Honduras 2007

Thanks to so many peoples generosity I took £2,670 to Honduras and this was split between 2 new projects.

 

 

The first was in the community of Santa Cruz a very rural area just outside of the town I was staying in. Here a previous volunteer had seen the need for a school and instead of the expensive 50^th birthday party she had planned she donated the money and asked for money instead of gifts to build the school, toilets and a dining room/ kitchen. The school was completely finished but the dining room/kitchen was just a shell as the money ran out. So £1,365 has brought the ceiling, windows, doors, floor tiles, kitchen cupboards, tiled the sinks and connected the plumbing, built a traditional wood burning stove, tables and chairs for the children to sit at, all crockery, cutlery and all kitchen equipment. It is important to have a kitchen as for many of the 28 children at the school it is the only good meal they get each day. Save The Children will provide the funds for the food.

 

There is no money to pay for a qualified teacher which means they are taught by local volunteers and consequently the level of education is not brilliant but it is better than nothing.

 

To get to school the children have to walk across the fields which at this time of year are very muddy, they arrive in all sorts of footwear from wellies , shoes , flip-flops or nothing. They have no waterproof clothing, no electricity in the school or in their homes to dry things off so it is not surprising that they all have colds.

 

 

 

The second half of the money went to the Institute Honduran for Children and Families which is where I worked for 3 weeks. Here single parents can drop their children off so that they can go and earn a few Lempira. These families are very poor, many of the younger ones did not have nappies, just rags tied up and these had to be sent home at the end of the day to be washed and reused. So your money has bought nappies, feeding bottles, bibs, shoes, socks, hats, gloves (it gets very cold at this time of year) waterproof mattresses, basketball, colouring books and Christmas presents. Each volunteer buys a present or two whilst they are there otherwise they would not get a thing. Finally it has paid for all the toilets and showers to be refurbished. A previous volunteer has brought new pans, cisterns etc but there was no money to have them installed.

 

 

It was a very emotional 3 weeks and physically hard work – it made me realise I am not a fit as I once was! There is so much work there for volunteers to do whether it is a building project, general care, working in a school or in the local hospital. Honduras has been taken off the 3^rd world list of countries because the people are not starving but their income per capita still puts them as one of the poorest countries in the world. As they are no longer 3^rd world the major charitable organisations are no longer sending aid to them so it is even more important that volunteers go there and hopefully take money for projects with them.

 

So again on behalf of all the children whose lives you have brightened THANK YOU.

 

Maureen Grew