And so it begins
Yesterday the materials were delivered and we saw the beginning of this exciting project. The kids were on hand to unload the truck. The sand will be delivered today and the construction can begin.
This is where the new chicken house will be
With the help of A Better World, the Morazanica school in El Chilar (a community distant from Copan Ruinas) will have an egg/chicken business. The eggs will be used to supplement the childrens diet as well as sold to buy other foodstuffs and support the operating costs.
Children from El Chilar school
Professor Adin Alvorado Santos (the teacher whose proposal this is) sees the chicken project as a unique and valuable learning opportunity for the children. I do too! and am excited as the building is due to start tomorrow. All labor will be supplied by the community and the project overseen by Ellen Finn (director) Project School Supplies.
Last day in Honduras. The task of the day was to check out the eye clinic in El Progresso on my way to San Pedro Sula. It was impressive. What dedication it must take to build a clinic, supply it with the equipment to do specialty exams and surgery and staff it. The administrator gave us a complete tour. The pediatric ophthalmologist will be there in June and the goal is to have our three children travel to the clinic to have cataract surgery during that week.
Adios los niños de El Chilar
In the country…….north of Copan. Ellen, her assistant Marel, Aden, and I visited a couple of communities/schools today.
The day was such fun, the roads were not. These communities are so poor that any small thing is received with incredible gratitude and enthusiasm. We gave out bags of trail mix and Ellen gave each child one marble (they were so excited)!
This is where the chicken house would go
Aden, the teacher at the school, is a remarkable man. My best description of him is that he is visionary. In conversation with him he said he was raised in a family as poor as the ones we were visiting. He has a plan…….three goals. We discussed them in the park……to start a Grade 7 class in El Chilar, to integrate a chicken raising component and to have an incentive program for the kids to participate. In Honduras the government supports education up to 6th grade so the kids in these rural communities have no access to schools or the money to attend if they did. I’m really interested in taking this on as a project for A Better World.