New school and community room
Our "Yo Quiero Ser..." family has grown steadily over the recent years. The classrooms, in which our children receive private lessons and have to do their homework, had therefore become too small. Furthermore, we lacked a larger room with enough space for receptions and interactions when visitors come.
That's why we tore down all the inner walls of the existing school building and raised its outer walls so that Helmut Zurbuchen could assemble the hall structure that was delivered from Switzerland in the last container.
Finally, we tiled the large room and installed the new windows. Some details like lamps, fans and the painting of the walls are still missing. Nevertheless, since the beginning of February, the children have been able to study there again and do their homework.
Camp
ROOM (Reach Out Orphanage Ministries) has invited 10 of our middle school children to participate in a two-week camp during the holidays.
The first week was dedicated to science and inspiration. They conducted various scientific experiments such as making ice cream and slime themselves as well as experiments with vacuum to suck in water. Various electrical circuits were set up and a solar oven was constructed. At the end of the week, our American friend Steve gave us a 3D printer so that the children could print figures and models three-dimensionally.
The second week was about art and creativity. They painted different art pieces, learned everything about color combinations, emotions, landscapes and portraits.
They also visited the Pepsi factory and learned about the various processes and procedures involved in making sodas.
Online presentation
The Honduran daily newspaper "La Prensa" published a portrait of the children's home director on 15 January 2019:: https://www.laprensa.hn/honduras/1250313-410/suiza-casa-hogar-ninos-desamparados-yo-quiero-ser-altruismo-honduras
School start 2019
After three months of school holidays, it was finally time for the new school year to begin. All the children were looking forward to their first day of school. Like the last years, this year our children are almost represented in all school classes:
- Kindergarden: 2 children
- Elementary
- Introductory class: 2 children
- 1stgrade: 1 child
- 2ndgrade: 2 children
- 4thgrade: 1 child
- 5thgrade: 5 children
- 6thgrade: 4 children
- Secondary School
- 1stsecondary class: 1 girl
- 2ndsecondary class: 3 girls
- 1stgraduation class: 2 girls
- 2ndgraduation class: 3 girls
Three of our children visit the special needs school IMDEE (Instituto Municipal de Educación Especial).
Dentist
This month, two dentists havecarried out an extensive check-up of all childrens’ teeth. We had already guessed it: some children have very healthy and firm teeth, and others had a lot of tooth decay.
Although tooth decay can have different causes, we try to fight the problem at the root with the following measures:
- Regular and correct dental care: our children have to brush their teeth 3 times a day after each meal.
- Acidic, sticky, sweet and carbohydrate-rich drinks and foods are the perfect breeding ground for caries. Our children are only allowed to drink sweet drinks, such as syrup, at lunchtime. Otherwise, cooled water is always available.
Now every child has the written protocol of the dental check. It is now up to us to take each child to the dentist to have the holes repaired. As you can imagine, with about 30 children this is a big challenge and also here in Honduras an expensive affair.
Visit from the Culinary Academy
The famous culinary academy "Escuela de Gastronomía Hernando Moreno" spoiled us as a social project with a very fine lunch. In addition to the food preparation, the culinary students had also put together a great program. Our children were allowed to spend a very amusing lunch and playful afternoon with them.