Our Courageous Kids

Helping Orphans Thrive

Our Courageous Kids

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Three Cheers for Rahab! A Summer Update

What has Our Courageous Kids been up to this year so far?

We’re so excited to tell you that: in April, we traveled to Honduras to visit the boys that Our Courageous Kids champions at Casa del Nino in La Ceiba.

This spring break trip included spending time with 25 boys who are full-time residents of this children’s center.

Thanks to you, our donors, we were able to take the boys out to their favorite restaurant, Pizza Hut and visit a local park with a swimming pool as way to encourage their academic performance in school.

We also participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony for a new recreation room for the boys—a place they can go after school to have fun in a structured environment. They were so excited and couldn’t wait to go inside and start playing!

As we were leaving, I couldn’t help but be moved by one of the speeches of gratitude by Jose, only 10 years old who said: “Thank you for not forgetting me. Thank you for giving me hope to keep studying hard in school.”

This, my friends, is one reason why Our Courageous Kids exists: so that kids growing up in institutions know they aren’t alone. They have family around the world cheering them on!

Additionally, as many of you know: one of our big goals for this year is to support the dreams of Rahab, a student we’ve had a long-standing relationship with in Nairobi, Kenya. Rahab was abandoned at birth and has spent her entire life at a children’s home. Through many challenges, she has persisted in life with much success.

I have this great news to share: Rahab recently graduated from Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi and was accepted to a master’s program at Brunel University in the United Kingdom! 

Rahab is pursuing a degree in Children, Youth and International Development with the hopes of encouraging other children who grew up as she did. Our Courageous Kids foundation has pledged support for her studies, so that come this fall, Rahab’s dreams can come true!

UPDATE: We are needing one sponsor to agree to pay for her air fare to and from school which we estimate will be around $1600 US. If this is you– if you can pay part of, or half of these costs or the full amount, send Elizabeth an email. 

But our plans do not stop with supporting Rahab. There are hundreds of kids like her that we’ve met in our travels that need champions. They need a family, an organization or a church to believe in their dreams.

As you champion the children in your life this summer, I’d love for you to consider including Our Courageous Kids in your financial giving so that we can champion even more kids in our future.

Donations are kindly received online at www.ourcourageouskids.org or by check to OurCourageous Kids at the address above. Thanks, as always for being our friend in this important work.

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How We’re Empowering Our Courageous Kids

2017 has been a wonderful year with Our Courageous Kids and it’s not over yet . . .

Thanks to our donors and partnering organizations like churches we’ve been able to support these end of year projects.

Casa del Nino Honduras

Casa del Nino is a residential center for boys between the ages of 6-17 living in La Ceiba, Honduras. When Our Courageous Kids asked Casa del Nino what would help them thrive in the New Year they asked for us to support their Christmas festivities. On Thursday, December 14th the boys along with their caregivers celebrated Christmas in style.

Each child at the center received a Christmas present (something that would not happen without Our Courageous Kids’ support). The children laughed, danced and played with games and was able to enjoy an extra special treat: pizza! 

Hekima Place in Kenya

Hekima Place is a residential center for over 60 girls from infancy to late teens in Kiserian, Kenya. Most of the girls at Hekima Place have been orphaned by HIV/ AIDS. When Our Courageous Kids asked Hekima Place what they would like to thrive in the New Year they said continued support for their counseling program.

Many of the girls comes to Hekima after experiencing abuse or trauma. They need a safe place to share their experiences and work through their feelings of loss.

You might remember that this project is one we helped to start last year and Jenny Roach, Kenyan director reports that “the small group sessions this year have been really positive and productive.” This is great news! And so we were thrilled to help this progress continue.

The girls of Hekima send their end of year greetings to you!

Dagoretti Children’s Home in Kenya

Our Courageous Kids asked Feed the Children Kenya– a residential facility for 100 + children, many of whom have special needs– what would help them thrive in the New Year.

The answer was some recreational equipment for some of their young men with special needs. These guys find themselves in a situation where they’re unable to work for pay and spend much of their time indoors at home. To have some outdoor furniture, we learned would be a hope-filled gift to begin to see their community with fresh eyes. When told about their gifts, these young men and their caregivers wanted Our Courageous Kids donors to hear a resounding “thank you!”

But this is not all!

One of our goals for 2017 centered upon building up our scholarship fund because in 2018, we’d like to award our first grant for education. We’ve recently accepted a grant application for a student we’ve met through one of our partnering organization in Kenya. She wants to attend graduate school in social work and hopes to begin her studies in a couple of months. So time is of the essence.

As you’re considering where to make an end of year 2017 contribution, Our Courageous Kids would be glad to be one of your charities of choice. We’d be glad to receive your donation online.

Or by mail Our Courageous Kids · PO Box 41054 · Arlington, VA 22204

We can’t wait to share more with you about what amazing things your support does next!

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Boys, Pizza and a Pond: Honduras February 2017

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!

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Honduras Feb. 3

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.

FullSizeRenderHonuduras Feb. 9

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!

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