Dear friends, family and colleagues.
At this point I would like to thank you on behalf of the children and teachers as well as the organizers in Honduras for your great participation in the fundraising campaign.
It was an overwhelming response and a participation in my project that went beyond my imagination:
Enabling education for children who cannot afford it.
Now I would like to share with you what has been implemented:
A total of €1,700 was donated.
The donations in kind filled 1.5 suitcases and had a volume of 90 liters / approx. 30kg.
When the plane departed from Frankfurt, it was so crowded that nobody noticed the 6 kg overweight 😉
In New York, the Honduran check-in clerk ignored the obesity 😉
In Honduras we discussed together what, how and where the donations should be used and the campaign implemented.
All donations in kind were sorted and we decided to pack 50 school packages, a starter set of the basic materials for each child. In order to get 50 packages, we bought school supplies on site.
I was appalled at the price of a college pad of $6 and was told plastic was cheaper than paper. And since we needed negotiating skills to negotiate the price to $4. It worked. In addition to the writing pads, we have rounded up all donation items to 50.
The additional donations should be meaningful, goal-oriented and used where it is most needed.
5 families are below the Honduran poverty line and have nothing but a roof over their heads and basic foodstuffs. So we packed 5 donations of 500 Lempira ($20) each.
At Carlos’ school in El Chilcal there is a hodgepodge of school chairs that are neither really usable nor in a condition that could be described as learning-friendly or child-safe. So we went to the local blacksmith & craftsman and talked about new school chairs. These are cheaper to make than to buy new. It was clear to us: it would be better to have it made and support a local craftsman than to serve an American company.
Here, too, negotiating skills are required and we were able to save a little per chair in order to have 2 more bookshelves made. (Pictures of the new furniture will follow.) My sister & my nephew wanted to have 4 chairs made for left-handed people. So 22 school chairs are currently being built: 18 right-handed / 4 left-handed.
Now it started and we use the Juniors tours on which he distributes food to go to the mountains on 2 days to visit the schools and distribute the donations in kind. Monday we went to 9 schools, on Tuesday 6 schools. 2 pick-ups loaded with 1 ton of groceries and donations in kind.
The road was never easy and the 4×4 had its difficulties climbing the mountains. An exciting adventure. We were on the road for 7 hours each and were welcomed with open arms:
Some of the schools were hidden, others along the way and one is getting a new kitchen house.
July 20th is a national holiday in Honduras in honor of Lempira.
Lempira was the leader of the Lenca, an indigenous tribe in Honduras. Honduras was a very popular target for Spanish conquest in its day. In 1537/38 Lempira united several indigenous tribes into a huge army to fight together against the Spanish conquerors. Today he is considered a national hero of Honduras.
Carlos’ school took this day as an opportunity to invite us and to festively hand over the donations in kind, to announce the new chairs and shelves and of course to celebrate this holiday. Here are a few impressions from this exciting day.
On my mission to each school, I taught the children of each of us:
The school expressed its heartfelt thanks for the support from Germany and thanks everyone involved. With these donations, an overwhelming contribution was made to compensate for the lack of government support and to enable the children to receive an education that they would not be able to get without our help.
At the end of the day, I was presented with a diploma by the Honduran Ministry of Education on behalf of all schools and students involved, which I would like to share with you all and say THANK YOU again.
I was very pleased,
To know you all as supporters by my side.
Best regards.