AyO Featured in RAGM Blog

AyO is featured in a recent post on the RAGM (Rotary Action Group for Microfinance & Community Development ) blog.   It talks about the success of Global Grants supporting projects to provide Economic Opportunity Training and Job Search Training to families in Honduras.    You can read the entire post here.

 

 

 

The Sousaphone Story

When John and Jean Edge-Partington made their annual trek to Honduras in 2013, they visited a vocational school, and learned there was a very talented musician/teacher there named Juan Carlos, but he had no instruments with which to teach.

Over the next 4 years they took down a few each year, many being donated by Rotarians in Duncan BC.

In 2017 a Doctor donated this very valuable sousaphone.   Richard Kasperski took it to Santa Barbara as baggage.  It weighed 60 pounds and was oversize, but the airline allowed it to go without charge.

A very happy Juan Carlos is seen here with Richard.  His sign says “Welcome Richard and Heather More – Ambassadors of Music”.

 

 

Santa Barbara Inspection Tour – January 2019

President  Mike Balahura,  and  6 Directors visited  Santa Barbara  in January 2019. 

“We were so impressed with the work being done by this small group of very dedicated and caring people!   With  our help, they are  building classrooms, latrines in schools, and computer labs too.  They are teaching computer classes and administering  scholarships to gifted and needy high school and university students.     Their work is making a huge difference in the lives of the poor in the Santa Barbara area.”   Continue reading Santa Barbara Inspection Tour – January 2019

Castlegar Twin Rivers Elementary School Grade 4/5 Class

This class has been raising funds for Market Children in Tegucigalpa for over 10 years.  Their teacher, Curt Kutschera, uses the exercise to raise kids awareness about the importance of education, Central America and charitable giving.

In 2018 the class raised over $1,000!  

 

Ron & Elaine Ross, founders of  H.E.L.P. Honduras, are seen here with the 2016 class.

Thank you letters from the kids

Many of the market kids send their sponsors thank you letters each year.  Most of them are in Spanish, but this one is from a University student, and is in English.  

One young student  wrote a thank-you song which was performed by a group of market kids during picture-taking in January of 2019.    The student who wrote it is in the red shirt in the center of the video.

Congratulations Mark Isfeld Interact Club from Comox !

This high school Interact Club video won $1,000 from Rotary International for being selected best Interact Video in the world in 2017.

Watch the video to see how much work they are doing in Honduras.   Their Rotary Sponsor, Brian Mather, travels to Honduras each year with a few members of the club.  Last year they took US$6200 with them.     These kids are an inspiration.

RI President Barry Rassin visits AyO – July 2018

 

When RI International President Barry Rassin visited Central America in July, 2018, AyO was chosen as a project he should see.    He met with  women who gave testimonials of their experience with the early childhood stimulation and family economic development Global Grants of AyO, scholarship recipients, and young leaders of the Leadership and Values program of the Rotary Club of Tegucigalpa.  This program teaches kids in school about the values of Rotary and how to apply them in their lives.

H.E.L.P. Honduras 2017 Inspection Tour

Each year in January, a team of HELP Honduras members travel to Honduras to meet with our partners at  Alternativas y Oportunidades (AyO) and the Rotary Clubs of Tegucigalpa and Santa Barbara.    We review the activities of the previous year and make plans for the next.

We spend three or four days photographing the over 400 children that  our sponsors support in school through HELP Honduras .  We get thousands of hugs, smiles and thank-you’s from the kids and their families.

The HELP Honduras Directors are a dedicated bunch.  They donate  their time and travel at their own expense to do the annual inspection tour.

Details of the 2017 inspection tour are below.

Continue reading H.E.L.P. Honduras 2017 Inspection Tour