American friends
For the fifth time did our American friends, from the Gran Comission church in Lake City, visit us. This year came Mike and two of his friends a bit early to help us build a house for an utterly poo family in Puerto Cortes. Our older boys accompanied the men and helped them with the construction work. Our American friends were highly impressed by our boys quality of work and their determination to help people in need.
After the house was built the students arrived. 15 teenagers spent some times with our children, they drew together some art pieces, played a lot, taught them new things and invited them on top of that to their hotel to spend a final day together at the poo. It was touching to see how the children connect easily with people and it was interesting to observe how each of them felt drawn to certain types of people.
Beauty saloon at the home
On Sunday came a hairdresser to visit us and brought her apprentices with her. They were clearly on a mission, they wanted to spoil us. Each child was asked what hairstyle they wish and in most cases was it doable. Head massages were included and a lot of laughter. Afterwards did we all feel ready to compete at a beauty contest.
Water shortage
Every year the same old story… When summer reaches its peak we are faced with a water and electricity shortage. It is always a torture and this year again did we have to call the firefighter to fill up our water tank.
Due to the shortcoming of the electricity, available in the state, is the government forced to ration the electricity for each neighborhood. Obviously do we never know when it is our turn and this is a huge challenge, especially when we have to buy fresh food at the market. Unfortunately, this year we were forced to throw away meat which got rotten because we couldn’t store it properly. It’s heartbreaking because it is the last thing we want to do, waist food.
Education
A solid education is the only way out of the poverty circle. We try to make that clear to our children on a daily basis. Unfortunately, as many other children around the globe, do ours also think that they study for their parents or teachers.
Nonetheless, all of our children passed the second semesters’ finals with good and very good grades, even though the government changed the scoring system which become more challenging. To pass a class must the children have at least 70% and no longer 60%.
The success of our children is not taken for granted, a lot of effort goes into our daily after-school program which takes place from 1.30 p.m. – 5 p.m, mandatory for the youngest to the oldest school-aged child. We help them complete their homework and cover specific needs. Furthermore, are we filled with joy when we here that our children set an example when it comes to activities at school, they are determined to contribute to a positive outcome.
Saturday mornings do all children above 3rd grade attend an English course at our home. We have a qualified teacher who comes to teach English because we are convinced that this ends up being an huge advantage for our children’s personal and professional future.
We note that our smaller ones pick up a new language much easier than the older ones, especially their pronunciation is much clearer
Recycling-Zoo
Francisco built a bird zoo simply by using old tiers. He installed a small exposition in our front yard and the children discovered already a pelican, a turcan and a quetzal, all local birds. The colorful tiers are not only meant for decoration, they also serve as incubators for our chickens.