Linaca Today

Top Five Preseason Objectives

2009-02-11T10:14:00-05:00

This week begins the countdown for the news school year all over Honduras. Our efforts flow with the calendar year. From February through November, we follow the movements of over seven hundred children in Linaca alone. Their joys and sorrows, agonies and victories become our team’s primary concern. We have spent the last week preparing and organizing ourselves to launch this critical phase of our work. Here are the top five activities that we must accomplish this week.

Number five: Make sure that every child that wants to go to school is matriculated. Often times for the absence of a few dollars a month, a parent will decide that their child will stay home—sealing their fate to becoming permanent members in the Honduran underclass of poverty. We have rescued over a dozen teenagers from this fate this year. Most of them are brilliant young men and women whose gifts would have been wasted in the bean and coffee fields.

Number four: Recruit the local school teachers to send the kids to the center as part of their day to day curriculum. Last year over half of our children’s attendance was the result of a handful of teachers’ active participation. The directors of both schools in Linaca are very supportive. With our increased staff we will invest in the education of those teachers that were not on board last year. The testimony of those teachers who did participate in the program is our greatest asset.

Number three: Motivate the parents to keep their kids in the school system. The same pressures that tempt parents to pull their kids from the public school earlier in the year are just as pressing through the year. A child is worth about two dollars and fifty cents a day as a day laborer. That is a lot of money for the abject poor when you consider that there are over four to five children of working age in each home. A kid in school is not only a draw on the budget it is also a hit on the income stream of the poorest of the poor.

Number two: Motivate the children themselves to stay in school. The heart our work is to inspire young men and women to rise above the framework of the destructive culture of poverty to which their parents have been chained for generations. This is by far our most difficult task. This new vision is not won by new latrine or water projects—it is won by the hard work of mentoring one life at a time. Our staff takes this “school pre season” as an opportunity to build momentum in this area by identifying a recruiting the teen leaders who will serve as peer counselors of the rest of the community of youth.

Number One: Keep ourselves motivated to serve the poor not of necessity but of a duty born out of love. This is the only way we can be assured that we will last the whole year with all of the attendant pressures and challenges that come our way. Most of the people with whom we come n contact that help the poor do so while they feel rewarded by the impact of their contributions. Few persevere beyond the thanklessness and indignity that the culture of poverty can subject its rescuers. So we check to keep our attitude of unconditional love alive all the time.

Giving Smart, A Billion Here A Billion There

2009-02-10T20:55:00-05:00

A group of non-profit entrepeneurs and educators came together to discuss the best philanthropic strategy for a mythical billionaire (New York Times article, "How many billionaires does is take to fix a school system?). What emerges from the enlightening give and take is helpful. Vanessa Kirsch, founder and president of New Profit, Inc. is spot on in most of her comments. I love this:

But now that philanthropists are focused on outcomes, things are more complicated for both the givers and the recipients. A lot of programs actually take a few years to have an effect, and sometimes you need to tweak the methods along the way. And so as a philanthropist, you need to look deeper into the operations of an organization. It’s a much more complex process to be a good philanthropist if you’re investing in long-term, system-changing outcomes. But it’s also far more rewarding.

This is where we find ourselves at this point in our work. We are learning as we go along; adjusting here and there. We are blessed with a solid crew of patient partners. Here is to them!

Habla Ingles?

2009-02-02T16:51:00-05:00

English literacy is one of the goals we have for the kids that we serve. It is amazing how easy it is to learn a language at a young age. Just for fun we taped a bunch of kids uttering English phrases. We were amazed at the almost perfect American English accents some of the kids had.

With quality training many of these kids could become bilingual. Right now we are looking for quality English teachers. They are hard to find in Danli, Honduras. We want to purchase the best computer English DVD training on the market and hook it up to our computer lab ($450.00). One hundred percent of donations to this need will be invested as promised.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

2009-02-02T11:27:00-05:00

What is it that we do? We work with the poor as teachers, mentors and social workers, specifically targeting the need to change the vision of the poor. Poverty is a way of seeing. It is said, “As a person thinks, so is that person.” As the old adage goes, “give the poor a fish, and they will have fish for a day. Teach the poor to fish and they will have fish for a lifetime.”

With whom do we do it? We find that the best time to teach the poor how to fish is while they are young. It says “teach a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” So we invest in children—hundreds of them, ages five to eighteen.

How do we do it? Teaching to fish is a hands-on experience. Great fishermen are mentored. We mentor mentors to impart a healthy outlook on life to all the youth around them. Our hope is to nurture a whole new generation with a vision for a new hope and a new future for their generation.

Where do we do it? Our teams go everywhere these children are. We invite them to our training center in the region. We are in turn invited into their homes in the village. We are with them, and that is the point. We say that we communicate what we are, and we do that by intentionally being with the poorest of the poor as we work on becoming better persons ourselves.

Why do we do it? We do what we do because we are called to the task. It is a calling informed by the both the urgency of the needs we face in others as well as by the relationships forged over time with those in need. We are a family, a network of friends.

Keeping Kids in School

2009-02-01T14:59:00-05:00

Fatima and Isback understand that the need to fund our teens’ higher education is one of the biggest challenges we face today. Without us they would not be in school this year.

All those sweet little baby faces we signed up at the center four years ago are maturing and growing faster than you can imagine.

The cost for a Linacan child to go to school is prohibitive for most of our teens. Bus fare alone is over $30 a month. Add to that uniforms, matriculation, food, and books, and you understand that a $28 monthly sponsorship will not go far. Parents of these children make around $30 - $50 a month in most homes.

We have begun a higher education fund for all the teen leaders in the center who would like to continue their education. These teens volunteer with us mentoring the younger children in the center. They will also be helping us branch into surrounding communities.

Not one of the girls that have remained faithful attendees of our center has gotten pregnant. However, last trip we were heartbroken to hear about two adorable young teen girls who infrequently attended our center in their younger years.

Both had since dropped out of public school and stopped attending the center.

Both girls became pregnant by strangers they met on a one night escape from the doldrums of Linaca. At the tender age of 15 these girls have all but guaranteed themselves and their babies a future without hope.

While those teens refused the help offered over the years, last month we rescued over 50 teens and children whose parents condemned them to work in the bean fields or foraging for wood instead of entering school.

For the lack of a pair of shoes or a few supplies children were being doomed to a life of poverty. In some cases it took a great deal of work and cajoling to get the parents to release their children to school and our center.

One such example is 10-year-old Flora, pictured here, on her first day at the center.

We have spoken of Flora many times since the day we met her a few months ago. Flushed from making tortillas in the hot kitchen, Flora had never heard of our center or been to school a day in her life. That very day Flora attended our center for the first time and was enrolled in our nutrition plan. She was also tutored in reading and writing.

Visiting her house many times over the past few months, we discussed with Flora’s mother the importance of her attending school. Just before school started we were told that Flora’s mother preferred that Flora stay home so she could collect wood for the fogon and make tortillas for the large extended family. It was no easy feat to convince Flora’s mother to let her attend school. But we persevered until the mother said yes.

We provided Flora with a complete uniform, shoes, backpack, and all supplies to enter school. She could not stop smiling that day. We pray for a bright future for girls like Flora.

Fanning the divine spark

2009-01-31T09:59:00-05:00

The little boy in the picture below is oblivious to the misery around him. His adobe house is near collapse. The outdoor latrine, with its cover ripped away, is beyond repair. There is little more than a few tortillas and beans to feed his family of eight. Until that day when we brought the family blankets, he had to sleep in all the clothing he owned, which is not much, just to keep warm.

Instead of the despair most see when looking at his situation, Luis (pictured to the right) is full of joy. From a broken ladder, with sticks for a steering wheel, clutch, and gear shift, his magic bus rolls on fueled by a divine spark of creativity and the pbfffffffffffft of his lips as he motors down his imaginary road. No need for brakes, he insists, “The bus will stop when it runs out of gas!”

Over the years we have visited and worked in Linaca, we have watched children who began like Luis, end up like the shiftless young man in the picture to the right. Our hearts have broken over little girls like Flora that end up like her mother (see slide show) Illiterate. Toothless. A passel of children from different fathers. Carrying a load of wood instead of books and homework.

The divine spark we see in the above, their innocence, hope, and creativity, if not nurtured will be snuffed out. They were condemned to life in the fields, picking beans, for a couple of dollars a day or hunting for wood. Mothers, in most families, cannot work as they are too consumed with raising babies, one after hopeless one.

see slide show...

Each year we do a census of the 500 households that comprise over 6,000 people living in the Linaca valley. From these visits we see how our children live. We spend time educating the parents as to the importance of sending their children to school and to our center. We help those we can with special needs - such as Luis, who will soon get a new and enclosed latrine.

It is our team’s calling to inspire and instill a much higher vision in the children and the parents we serve.

Over the past few years of census taking when we asked the parents what is the biggest problem they see facing the community their answers were consistent, ranging from lack of employment to underage drinking. From 2007 to 2008 the same parents’ answers to this question dramatically changed. The vast majority of the respondents said drugs are their biggest concern.

Today the shacks of little Linaca, that eight years ago had no electricity, still have no food on the shelves, many lack toilets, and running water, but most have a television with cable and free pornography channels, cell phones, and easy access to marijuana.

In the past year, major drug cartels have moved in and set up camps all over Honduras. Every day groups of feckless teens wander down the streets of Linaca openly smoking marijuana. No one does a thing about it. As divine sparks of creativity are snuffed out, their appetites to escape misery grow. As opportunities to work shrink, crime and flight to the US dramatically increases.

Desperate for anything to pawn, innocent people are shot dead in the street for a piece of jewelry or a cheap cell phone.

The year 2007 was a huge success. We opened our new center, our work in concert with the public schools rose to a new level, our attendance was up with double the amount of children keeping regular schedules, our nutrition program also doubled, we hired new teachers/mentors for the center, public school teachers reported children who attended our center were doing better in their studies, we gained new teen volunteers, we were given a grant for the installation of 100 eco friendly ovens that cut wood consumption and reduce disease, and, finally, we made connections that give us the hope of acquiring a state of the art library for Linaca!

The divine spark in the children of Honduras is in real danger of being snuffed out by lack of role models, ignorance, lack of parental love and care, lack of education, disease, malnutrition, and so many things that plague poorest of the poor. We are so grateful for all of you who partner with us to fan the divine sparks in the children God has given us to serve.

Your help is truly changing a village of precious lives.

Crime and Drugs in Linaca

2009-01-21T11:59:00-05:00

These two teens were held at knife points and robbed of all their school supplies.

In our January update we told you about the drug problem that has manifested in a dramatic way over the past year in the sleepy little village of Linaca.

Our teens tell us that they have all been offered drugs recently.

Each day at our center our teens gather together with center mentors for a teaching and interactive talk on values, morality, and spiritual guidance. Well over 50 teens are active participants in these discussions during the course of the week.

Soon, at the request of the public schools, these teens will be taking what they have learned to the elementary school. Instructing the younger children about the dangers of drugs, sex, and consequences of dropping out of school will be the focus of their discussions.

While Honduras is a very dangerous place over all, Linaca has not been affected much by serious crime. However that changed last Sunday. Two of our teen leaders, Tavo and Oscar were waiting for a bus at 8:30 in the morning. Suddenly grabbed from behind, they felt sharp knives poised at their jugular veins. Young thieves looking for drug money, threatened their lives demanding everything they had, down to their new school backpacks and shoes.

A generous benefactor recently outfitted Oscar for school providing him with tuition, bus money, and new clothes and supplies for the school year. Tavo’s supplies were donated from our center’s Poorest of the Poor Fund. A fund we use for special needs of any of our students. If you wish to donate to this fund, know that this, as all donations to the center will be applied 100% to the children’s needs.

Food then Facts

2009-01-20T15:49:00-05:00

A hungry kid will not listen. First you feed them then you teach them. We target the malnourished with a strategy that has worked for the last few years. Each child that comes to the center is weighed and measured, if their statistics do not match their age requirements they are placed in the nutrition program. One of our teachers is in charge of nutrition and health care. In partnership with a local Honduran pediatrician we will supervise the child's progress through out the year.

Part of our care is a daily lunch program. Our staff cooks healthy meals in our kitchen and delivers the vittles Monday through Friday. At the present moment we have close to fifty children participating. We expect that this number will grow through out the year. In some cases we will buy their families a month's worth of basic staples to supplement what we do in house.

We would like to beef up the meals and extend the program to kids who suffer from marginal nutritional issues. To do so we need to raise 6,500 dollars for this need. One hundred percent of your targeted donations will go to meet this challenge.

E-Ticket Ride

2009-01-17T10:26:00-05:00

For those of you who have never landed in Hondura's Tegucigalpa Toncontin Airport this video will give you a bird's eye view of the landing (controlled crash) that all of us veterans experience as we arrive in the country. It is a miracle the person holding the camera was not cut in two by the 757 wing tip. Oh, and by the way, ignore the caveat, "be afraid, be very afraid!"

The same landing from inside the cabin of the American Airlines 757. Yes, that is a tower the left wing just cleared by a few inches.

Paternalism versus Responsibility

2009-01-16T11:55:00-05:00

Take note of this brilliant article by Michael Knox Beran ( a lawyer and writer, is a contributing editor of City Journal and the author of Forge of Empires, Jefferson’s Demons, and The Last Patrician, a New York Times Notable Book of 1998.) in the winter issue of City Journal.

It captures so much of what we struggle against in our Central American context from the point of view of the experience of African relief culture.

Here is his conclusion:

"If the prosperous nations really want to help Africa, they need to resist the seductions of paternalism. They need to promote, not policies that will ensure that the continent remains a collection of fiefdoms dependent on subsidies and celebrity pity, but wealth-generating entrepreneurial efforts. They need to export, not a dated philosophy of mandarinism, but ideas that really can lift peoples and nations out of the lower depths—the ideas of Bacon, Hayek, de Soto, and The Wealth of Nations"

Read the article here for his insightful justification to the above declaration.

How big is your world?

2009-01-13T18:50:00-05:00

If you ever thought too much of yourself or wondered how big a problem you may have on your hands...
consider meditating on this ...

Standing in the gap of ignorance

2009-01-13T17:38:00-05:00

It is often surprising what a small investment it takes to change a life. This fact is repeatedly brought home with the school season. A parent is often willing to sacrifice a child's education the lack of a pair of shoes, a skirt, a blouse a handful of paper or a fistful of pens. We make sure that every child within the purview of our oversight is fully equipped to go to school. This process begins in January as we canvass every home in the valley. Yet our zeal to give away what every child needs is tempered by one of our most fundamental principles: the poor should do what they can to meet their own obligations.

Each parent is asked to give what they can to the child’s required school materials and uniforms. This comes to about fifty dollars per child. On average, most needy families can only buy a pair of shoes or a shirt or a blouse. We do the rest. This year we are helping over forty families in part or in whole to put their children back in school. Almost three hundred children will receive some kind of matriculation assistance.

It does not end here, however. Throughout the year, the public schools will demand all kinds of materials that put quite a pinch on the poor’s budget. We pledge to be right there to supplement a responsible parent’s hope to raise an educated child.

We need to raise 10,000 dollars to meet this need. As with all of donations requested in this site, one-hundred percent will go to the need targeted.

This fund is not just for school supplies but also for specialized medical care, medicines, supplemental food for families with malnourished children, repairs on leaking roofs or falling down walls, latrine construction, and a variety of other needs that present throughout the year.

For the rest of 2008 we must raise $600 a month alone to provide transportation for our teens attending high school in Danli – about 30 minutes from Linaca. We have twenty teens that must get back and forth to school daily.

We also need additional funding for uniforms, shoes, books, and supplies as these run out (or wear out) during the school year. Funding is also needed for children we meet along the way, like Flora, who have never been to school.

Our center is packed to capacity this year – over 350 children a week attend the center. With so many new children we have run out of room to seat them all. We are in immediate need of new desks and chairs so that everyone has adequate and comfortable space to receive tutoring and do their homework.

In addition to the costs of transportation, books, and uniforms the public schools require the students to purchase special supplies during the year. One such requirement is a $12 chair each student must purchase to donate to the school before graduation. Most Linacan families earn around $30-$50 a month. The wealthiest of families brings in about $90 a month. Most simply cannot afford a $12 chair on top of all the other things they are required to buy. It becomes impossible when the families have students graduating the 6^th and 9^th grades at the same time.

Last year we learned that several of our best students were not going to graduate because their families could not pay for the $12 chairs! These children, nor their parents volunteered this information. We found out about it because we are actively involved in each child’s life that attends our center. If we had not asked questions, these children would have been deprived of a diploma and continuing in school for lack of a $12 chair!