIX NEW STUDENTS

We are honored to welcome six superstar students to our two homes. Their energy is palpable.  Their academic performance is amazing and their sense of respect and responsibility is incredible.  In addition, each received a ten star rating on the  F-U-N  scale!

 

 

 

Yesica

Yesica is the sister of Aleyda and Elvin. At just 13 years old she is a very bright star in Casa Dorothee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marary (rhymes with Ferrari)
She is the sister of Yelson, Dinia and Marbely and is studying finance at UNNH University in Tegucigalpa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinia
Also the sister of Yelson, Marary and Marbely, Dinia is pursuing a degree in nursing at CEUTEC University in Tegucigalpa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genesis
The most creative 15 year old student we have ever met, Genesis is from San Juan del Rancho and is now in 10th grade in Santa Lucia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Angel
The son of Anibal of Nuevo Paraiso, Angel is in his first year at UNNH and hopes to eventually receive his doctorate in mathematics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miguel
He is in medical school at UNNH from San Juan del Rancho.
(His story follows on this page)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The perfect opportunity to make someone happy!

Clearly our support is life changing and H4HC needs your help in finding more sponsors. The annual cost per residential student is $5500 and every donation helps us significantly.  We ask for a minimum donation of $40 a month and indeed, there are sponsors who donate considerably more. After a student graduates, is employed, and “moves on” we ask their sponsors to consider helping another student…many do and unfortunately many do not.  We currently have 27 students and the new students truly need sponsors. Please ask your family, friends and colleagues if they could take part in our sponsorship program.

Sponsorship money is for the benefit of the child sponsored and in actuality, pays for less than half of the needs of the students we help. We have a shortfall for each resident.  Fundraisers, appeals, grants, generous donors, etc. are necessary to make up the difference. Funding for each resident goes to their specific account - the cost per resident is approximately $5500 a year for the following expenses:

Education university fees, academic books, supplies and very costly roundtrip transportation

Personal Expenses food, clothing, personal hygiene supplies, medical needs, allowance and recreation, round trip transportation home during all vacations

House Expenses rent, utilities, administration, cleaning, maintenance

      

CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR A STUDENT

 

 

 

The journey continues

The path is different.
The results much improved!

 

“Thank you for coming to our country.
Thank you for sharing your time with us, because a little bit of you is a lot of everything for us”

 

 

We hope to continue this new model which includes:

• No more than six volunteers on each trip
• A more relaxed schedule with lots of flexibility and even time for siestas
• Spending 90% of the time with our residential students – encouraging, inspiring, motivating, tutoring, playing, and simply “hanging out” with lots of one-on-one time with each student.
• Spending no more than 1-2 mornings at nearby rural schools
• Participants to set the travel dates
• Look at your calendar today and let us know when YOU would like to travel to this world where love and joy are overflowing!

Let us know which  month you might like to experience the joy!

 

 

 

SO EASY TO LEND YOUR SUPPORT!!!

We are providing food and school supplies for 320 impoverished children living in extreme poverty. We need your help. This is a situation in which every $20 makes a significant difference... feeding five children for a month!

We try to raise $1200 each month to provide several isolated village schools with powdered milk, rice, oatmeal, beans, oil, flour, pasta, and tomato sauce.

 

 

Your donations are greatly appreciated!

 

 

 

Meet Medical Student, Miguel Salgado

Hello, my name is Miguel María Salgado. I am 25 years old and the youngest of 5 children. Currently I am studying medicine in Honduras with only three more years to go.

I am from the small remote village of San Juan del Rancho where I attended school until tenth grade after which there were few options for continuing my education. There was no public school and no resources to attend a private school in Tegucigalpa. I worked in the fields or as a construction assistant from Monday to Friday and on Saturdays and Sundays I attended “distance school” and obtained a degree in Computer Science.

And you may wonder why I chose to study Medicine. Before graduating from high school my mother became very ill. She did not know that she had Diabetes Mellitus, a chronic disease that has no cure, that has multi-organ involvement and that should be controlled with medication and frequent visits to a health center. My mother developed serious complications and at that time, I had no knowledge of medicine. There was no doctor in my village, only a nurse who was not trained to treat this disease.

With enormous effort, my siblings were able to raise the necessary funds to take my mother to a more advanced health center where they had a doctor but no supplies. To help save the lives of more people. It was there when, seeing my mother about to die and I could not do anything to help her, I made the decision to study medicine. I want to be able to help people, to be the change of my community and my country.

My mother’s health improved. I graduated from high school and in 2017 passed the two entrance exams to the School of Medicine at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. Thus began my medical journey. It has been a difficult road. Adapting to the university was not easy and acquiring the necessary financial aid has been very difficult. Although the university is public, students must pay for housing, food, transportation, internet, books and materials, etc. I often thought about leaving the program not because I couldn't pass academically, but because I didn't have enough resources. On two occasions I had to leave my classes because I could no longer afford it. My parents helped me but it was never enough. My mother works cleaning houses and my father is a day laborer. The little they manage to make was given to me so that I could move forward. I have also advanced with the help of my colleagues who lend me their books or necessary instruments so that I can move keep up. I try to do small jobs during my free time to get a little money and thus be able to continue advancing in the race.

It has been another hard road in a country of few opportunities, but little by little with God's help and yours I will be able to move forward. Thank you for all that you do for students like me.

 

 

 

June Education Brigade

This was such an amazing trip that I hardly know how to begin describing all we accomplished in spite of three very delayed flights, thanks to storms in the USA. Our team of fifteen had six "first timers" and two of the nurses returned after their first visit in May! Some of the dirt mountain roads were deemed impassable due to weather but we managed to be flexible, to regroup, and to be very busy each day. We visited four schools, delivering much needed food, teaching a few classes, introducing the game of baseball in each school. We delivered harmonicas, new shoes, underwear, boys clothing, dresses, hygiene kits, school supplies, a multitude of books, and pots, pans, and kitchen equipment. The impact of our support was very palpable. In San Juan del Rancho we were welcomed by a line of at least fifty students wearing crazy hats that they had created and later they had a pageant for us. Another afternoon we visited CAIPAC, the center for the blind, where two students had just married.

 

A small group provided a short concert for us and we were highly entertained by a puppy who fell in love with Ted's shoelaces. On Saturday we had a swim party with our students from Casa Noble and Casa Dorothee. The highlight was our final evening when our residential students welcomed us to an exceptionally moving event at Casa Noble. The photos and videos say it all. Please watch on a tablet or your computer the amazing video made by Jari Murillo.