Thursday, April 2, 2015

Help the kids of The Farm of the Child!


About to eat some plantains
For the last three years, I've lived on the white sandy beaches of the northern coast of Honduras. My home was a small orphanage called the Farm of the Child, founded in the mid-1990s by an American missionary and his Guatemalan wife. For almost twenty years, international volunteers and Honduran staff have provided a roof, an education, healthcare, and a loving environment for many children whom unfortunately don’t have the opportunity to be raised by their biological parents. Many will spend their entire childhood and adolescence there, growing and learning, and slowly being prepared for the day they will go out on their own.

Although northern Honduras is rich in natural beauty with a clear blue ocean, rolling mountains, and beautiful rivers, job opportunities are scarce. Outside of earning meager wages in agriculture or hard labor, there isn’t much. Permanent, full time jobs are hard to come by. Most have part time work in the fields or in small businesses, eking out a living in whatever way they can. However, there are a few emerging areas that look promising, two of them being tourism and technology. The volunteers and staff of Farm of the Child are working hard to equip the children that live there, as well as those in the surrounding villages, with the tools they need to go out and find success in these areas. The key tools they need are English and computer skills, and for this we need your help.

There is currently a small computer lab attached to the school of the Farm, where teachers and volunteers have computer classes and English classes (using computer programs to enhance the learning and strengthen computer skills at the same time). However, the computers are exceedingly old and often function poorly, if at all. Not to mention the electricity is extremely unreliable, and students miss tons of class time because of frequent power outages.

In order to bring a functioning, reliable computer lab to the children of rural Honduras, we are trying to raise $4800 in order to buy backup generators and three new computers. Help us create opportunities for these children who have been given very little. Help give them the tools they need to fulfill their dreams and one day earn a respectable living. As the poor are able to pull themselves up out of poverty, through their own hard work and skill, a more just society can be formed.


English Language learning program


Having spent the last three years volunteering at the Farm of the Child Honduras, I was lucky enough to share my life with these beautiful children. Therefore, ensuring that the children have all the tools possible to enable to them to pursue their dreams is a huge passion of mine. If you have any more questions regarding this fundraiser, or anything else pertaining to the Farm of the Child, feel free to contact me. Thanks!



Sincerely,
Harrison Hanvey
harrisonhanvey@gmail.com 

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