Our children also took the idea of community service into their own hands this year when the “Youth in Action” leadership group teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to build a home for an impoverished family of five. Working on the construction project in Tegucigalpa from empty dirt lot to fully-functioning home, our children saw the benefits of their hard work and determination as they dedicated their time and energy to help a family in-need.
Youth in Action helping to build a house.
External clinic.
For the many children living outside our home who do have families to support them, yet don’t have the resources to receive an education, we are sometimes able to offer our assistance in the form of academic scholarships. Also, thanks to a special donation designated for this specific purpose, we just finished a large project to restore the failing roof of an elementary school in a nearby village, so its teachers have a safe, stable environment in which to educate their students. This year we have also continued our mission to provide highquality medical care to our local Honduran community. Our external medical clinic has maintained its exceptional service, where our staff of doctors, nurses, and volunteers provides consultations and medication to upwards of 35 patients daily. In October, our external clinic also sent its staff on a medical brigade to a village three and a half hours away where they provided 135 people with otherwise unattainable treatment and medication.
In 2012 we also hosted four separate surgical brigades at Holy Family Surgery Center. our on-site Holy Family Surgery Center. These brigades brought teams of doctors and medical personnel who specialize in a wide spectrum of fields ranging from orthopedics, to gynecology, to podiatry. With their combined efforts in 2012 we were able to surgically treat more than 250 Hondurans (including several of our own children and staff members) and offer medical consults to an additional 1,400 patients.
Education This year we were very proud to have seen seven more of our pequeños graduate with university degrees. Two of these graduates, Dora Berríos and Edwin Vallecillo, had been studying General Medicine in Cuba and have now returned to Honduras after six years of study abroad. The two doctors are currently offering their expertise here at the Ranch in our internal and external medical clinics until they begin a two-year service program for the Honduran government. This year we have worked hard to engage our surrounding community to generate funds for several of our education programs. These local donations include a grant from HSBC Bank for $25,000 which helped cover a good portion of the funding of our vocational workshops for 2012, ensuring that even with limited resources our youths still have the opportunity to develop their skills and achieve competence in their individual trades. We have also been blessed this year to have seen visiting groups from Near North Montessori School in Chicago. Through our new collaboration and friendship with them, we are very excited about the advancement and continued development of our own Montessori programs. Hermanos Mayores Even when our children are grown and leave the home, we strive to remain a stronghold for them throughout their lives; a place they can always call home and come to for help and support. Our Hermanos Mayores Progam continues our relationship with the young adults who have left our home, though no longer legally ours, they still remain very much a part of our family. Currently the program supports around 250 Hermanos Mayores, “older brothers and sisters”, offering them help in a variety of ways. They may come to NPH for financial support when they or their child is sick, or when they lose a job. We assist them when they need help drafting resumes, practicing for job interviews, or searching for an apartment. Some Hermanos Mayores who wish to continue with higher education or specialty training are able to receive small merit-based scholarships. This year we welcomed three Hermanos Mayores into employee positions here at NPH Honduras. Elzer Sabillón now works on the Ranch, heading up many tasks as he works with visitors, projects, and the MyGoodShop web page. Nidia is a former pequeña who began this year as our full-time NPH social worker. Denis Morales took control of the Hermanos Mayores department and our vocational internship program. We are proud to have these members of our family doing exceptional work for NPH as new employees and great examples for their younger brothers and sisters.
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