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All pupils could buy croissants and a collection was made, with almost €500 worth of proceeds. All students and staff members received a Christmas card on this occasion, with a picture of one of the Proniño boys and Christmas wishes in Spanish and Dutch. Afterwards the open day for new seventh-graders and their parents was used to raise more funds. A couple of students baked cakes and pies. All visitors could get coffee at the Homeless Child stand with a slice of cake or a piece of pie for €1. Again, the proceeds were almost €500. In May the main activity will take place, usually leading to a total sum of four digits. The goal is to further increase the final proceeds through Wilde Ganzen. We would like to thank all pupils and teachers who have committed themselves to this cause and wish them good luck!

This account of voluntary work in Honduras was written by Karen van de Vis.

I arrived in El Progreso on 17 October 2010 and for someone who has not travelled outside Europe very often, the sight of this impoverished and utterly different city was difficult to cope with. Hardly any asphalt roads, a lot of corrugated iron roofs, electricity cables hanging all over the place and, in particular, a lot of loud noise … and, of course, the heat; an oppressive and humid heat.
It is already three months ago that I entered Hogar Suyapa… Lots of little pairs of arms stretched out to me and clung on to me. I fell for these little children straightaway. They were so cute!! Each little person with such a big story of his own to tell … Ana, the director of Hogar Suyapa, has told me a great deal about the background of these sweet little children during the past few months. Stories which regularly brought tears to my eyes. Of neglect and under-nourishment and severe abuse, often of a sexual nature. It’s really unbelievable to see what little survivors these children are.

In spite of their terrible past history, they are so cheerful. They are enormously resilient and have a great sense of humour. The “Hogar” is therefore not the kind of children’s home that we recognise from the TV (think of the musical ‘Annie’). It feels more like one big happy family because of the kind ‘supervisors’ and capable staff.

In the mornings I worked in the dietary centre. It was quite overwhelming and particularly alarming to realise that so many are suffering from hunger in this country … In the dietary centre, assistance is given to severely undernourished children. During the short period in which I was able to help, I saw what a difference two weeks’ of being well fed could make. It is unbelievable how quickly a child can recover, not only physically but also mentally, when it has enough to eat.

I enjoyed playing, cuddling, feeding and changing nappies (I mean those cotton ones that leak from the sides when there’s a number two nestling inside; just a small graphic detail!)

I will probably find it very difficult and will shed lots of tears when the time comes to say goodbye to these cute, some of them mischievous, little children and the lovely people who have made me feel so welcome at El Progreso, and to Honduras itself. This has been a very special experience and I certainly hope to return in the future to see how the children have progressed.

My most recent focus has been to set up a sponsorship program for Pronino children. The foundation is having a very difficult time and funds are needed, so the decision was made to seek sponsors. My most recent trip to Honduras left me with a goal of taking photographs and information on a handful of the boys.

I had a difficult time focusing on the work, as I was just so anxious to see them again and spend time with them. However, I did sit down with 26 of the kids and get mini-interviews and take photographs.

As I was conducting these little video interviews, I made a realization which truly upset me. I had just sat down with a very sweet boy to begin his video. He is 15 and a happy and confident child. I haven’t known him for very long as he is relatively new to the foundation. I began the interview and the first question is simply for the child to state his full name. I asked and he replied with a different name from his own. I laughed and told him that I really needed him to state his full name. He kept quite serious and explained to me that the name he now uses isn’t the name he was given at birth. He was abandoned and taken to an orphanage as a child where, not knowing his name, they gave him another. Years later they were able to get ahold of his birth certificate and see his given name. I said that I now understood, and continued asking him questions until we finished up his interview.

Afterwards I found myself feeling terrible. It seems that I sometimes forget what I’m truly working for. I know these kids who I dearly love, but I forget how much they have suffered in their lives. I meet them when they have arrived at the center and are safe and given all that they need. But I forget. I forget what they have been through, what horrible things have happened to them in their lives and how very important this place is. It’s so important that they are given this life, this opportunity to move ahead and not be left behind and abandoned to the streets.

Every child has a unique and often horrible story. This boy hadn’t experienced the common street occurrences such as drug addictions and sexual abuse that many of the boys in the center have. But he had his own terrible story. He had been simply abandoned and now left to be handed around from one center to another. Many of the kids don’t know their birthdays, and that has always seemed like a terribly sad thing to me, as some additional neglect on the part of the parents. But this child was left without even a name.

This foundation isn’t housing kids who already have happy healthy homes and families. It’s home to the forgotten children who no one else wants or cares for, the children who would otherwise have nothing and be left with no future at all. So suddenly, by simply asking a boy his name, I’m left with a greater dedication to the importance of this foundation. And I only hope that I won’t let myself forget again.

Each child growing up differently, learning more about the world around them and about who they are and would like to become. I am not a mother in the truest sense of the word, but I can see how amazing it must feel as a parent watching their child grow and change. These are not exactly my children (although I often refer to them as such), but in the years I have known them I have grown to love them and see them as family.

One child who I have known since my very first trip to Honduras, is Victor. I spoke very little Spanish and was only able to communicate minimally, but instantly became very attached to this little boy. He was 11 years old at the time and in the years to come I became very aware of how badly behaved he was. He was truly a terror at times.

I was told that he had been through some horrible circumstances while living on the streets. I kept trying to remind myself of this as he would dump dirty water on me or toss a large biting insect at my face. He seldomly listened to anything I had to say and threats of taking away snacks or privileges meant nothing to this child. He had moments of being incredibly sweet but they were few and far between. He teased and fought with nearly every other child in the center and seemed to be in absolute turmoil inside. I saw him break down on a few occasions. He would run off and wanted no one near him to see, but he would simply sit and sob.

One cannot imagine the psychological effects on a child after being abandoned, left to be alone on the streets at the age of 8 or 9, with the awareness that no one is worried about you or cares where you are of if you are alright. Those children are also treated as dirt, mocked and laughed at, and abused while living on the streets. Such an innocent and youthful mind should not be put through such terrible things.

Last year, Victor was improving greatly. He still had many outbursts and would behave quite terribly on occasion, but he seemed to be doing much better overall. On this return trip though, I was  thrilled to see this changed and confident boy. He is doing well in school and learning so much in the workshops at the center. He was so happy and instantly wanted to take me around and show me all the things he is doing.

I was given an incredibly descriptive explanation of every tool you will use in the workshop and was then shown every piece of work that he has done. The giant smile on his face didn’t seem to disappear for even a moment. He was so happy and full of pride and seemed to be a completely different boy from the one I met 5 years ago. I used to fear that this boy would run away and simply end up on the streets for rest of his life. And now I have no doubt in my mind that he will continue to progress and one day be found working and making his way in life. I am so very proud to be a part of this foundation that is directly impacting the lives of these boys in such a beautiful way.

A story by Nicoline, one of our volunteers in Honduras.
Every child living in Hogar Suyapa has its own horrible story. And though some of these stories are very similar, every child is marked for life by them in its own way.

The 7 (!!!) adoptive children of Donja Ana – the oldest being 17 years old – have almost all ended up in the nutrition center, undernourished and neglected or abused. When she saw the damage done, Ana couldn’t find it in her heart to deny the children a home, so she fought for their adoption.

Unfortunately she cannot adopt all children. Some will have to grow up here, in Hogar Suyapa, which is a wonderful home as well. One of them is Guadalupe, also known as Lupita. She’s a beautiful child with large, brown eyes. At first sight, she only seems shy because she doesn’t engage in contact with others and often plays on her own. However, the real reason – and a horrible one at that – is that her mother is addicted to sniffing glue and had Lupita doing the same thing since birth to quiet her down. When she was two weeks old, she was taken away from her mother and brought to us, her little face covered in glue.  It seemed early, but the damage had already been done, because in these two weeks she suffered from serious brain damage, to the extent that the doctors said she would never be able to walk and show emotions. Hogar Suyapa is very proud that she can walk, smile and even babble a little at the age of three!
 And then there’s the story of the two sisters – 6 and 7 years old – who came in this week. One was thin as a rake and both had a mature though timid, rough personality.  They used street lingo to attract my attention: ‘Hey, psst’, and clicking with their tongue.  At first I thought to myself: ‘How rude, I’m not going to react to that’.  But when I was told one of them had been raped by her stepfather and her mother had allowed this to happen, my heart broke and I tried to give them some extra attention, which they should receive as children.
The girls only stayed a couple of days with us until the judge decided where they would be placed. This week one of them sat down next to me.  I asked her if she liked it here. She shook her head and said they would go to another shelter for older children the next day. When I asked her if she would like it better over there, she shook her head again. She wanted to be with her mother and asked me why she couldn’t. I couldn’t tell her that her mother allowed her little sister to be sexually abused and that it was not safe to go back.
Help us help them!
More stories by Nicoline coming up
Do you want to come to Honduras? Check www.homelesschild.org for more information.  Or would you like to help in the Netherlands?  Call Ineke Wiersma on 0032 (0)43 4092194.  You can also contribute on account number 212487167 in the name of Homeless Child