1. Conference on Honduras, 2010 Helping Honduras Kids was incorporated as a 501c-3 non-profit in October 2006 in the State of California, just 2 months from the date of filing. The sister Honduran non-profit, Ayudando Niños Hondureños was formed in December 2006, just 4 months from the date of filing.
2. Vision and Mission Statement Our Vision: To bring education, opportunity, food, shelter, medical care and a loving family environment to disadvantaged children in Honduras. Mission Statement: To improve the level of dignity, education, opportunity and health for orphaned, abandoned, abused and special-needs children and single mother families on the north coast of Honduras. This will be accomplished through programs designed to provide for the physical, medical, educational, recreational and emotional needs of underprivileged children in marginalized rural communities. Our website is www.helpinghonduraskids.org Our contact information is [email_address]
3. Problems Affecting Children in Honduras *Half the Honduran population is 18 years or younger, technically children *40% of Honduran children are sexually abused and/or exploited, almost always by family members *3/4 of Honduran households have no permanent father figure living at home. There are lots of single mothers, grandmas, etc raising children *The average age at 1 st birth for a woman is FOURTEEN *Domestic violence is rampant *Discrimination against girls and women is part of the culture in this macho society *Gangs, drugs, organized crime, human trafficking etc are pervasive in many areas *The population on average has less than 5 years of primary education. Less than 1% attend college *>65% of the population live in extreme poverty
19. More Problems Experienced at the Former Hogar de Amor * Our nearby volunteer house in the village of Cacao was robbed several times. The last time, 2 men posing as plumbers entered with a key while a volunteer was present. *Our volunteers were robbed at gunpoint and knifepoint in daylight hours on the streets of La Ceiba. We now require volunteers to sign a liability waiver, read our extensive safety guidelines and take out medical insurance. *The political crisis in Honduras in 2009 caused many volunteers and work groups to cancel their trips to help our children. *Two long-term volunteers were threatened during the emergency evacuation of our Hogar children, and left the country .
20. Emergency Evacuation of our Former Hogar de Amor Orphanage On August 12, 2009 six men in a red pickup shot at the Hogar building and into the air with an AK-47 and 9 mm pistols. Over the following 5 days they continued to drive by and threaten us. Two men dressed as police, were seen in the vehicle. *Finally, all our employees left and they ran off our security guard. We received an emergency call from the 2 ladies left caring for 22 children. A bus was sent to evacuate the children and their tias. Dole sent 3 containers to take all of our goods out of the building and put them in storage in La Ceiba. *The children lived for 3 days in a small hostel, before a rental house was located to serve as our temporary new Hogar. *We do not know the motive for this attack on our orphanage children. We know this happens in Africa, but in Honduras??!! It was a gang, but even gangs have their codes, which include not messing with children. *We left behind an enormous investment in the facility, including a small school next door, and incurred high relocation expenses. *Our children, staff, board members and finances are just now beginning to recover. Fortunately our children are safe and well
25. Suffering endured by our 22 Hogar de Amor children in the past *Most have been sexually, physically and emotionally abused *The sexual abuse included both boys and girls, some as young as 2-3 years old *A young girl was burned with glowing embers from the cooking fire, and forced to eat excrement, as punishment *Four young sisters were repeatedly sexually abused by their father and brother *A young boy, then 4, was beaten with electric cables and sodomized by many men *A young girl hid under the bed much of the day and night while her mother was “raped” by a string of men (she didn’t understand that her mother was a prostitute). Her father was killed in front of her by a car
26. Why keep going? * The BIGGEST REASON – LOVE for the children and a recognition of their personal struggles.
27. What we need *LAND in a safe area to build our new Hogar de Amor. We have an offer of funds and a mission team to do the construction. *Psychological counseling for our children. Most have Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Abused boys become abusers. Abused girls run away. Some children express their feelings with extreme violence. *Committed long-term volunteers with a knowledge of Spanish *FOOD. We feed 80-100 children at least one meal a day. For many in our Jungle School, it is their only meal of the day. *Help with safety issues from the Honduran and US governments. *Help, not harassment, from Honduran government officials. *Help in getting containers into the country in a timely manner.
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30. Children’s Day, Sept. 10, 2009 One of our little 5 yr olds sang on stage with Honduran Folk Singer, Guillermo Anderson
![Vision and Mission Statement Our Vision: To bring education, opportunity, food, shelter, medical care and a loving family environment to disadvantaged children in Honduras. Mission Statement: To improve the level of dignity, education, opportunity and health for orphaned, abandoned, abused and special-needs children and single mother families on the north coast of Honduras. This will be accomplished through programs designed to provide for the physical, medical, educational, recreational and emotional needs of underprivileged children in marginalized rural communities. Our website is www.helpinghonduraskids.org Our contact information is [email_address]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)