There are two organizations
that are referred to as El Hogar. The first is El Hogar
Projects. This is the school and orphanage located in Tegucigalpa,
Honduras which was founded in 1979. The second is El Hogar Ministries,
Inc. This non-profit
organization is located in Massachusetts
and provides support and assistance to El Hogar Projects in numerous
ways. Together, these two organizations work to serve the poor
of Honduras.
The mission of El Hogar Projects is to provide a loving home
and education in a Christian environment for abandoned, orphaned
and hopelessly poor children, enabling them to fulfill their
ultimate potential as productive human beings in Honduras.
El Hogar Projects
is a mission project of the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras under
the leadership of The Right Rev. Lloyd Allen.
The mission of El Hogar Ministries, Inc. is to assist in the
improvement of social and educational conditions in Honduras,
principally by supporting El Hogar Projects. El Hogar Ministries,
Inc. raises funds and maintains an office for coordination and
communication with North American sponsors, contributors and
church outreach groups which form a sacred community of service
and are the backbone of financial support for the 230 children
at the three schools and homes of El Hogar Projects.
Honduras is the poorest country in the Americas.
With an illiteracy rate of 25 %, an unemployment rate hovering
at 30%, and more than half the population living below the poverty
line, it is difficult for Hondurans to even imagine a better life,
much less create one.
Many children literally live “on the streets.” In
the face of desperate poverty … where the average annual
income is under $1,000, children who should be in school are
on the streets. The families they come
from can no longer feed, clothe, or educate them. Their homes,
little more than cardboard and tin pieced together, offer no
space, no running water, and little hope of a future. Sniffing
glue relieves their hunger pangs, while simultaneously destroying
brain cells. Begging and stealing become the means to survive.
Teenage gangs offer a sense of belonging. This is childhood for
many in Honduras. This is the face of poverty.
El Hogar was founded to break this cycle and
offer a ray of hope for the future of Honduras. We began by
providing five boys with housing and food. Since then we have
grown to providing for children boys at our three boarding schools.
We have close to 70 dedicated staff members at
our three locations in Honduras who work closely with our students
to give them not only a rich
education, but also a sense of pride in themselves
and caring for others.
The mission of El Hogar Projects is to provide a loving
home and education in a Christian environment for abandoned,
orphaned and hopelessly poor children, enabling them to fulfill
their ultimate potential as productive human beings in Honduras.
El Hogar continues to serve the most destitute
children in and around the city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. To
qualify for the El Hogar program, a child must have no other
resources available to them.
Los Proyectos El Hogar (El Hogar Projects) began in 1979 as “El
Hogar de Amor y Esperanza” (the Home of Love and Hope). It stemmed
from the vision of Victor Lognes, the Rev. Hugo Pina, Val and Connie
de Beausset, and the Rev. Bob and Margi Miller to break the cycle of
poverty and crime by providing street boys a home and education to
help them be useful, productive and responsible citizens of Honduras.
With initial funds from The Methodist Fund for Human Need and support
from the Episcopal Church, five boys from different parts of the Honduran
capital, Tegucigalpa, came to live at El Hogar. There they received
love and support; including clothing, good nutrition, and health care,
while receiving up to a sixth grade education in a Christian environment.
With funding from Churches in the United States and Canada, and the
support of many individuals, El Hogar has expanded. Its mission, however,
remains the same.
El
Hogar has grown from solely a home, to three homes and
schools with four programs: Elementary School, Middle
School, Agricultural School, and Technical Institute
serving about 230 children ages five to 20 from both
urban and rural parts of Honduras. Some children
are truly abandoned or orphaned, others cannot be provided
for by their impoverished families in a country where
$2,700 is the annual
per capita average income and 53 percent of the population
live below the poverty level. The average educational
level is only second grade,
yet children at El Hogar receive a sixth grade education
at the Elementary School and a chance for a future. They
then move into a Middle School
program of life-skills, allowing them to grow physically,
mentally and spiritually to prepare for a technical education
at either the
Episcopal Agricultural School or at Saint Mary ’s Technical Institute.
The children of El Hogar have had an opportunity to transform their
lives. They are the fortunate ones, and they are contributing
to a new Honduras.
We offer an alternative to gang life –
El Hogar has been providing a loving home and an education
to children in desperate poverty since 1979, and continues
to do so.
But
during those years the stakes have grown higher. One
of the sad developments in Central America during the
past decade is the growth of gangs, originally imported
from L.A. In neighborhoods where there is glaring need,
few prospects for economic opportunity and a subsequent
fracturing of the family,
gangs provide
an alluring alternative. They promise a sense of belonging,
increased economic prosperity, adventure, purpose, empowerment,
and community.
The gangs actively recruit for members, and are fond
of enlisting children at a young age. These children
are sent out to run drugs or to steal, or forced into
prostitution or other crimes
to prove their loyalty. By the time they are teenagers
they find themselves so deeply involved that it is almost
impossible to find
a way out. The lives of gang members tend to be sordid,
brutal, and short.
El Hogar provides an alternative to that destructive course. We provide
a true sense of belonging, a chance to be more prosperous,
experience joy, purpose, and community. But above that,
we are inviting children into a community of God’s love. The
result of association with El Hogar is not fear and violence, but healthy
growth and
hope for better lives. And we provide the children with
the tools to achieve their dreams.
El Hogar, which educates and provides a loving home for
deeply impoverished and abandoned children of Honduras,
is an oasis in a country locked in a cycle of desperate
poverty and hopelessness.
Our boys receive a high quality education, and a technical
trade which makes them employable in their country. They
learn love, respect, and
a sense of their own ability to break this cycle of poverty
and despair, not just for themselves, but for their families,
communities and country.
Through our program of sponsorship that encourages personal
relationships with our children, they learn the powerful
effect of compassion and the
spirit of caring and generosity. They are transformed,
not only by the food and shelter they receive, but by
being witness to this kind
of love and human kindness. Coming from backgrounds that
do not always offer hope and kindness, these children
are deeply moved by the true compassion
and respect they experience through being part of El Hogar.
Knowing that someone cares builds self-respect, love
and hope in our boys.
To see them and interact with them is to be in the presence
of this hope and love; they are not the only ones transformed!
At
El Hogar evidence of the impact we are having is the students
who graduate from our schools. These young adults graduate
not only with
an education and a marketable skill, but also with a sense
of pride, respect and responsibility to give back to others.
This sense of reaching
out to others is apparent even at a young age. The directors
of our schools share stories of times when the boys at
our elementary school
have literally given the shirts off their backs and shoes
from their feet to other children they see who have less
than they do. Our children
understand all opportunities they have been given are the
result of the generosity of others. They take this example
to heart as they reach
out to others. The directors and teachers of our schools
believe that raising the children to be caring, respectful
young adults is just as important
as training them to be skilled carpenters, electricians
or welders. To witness the transformation of the young
hopelessly poor children who
enter El Hogar and are given the opportunity to reach their
full potential as young adults is truly remarkable. These
students leave our program
as roles models for their families and their community
and the hope for the future of Honduras.
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