Fanning the divine spark

The little boy in the picture below is oblivious to the misery around him. His adobe house is near collapse. The outdoor latrine, with its cover ripped away, is beyond repair. There is little more than a few tortillas and beans to feed his family of eight. Until that day when we brought the family blankets, he had to sleep in all the clothing he owned, which is not much, just to keep warm.

Instead of the despair most see when looking at his situation, Luis (pictured to the right) is full of joy. From a broken ladder, with sticks for a steering wheel, clutch, and gear shift, his magic bus rolls on fueled by a divine spark of creativity and the pbfffffffffffft of his lips as he motors down his imaginary road. No need for brakes, he insists, “The bus will stop when it runs out of gas!”

Over the years we have visited and worked in Linaca, we have watched children who began like Luis, end up like the shiftless young man in the picture to the right. Our hearts have broken over little girls like Flora that end up like her mother (see slide show) Illiterate. Toothless. A passel of children from different fathers. Carrying a load of wood instead of books and homework.

The divine spark we see in the above, their innocence, hope, and creativity, if not nurtured will be snuffed out.  They were condemned to life in the fields, picking beans, for a couple of dollars a day or hunting for wood. Mothers, in most families, cannot work as they are too consumed with raising babies, one after hopeless one.

see slide show...

Each year we do a census of the 500 households that comprise over 6,000 people living in the Linaca valley. From these visits we see how our children live. We spend time educating the parents as to the importance of sending their children to school and to our center. We help those we can with special needs - such as Luis, who will soon get a new and enclosed latrine.

It is our team’s calling to inspire and instill a much higher vision in the children and the parents we serve.

Over the past few years of census taking when we asked the parents what is the biggest problem they see facing the community their answers were consistent, ranging from lack of employment to underage drinking. From 2007 to 2008 the same parents’ answers to this question dramatically changed. The vast majority of the respondents said drugs are their biggest concern.

Today the shacks of little Linaca, that eight years ago had no electricity, still have no food on the shelves, many lack toilets, and running water, but most have a television with cable and free pornography channels, cell phones, and easy access to marijuana.

In the past year, major drug cartels have moved in and set up camps all over Honduras. Every day groups of feckless teens wander down the streets of Linaca openly smoking marijuana. No one does a thing about it. As divine sparks of creativity are snuffed out, their appetites to escape misery grow. As opportunities to work shrink, crime and flight to the US  dramatically increases.

Desperate for anything to pawn, innocent people are shot dead in the street for a piece of jewelry or a cheap cell phone.

The year 2007 was a huge success. We opened our new center, our work in concert with the public schools rose to a new level, our attendance was up with double the amount of children keeping regular schedules, our nutrition program also doubled, we hired new teachers/mentors for the center, public school teachers reported children who attended our center were doing better in their studies, we gained new teen volunteers, we were given a grant for the installation of 100 eco friendly ovens that cut wood consumption and reduce disease, and, finally, we made connections that give us the hope of acquiring a state of the art library for Linaca! 

The divine spark in the children of Honduras  is in real danger of being snuffed out by lack of role models, ignorance, lack of parental love and care, lack of education, disease, malnutrition, and so many things that plague poorest of the poor. We are so grateful for all of you who partner with us to fan the divine sparks in the children God has given us to serve.

Your help is truly changing a village of precious lives.