blog

His name is Darwin. He was about 11, but looked more like 9. He was thin and visibly filthy, even in the dimness of the streetlights. His bare feet were much larger than they should have been from years of running around without shoes. The grin returned to his face as he began talking with Kevin again. Kevin, the former Cali boy turned social worker in the streets of Honduras, talked to the little guy in a very casual way. You could see he had done this before, as he watched the tiny child getting high off huffing glue right in front of him. He could have lunged forward and started the chase right then, but decided to pace himself and try to convince Darwin to come to the foundation willingly. Its difficult to reason with a child who is so addicted to the glue. No matter how much you talk about meals, education, a home, etc. a drug addicted child will often still choose the glue.

Kevin kept talking about ProNino as I walked over to speak with the guards at the restaurant beside us. People don’t usually speak with the street children much, no less a few light skinned Americans. They saw us and were getting pretty interested, so I told them about the foundation and the opportunity for this child to have a bright future off the streets. They offered to help if needed.

Back to our little Darwin. His behavior was so altered. He stepped back and forth as if in turmoil about what to do. He would start to agree and then change his mind and begin looking around nervously. The glue was clearly impacting his thought process and he was completely confused and frightened by the decision he needed to make. Suddenly he began to panic and took off down the street in the opposite direction. Kevin began running behind him as one of the guards ran around to block off his only exit. Feeling trapped only made the effects of the glue much worse, as Darwin began to truly panic and dove for the barred fence beside him. He began squeezing himself through the gaps but just as he got through on the other side, the guard reached out and grabbed ahold of his tiny arm through the bars. The guard held onto him as Kevin ran around to the other side.

Into Kevins’ truck and off to the foundation. Darwin sat with me in the back and I held onto him to ensure he didn’t attempt to get out of the truck. He calmed down in the dark of the cab and every once in awhile would make a joke and smile for a moment. He reeked of the glue and the streets and the whole truck filled with the smell. We arrived at the center and took him into the foundation. We emptied his pockets; some firecrackers, a match, the bag of glue, and a tube of glue to continue filling the bag. He was calm at this point and slept through the night.

Little Darwin is still at the foundation and doing very well. If not for ProNino, he would have yet another dangerous night tonight on the streets. He would get high off the glue and continue to destroy his mind and erase the pain of the reality of his own young life. But instead, he will sleep in his own bed after eating a real meal. He will get up in the morning and spend time with the staff and volunteers learning to read and write and playing soccer. This is the reality of what ProNino is doing. This is their work and this is why it is so incredibly necessary. Please give – every little bit helps. Skip your Starbucks or cut out the fast food this week. Give $20 to an amazing cause and make sure Darwin has a good meal tonight.

The result is that even more families are experiencing severe difficulties and therefore more children are undernourished and can’t even go to school. At the same time a lot of American contributors have had some financial setbacks, leading to a significant decrease in contributions for Hogar Suyapa. The number of children in need of permanent care has risen from 25 to 43, while the contributions have decreased considerably. Every child in the shelter still gets all the care it needs, but we sincerely hope the financial situation of Hogar Suyapa can improve swiftly. In any case, thanks to extra contributions by Energy Incentives, Homeless Child can send 2,500 Euros or about 3,500 dollars more than last year.

Every day, Proniño has to bring 56 kids to different schools in multiple shifts. Mostly there are four children on the front seat, six on the back seat and ten in the back of the pickup truck. When it rains, they get wet, as well as their clothes and their school books! If the police stop us, we need to have the gift of the gab to avoid a fine or a bribe. And it’s also just plain dangerous.
A new second-hand bus for our kids in Honduras is not a luxury article, it’s a bare necessity! Do you know a company or a foundation willing to sponsor us for the purchase of a second-hand bus or van?

The conditions for support are very strict and to be eligible a person from the Netherlands needs to be on site for an extended period. José also visits the foundations they support so she can make sure that everything is running smoothly.
In the mean time seven children of Proniño receive a grant which is guaranteed until the end of their education! Our wish is for even more children to benefit from a grant so they can get a decent education in order to improve their chances for the future. Check here (http://www.joinforkids.org) for more information.

Here you can find three stories about the sponsored kids.
Luis Enrique Canales
Luis Enrique is one of the very few boys who never lived in the streets. He used to live in a very poor neighborhood, the turf of a dangerous gang, and he was witness to a murder. Because he was in danger of being killed himself, the judge placed him with us some three years ago, tens of kilometers from the neighborhood where he lived.

Luis Enrique consequently didn’t have to go through a difficult period of rehabilitation and soon he was able to function among the best of the group. Now he’s going to school with much gusto and his dream is to one day open a shop for motorcycle repair.

Kevin Soriano
Kevin ended up on the streets when he was young, and he was placed in a government center that got closed a little while later because one of the children was killed by a guardian. When he came to us, it didn’t take long for him to feel at ease, and he is best friends with Luis Enrique, with whom of course he shares the dream of a shop for motorcycle repairs!

Cristian Eduardo Salazár
Cristian is fourteen and has only been living with us for a year now. He used to live in an adjacent province. He never knew his parents because they gave him away to an elder lady right after his birth, but she died soon after. The director of the orphanage he stayed at for a little while made sure he could be placed with a stepmother but a couple of years later she went in pursuit of her happiness as an illegal immigrant in the United States and she left him. Fortunately Cristian was able to come to Proniño soon after, and because he hadn’t lived on the streets that long, his rehabilitation was swift.

Bryan turned out to be so intelligent and full of determination that he was allowed to do two years in one. At the moment he is repeating that trick and in February he can go to secondary school. We want to give him the chance to go to the best school in town even if it does cost 50 Euros a month in tuition fees, an expense that we really cannot afford.
Even so, public education in Honduras is awful. There were strikes on 62 days of the year in 2009 and on at least 67 days in 2010!
Bryan deserves a better chance, but he is not the only one. Ever has on average a mark of 9.5 on his school report and we have now arranged a half scholarship for him. Gerardo also has a mark of 9.2 and we also want to offer him the chance to go to a better school together with a handful of other children, who we know have the motivation and the will to fight for the best results. You can see a portrait of Bryan here.
Would you like to support them? Give a child a chance! Go to www.homelesschild.org to make a donation. A little effort with a great result!