New children
Every child comes to us with heavy blows of fate. The last two had to live through particularly difficult times in their short life.
Dominick, who turns one year old in December, was brutally beaten, scratched and even tied on his neck by his birth mother. On the night of his arrival he did not even have the strength to cry. He did not know how it feels like to be loved. Everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, welcomed him with open arms. Only after a short time he started to feel at home with us, safe and loved.
The second new child is Ariana. She is only 15 months old but battles already against cancer, a malignant tumor grows in her right eye. She has just undergone the first chemotherapy. We sincerely hope that she conquers the fight for her life.
New bus
Beginning with the next school year (February 2018), a total of 250 pupils from 12 primary schools will attend computer and English classes at the ACEP in Santa Rosa. To enable them, they must be driven back and forth.
That's why we decided to bring our current bus to Santa Rosa and to buy a new one for the city. Thanks to the generous and lovely support of so many Swiss people, we were able to buy us our new Mitsubishi bus with room for 34 people. It is sort of our 10th anniversary gift...
I had the honor and the pleasure of taking the first spray ride with our children. Everyone was visibly excited about the new ride and they barely got over the fact that the bus has a radio and even an air conditioner.
End of term
In November, the current school year has come to an end. With great joy the children received their report cards or certificates! All finished the school year with good or even excellent grades and we were allowed to attend three school graduation ceremonies. First, we were at the celebration of our 4 preschool children, who will be starting primary school in February. Then we were invited to the dinner-event of the sixth graders. And, last but not least, we all attended Yulissa's graduation party.
Every year I realize what a privilege our children have. They are allowed to visit private nunnery schools and thus receive guidance for their lives along the way.
Not only are the children very happy that they have three months' holiday, but also our laundress Dunia. She has to wash all school uniforms by hand every day, let them dry and then iron them perfectly. A tough job - 21 times - every day .... Only our older girls have to wash and iron themselves. With the boys we mostly made bad experiences because they always managed to burn wholes into their pants...
In addition to the laundress, our chefs are also happy about the upcoming holidays. During the school period, they have to serve breakfast at 6:00 am and therefore start prepping at 5:00 am. During the school holidays they are allowed to sleep in as well, the breakfast must be served by 9:00 clock.
Only our educators’ joy is limited, they will have the children home for three straight months… it is indeed a challenge to keep all of them busy in and around the house.
Cultural events
Cultural events are not so common in Honduras. That's why it was the first time for many of our teenagers to enter the city theater. Everyone had dressed up and looked forward to this event. The play was very funny and they enjoyed themselves very much. It was an unique experience for everyone.
Culture also means traditions and disguises ... Thanks to our friend Chuchi Pañal, the children celebrated fashing on a Saturday afternoon. Each child was allowed to choose a piece of clothing to dress up with. Chuchi had also prepared some other games such as modeling and singing. For me, only the Guggenmusik was missing ...
Political turmoils
The political and social situation is currently very tense. The delay in the announcement of the election results on 26 November 2017 led to unrest, looting and road closures in San Pedro Sula, as in other cities.
As a result, there were violent clashes between the demonstrators of different parties among themselves and with the security forces. This has claimed several casualties and even fatalities.
Thank God we were spared of everything. Outside our walls, tires were burned and many shops were plundered. Fortunately, they left us alone.
We had already taken all safety precautions in advance and stocked up on food, water, gasoline and gas in order to avoid having to leave home for one to two weeks in an emergency.
Thanks to the government-imposed curfew between 6:00 pm and 6:00 am, things got a lot quieter.
Everyone is still waiting eagerly for the announcement of the President. But as it looks at the moment, this may take a long time. Maybe there will even be a second round of voting. The opposition is convinced that the national party has cheated and the result is therefore invalid. That would lead to the repetition of the elections.