On February 7, the time had finally come for the children to go back to school after 3 months of holidays. However, it is a big organizational issue to get ready. Here in Honduras, children have to wear a school uniform, which means that we have to buy two uniforms for every child. Our children go to a private nuns’ school. Currently, we have 27 students, two of which are in preschool; we have two 1st graders, five 2nd graders, thirteen 3rd graders, three 4th graders, one 5th grader, as well as one 6th grader. Our children are among the classes’ best, and thus among the school’s best. We’re very pleased by that fact, since it is a little sign to us that our daily work pays off and bears fruit. School starts at 7.00 a.m. and ends at 12.00 p.m. After lunch, everyone has to do homework before they can go and play.
On February 20, we went to Cerro azul Meamber Park (Fog-Rainforest). It takes about 1½ hours to get there by car from San Pedro Sula. The hike took us 3 hours and we saw various waterfalls. To top it all, the children were allowed to swim in a close-by waterfall. Unfortunately, we had a little “incident” with bees on our way, which stung us badly. The stings were really painful.
Currently, two volunteers from Graubünden are here with us. It is Walter Pegorari’s fifth stay in Honduras. He is a foreman and helps us everywhere. This year, he heightened the home’s wall, tiled the outdoor kitchen, built a gallery for the seats, built a rain channel, and timbered a bench. During his stays, he spoils our children in every possible way. He invited them to a waterpark twice, which, of course, greatly pleases the children, who had a lot of fun. He also keeps pampering us with his culinary skills, such as pizza, potato bake, etc.
Claudia Balestra has come here for 4 weeks. She helps anywhere she can and is a great help to our staff. Since she speaks flawless Spanish, she was part of the family from the beginning and everyone is really happy to have her here.
Josue, our 6-year old boy, suffers from a syndrome called “Foetal Alcoholism”. He is mentally challenged, can neither speak nor walk. For a year he has been going to physiotherapy twice a week and to ergotherapy once a week. It is a great pleasure for me to tell you that he has made immense progress. He has grown, put on weight, he articulates children’s names, walks about the home with his “walking aid” the whole day and he’s able to stand on his own. Certainly, we’re all very happy about this and we hope that he will continue with his progress.