Experiences
| From: | Maggie |
| To: | Eve and David |
| Date: | Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:28:43 |
Hi Eve and David, 
MAGS
Hello All, Just more great shots of the wonderful five weeks I have had in Honduras. I am sad that my time is over, but I am anxious to see Mike and show him the sights. I have met some wonderful volunteers from around the world. Something I never expected. They have all added to my great experience. I am the lucky one on this trip. I miss truly miss everyone so I guess I will just have to come back so I can see my Hogar family one more time. See you all back in the USA in mid-February…..Jean
HI EVE!!!
I just wanted to let you know that I'm back in snowy old Michigan, but that I had the BEST TIME EVER while volunteering for Helping Honduras Kids. It was so sad to say goodbye to all the kids! I had no idea I would get that attached! Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to have such a great experience and hopefully make a difference in the lives of those children and their family. I hope to be able to return someday to visit and see how the program has grown. Until then I will definitely continue to support Helping Honduras Kids through spreading the word about donations to my friends and family and hopefully soon donating or sponsoring a child myself! (once I find a job!! haha)Alison
Go to http://www.mtu.edu/current/student_abroad/archives/2007/costarica149.html for a great article by Kate and Jonathan who volunteered at the Jungle School in Spring, 2007.
French Canadians, Nicolas and Yannick worked with us at the Jungle School for five weeks as they first traveled from the southernmost tip of South America, up to Honduras and finally to Costa Rica.
Here they are with Dave Ashby after a 2+ hour hike (uphill) to meet the family of some of our Jungle School students.
From: Nicolas and Yannick
To: volunteer@helpinghonduraskids.org
Subject: The end
Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 20:10:33 +0000
Hi Eve,
We are now at the end of our trip. We finished working at the school at the end of the last week. We passed five fantastic weeks with the children and the teachers. Everyone is soo kind and helpful. We learned at least as much as we teached them. We will miss the kids a lot. They gave us very touching cards when we leaved, it's the best souvenir we could dream of. I wanted to thank you too for guiding us into this. It was a really wonderful experience.and who knows, if we are lucky we may have the chance to come back one day!We are now going back to Costa Rica where we will take our flight back home in a couple of days.
Thank you again for everything,
Maestro Yannick (and Nicolas)
9 April 2007
To Whom It May Concern:
Our visit to La Ceiba, Honduras, was a chance of a lifetime. It’s difficult to describe the feelings we came away with after our time with the Helping Honduras Kids organization. So much was experienced, learned, and felt in that beautiful environment with such extraordinary people. We were able to see firsthand how Helping Honduras Kids makes a difference in the lives of the children. Seeing the poverty they live in was unreal and it was very eye-opening to glimpse what they endure every day. However, it was the joy in their bright brown eyes that showed us they now have hope for their future through HHK’s help.
We felt satisfacti
on in helping sand and paint the Jungle School. The Cangrejal River by the Jungle School is breathtaking, and the children there were a delight to watch. They have incredible work ethics and were so excited to be learning in school. Our only wish is that we could have stayed longer to see the work progress and the children grow. Helping Honduras Kids is a wonderful organization that truly changes the future for many Honduran children. Our experience there was unforgettable, and we plan to stay involved in any way we can.
Sincerely,
Corie Balls
Centerville, Utah
Note, these 3 Belgian students volunteered with Helping Honduras Kids for five months! (November '06 - April '07)
For 5 months I worked as a volunteer for the organization, Helping Honduras Kids. I worked on the Jungle School project in Herradura and also with children in El Porvenir.
In the project, ‘Jungle School’ we taught classes to children from the mountains, where most parents are illiterate. Ellen, Bert and I had to prepare the children for the new schoolyear that started in February. We worked on reading, writing and mathematics while HHK built a new school for the community.
In the beginning it was very hard to teach them anything because the children were not used to having to learn and concentrate. After a while it went better because the children became more motivated to learn and we had the possibility to work in small groups. We divided the group of 20 children in 3. We each had our own group to work with.
Since February there are 2 Honduran teachers who give classes to 35 children.
Still, volunteers are very needed! A lot of children have problems learning, and need individual help. It would also be nice for them to have English, computer classes and to do some nice things like swimming in the river or going on a trip.
Also the project in El Porvenir can use a lot of help. Working with the children here is a little bit more difficult. The children are used to hanging around on their own. Some children dont have parents anymore and all live with their grandmother.
With a lot of patience it’s possible to teach them something. Here it’s very important to keep them motivated to go to school and help them with their homework.
The project in El Porvenir is also run by an American couple, Amalia and Charlie. They are very nice and a big support in the work you are doing.
We lived in a family in La Ceiba, so we traveled with local buses to the mountains and to the sea.
The last 5 months I had a great time. The kids are so nice and I really had the feeling that we (as volunteers) were doing something for the kids and the community. After 5 months I was very sad that I had to go back home and I’m already thinking of going back!
Adios,
Els Alkemade, Ellen Stouggs and Bert Stulens
