Lunes, Day 3

 This has been a very full day.  We started with breakfast at 6:20 am then attended the opening exercises and worship at 7:00. 

 

 

Claudia, the director of the school led the opening exercises and worship for the 90 children.  She is an inspiring leader and mother for all the children, past and present. 

She announced that a well-known song writer in Honduras had written a song for El Hogar.  The lyrics came from words and phrases they had earlier collected from the children and alumni expressing how they felt about El Hogar.  It was very moving, in Spanish of course.  The group sang the national anthem, raised the flag, and Claudia and the staff led devotions.  She gave a talk to all the attentive children about their own ability to take charge and make changes in their situation and to make a better life for themselves and the country. 

At 8:00 we met with Claudia in what I am sure everyone will consider one of the highlights of the week.  She talked about the 24 new children this year.  They all come with a many bad experiences in their short lives.  They have no aspirations for the future and hope that their lives will improve.  Many have emotional issues from rejection and abuse.  She talked about how they work with all the children to show they are loved and have the power to create a future for themselves.  She talked about their successes and even their heart breaking failures.  Every day is an emotional roller-coaster and she relies on her strong faith to carry her through day after day and year after year.   

The meeting moved on to hearing about our tasks for the day and the week.  Lynn and Ros with help from Erika are using their teaching and translating skills to assess some of the challenging children and give the teachers seminars on strategies for teaching them.   Louise, a nurse, was asked to staff the clinic and make sure the children needing regular medication received it.  From 5:40 to 7:00pm each day we divided into 3 groups, some to teach English to school tour guides, some to teach piano to a group of 4 expected to play at a Friday event, and others to do crafts with 25 kids.  All this is in addition to our regular work projects.  Today we cleared out the repair shop storage room so it could be converted to a laundry,  

repaired and painted many desks, and patched and painted exterior walls on 2 buildings.

It has been a very full day, and one that fully defined for us what El Hogar is about and what our trip here is striving to achieve.

Posted by Rick