Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America with nearly two thirds of the nation's population living below the poverty line. UNICEF estimates there are over 170,000 orphans in Honduras. Orphan Outreach ministers in Honduras by partnering with local orphanages, churches, and Christian schools for children in extreme poverty situations. We also make it a priority to come alongside the Honduran nationals and work with them as they serve their own people. Our primary project is partnering with the AFE (Love, Faith and Hope) school that serves children and families working at the dump in Tegucigalpa. Read below to learn more about our Honduras partner programs.
(AFE) Love, Faith, & Hope: Amor, Fe, Y Esperanza, [The Dump in Tegucigalpa]
There are approximately 300 children working at the dump in Tegucigalpa – some as young as 5 and 6 years of age. They collect trash to sell and make less than a dollar a day. They face the challenges of disease, forced child prostitution, and death – a life with little hope. That is the reality that Jeony Ordonez saw when he brought his 5 year old daughter to the dump to dispose of some trash. His little girl begged him to help the children and that is how AFE was started. The ministry started addressing the educational and spiritual needs of the children on the dump site and then across the street next to a soccer field under a tree for several years. A mission group built two buildings where they were meeting under the trees and the government gave them the rights to the land. Two more buildings have been built since Orphan Outreach has been involved, a kitchen/cafeteria and a high school building. God is blessing Jeony’s faithfulness and his daughter’s compassion.
The school has a nursery and classes from Kindergarten to high school and serves over 100 students. Many of the children still are forced to work at the dump but are in classes at least half a day. Orphan Outreach has provided a large playground, many school furnishings, teacher and school supplies, operational funds for the school, a full time case manager, funds for connecting electricity to the campus, and other construction projects. Short term mission teams support AFE by providing teacher retreats, after school programs, a yearly mother’s day celebration, building homes for families with children attending the school and feeding and evangelism in the dump.
El Verbo Christian School, [Nueva Suyapa]
El Verbo is a ministry of Ministerios Cristianos de Mayordomía (MCM). It is located in Nueva Suyapa, which is a slum considered by most to be the worst in Central America. Nueva Suyapa started in the 1960’s as an extension of Aldea de Suyapa. It got its name because it was a place of pilgrimage for Catholic’s who honored the Virgin of Suyapa whose statue is believed to have been found there centuries ago. The area had about 2,000 residents until hurricane Fifi in 1974 when the government allowed displaced people from the hurricane to build there. The population quickly grew to 30,000 with little infrastructure to support the residents. It was in the midst of this crisis that MCM started to work. In 1994 they started El Verbo Christian School.
El Verbo Christian School has approximately 750 students from kindergarten to 12th grade. They had their first graduating class in May 2007 and many of the students went on to college. Orphan Outreach has provided school supplies, vitamins, a new playground, and educational supplies.
Proverbs 22:6 school : Jardin Y Escuela Christiana, [Tegucigalpa]
The Proverbs 22:6 School began because of the heart of a young girl who lived in the worst slum of Tegucigalpa. Reyna, the founder of the school, had a dream as a young girl to start a school for the community where she grew up. She worked her way through school and became a teacher, saving her money so she could start the private Christian school. Her ultimate goal is to train up the children to be ambassadors for Christ in the mission field and to have a good education that they cannot get in the public school system of Honduras.
Proverbs 22:6 has approximately 75 students and serves the local community and children from the Nueva Suyapa slum. Orphan Outreach works in collaboration with Proverbs 22:6 to provide sponsorships so that children living in extreme poverty and in “at-risk” situations in the slums of Nueva Suyapa can attend the school.
You Can Get Involved
Travel on a Mission Trip
Your commitment to travel with Orphan Outreach allows the children we serve to know they are not forgotten. In ministering to these children you become the hands and feet of Christ and profoundly impact their lives as well as your own.
Your financial gifts to Orphan Outreach will help meet the physical, spiritual, and educational needs of children living in orphanages and substandard situations around the world.
Infant Mortality Rate total: 25.21 deaths/1,000 live births
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Population below poverty line: 50.7% (2004)
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Est. # people living with HIV/AIDS: 63,000; 1.5% adult (15-49) prevalence rate (2005)
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Unemployment rate: 27.8% (2007)
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Literacy Rate (age 15 + can read & write): 80% total population (2001)
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Estimated 180,000 children (0-17) orphaned (2005)
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Type of Government: Democratic Constitutional Republic
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Language(s): Spanish; indigenous languages
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Religion: Roman Catholic (97%), Protestant (3%)
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Honduras is located in Central America, and is bordered by Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua and has Caribbean and Pacific coasts.
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Honduran society is rife with economic inequality. Malnutrition, poor housing and infant diseases are widespread.
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UNICEF estimates that there are more than 180,000 orphans in Honduras.
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Only 43 percent of children enrolled in public schools complete the primary level. Of all children entering the first grade, only 30 percent go on to secondary school, and only 8 percent continue to the university.
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Figures cited by the Ministry of Education suggest that Honduras suffers from widespread illiteracy (more than 40 percent of the total population and more than 80 percent in rural areas).
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Honduras is the second poorest country in Central America, and one of the poorest in Western Hemisphere with 53% of the population living below the poverty line.
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Honduras was devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. At least 10,000 people were killed and millions were left destitute. The damage was estimated at $3 billion, setting development back by decades.
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