El Hogar is an oasis in a country locked in a cycle of desperate poverty and hopelessness.

There, impoverished and abandoned children receive a high quality education, and a technical trade which makes them employable in their country, and helps them break the cycle of poverty and despair.

Through a program of sponsorship that encourages personal relationships with our children, they learn the powerful effect of compassion and the spirit of caring and generosity.

Coming from backgrounds that do not always offer hope and kindness, these children are deeply moved by the true compassion and respect they experience through being part of El Hogar.

Knowing that someone cares builds self-respect, love and hope in the children.

The directors and teachers of the schools believe that raising the children to be caring, respectful young adults is just as important as training them to be skilled carpenters, electricians or welders.

These students leave the program as role models for their families and their community and the hope for the future of Honduras.

Home of Love and Hope

Here, 90 children live in a family environment through 6th grade. They receive all the love that can be given, as they learn to respect and live with others and adapt to discipline and school.

Upon graduation from sixth grade, children enter a middle school program where they continue their studies and growth.

They can then choose to complete three more years of high school at one of two schools for older children.

The Episcopal Agricultural School and Farm

At the farm school they learn the principles and practicalities of animal husbandry, and crop production, nuances of drip irrigation to conserve precious water, use of animal waste as manure, and composting techniques for a more productive farm in an area which earlier used slash-and-burn methods.

The students share their newfound agricultural knowledge with family and rural neighbors, thereby enhancing individual farms and the community-atlarge. They also grow much of the food served at El Hogar.

St. Mary’s Technical Institute

After middle school the boys can also choose to attend the technical institute for three years of further education and training to become carpenters, welders, or electricians.

Upon graduation, these young adults have indemand skills that will make them a viable part of the Honduran economy.

Next Week: Why we go and what you can do to help.