Relocating and Expanding the Ministry of Saint Mary's
Technical Institute
Saint Mary’ Technical Institute is where our
older boys learn a marketable trade as a certified carpenter, welder,
or electrician. The
students
at the Institute are high achievers academically; they also consistently
receive high marks
from their field education supervisors. Upon graduation, they
readily find employment which in Honduras means a chance for
a better life. Indeed, USAID reports that a young man with a
basic high school education and vocational training will average
$1,000 more in annual earnings than one who simply has graduated
from a normal high school. El Hogar is not only a home. It is
also a success story.
We are so very grateful to report that
our project to relocate and expand St. Mary’s Technical
Institute is going along well. Our boys
are
now living
in their
new dormitory,
working
in the new workshops, taking classes in the new classroom
building, and eating in a bright dining hall.
We are busy working
on the last three major buildings:
the library / assembly building, the fourth workshop, and the
chapel. The library will
have a section for quiet study and reading and an adjacent
computer lab. The second floor of this building will be a large
assembly room designed to be a community center. The fourth
workshop will train our young men in refrigeration, plumbing
and motor repair. The final building, which will begin construction
this fall, is the chapel. The chapel will be connected to the
library
via a breezeway, creating a courtyard area. We are targeting
completion of the buildings for January 2008.
El Hogar had set a
capital campaign
goal of $1.5 million to make
this
dream
possible,
and we have
been
blessed with generous support that helped us reach this target.
We are humbly grateful to all who have contributed to making
this
project
come to life.
We plan a dedication
for late February 2008. Please revisit this site over the
next few months for more details about this exciting milestone.
Click here to
see a map of the progress at St. Mary’s
Technical Institute.
(Please note that this pdf file is 6.34 MB
and may take a few
moments to
open due to its size.)
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