These children are some of the Grandma's Kids from the mountain village of El Naranjo.  We need sponsors for the Grandma's Kids in order to provide school supplies, uniforms and nutritional support for the families.  Visit our sponsor page for more info! 

Date:  Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:37:04 -0700 (PDT)

From: "David Ashby" 

Subject: Happy children on HHK outings
   

Good evening to all the supporters of our Helping Honduras Kids (HHK) programs,

It has been a very busy 2 weeks, since I returned from vacation in California. The volunteers at the Hogar de Amor (Childrens Home) take the children to the nearby stream to swim and play. Most Honduran children have precious little time to just be children. At the stream, the kids were all excited about trying to capture some river shrimp. 

Last week we had a 2 day visit from Mike and his son Sam from Utah. Mike is a board member of Amigos ofHonduras, a group that is actively supporting HHK. They hosted the Hogar children at Helen's Restaurant, 15 minutes away, where everyone enjoyed the pool and beach. There were also hamburgers, fries and ice cream for all. It was a great time.

 Then, last Saturday, I took a large group of children from several El Porvenir Grandma Kids programs to again visit Helen's Restaurant and swim in the pool. This is a favorite spot for all children.

On Sunday, I took 16 children from the Campesino Village (Solares Nuevos)  to Peru Beach. After some time swimming in the ocean, we came to my house to watch TV and play in the yard, followed by a trip to Popeyes for chicken and then the mall for ice cream and rides. These children almost never "escape" from the hardships of their daily lives in an area with no electricity, and with 4 mud walls and a dirt floor to serve as "home". However, there were lots of smiles on this beach outing.

Finally, over the weekend, 30 student desks were delivered to our Jungle School courtesy of a very kind local lady, Belkis Pina. The children now each have their own desk, and much more space in the classroom, and they are very happy with this special gift to the school.

We want to remind each of you of 2 very special events coming up in September. On the 10th of September, it is Childrens Day, which will be celebrated by all of our children with food, piñatas and fun, and as we are able, some small gifts. Then on the 22nd and 23rd, we will have a grand inauguration of our Hogar de Amor at the Quinta Real in La ceiba and at the Hogar in Agua Caliente, hosted by the Lisa Lopes Foundation and Helping Honduras Kids. I previously sent information on this event, and if you are able to make it, please contact Eve at volunteer@helpinghonduraskids.org.

We especially invite you to help us find sponsors for each of the special needy children in our Jungle School, Hogar de Amor and Grandmas Kids programs. Make a real difference in a child's life for just $25/month and share in their escape from poverty and hunger. Half of the 7.2 million population of Honduras are children, and the average age of a motherat the birth of her 1st child is 15 years. Children are raising children. They need your help. Please help us to help them.

Thank you for your loyal support and for caring,

Dave

www.helpinghonduraskids.org

From : David Ashby

Sent : Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Subject : Back in Honduras

Good morning HHK supporters,

I am back in Honduras after a month's vacation in California and Nevada. It was great to visit family, including my 91-yr-old mom and 3 of my 4 grandchildren. Two of my grandkids, Lucas and Jenna,are in the 1st photo (I just had to throw this in). Jenna has a younger brother, Ethan, and a 4th grandson is 16-yr-old Philip, born in Honduras and adopted by my son and his wife, who live in New York.

 Two of our volunteers, Carrie and Kevin, who helped us for several months at the Hogar (orphanage) left us recently. This photo is from Kevin's going away party.

We also have 4 new volunteers, Tara (Canada), Caroline (England), Veronika (Slovakia) and Amalia (France & U.S.), so we have quite an international group. We are very grateful to all of our volunteers for their tremendous help with our childrens programs. 

 On Saturday, we took all the children from the Hogar to swim at Helen's Restaurant on the beach.  They enjoyed the pools, the ocean and the hamburgers and french fries. We were there for most of the day. It has been quite some time since the children have had an outing, as I was out of the country.  

  We have sent each of you information on our party at the Quinta Real to celebrate the Grand Opening of the Hogar de Amor.  This is scheduled for Sept. 22-23 here in La Ceiba. We hope that at least some of you can attend. Please let us know if you are able to make it. Check back often at our website for news and to make donations via PayPal and your credit card.

  We wish to thank each of you for your generous support of our programs and our children.
Thanks for caring,
Dave

Our wonderful volunteer, Carrie H. is heading back to the U.S.  Carrie arrived at the Hogar de Amor on June 6th - - just a few weeks after the kids and staff and was one of our first long-term volunteers in this location.  (The other one is Kevin who will depart on August 10th.)

Carrie has worked with the children at school every day, designed afternoon activities, taught English, taken the kids on outings and helped with all of the daily rituals, rules and routines. (She is also fluent in Spanish and so helps the rest of us translate sometimes.)  Most importantly, even when times were tough, Carrie was dedicated and responsible and we will ALWAYS appreciate her  help!  Thank you Carrie, we'll miss you!