On the weekend of February 18-20th, Kevin and I had the opportunity to visit Casa del Nino in La Ceiba. It’s one of the three centers that Our Courageous Kids donors support. If you missed our post on Christmas projects, read about it here. 

Thanks to you, a group of 35 boys and their caregivers were able to have a very special dinner out (a rarity) at their favorite restaurant: Pizza Hut.

While at the meal, we all put together glow stick necklaces and bracelets. Though we speak little Spanish and they speak little English, there still were laughs and smiles all around!

Boys in Honduras love pizza parties as much as I remember my students enjoying them back when I taught elementary school right out of college. It’s a treat they’ll wait all year for! Pizza, though seemingly a small thing, can speak volumes of encouragement!

Later, the next day, you, supporters paid for an enrichment activity for the boys. These are so important because there’s not a lot of change in the routine when you live in an institutional setting. On a normal day, the boys go to school, the eat, they play outside, they study. Then, they go to bed. The cycle just continues on.

But enrichment activities help the boys have open minds and hearts to something new.They help them appreciate the culture and environment in which they live. And most importantly, these activities remind the boys that they are loved and seen by families outside their caregivers.

So, together we all loaded up and went to a recreation center for a day of playing soccer, swimming in a pond and a nice lunch. The boys got to choose between chicken, fish or pork freshly grilled. A real treat to get to pick out the exact meal that they wanted.  After lunch they couldn’t wait to get back to swimming (as you could tell from this picture– some of the boys just couldn’t wait to hit the water i.e. why are you making us pose?)

Beyond the fun activities we participated in together, Kevin and I had conversations with the staff of Casa del Nino about their needs and how Our Courageous Kids can continue to give them resources they need in the future.

Here’s one new project on our list. A boy who we’ll call Juan has grown up at Casa del Nino. Though he’s aged out of the programs (over 18), he is busily completing his high school education. He continues to stay in touch with Casa del Nino because this center is his family. His caregivers say he has great potential for success. And I believe it too. Juan’s got a warm smile and a kind heart to always include his younger brothers. He wants them to study hard in school too.

Next fall he would like to apply to law school. In Honduras, law school is an enrollment program at a 4-year university (not an graduate level in the US). Completion of law school means he can go on to have a well-paying job. He could take care of a family of his own one day.

And get this- law school in Honduras is around $3,000 a year. This is all! Can you believe it?

This is something we can do. We can empower Juan’s bravery by helping him with his college tuition.

Would you like to help sponsor Juan? Would love to chat with you more if you’re interested.

All in all, it was a great trip to SEE the kids and SEE the work that is yet to be done. I can’t wait till Christmas time when we’ll travel to Casa del Nino again.

-Elizabeth

P.S. If you’d like to travel with us to Honduras next time, contact me too. I’ll love for you to see for yourself how wonderful these boys are for yourself!