Graduation is an important event in the lives of our students, and of their families. Our students come from situations of intense poverty. Most of them have simply been surviving from day to day. Therefore, the completion of a phase of education is a significant accomplishment. In theory, grades one through six are compulsory in Honduras, but, in practice, there are hundreds of thousands of children in Honduras who never complete even these primary grades. For students to go on to complete grades seven to nine is a sacrifice for these families. The students have reached an age when they would be able to go out and supplement the family income or work in the fields. For them to devote three years to further study is something that requires imagination, patience and courage from the family.

Therefore, graduation is an event that holds lots of significance for both our students and their families. Weeks of preparation go into the graduation ceremony. All three sites are decorated, and each has its own invitation printed up. On the day of the graduation, it is moving to see the families arrive. They are dressed in their best (sometimes borrowed) clothes. Often, a large family will show up in the back of a battered pick up truck. The looks of pride and the tears as they gather around their graduates are marks of just how important this step forward is to all of them.

We have two events at each site - a Eucharist and the graduation ceremony itself. During the ceremony, each graduate receives personal notice, along with a diploma. Afterwards, there is a simple festive meal with - of course - music.

In visiting the homes of children whose older brother or sister has graduated, it is striking the way the diplomas and, if they have one, a picture of the graduate in cap and gown, are prominently displayed. The home will not have a couch, or a single appliance, or even a paved floor, but the picture of the graduate is hung where everyone who enters can see, often close to the other home decoration - a picture of Jesus.

Our graduates leave El Hogar projects with a lot on their shoulders for being so young. Please remember them in your prayers as they begin their lives as adults.