Learn
Honduras
is the poorest country in Central America. The
unemployment rate is nearly 30%, AIDS is a
major threat, and the educational system is
poor. Nearly 50% of the 7 million people in
Honduras are under the age of 20 and the
average first pregnancy for a female is 15.3
years of age. According to Unicef statistics,
there are 180,000 children in Honduras who are
orphaned or abandoned.
Many of these children end up in
government-run homes where there are few adult
workers to care for them, and where the
government lacks the funds to provide for the
most basic needs of the children.
The goal of Give Hope 2 Kids is to
provide a home for as many of these children as
we can. In December of 2007, the ministry
purchased 100 acres of property in Urraco,
Honduras. We are calling the home Casa de
Esperanza, which means House of Hope in
English.
We are building family-style homes
on the property, which will house about 8-10
children with a couple or an “aunt”
to care for them. Through these family-style
homes, we intend to teach children how to
interact in a relatively normal family setting.
In their family groups, the children will have
“brothers” and
“sisters,” chores, discipline, and
most importantly, individual love. We hope to
see them grow to have successful families of
their own, without repeating cycles of
dysfunction.
Our plan for kids is to give them a
permanent home and a genuine chance to create a
successful future. We intend to take in younger
children in order for this to be possible,
before the damage of abuse and pain steals
their malleability. When they are young they
have greater hope of working through their
pain, getting a good education, and learning
good family skills for their future life.
With the large piece of land
we’ve purchased, we can be partially
self-sustaining, providing much of our food
from the land. The property now has orange and
coco groves, a couple acres of coffee, and many
other fruit trees. We are going to plant more
fruit trees, more coffee, vegetable gardens,
and mahogany trees.
We also believe that a country life
will be beneficial for these children. They
will learn a good work ethic as they help with
chores and there will be lots of room to run,
play, and swim. We hope to build a refuge where
children feel safe from past hurt.
For updates about our progress with
Casa de Esperanza, please visit our blog.
For more information about the
condition of vulnerable children throughout the
world, please visit www.unicef.org. For
more information about Honduras, check out
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/honduras.html.
