People in need everywhere
Due to the two tropical storms that caused great destruction in Honduras in November, thousands of people have been in need.
“Our” family from Ticamaya, which we have been supporting for years, has also lost everything. The water masses have completely washed away their mud hut. Only their animals could be saved. There was a hostel in the village, but since they were not allowed to take their animals (pigs, cats, dogs and a raccoon) with them, they built a temporary house out of plastic bags on someone else's property.
Roxana and Ana, sisters of five children, got into a serious traffic accident with their motorbike one evening. They suffered severe injuries and had to go to the public hospital. Their mother accompanied them and so they had to leave their younger, thirteen-year-old sister, Rixi, alone with the five children on this piece of land.
When we found out about this, we immediately took her and the children to our home. When her sisters were allowed to leave the hospital, we also took them in. After the first medical treatment, both were discharged from hospital too early despite their severe injuries. Under the current circumstances, the danger that the open wounds would immediately become infected was too great. And last but not least, the family has no money for the medical aid they need.
In total, they stayed with us for over a month. Our children called the smallest children of the family "Tarzans". Because they loved to run around the home naked and barefoot. That is the way they were used to. They knew nothing else.
Roxana lost some teeth in the accident. Our foundation paid for her dentures and now she can laugh again three months after the tragedy.
An almost unnoticed graduation
The whole nation was busy with the hurricane emergency. That's why most people didn't even notice that the unique online school year was coming to an end. At that moment, it didn't matter to most either.
The Department of Education let all the children from the flooded areas pass the school year. The children are of course very happy about this. Unfortunately, they do not realize how much damage they will suffer in the long run due to the lack of knowledge they have acquired.
At the beginning of December, the secondary school graduation ceremony for our three students Lency, Jennifer and Yeslin took place online. This was already very strange, and no one really felt that it had been a celebration. However, we did not want to let this special occasion go over in this way. We therefore invited the three graduates to a fine dinner at the beautiful Hotel Copantl. When they were allowed to leave our premises for the first time after nine months of "captivity", they realized that it was "their" celebration and that they had mastered an important stage in their lives.
This online school year was a very big challenge for all of us. But in the end, all the children could be happy about their very good final grades. Our children's grade point average of 91% was exceptionally good. Fortunately, the children were able to get used to this new format and we were luckily able to ensure their schooling throughout the whole year.
New Children
Shortly before Christmas, we welcomed three new girls. First, 15-month-old Lia came to us. Her mother comes from Mosquitia, a border region to Nicaragua in the east of Honduras. That's why she has the typical, beautiful whirling curls and understands only Miskitic. She was lovingly welcomed by the other children in the Sala Cuna.
Then, on 23 December, fifteen-year-old Johana joined us. In the evening I asked her what Christmas wish she had and she answered that she wished her two-year-old daughter Ana could also come to us. She had been placed in another children's home. Fortunately, we were able to grant her this wish and since then the two have been happily reunited as mother and daughter.
Christmas and New Year's Eve
In Honduras it is a tradition to wear new clothes at Christmas and New Year's Eve. Thanks to the donation of clothes by Greta Hofmann and the export factory "Southware", we were again able to have our children wear new clothes this year.
We also discussed whether we want to celebrate Christmas at all since thousands of people still have to live on the streets without any money. I then said that unfortunately we cannot change the whole world and it will not be possible for us to help all those in need. So we decided to give a small gift to the victim families. We put together 650 Christmas baskets, each containing 18 kilos of food and essential household items and distributed them in the flooded areas. Take a look at the video of the gift baskets.
At the home, the cooks prepared a very fine Christmas dinner for us. After the meal, we had a "Secret Santa" before each child was allowed to draw a number and then choose his or her Christmas present from the gift shelf in the order in which it was drawn. At midnight we celebrated the birth of Jesus and then slowly went to sleep.
On New Year's Eve, a kind of scarecrow, the Mongolo, is made. Notes with the bad experiences, thoughts and worries of the past year are put into it along with "firecrackers". On New Year's Eve, it is lit, and all the bad things go up in smoke with a great roar.
After the delicious main course, we lit it and burnt the bad things of the past year. Afterwards, everyone wrote down their annual goals for 2021 in order to start the new year full of hope, confidence and positive thoughts.
The false alarm…
Finally, I would like to tell you about a somewhat frightening, but in retrospect still funny story. One Saturday afternoon, the rumors went around that the El Cajón dam had broken. This was also reported by two television channels. I asked COPECO if this was really true. They confirmed it to me which meant that we also had to evacuate the children's home because it was in the risk area. All the children took their emergency bag with their most important belongings, which we had always had at hand since the hurricanes and got on the bus. Some took their bibles and others their photos. Each of them took what was most important to them. We were already on the bus when suddenly I heard a miauuu from one of José's bags... For José, our cat was so important that he packed it in his bag too....
When we were all ready sitting on the bus, we couldn't find the key for the bus because of all the commotion. Geovanni had put it in his trouser pocket and then forgotten it. Once we found it, we were not able drive off because we couldn't open the gate. Our guard had lost the key to the main gate due to his nervousness. So next we had to cut the padlock with a saw. Meanwhile, the cooks realized that they had forgotten to turn off the gas stove. When we ran back to the kitchen, we saw that the fans were still running in the whole home... The home was in absolute chaos, most of the children and staff were crying. Everyone was in shock. Then I personally realized that at that very moment everything I had built up here in Honduras, the many hours in the office, all the papers, the documents, in general my life of the last 14 years, could be lost...
Outside on the streets the chaos was even worse. All streets were crowded with cars, buses, people and horses. Everyone wanted to flee but nothing moved. Within three hours we had travelled barely one kilometer...
Fortunately, it was "only" a false alarm and we were able to go back to the home after a few hours. It was made clear to us that neither we as a children's home nor the rest of the city were prepared for an evacuation... In the end, we were all only able to create a huge chaos, but nothing more. We dare not to imagine what would have happened if it had not been a false alarm.....
With all the tension and anxiety, this was the first day that our children voluntarily gave up their dinner. This experience caused a definite queasiness in everyone's stomachs, as the shock of the evening was still deep in their bones....