Investing in Students

During our time living and working in Honduras we've seen how much education changes lives for the better.  Without education, people have few options in life and often end up trapped in poverty.  There are almost no jobs where we live and if people move to the city without resources they often end up in the roughest neighborhoods with drugs and gangs.  But education changes things.  We know kids that are in medical school that come from families where the parents only went part way through grade school.    We really believe that education means more options and opportunity for a better life. 

One of the main ways that we help students is by giving them work.  Every year we give at least a dozen kids part-time work so they can cover the expenses of studying at Instituto El Rey (the school where we volunteered for a year-and-a-half).  We have about six students that work year round for us, helping with the library, construction projects, and property maintenance.

Ronald is a student that's lived with us for close to a year-and-a-half now.  As an older student (he's a 23-year-old 12th grader) he's had to fight to stay in school.  When he lived with his family, they expected him to be up at 4am to help with the cattle and then he worked for us after school to pay for all his school and living expenses.  Ronald was thinking of dropping out of school until we offered him a place to live.  He still works after school, but now he has the time he needs to study and he's looking forward to graduating from high school this November. 

When we started our library program a year-and-a-half ago,  Alma was asked to help.  She has grown into running the day-to-day program and has discovered that she is a natural teacher.  We've enjoyed seeing her grow in confidence and ability as she works with the kids. 

Many of you remember Ruby and her five younger sisters that we've helped through the years.  While we're not as involved with all six girls as we used to be, we still try to spend time with them and encourage their studies.  When the new school year started in February, we outfitted them all with the new uniforms and school supplies they needed.  We're amazed at how much they've grown up since we've known them.  The youngest, Abi, was only two when we started helping them and now she's in 2nd grade! 

We still spend quite a bit of time with Ruby and Roxana, the oldest two from this family.  Last year Ruby lived up at our place for much of the school year.  She and Roxana still come and stay over often.  They work in the library and do other projects to help pay for school expenses and practice their English with us.  In this photo, Roxana is in her school uniform (she's now in 10th grade) and Ruby is dressed to head out to her internship.

This week  Ruby, Alma, and Ronald are all down in La Ceiba, starting their 12th grade internship.  In Honduras, students are required to do a month long internship as a part of their last year of school.  For all their work in the library, we are providing Ruby and Alma with a place to stay for this month.  We are certain that this experience of living and working in the city will help prepare them for their transition to university studies next year. 

Another student that we're investing in is José.  José is in 11th grade at Instituto El Rey this year.  He is a kid with a great heart and an amazing musical ability.  With very little help, he's taught himself guitar, piano, and trumpet and he now helps with the music at three churches and his school every week.  He often comes over to our place to hang out and practice on our piano.  Jason is starting to teach him to edit music and video on the computer and I (Sarah) ended up giving him an impromptu voice lesson last week. 

As we look towards the future with these young people we are excited about helping them fulfill their dreams.  Next year we'd like to send José to La Ceiba every week for music lessons from the biggest  name  group in  Spanish  praise and worship.  Ruby will be off to university next year and Give Hope 2 Kids has committed to help her study.  We hope that in the future we can provide scholarships to more students.  This is just the first wave of kids heading out into the wider world that Give Hope 2 Kids has touched. 

We are passionate about continuing to invest in the education of young lives, to give them a future with greater possibilities.  We want to say our thanks to so many of you who enable us to be a blessing to these young people.