One of the community programs that Helping Honduras Kids sponsors is called “Rio Cangrejal Grandma’s Kids” with these families located in the village of El Naranjo.
The special feature of this program is to provide the economic and physical support for the “Grandma’s”, those older women who are raising a number of their own grandchildren.
Quite frankly, the fathers have left or are unknown and the mothers are frequently victims of HIV/AIDS, leaving the children without parents. Thus the responsibility of raising younger siblings can rest with girls as young as 10 years, attempting to feed, clothe and house them all. This is where the Grandma’s step in to provide some semblance of a home life, teaching basic living skills and trying to keep the families united rather than sent to orphanages or government institutions.
HHK provides basic food supplies, clothing, medical care and school supplies, uniforms and fees in order to assist these children in achieving some level of education which in turn provides them with the opportunity to have a future.
A large group of volunteers from San Diego and Europe, board members and guests and about 22 children from “Hogar de Amor”, HHK’s children’s home in La Ceiba paid a visit to the tiny village of El Naranjo on Saturday, April 3rd to deliver gifts of stuffed toys, clothing and candies to the Grandma’s and their extended families.
This young lady, holding her mom's arm, was the one who donated all of the stuffed animals from her own collection!
These are two of the Grandma's that HHK sponsors.
This village is extremely impoverished, even by Honduran standards and our visit was certainly a highlight of the week for them. We were able to meet and visit with two of the three sponsored Grandma’s and some, though certainly not all, of their children. There are about 30 children from toddlers to teenagers being raised by the three grandmas and needless to say, their life isn’t easy.
Yet, these children are simply glorious! They started gathering to greet us when our vehicles arrived, standing quietly and politely, yet most interested in visiting with those of us who spoke Spanish. When most of the families had arrived from further away, volunteers started handing out the huge collection of stuffed toys and a candy to each child in a rather en masse scene. One little boy actually declined a second candy, as he had already gotten his and didn’t want to be greedy! Clothes were dispersed by hand, given to whomever they looked likely to fit and all the leftover clothes were bundled up to be taken home to share with the rest of the families who weren’t present.
If you’ll check in with HHK’s website http://www.helpinghonduraskids.org and look under Community Programs, you’ll find the link where you can sponsor either a child for $25 or a whole family for $100 monthly. Please think about this for yourself or any social organization that you are a member of! HHK presently has about 60 – 70 sponsors but realistically need about 400 to continue maintaining all of the programs and assistance they provide. Every penny, every moment of energy and volunteer work goes directly to these children and families in order to provide opportunity, education, hope and love to break the cycle of poverty and your contribution can and will make a real difference!
Just click on the photos to enlarge them!
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