New children
With great joy did we welcome 3 new siblings, Yaxel (5 years), Hostin (4 years) and Elvin (3 years), at our home. They showed obvious evidence of malnutrition and we all knew, that we can be a positive turning point in their young lives. They do not only lack between 6 to 8 kg bodyweight each, we also know that they had to go through a terrible past with both parents in prison. Before they came to us, they lived with their grandmother who was only able to serve them food from dumpsters.
Luckily enough, they felt home real fast and it shows that they feel comfortable in their new environment. We were even able to subscribe Yaxel right away at preschool, he is a smart little boy.
IHNFA closing down
The incumbent president of the IHNFA (Instituto Hondureño de la Niñez y la Familia) had to put an end to this highly uneconomical institution. For the coming six months is an interim arrangement in place until the DINAF (Dirección de la Niñez, Adolescencia y Familia) takes over the responsibilities. One of the main reasons which lead to this outcome were the exorbitant salary costs. 95% of the IHNFA’s total budget was spent on salaries, not a surprise by 1200 people on a payroll whereas 300 to 400 employees would have been largely sufficient. A sleeker employment politic with fewer hierarchical levels must be installed, mostly everybody agrees on that.
Obviously do we question ourselves which affect this will have on our children.
The possibility that our smallest ones, which were left behind by their families, are put up for adoption is quit high. It was a shocking awakening but at the same time do we have our hopes up that this will result in lasting chance for our children to find a proper, loving and caring adopting family.
The goal is, that all cases of children staying at orphanages in Honduras, will be brought to conclusion by a tribune. In our point of view a very important project, the reality though results mostly in a different outcome. Too many times were great intentions vocalized and project launched but at the end nothing has changed. Let’s keep our fingers crossed…
ROOM
The organization ROOM receives thorough out the year visits from different US-American groups which spend time at the different children homes. This year they also came to see us and brought along plenty activities for our children. They colored t-shirts, rehearsed songs with bells, played with hand-puppets and did many more fun things together. They united hours were fully cherished and the custom colored t-shirt become their favorite item in their wardrobes.
Santa Rosa de Copan
Our new project slowly takes on shapes. The provisory project consists of 700m2 construction, agriculture, dairy production, chicken farm, fish farming, storage area, playground, sport infrastruction and different spaces for workshops.
Our older boys helped a lot during the week with putting a fence around the territory. With great joy did they discover a water source on the lower plateau of the land. This is a huge blessing because Santa Rosa suffers often from water shortage. The boys built different small dams to figure out where the main spring lies.
Due to the unevenness of the area, they also built steps to enable an easy access between the two areas. While the boys where very busy with the new land, the girls were a great support in the house. They helped with cleaning, cooking and taking care of the toddlers. As a goodie were they allowed to use the pool.
Once more were we able to enjoy fabulous holidays in our beloved Santa Rosa de Copan. Happy, relaxed and properly tanned did we return into our industrial city which we like to call home sweet home.