In the hustle and bustle to get packed, tidy up and get home, the blog often never gets wrapped up so I wanted to make sure to do that!

 

Saturday morning was a morning to sleep in since breakfast wasn’t until 8 but our eager play structure team needed to get an early start if there was to be any chance of finishing the project so they were up at 6:30 and swinging hammers by 7. They got a good hour of work in before breakfast. After breakfast we piled into the van for a home visit at Tesla’s house. We stopped on the way to get a box of groceries to bring with us. Tesla’s home is a one room wood structure that sits about one floor above the rest of the dwellings nearby and is accessed by a rickety ladder. Tesla was there (home for the weekend) with her older brother (who attended El Hogar), older sister and mother. I have come to know Tesla’s mom over the years and though we don’t speak each others language we share a long, tight hug, tears and smiles. She is a sweet woman who wants the best for her children and is so incredibly grateful to El Hogar for helping ensure a brighter future. Home visits can feel awkward, even wrong, for their voyeuristic/ exploitative quality but I do believe that Sra Mendoza is happy to be able to help El Hogar by opening her home to visitors. For us, it is a stark and sobering experience to witness what extreme poverty looks like up close and to see where our children are coming from.

 

Upon our return, at about 9:15, the children invited us into the Auditorium for the goodbye party. We were thanked by both staff and children, songs were sung, Ethan and Mary both spoke to the children on our behalf, cards were given and then the hugging began. All of the children hugged each and every one of us- it was a sweet, emotional goodbye, a bittersweet end to a great week at El Hogar.

 

We then headed to the El Hogar store to buy last minute t-shirts, jewelry etc made by the EH students and then to the play structure for pictures. I am relieved to say that the play structure was completed in the nick of time- I am pretty sure that Chief was not getting on the plane until it was done!

 

The van was loaded and we were off to the airport by 10:40- what a morning, what a trip! All travels went smoothly and we all arrived safely at our homes by midnight.

 

When talking to my mom last night she asked a few questions about our trip which were yet unanswered in the blog-

 

1. Claudia was able to win the court case and keep Jefferson at El Hogar. His mother will be able to visit him at El Hogar and they will work with our psychologist to begin rebuilding a parent- child relationship. Wins like this are rare as parents have strong rights in Honduras and Claudia does not often prevail so this was great news.

 

2. The school president election took place on Friday and was VERY official. Each child had an id card and a specific polling place. They filled out ballots, signed their names and were finger printed. We were the international observers posted in each polling place to make sure the voting was not corrupt! After the ballot counting behind locked doors with “International” oversight, Josue Mauricio was elected President. We were disappointed that Diana wasn’t elected as we felt she ran the best campaign but we weren’t surprised by the results.

 

3. Neal and I persevered in the 1^st grade classroom. I think we can say that our 2 little ones can count to 6 in Spanish and they might even have mastered ma, me, mi, mo, mu, pa, pe, pi, po, pu but that is debatable. For many of our new 1^st graders who started in February, this is the first time they have encountered structure, rules and formal education. It is a lot for them and for their teacher- every day is a challenge but I know that they will progress day by day. I have seen it. I can’t wait to go back and see how far they have come.

 

I write this today from the comfort of home, so very aware of my safety, my abundance, my blessings, my family- things I often take for granted. But my blessings do not all reside in the US- on each trip I leave a piece of my heart in Honduras where I am blessed to know and love so many beautiful children and the staff who love and care for them. I am also blessed to form unique, close and wonderful bonds with the people with whom I travel. Ethan, Neal, Nancy, Chief, Gill, Mary and Bruno were great to travel with and I am particularly grateful for the time I spent with my brother, Gill. Thanks, team, for joining me on this adventure!

 

Betsy

Friday, last day????
Really should start with Thursday pm and the rotary club meeting in the city, lots of nice Rotarians, lots of great hospitality, connections in the present and for the future. they were all delighted to have us and delighted with the gift of a Red Sox shirt presented by Ethan.  To their  President who himself presented each of us with a certificate. The  chief's got lost in the shuffle.  So we all owe him one.

Today ...
The guys worked like crazy to get the playground structure finished. Tomorrow they may finish. Or else our friend Marcos who has been helping since day one will complete it the day after we leave. But really, Ethan, Gill, chief and. Bruno have built a glorious memento of our visit that the kids will enjoy for decades.

Those of us who worked in the classroom continue to be challenged by the language, the different levels that the kids present and touched by their warmth, resilience, and experiences that they bring to the table every day. They are truly amazing and wonderful and so many of them have no family whatsoever except for El Hogar. El Hogar has picked them up off the streets living in deplorable conditions and provided them with a home and the hope and knowledge that they do have a family, that God loves them and they have a future.  They are so happy to have us we cannot walk through the quad without being hugged, touched, high fived and treated with many, many, smiles. It is a spiritual experience that touches all of our hearts each and every day!

But more of today...
A long ride in the van through the hilly sometimes pastoral, sometimes so full of abject poverty it breaks your heart.  Lunch in an outdoor restaurant without rice and beans for the first time and a quick stop in a little safe town to pick up a few souvenirs for all to enjoy. Then more work,work, work on the structure til we were stopped by the dark. more tortillas and beans for those of us who ate.  We can't believe we leave tomorrow and while many of us are anxious to see our families we are saddened to leave the kids who have become our El Hogar family. Leaving is Bittersweet for all.

Neal

As the days go by at El Hogar, you realize how precious is the time you have spent with these children.  Your connection to them gets greater, your ability to communicate in Spanish improves and you find yourself praying for a bright future for every soul here.

This morning, while I could not understand the full story, one child in my class was speaking about a news story where a gang approached a mother and her sons in the north of Honduras to recruit the boys into the gang.  Sad details aside, it did not end well for the family. 

I wondered where he had heard the news. Their teacher reassured all of the children that they were safe at El Hogar. In fact, she told them, God had chosen them to live and study here.  He wanted them to be safe, have a place to become educated and bring peace to their country.  In seeing their sweetness, we all held that hope in our hearts too. But, I wondered what was going on in their sweet heads, how much of violence they may have seen and experienced first hand.  

It is safe behind these walls. These children are nurtured in a way in which my own children had been nurtured, without the constant shadow of competition.  They also hear the steady reminder that their choices, behavior and commitment to education could change the face of their whole nation.

As Americans, we don’t often think of our children’s future in terms of their responsibility for the shared success of the whole.  Being smarter, faster, prettier and more successful is how we often assess success.  I think there is a lot that El Hogar could teach us.

Later in the day, we visited the agricultural school far into the countryside. Nearly 60 young men live here, miles from everything and everyone. The study agriculture and animal husbandry - teenage boys far from home and far from temptations – building a future to sustain them.  Their reality seems a bit fragile as boredom, a desire to be among other teens in their home communities might trump the educational opportunities they earned at El Hogar. On the soccer field their was a plaque to a graduate of their program who had lost his life coming home on the bus – to thieves who considered his life worth the ear buds they stole from him.  I imagine that serves as a daily reminder to them for what is at stake.

As we end our stay here, our greatest hope is for all of these children to be a hope for their country and may we return to ours and continue to support them from afar.

Mary Hilton, Ellicott City Rotary

Everyday we start off with breakfast at 6:20 in the cafeteria. The meals are simple - basically whatever they have - wholesome. Today bananas and a bread -a kind of a large heavy coffee cake.

We left in the van to the  El Hogar technical school. It's about a 45 minute ride out of town. The country side is unbelievably beautiful- tall sharp mountains-tropical foliage and mild weather always. We went through a valley and saw a couple of recent developments by habitat for humanity and by the Catholic Church -coffee factories- a modern water amusement park.  Then we arrived at a dirt road about one lane wide and followed it into the country side passing a few mom and pop farms and tiny makeshift haciendas and arrived at the gates of the technical school.

The technical school campus is perhaps 20 acres and has a series of fairly modern buildings including dorms, classrooms, the computer center, an impressive sanctuary, the administrative offices and of course the technical training building that has 4 sections for welding, carpentry, electrical and automotive - the automotive has not been set up yet but the others are outfitted with machinery tools and teachers- the kids seem to be concentrating and producing and learning busily and with really positive force. We had lunch with the director and listened to his very compelling story of his life with el Hogar. He started with el Hogar about 35 years ago from very meager beginnings of a small house and 6 kids in Tegucigalpa to what it is today. Lazaro is a man with a deep love for the kids, a intense dedication to mission of taking these at risk kids and giving them a successful future, and a man with a spiritual wholesomeness that is infectious. I can't imagine a better role model and leader for these kids and his work is making a huge difference by sending these kids back into the community where they are perfect examples of the benefits of education, skills, and good character.

We learned that they need to complete the wall around the compound to keep neighborhood girls from getting in to tempt the boys away from their otherwise very bright future. We also asked about what would be needed to set up the automotive training section - they need a teacher and more equipment. But mostly what el Hogar needs right now is operating capital to keep all the programs going. It has become really obvious to us how much good the 4 el Hogar locations - the elementary school in Tegucigalpa, the home for high school girls in Santa Lucia, the technical institute (west of Tegucigalpa), and the agricultural school (about an hour north) - are doing for kids bringing them solidly from some of the most abhorrent conditions on earth to a middle class future or better. And the fact that they are able to do so much on a modest budget is amazing to us. Nothing is wasted.

Anyway the lunch at the technical institute was great. In fact so good that I fell asleep on the trip back.

Back at the elementary school we split up again - half of us helping out in the classrooms and the other half working on the playground- the two towers of the playground we framed, the holes dug for the footings and the legs of the towers set in the holes. We hope to pour the concrete around the holes and start assembling the floors of the towers and the bridge between the two towers tomorrow.

The evening was spent with the kids playing games teaching them English and learning Spanish from them and just dwelling in their joy and wonder. It's incredible to us how excited and energetic they are even having come from such impossible circumstances.

After that we all sit in the screened in porch on the visitors cabin, eat the freshest sweetest mango and bananas, and recount the events of the day. I have had so much fun and laughs with this group and have bonded so closely that it will be hard to imagine leaving. Just being here seems to have given us an aura of goodness and life that is incomparable.

Bruno

Good evening from El Hogar. The weather continues to cooperate rain during night warm and dry during the day, thank goodness.

Day begins with breakfast 0620 hours, after breakfast outside meeting with children. Nancy, Mary, Neal and Betsy second day teaching. The day was a lot harder than the first, the students were excitable, Betsy had a free for all we both the teacher and Neal stepped out, but managed to prevent injuries.

The play ground crew continued with digging holes for post, Ethan got blisters within 5 minutes, he forgot to wear gloves, he learns quick. Gill was happy when they asked him to weld, but got a surprise when asked to cut angle iron into short pieces with a hacksaw, good thing he has strong arms. Bruno, Ethan and Gill painted wood that was routed and sanded while Chief sanded a lot of wood.

Supper 1730 hours beans and plantains with the children. Time with the children from dorm 2 playing games and teaching English to some. The children are very loving and share a lot of hugs.

CHIEF

Today was a great day!  It's 8pm and were all sitting around recounting the day and laughing and sharing some great moments from the past 15 hours.

We woke up at 5:45 this morning, ate breakfast and then headed to the school assembly.  The kids were so excited to have us there and groups of kids would look at us and pat their seats for us to come sit next to them.  They all gave us hugs and big smiles and were happy to play with us while we waited for the assembly to begin.

The assembly was an hour and a half long and complete with an enthusiastic singing of the Honduran national anthem, a slideshow about  before and after conditions of the students at El Hogar and class President speeches from three student candidates.  One student, a sweet 12 year old girl named Diana was particularly poised and confident.

After the assembly, we broke into two groups - Neal, Mary, Betsy and Nancy worked as teachers aides to some of the students who needed extra attention.  Neal and Betsy had a challenging few hours working on getting two students to count to six in Spanish.

Chief, Gill and I are working to build a playground for the El Hogar school.  We worked hard all day cutting, sanding and routing the wood.  Chief was a machine with the router and will share pictures of the two of us covered in sawdust soon.  Tomorrow we start the assembly.  Wish us luck!

Before dinner, we met with Claudia, the director of the school.  She is a passionate and inspiring woman who deeply loves her job and the kids at El Hogar.  She shared with us the stories of a lot of the children.  It's amazing the resilience that these kids have given their awful circumstances coming into El Hogar.  The meeting began late because the mother of one of the students, an 11 year old boy named Jefferson showed up unannounced at the gates of the school after being estranged from her son for seven years.  Jefferson had been given over to his grandparents by his mother at age four and was abused by both of them.  The grandmother dropped off Jefferson at the gates a few months later and no one has been in contact since.   Tomorrow Claudia is going to court to try to keep Jefferson at school, she is confident she can, but is afraid of the alternative.  Most kids have similar stories of abuse and neglect and their resilience and ability to be positive and happy amidst their adversity is a true testament to this program.

After dinner, we split off again and four of us played with a group of 40 of the younger boys which was apparently pretty chaotic.  The rest of us taught "english class" to a group of 5-6 kids who wanted to practice their english.  They all told us their favorite animal, color and what they wanted to be when they grow up.  It quickly turned into slapping games and thumb war contests with groups of kids laughing and jockeying for our attention.

Tomorrow we start all over again.  Can't wait.

Ethan

Greetings from El Hogar. My dear sister Betsy has been working me over for the last five years about the powerful experience of El Hogar. She has talked about the love, the faces, the need and the passion you feel while here. She has talked about her trips here and the damaged young lives that are salvaged, loved, taught and made whole.

We are on day two, our first full day at El Hogar. After breakfast, our first stop was an episcopal service about 30 minutes away. We were warmly greeted and enjoyed the spirit of Honduras in song and music (as I speak "limited" Spanish, thank god the service was identical to the american service so I could kind of keep up!). The sermon remains a mystery to this gringo.

We then traveled to the high school girls' home in Santa Lucia about 45 minutes away. The van we traveled in is both a mystery and marvel of mountain passage engineering. There were several "no hands" roller coaster moments when we were detoured off the road more traveled!

The young women were kind, sweet and gracious having our crew tour through their world. Both the view and the facility were beyond expectation. As a minor participant in the Rotary grant, the Ellicott City Rotary members are proud of Burlington Rotary Global Grant and now clearly understand the need and what the grant will accomplish.

Betsy, you are right. There is unparalleled love at El Hogar. There are sweet smiling faces at El Hogar. There is great need at El Hogar. There is unwavering passion at El Hogar. My life is changed and I have you to thank.

 Gill

For me today is a dream come true. This is my first day at El Hogar. Five years ago my daughter Melissa volunteered as part of a service project here and ever since then I longed for a similar opportunity.

When Melissa was here the first thing I did every morning, even before I had my first cup of tea, was to turn on the computer and read the daily entries and pictures on the blog. It did not take long to become enamored with the children and with the philosophy and the mission of the school.

As a member of the The Rotary Club of Burlington, I passionately employed the Club to get a team together. As we all know Rome was not built in a day and projects take time to implement. This year under the guidance of President Ethan Solomon the Rotary Club of Burlington not only is asking part in a service project but applied for and obtained a global grant to help hire an English teacher and set-up a computer lab for the girl's high school.

Now back to my first day at El Hogar. So far today I observed many girls and boys between the ages of 5 and 13 enjoying themselves on the jungle gym, making desserts in the bakery or just running around sporting smiles and introducing themselves to members of the team. There were hugs a plenty. Since I am not around children on a daily basis I must admit that I was somewhat apprehensive about meeting the children. Worried that I had little to offer. I could not have been more wrong. In a matter of seconds my fear melted and was replaced with a sense of belonging and unconditional acceptance.

Being here is such a gift. The children kept me present in the moment and engaged me in mindless activities that fed my soul and brought out the child in me.  I became reacquainted with a part of myself that has remained dormant for longer than I can remember.

While our purpose for being here is to help the children. In just a few hours they gave me much more then I can ever give them. They reminded me that I am enough. Period. They don't care what you do for a living, where you live, what type of car you drive, or if you have a lot of money. They only care that you are a loving caring person. What more can one ask for.

Stay tuned and accompany us on an experience of a life time.

-Nancy Hogan

We have arrived safely at El Hogar and all of our luggage miraculously arrived even though some team members apparently had to run for flights! We are heading out to play with kids before their bedtime (and ours!). We are tired but happy to be here!
Love to all,
Betsy

We are packed and ready to go, excited to get to the capital city of Tegucigalpa and then to El Hogar de Amor y Esperanza, the Home of Love and Hope.

 

Mary, Bruno and Gill are the 3 Ellicott City Rotary Club members traveling from Maryland and Nancy, Ethan and Paul (aka Chief) are the 3 Burlington Rotary Club members from MA. Neal and I are travelling from MA as extended Rotary family- Neal is Ethan’s dad and I am Gill’s sister!

 

We have very early flights and land in Tegus around noon local time (its 2 hours earlier there). We will post on the blog sometime Saturday to let you know of our safe arrival. Our week is jam packed with all kinds of activities from touring the 4 campuses to assisting in the classrooms to building a play structure to joining the local Tegucigalpa Rotary meeting to playing with and getting to know the wonderful children at El Hogar.

 

It’s going to be a great week- check back often as we will post our stories and pictures each day.

 

Hasta luego!

Betsy