Edwing’s 50th Birthday
Edwing, one of our directors and father figure for the children, celebrated his 50th Birthday on February 4th. What a great opportunity for a party.
The team set up a lovely lunch outside, where everyone enjoyed good food, lots of cake and of course Piñata. This time the Piñata was prepared by the adults for a change. The following sing-along party went on all afternoon with a lot of singing and dancing.
The visit of Gerard van Kesteren
Again this year Gerard, his wife Teresa and his son Anthony came to visit for a couple of days. Over the years Gerard and his family became very close friends and there is always pleasant anticipation before they arrive. Gerard enjoys great popularity, as he always pampers the children. One day we visited the ongoing project of the vocational training unit in Santa Rosa. We were surprised and pleased about the good process they made, considering that most of the work is done by hand.
The next day we all went to mass and enjoyed the traditional pizza party afterwards, to which Gerald invited all of us. On the farewell day everyone agreed that Gerard and his family are «angels» and there is «no adios, mas bien hasta pronto» – «no good bye, but see you again soon».
The vocational training unit in Santa Rosa de Copan
As seen during our visit in Santa Rosa with Gerard and his family, the vocational training unit is nearly finished. The lower area is already covered, the basement is casted and all electric cables are installed. In order to get this training unit running, the next important step is, to socialize with other national and international projects like «Pro Joven» of the Swiss confederation DEZA or the INFOP (Instituto Nacional de Formacion Profesional). We also get some support in strategic and organisational matters from local authorities, who have been waiting for a project like this for a long time. If everything goes well, the construction work should be finished in June 2016 and we can welcome the first students in September.
First day of school
Time to go back to school. To get all children up and running for the first day back at school is always a big challenge. Everyone needs two school uniforms, one uniform for physical education, plus their school bag with required books and school material. All their belongings need to be labelled with their names, otherwise things are lost after just a few days. Finally the 8th of February arrived and everyone was so excited to go back to school after a three months holiday. From this day our house was deserted in the morning, as 36 of our children are off to school. Five go to Kindergarten, two are in prep school, one is in his 1st year, six in the 2nd and six in 3rd year. We have one girl in 4th, three in 5th and one in 6th class. Four of our children start their 1st year at secondary-school and five are in their 2nd year and one in the 3rd year at secondary-school. And we have Yulissa, who is going for her final secondary-school examination. In the afternoon everyone is busy doing their homework. I have the feeling that the kids slowly realize how privileged they are, that they have the chance to go to school and have two teachers assisting them with their homework.
A few days before school started, a lot of local families knocked on our door to ask for support. Even though the government’s schools are free for everyone, the families have to take care of school uniforms, books and all required school material. For most of them, these expenses are just not affordable. Thanks to a donation from «ACOSA» and «Utiles de Honduras», we were able to provide our children with all necessary items and still help out the local families. We were happy to support 35 other children and hand out school bags, books and school material.