These are OUR children

In the midst of the crisis that is going on right now on our southern border, I have been thinking a lot lately about these children.  They are no different from the ones that we love, the ones that we care for, the ones that we work for every day.  They are no different than the ones that you support and write letters to and that we as a family pray for.  These children are fleeing violence, poverty and hopelessness and searching for a safe place to call home.  My heart breaks when I think about everything they have been through.  It breaks when I contemplate everything that lies ahead for them.  My heart breaks to think that they will return to their own countries only to begin the horrific trip again.  How much do you have to love your child to send them off knowing that you may never see them again, just so that they may have a glimpse at hope for a better future?  My heart breaks for the mothers that are making these decisions. 

One of the biggest challenges of doing the administrative work for Amigos de Jesús is that we have to try and connect people here in the US with a population of children far away; in a country that many do not even know how to locate on a map.  The suffering and the poverty is incomprehensible to many.  Living here in the US we are for the most part sheltered from seeing extreme poverty and feeling daily abuse.  But, Honduras is the most violent and dangerous country on the planet right now and now that these children are in our daily headlines and on our border, it is becoming real to us here in the US.  Children are regularly kidnapped, abused, raped or forced into gang life.  Families have no recourse as gangs work with impunity.  And the struggles are ongoing and constant.  Who wouldn’t want to escape that reality? 

God has allowed Amigos de Jesús to grow and more than double in size over the last few years.  He is not done with us yet, though, and as the need grows in Honduras, so must we.  By supporting Amigos de Jesús you are helping solve this crisis, for our country, for our family, for our children and for all the children that need us.  The children on our border are our children.  They are just like Victor, Ariel, Chango and Arcadia…the ones you will meet this fall.  They are the lucky ones.  They were brought to a place of hope and healing and are now safe from violence and despair.  They now have a family and have been provided for by people like you and me.  They have hope.  Most in Honduras, however, aren’t so lucky.   

I am so honored to be a part of this family and to know that what we are doing to so important to these children.  I am heartbroken at the thought of every other child in Honduras that has not found a safe haven, a place where they can be kids, free of fear and full of hope.  But, I am encouraged to know that all of you reading this are supporting our family and allowing us to reach out and help more and more children and do everything we can to make sure that they are safe and know that they are loved by a community of Friends of Jesus. 

-Emily Ford, Executive Director

Additional information on the crisis in Honduras:

Honduras currently has the highest murder rate in the world.  Gangs, violence, crime and extreme poverty are forcing children and families to look for an escape.  Here are a few resources to help you understand the complex issues at hand. 

Jesuit Refugee Service http://jrsusa.org/news_detail?TN=NEWS-20140708120724

Pew Research Center http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/01/dhs-violence-poverty-is-driving-children-to-flee-central-america-to-u-s/

Time Photographic Essay http://lightbox.time.com/2014/07/29/honduras-exodus-in-pictures/#1

Human Rights Watch – Honduras http://www.hrw.org/americas/Honduras

American-Born Gangs Helping Drive Immigrant Crisis at U.S. Border – National Geographic

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140723-immigration-minors-honduras-gang-violence-central-america/

Pope Francis-  "This humanitarian emergency requires, as a first urgent measure, these children be welcomed and protected. These measures, however, will not be sufficient, unless they are accompanied by policies that inform people about the dangers of such a journey and, above all, that promote development in their countries of origin." July 14, 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/15/pope-francis-immigrant-children_n_5588442.html

Finding a Family and Finding Home

Note: This is the full version of the article that appears in shorter form in our Summer 2014 Newsletter.

Gerson David on the way to meet family members.

Gerson David came to Amigos de Jesús in February 2008. Even in a home with so many children, all of whom come from unique backgrounds, Gerson’s arrival was exceptional. While most of our children are from cities and towns within a few hours drive of the hogar, Gerson came from the Moskitia, clear across Honduras and only accessible by boat or plane. And as a native Miskito, he did not speak a word of Spanish. Needless to say, the adjustment was difficult for Gerson. His temper flared up when he could not understand or be understood. Nobody really knew how he ended up in western Honduras, and much less from where exactly he had come. By the time he could effectively communicate in Spanish, he did not remember many of these details. As the years passed, he continued to adjust to Amigos de Jesús but forgot even more his family, his past and his native language.

Now 18 years old, Gerson is fluent in Spanish, learning welding in the mornings and studying in 8th grade after lunch. His formerly explosive temper has been replaced by a fun sense of humor and what is known as “The Greatest Smile at Amigos de Jesús.” But for all of the years that had passed, still we knew very little about him, and it was unclear what he himself remembered. So when a great opportunity presented itself to accompany a group from North Carolina on a mission trip to a Miskito orphanage, we jumped at the chance. The goal for the trip was to get Gerson back in touch with his culture, and if at all possible with family members as well.

We arrived by plane in Puerto Lempira on a dirt landing strip that is the gateway to the Moskitia. The whole town is about the length of this landing strip and is situated on the shore of a lagoon bordering the Caribbean Sea. Everything must arrive by air or by sea, so even the most basic necessities are rather scarce and expensive. There are two power companies, but between them there are still only 6-8 hours of electricity each day. All residents speak Miskito, and while in the city most people also speak Spanish, many have clearly learned it as a second language. We would stay here for a week.

The information we had to begin the search was very limited – Gerson only remembered a handful of first names and could not remember the name of the community where he grew up. He also was overwhelmed the first few days (understandably), so we took it slow and spent most of our time at Mama Tara’s Miskito orphanage with the kids and the group there. On day three, we hit the pavement to really start the family search. After a morning of collecting phone numbers and information in town from people who wanted to help, but were ultimately unable to do so, we stopped at a street corner that Gerson, upon arrival, had recognized as the place where his grandmother would sell fruits and fish. Unfortunately, hers was not one of the names he remembered. I waited for someone to ask what I wanted, to be sure that the person I was speaking with knew Spanish, and then phrased my inquiry something like this: “I’m looking for a woman whose name I don’t know who used to sell things here, who has a daughter named Felipa and a grandson who was taken out of the Moskitia sometime before 2008. Do you know who I’m talking about?” After a brief discussion in Miskito between a few of the older vendors on this corner, the woman looked back and told us in Spanish “That’s his family over there.”

The two family members on that corner turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. They were siblings of Gerson’s great-grandmother, the one he remembered as his grandmother. Gerson did not remember them, but the more they talked to him, the more his face began to light up as he remembered some people and stories. Then they mentioned that he has a lot of family in Puerto Lempira, and a lot more in Pranza, the community in which he grew up. They helped us get in touch with more people, and that evening almost 15 extended family members, plus Gerson’s former teacher, came by the hotel to say hello. They invited us over the next day, saying they’d pick us up at 8:30.

Gerson David, reunited with family members.

That following day was full of excitement both for Gerson and his family. What was meant to be only a morning get-together turned into an all-day event. His family is spread among three houses in Puerto Lempira, but all of them came together that day to one house. There were about 30 people total: cousins, aunts and uncles, great-aunts and uncles, second cousins. Slowly I started learning and Gerson started remembering more and more about his life prior to Amigos de Jesús – about parents who had abandoned him, the great-grandmother who took care of him, and how a man claiming to also be family had convinced her to send Gerson to the other side of the country with him in 2006. His great-grandmother regretted her decision, they told us, and just before she passed away three years ago had left his birth certificate with an aunt with the instructions to keep looking. They had heard he was in Tela, in La Ceiba, and that he was dead. Most of the family was resigned to never seeing him again.

After talking about the painful part of his past, we began sharing happier details. We told them how well Gerson is doing in school and in his welding work, that he has learned Spanish, and that he has grown up to be a very polite and friendly young man. They, in turn, told us stories (some of which he remembered after hearing them) about a Dennis the Menace-like child, one who once burned down his great-grandmother’s house while trying to cook in secret. We were able to continue meeting up over the next few days with both the mother’s and father’s side of Gerson’s family. But as much as Gerson was enjoying his time in Puerto Lempira, one thing was still missing – he wanted to get out to Pranza.

Gerson’s family put us in touch with a woman named Ingrid, who owns the only car that goes to Pranza, a community on the border between Honduras and Nicaragua. At five o’clock in the morning, we loaded into the tarp-covered bed of a pickup truck and set off for what ended up being a five-hour drive down a bumpy dirt road through the middle of nowhere. And I mean nowhere – the only sign of civilization along the way is a military outpost about three hours out of Puerto Lempira. We rode in accompanied by goods such as gas and soap that are only available in Puerto Lempira; on the return trip Ingrid brings the plantains, fish and other harvest to sell in town. Being in Gerson’s original home, things that used to seem odd started to make sense, for example watching him scale a coconut tree with just his hands and feet and then peel the coconut with his teeth.

Upon arrival, close to 30 more family members, including his grandmother, were already waiting for us. About half spoke only Miskito, and the other half spoke Miskito and bad Spanish. We again repeated the story telling and Gerson got to see the community where he used to live, a collection of 40-ish homes and a church and a school, all spread through the same general area of the forest. It was an exhausting day, both physically and emotionally, and by four o’clock in the afternoon we were back on the road to Puerto Lempira, where the following day we would wrap up our trip before flying back out.

As daylight was fading and with the car stopped, Ingrid was cutting up some spare wire to hook the car’s headlights straight to its battery. She had no replacements for a blown fuse, so this was the only way to turn the lights on and get back that night to Puerto Lempira. She looked up at me in the truck’s bed and said, “You are going to have a good story to tell.” She could not have been more correct, although she did not know how great of an understatement she had just made.

For her, the good story was about the car and the travel of the day. But the good story is really about a boy who did not know where he belonged or what would become of him, but now has direction and goals in his life. It is about a successful search for one of our children’s past and the belief that it will help him in the future. It is about a young man who travelled across the country to find his family and his home, and at the end of the week travelled back to his family and his home at Amigos de Jesús.

-Alan Turner, Leadership and Independent Living Coordinator

My Trip to Amigos

Now that I’ve been there I “feel” the knowing. To enter the gates of Amigos, with all the children eager to welcome us with hugs, was more sensory and visual input then I was able to absorb. There was a serenity that blanketed the scene; a surrealism about it. As we joined the children at play, and entered their “comedor” to eat with them, the thought kept passing through my mind, “boy, I feel as though I am on a National Geographic special, in a third world…wait, I AM in a third world country, and this is what it feels like: hot, dirty, tiresome, and oh so simple.” Images still snap through my mind of the children: always being affectionate, of them cleaning their dishes with buckets of water, of them patiently watching us eat our meal to see if we might have some leftover that they could finish, of their large, dark eyes so attentive to you in trying to communicate, and of their prayer of  “Thank you, Father” during prayer circle where we gathered at night, holding hands, reflecting on the day. 

The layout of Amigos gave the impression of a retreat center, multiple buildings, spread largely around rolling terrain, a woods path to the school, and large playing fields. And I thought, in a way, that for the children they had “retreated” here, to a safe haven, away from the extreme difficulties their life had once known. There was safety here, serenity here, and there was love. It struck me, not only from the children, to me and my other daughter who visited with me, but in observing the padrinos and madrinas, the other Honduran staff, and from the gringo volunteers, there was immense love, displayed in their patience, their smiles, their presence.

Now that I’ve been there, I “feel” the knowing of extreme fatigue, extreme heat, where you can find no relief, and the need for extreme perseverance to plug through very long hours. It is awe inspiring how the volunteers have done it, how they can get pass the physical and mental strain, and say they love it, and that leaving will be a bittersweet.  True, the kids are beautiful and amazing to have weathered more hardship then any child should ever have had to, but it was the volunteers who really stole my heart (and not just because one is my daughter!). Their spirits were vibrant with the light of the Spirit.  There was a quiet peace about them all, they went through their day, not pretentious in proclaiming to change the world, or overly zealous in language or deed. But rather worked methodically and pleasantly, interacting with the children with great compassion and humor, they were, in the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “the feet with which Christ’s is to go about doing good, and the hands with which Christ is to bless all people.”

And so, now that I have been there, I am glad, and I am changed by all the many experiences I had and witnessed. And I now know that Amigos has been changed, for the better and for good, because six very special, and dare I say, holy, young people, persevered to make it that way.

-Patricia Gardner, mother of Joanna Gardner, volunteer 2013-2014

Meaghan Ryan: What Fuels You? Discovering the Resilience of Children in Honduras

We're so grateful for Meg's service to the children of Amigos de Jesus and for her willingness to share her experiences with others. Check out the link below to read an article she wrote for her school's magazine:

What Fuels You? Discovering the Resilience of Children in Honduras

Laughter and Tears

Every Friday during Lent, the kids, staff and volunteers at Amigos walked throughout the Hogar for Stations of the Cross. We walked to each station praying and singing while trying to keep 107 children quiet and reverent while thinking about the passion of Christ.

This past Good Friday was especially intense. As many readers know, our Oscarito passed away in 2013. At the time, we did not have the approval from the government to bury anyone at Amigos de Jesus, but we wanted him to rest in a place where he was loved. So when we buried Oscarito last June, it was always with the intention of one day bringing him home. For the past year he rested in a local cemetery while our staff got approval and cleared an area for burial up on the hill and behind our cross. For Easter and to commemorate our final Stations, we brought him home with his family. Four of our young men carried his casket up to the cross, we lined a walkway to welcome him and followed in procession when they passed us.

As we walked back down the hill, one of the little boys took my hand, looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, “this is a sad day for me, Emilia.” He told me he was sad for Oscarito. He told me he was sad and wanted to go home, to his old home before he came to Amigos. Then he lifted both of his arms out to me and I knew he wanted to be held.

That particular Friday was one of the hottest days I've experienced in Honduras thus far. It wasn't even 9 o'clock in the morning and the sweat already begun to pool. It was bound to be a long ceremony, but when I looked at him with his arms outstretched, I realized that this was my cross I would carry today. So I picked him up, sweat and all, and  walked to the first station.

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All of our children come carrying their own crosses. Each bears a burden greater than they should have to at their age. When they come to Amigos, we hope their load can be lessened. Some of my favorite memories with the kids are simply when they’re having fun. When they’re laughing and playing, when they forget the past and live in the moment, when they can just be kids. This Easter week was full of our kids just having fun.  

Everyone had the week off of school and we had activities planned everyday. We divided the kids into groups and rotated between going to the movies and going camping. That’s right. Camping.

Up a mountain a little ways from the main property, we have land that some of the older boys helped clear for us. We had pitched tents, a running stream and a place to cook meals. We spent two nights under the stars and the kids couldn't have loved it more. “You’re going camping, right Miss Emilia?” “Who are you going to sleep with?” “Are we going to stay up all night?” “Do you know any scary stories?” “Are you scared, Miss Emilia?” were a few questions I got. I lucked out because the girls in my tent wanted to play house. So we cleaned the whole thing and had fun rearranging the beds or “furniture” all day.

After groups returned from camping, they went to the movies in San Pedro Sula, the closest city. Trips to San Pedro Sula are always a special event and for some, it was their very first time in the city. They all got guapo (dressed-up and handsome) and piled into our two new vans. We went to a mall where the movie theater is and had lunch. Everyone loved being able to go out to eat but their favorite part was being able to get refills on their soda. “You mean I can have more soda, Miss Emilia?”

As we made our way from lunch to the theater, we had to take an escalator. Some of the kids hopped right on, fearless and adventurous. Others couldn't even comprehend the concept. “What are these?” “Why are stairs moving?” Some kids needed more encouraging as they tried once, twice and even three times to put their little foot on the moving step. Eventually we made our way up a level and passed shops along the way to the movie. Their eyes lit up at the pretty shoes and cool gadgets that hung in the windows. “Aye, que bonita,” (Aye, so beautiful) is still ringing in my ears.

One of the girls I sat next to during the movie was so in awe. She laughed at all the jokes, sang to all the songs (even without yet knowing them) and couldn't take her eyes off the screen. A few times, she would lean over and say, “que massisa, va?” (So cool, right?) She was sad to leave and days after the trip, she kept asking, “when are we going to the movies again?”

Even our littlest chiquitos got to leave the property for a night. We now have an apartment in San Pedro where three of our university boys and one of our high school boys live. The little chiquitos went to the city for a night where they got to watch a movie, eat out and play in the apartment together. They all couldn't stop telling me how delicious the food was.

Everyone was back on property Thursday night when our Easter celebrations began. Father Dennis was here celebrating with us and we had mass that evening. Father Den, some of the padrinos and some of the older boys each washed groups of children’s feet just as Jesus did before the Last Supper.

We woke early Friday for the burial of Oscarito. It was a long, hot morning filled with tears, hugs and hand-holding. Our young men stayed up all night digging the grave where Oscarito now rests. As everyone walked past his grave, they threw a handful of freshly dug earth onto his casket. The older boys and staff finished burying him and we sat in prayerful silence.   
As I watched some of the older boys throw dirt into Oscar’s grave, I was thinking about how old they looked. Here were young men and teenagers 16-25 years of age burying the body of a child, a child they had helped take care of in life and now in death. A little boy they loved and will forever remember. They did so much to make this day go smoothly.  They did so much for Oscarito. Through the hardships of their past, here they are growing into mature young men. Just as Jesus suffered and died, he also rose from the dead. These kids are given a chance when they come to Amigos and they’re thriving.

Easter day was spent preparing 40 kids who would receive their Baptism and First Holy Communion. Almost all of our girls were dressed in beautiful white gowns, hair on top of their heads and the boys could not have looked more handsome. We had a beautiful mass full of celebration, happiness and smiles. After, there was a special dinner outside followed by a dance party.

 This is what Amigos is about, a new life. Sharing the weight of your cross. Hope for a new beginning. 

Thank you to all of the donors who made this week so special. It is a blessing to be able to share in the laughter and love of our children, we couldn't do that without your help. Gracias por todo.

-Emily Pettinger, volunteer 2013-2014

The Lion, The Witch, and Henrry’s Enormous Wardrobe

You won’t be surprised when I tell you that the young boys here don’t always like washing their laundry.  At the home, we all wash our clothes by hand, and the children are responsible for caring after their own possessions. Often, it is a struggle to convince one of them that instead of playing soccer they actually need to be washing their laundry first. The problem is motivation.  The young boys, especially 5 to 8 year-olds really don’t care that much about wearing clean clothes. In fact, they don’t care very much about being clean in general, let alone having clean clothes.

But then there is Henrry. 

That’s not a typo by the way.  His name is spelled with a double R and if you can roll your R’s that’s how you pronounce it.  Henrry (8 years-old) likes washing, folding, organizing, and most of all wearing a large selection of clothes.  It’s great for me and the rest of the Padrinos (the men and women who care for our children like parents) because not only is he an example, but a motivator.  We will always offer to help, and occasionally actually wash some of the younger boys’ clothes.  But with more than 100 kids, and most of them needing school uniforms and another set of clothes washed daily, the kids need to do most of the work themselves.  That being said, Henrry probably helps more than anybody.  The following conversation has played out many times, I have translated it for your convenience.

Padrino: Hey (any one of 15 boys that might not want to wash on any given day), let’s go wash your laundry.

Boy: No! (sometimes “Nombre!”, a clever combination of no and hombre, Spanish for no man) I’m going to play soccer.

Padrino: Alright, but if you don’t wash your clothes Henrry will, and then he gets to wear them until you want to wash them yourself.

Boy: Fine! I'll wash them! Henrry already has all of my clothes!  (Exit stage right grumbling angry under breath.)

Now I may have given you an incorrect image of Henrry.  If you are picturing an ascot wearing, sensitive young boy you are mistaken.  Simply put, he is a man of many activities and he likes to be appropriately dressed for each.  He is a fiercely competitive soccer player, and probably cries less than any of the other young boys.  At the peak of Henrry’s one-man fashion season he was wearing as many as five outfits on a Saturday.  When you picture the following images, use a 40-pound peanut for the body, toothpicks for arms and legs, dark brown skin, with a face suggesting oriental descent.

1)      He would wake up and go to breakfast in his matching pajama top and bottom, the firetruck pattern was the envy of the whole dorm.

2)    After breakfast we do chores from 9-11 AM.  At this time he would go with something rugged and practical.  Blue cut-off jeans shorts and a white Underarmour shirt to which he cut off the sleeves, with his black puma go anywhere and do anything shoes.

3)   Free time after chores he will usually play soccer.  Highlighter yellow Adidas cleats with black socks that reach over the knees, a soccer jersey from a random US middle school team, and soccer shorts.

4)    Change for dinner (casual).  Blue jeans, Chuck E. Cheese tie-dye tee shirt.

5)    Movie in the cafeteria.  You never know who might show up for this kind of event so you have just GOT to change after dinner.  For this he might go khakis, with a white polo shirt with a large blue chest stripe (tucked in) that will fit him better when he gains another 25 pounds.

And that ladies and gentleman is how you become the best-dressed kid at Amigos de Jesus.  In his locker hangs the only mirror in the room.  It has a pink plastic frame and was probably paired with a Barbie or American Girl Doll purchased years ago.  He also has hair gel, which he applies liberally for school days, and a collection of a few hundred stickers all of which he takes home from school on his well-completed homework assignments.

He is very highly organized, if I knew more about OCD, I imagine he is showing early signs of it.  Henrry is an awesome kid, who dresses the part, and when I leave here in a couple of months it will be hard to say goodbye to him.


- Patrick Kenny, volunteer 2013-2014

Help Us, Help Them

Amigos de Jesus was founded 16 years ago and though the orphanage itself is operated and run out of rural Honduras, a bulk of the support and 100% of funding comes through our domestic office in Malvern, PA. Throughout the year we host a slew of events to help raise both awareness and funds to support the orphanage as well as hundreds of other severely impoverished children in Honduras stay in school. As with many non-profits it takes many hands to make a dream come true, and lucky for us we have many but we need more.

Two ways we are hoping to involve you are through a purchase of our Find Hope T-Shirt and/or entering our raffle for a chance to win a three-night four-day stay in Cancun with airfare and a luxury basket included.

We encourage you to help us brighten the future of our children through your donation.

Find Hope: Fitted Woman's Tee $20

 

 

Shirt is the same color as in live picture

If you would like to purchase:

1. Send in cash or check  

126 Woodland Avenue. Malvern, PA. 19355 with the size you would like and your address

 2. Or Pay via PayPal 

 and send the shirt size you would like and the address and name of the person that will receive the shirt to meg@amigosdejesus.org

 

 

Chance to Win

Three-night stay at Secrets Silversands Riviera Cancun courtesy of amResorts

 

   

At Secrets Silversands Riviera Cancun, the amenities include:

Elegant accommodations with stunning views   -  Welcome cocktail and cool towel   -  Gourmet dining at nine on-site restaurants  -  Full breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks each day  -  Free WiFi and international calling with our Unlimited Connectivity app  -  Concierge services; 24-hour room service  -  Mini-bar refreshed daily  -  Unlimited premium drinks at eight bars and lounges  -  Unlimited fruit juices and soft drinks  -  Day and nighttime activities and entertainment  -  Theme parties  -  Oceanfront bars and entertainment venues  -  Pool and beach wait service  -  Enjoy complimentary greens fees at nearby Grand Coral Golf Course  -  No reservations at restaurants  -  No wristbands required  -  Live nightly entertainment  -  Pristine swimming pools and white sand beach  -  Outdoor theater  -  Option to upgrade to Preferred Club privileges  -  All taxes and gratuities.

$2200 value

Airfare for two to Cancun, Mexico

Booked through Amigos de Jesús

$1500 value

 

Luxury Travel Basket:

Kindle Paperwhite with Wifi all new paper white display with $25 Kindle gift card

Ipod Shuffle with $50 Itunes gift card and Sony MDR-2X100 Stereo Headphones

$100 Gift Certificate to Hickory Springs Kennel

Bottle of Anna De Cororniu Champagne and 2 Glasses

Brown Animal Print Beach Bag - Kate Aspen Luggage Tag – Two Leather Passport Covers 

Mood Airplane Pillow – Selection of Suntan and Tanning Lotions – Vera Bradley Large and Small Cosmetic Bag

 Men’s and Women’s Old Navy Flip Flops – Reusable Water Bottle

$500 value

TOTAL VALUE: $4,200

 Raffle tickets 1 for $20, 3 for $50

1. Send in cash or check  

to 126 Woodland Avenue. Malvern, PA. 19355

With the name and address of the person who would like to enter the raffle. 

2. Or Pay via PayPal 

Include the 'raffle' in the purpose section prior to filling out the credit card part

The trip ticket winner will be pulled on May 1st