Honduras Project - February 2008

Over twenty Rotarians traveled to the San Pedro Sula and Santa Cruz, Honduras to help with phase three in community projects. The major project was starting construction of a high school in Santa Cruz. With the help of Hondurans, the Rotarians helped with moving boulders, pouring foundations, construction re-rod, and laying many cement blocks. Other projects is helping the finishing of the Zapatal School project, supplying books to four schools and supporting the orphanage for schools.

Below is a narrative from JayLee. The photos have been arranged by photographers. They are not in order as indicated in the narrative.

In case you are interested in my recent travels, I just got back from a Rotary trip to Honduras. It was a great experience!!! In fact it was so good I plan to go back again this fall. Thought I would share my pictures with you in case you were interested. There is something to be said about the saying "If you don't know you are poor then you must not be poor". The people were wonderful and always smiling and happy.

I have loaded my pictures on Kodak and sent you 2 photo gallery books. The first school is a public school - Zapatal - that had no bathrooms or running water other than one outside spicket. The "orange" is the bathrooms we painted on Sat. The picture of the school has an unfinished computer room that was built and when finished has a couple of computers Rotary bought for them. It was Sat. and the kids were registering for school that started on Monday. We gave them the Best Friends hats that day.

Next are pictures from Casa de Ninas - the orphanage. In the picture that shows 2 girls and me, the girl next to me is Fanny (19 yrs. old) and the other girl is her sister Mayra (17 yrs old). I am sponsoring Fanny. There are 24 girls from 4 yrs to 20 yrs old. Fanny couldn't go to the public University for her first semester because she didn't have the $25 to pay for the semester. She will be going next semester! The orphanage uses some type of "well water" and does not have water 3 months out of the year during the dry season. They can't wash or flush toilets at that time. Now they have to carry buckets of water to flush, wash and do clothes. It only costs $5 a month for running water. Rotary will be sending in the $60 a year to pay for the water now that we know this!!

The next pictures are from Escuela Catholica Jardin de Maria up in Santa Cruz a private elementary school grades (K-6) where we were building the12 bathrooms and high school grades (7 - 11). These pictures were from Monday.

The next school pictures were from the girls school run by the sisters of Maria Mazzarela. Beautiful facility but they don't have any money and few books. It costs $5 a month to send a girl there for school. The sisters have taken in the "river children" who live literally on the riverbank in a tiny shelter (about the size of 2 refrigerator boxes put together) with their mother. The sisters keep the 35 girls from Mon - Friday at the end of the school day. Then they go back with their mom for the weekend. No one pays for them to go to school. There are 45-50 girls in each classroom. We bought 20 textbooks for each of 4 subjects for the 6th grade class for the girls to have books. We are hoping to raise more money so that the 5th grade can get books also.

We took supplies (pencils, paper, etc.) to each of the 3 schools. Zapotal and Maria Mazzarel schools needed them desperately!! The teachers at the public school make $50 a week. The private school teachers make $75. The nuns just survive on donations.

Last are pictures from the Hotel Copantl (a 4 star hotel) where we stayed in San Pedro Sula and then a couple from the Valentine's Party the club threw for us.

Photographers and reporter - Jaylee Lynch, Chris Hardy, Penny Olgesby, Mary Kehoe, William Diaz, Tom Kennedy, Dave Carpenter, John Van Stipdonk and Rick Perry