Fun Times with Kids

As the kids in our Children's Home have adjusted to our place, we've tried to teach them to expect a balance of work and play in life.   Along with their schoolwork, they're learning to help with chores around our property, from picking cocoa, to feeding the pigs, to collecting eggs.  Since they're kids though, life is mostly play now.

For fun things around home, the kids get to go swimming in the creek, watch a movie, or walk up to the village for a pepsi.  Occasionally though, we like to send them out for a bigger adventure.

A couple of weeks ago most of the Give Hope 2 Kids crew took the kids on a jungle hike to visit the place where David, our property manager, grew up.  Everyone had a great day of swimming in the mountain streams and having a picnic.  Maybe the biggest adventure of the day though was when one of the kids spotted an iguana, which the men chased, caught, cooked, and everyone ate!  

We're now starting the hottest, driest time of the year in our part of Honduras.  This is "summer" here and the favorite time to head to the beach or the rivers.  So, to celebrate our Semana Santa (Holy Week) Honduras-style, we took the kids to the beach. 

Our first house parents are from a beach town and they wanted to introduce the kids to their family and neighborhood and treat them to a fun day in a new place.  People where we live rarely get to the city, let alone to the ocean, even though it's only 25 miles away.   For some in our group, it was their first trip to the ocean!

Once we hit the beach, the kids couldn’t get in the water fast enough.  They loved the waves and the salty water, but their favorite part was making new friends in the tidal pool.

While we enjoyed the fun the kids had, these trips have been great for unifying our group.  We're creating a big-family culture at our place and we're loving it.  

Plus, there's one more thing that excites us about these trips:  We've invited a particular family from our village to go along on these adventures and become a part of our "family."  They've spent a lot of time helping our current house parents and doing other projects for the ministry.   And now, just last week, they agreed to be our second set of house parents.  With their family, we will be able to open a 2nd house for kids in the near future!