Humbling

This is a short entry, no pictures (sorry ahead of time), but definitely worth reading. 

These afternoons I try to grab some internet (on a lucky day) and finish some e-mailing, updating, etc. Today our accountant, with whom I share an office, ran out to do a quick errand. While she was gone I received a visit from a sweet lady who worked just for today at JEC. She was covering for one of the cooks who had to run to the doctor last minute. 

Martha, who I would guess is about mid 30's, rode the first bus out of her town (more than an hour away) to arrive at Jovenes at 5 AM to work in the kitchen. 

The cooks here (we have three on staff at all times) get here early enough to prepare breakfast to serve at 6 AM. Lunch is served for the older boys at 11, then for everyone else at 12:30. After cleaning up for everyone and cooking a huge lunch (our most important meal of the day in Honduras) for 80ish people, they prepare dinner and send it to the houses ready to serve that night. This is normally around 2 in the afternoon.

All of that is just to say how not easy their days are.

This afternoon I had to take on the duty of paying Martha. So after seeing (and living it myself) the job the cooks do daily, my jaw HIT THE FLOOR when our director told me how much to pay her - $10. 

She woke up at the crack of dawn, worked over a hot stove, cleaned on her hands and knees, and served 80+ people two meals... and all she earned was $10!!!!

I have literally made double that in one hour babysitting before. 

The saddest part is that Martha couldn’t even sign the receipt saying we had paid her for her services that day, because she never had never learned to write.

Talk about a humbling experience. 

Especially as I was sitting in the office typing away on my Macbook, using internet, and e-mailing sponsors. 

And Martha never even learned to write. 

Can you even imagine not being able to sign your own name???

And she’s one of many in Honduras who never had anyone to teach them to read/write. 

So what do I take from this seriously humbling experience? 

Five main things.

One. God has been so extremely good to me.

Two. I need to thank Jesus more each day for my parents and the sacrifices they made for my education.

Three. Be grateful. Always.

Four. I am more thankful now than ever the boys at Jovenes en Camino are in school, learning, and have dedicated houseparents who pray for their academic success. 

Five. Humility is the most attractive quality a person can have. 

So to all those with kids who might read this, thank you for believing in your children enough to teach them to read and write.

And although it seems Martha’s parents never taught her those things, someone/something along the way taught her about humility - a trait, in my opinion, more precious than being able to read and write. 

Celebrating America in Honduras (again)

I deemed Poppy "American", but technically she's not

Even though I may not be on American soil, that didn’t seem to stop our summer interns or me. Yesterday I spent the morning “off” (sleeping in... until 7 AM), cleaning my house, washing some clothes, etc. The interns filled up a ton of water balloons, all of which were destroyed in a matter of seconds. They walked over and we ate a very patriotic lunch of blue cheese burgers, baked beans, and lays potato chips. We then split an entire pack of double stuffed oreos (a rare find here) between the 5 of us while watching old episodes of Friends (thanks to my mejor amiga, Lindy). 

Justin, one of our interns, showing his patriotism

After lunch we headed over to JEC to set up for our afternoon fiesta by the pool. We set up the karaoke machine, American flag, and swam for about 2 hours (which during it poured twice) with all the boys. We shared popcicles, played games, and froze a little (it’s winter here - which means about 75 degrees). 

After we had showered and ate dinner, we put on a movie in the pink house (Monsters University), shared big pieces of watermelon, and then ended the night with fireworks. While they were probably the poorest showing I’ve ever had on the 4th where fireworks are concerned, the boys still loved it. We even saved some for just another night when we’re bored! I’m not sure who was sleepier at the end of the day - the boys or the interns! 

Cristian Ochoa doing a back flip

This week has been nice with only one visit on Monday afternoon from a group who just stopped by for a few hours to play. Therefore we’ve been catching up on summer work with the Allison bilingual boys, watching lots of movies, and took a trip to Tegus on Tuesday to restock for food and souvenirs for our tienda shop. 

Our new JEC "tienda"

Our new tienda shop has been a huge success. After selling souvenirs out of plastic bins in the office for the past two years I’ve been here, we’ve officially opened shop in our new store (“tienda” in spanish). In just one week we’ve made an incredible profit - selling everything from can drinks and gatorades to Honduran soccer jerseys and bracelets the boys make from yarn. We have many new products and all the profits go to a new education account where we can help pay for college for future boys, school uniforms and shoes, and school supplies. 

Our first benefiter was the one and only, Jony Mendez, who was in need of a new pair of tennis shoes. It was the obvious choice since Jony works so hard and asks for so little. I’d say it was the best $16 the tienda will spend. 

Jony & his shoe's someone donated in Christmas 2011

On another note, JEC has announced two really exciting things coming up for us! I had already mentioned to everyone about the countdown to our 10th anniversary in February of 2014, but we are officially announcing the date to our annual JEC Fiesta 5k to benefit Jovenes. It will be at Battle Ground Academy this year on October 12th. Because of a sweet family friend, I’ll be able to fly home and join everyone for this awesome fundraiser in the fall and renew by visitor’s VISA. 

Starting yesterday we announced a fundraiser for the year to raise “$100,000 in 100 days”. This started on our country’s independence day and will end on the day of the race. We realize this is a hefty goal, but we know so many people believe in the mission of Jovenes and will help us reach this goal by October 12th. So donate, forward the email, and talk about it. You never know who will help out, and just sharing it on Facebook, email or Twitter can be a huge game changer. So feel free to copy the following, save the image, and send it out! Thank you for your support. It means so much to the Jovenes family. 

To our Jovenes en Camino Family and Friends, 

Jovenes en Camino is thriving with 55 boys ages five to nineteen, plus 25 staff members!  Our 10^th Anniversary is February 26, 2014.  This is your children’s home and we thank you for your support.  We just graduated our first boy from the Alison Bilingual School near campus.  He has been accepted into a very prestigious bilingual school in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.  Our first nineteen year old wants to go to a University in Tegucigalpa and is researching his options.  All the boys are trying their hardest in school.  On campus, our boys are learning trades that will serve them for years to come.  We have seven healthy cows that are self-sufficient and producing enough milk daily for all the boys.  Our staff is one of the best in the country of Honduras.  They are doing an amazing job at being the Christian example our boys need.  We have been blessed by God with an infrastructure valued at $1.1 million.  God is good and working at Jovenes en Camino! We are ready for the next step.  

We increased our yearly operating budget this year by $100,000 to pay our staff the amount they deserved after over 5 years of being underpaid.  The cost of food continues to go up, necessary maintenance to our facilities is ongoing, school costs…the list goes on and on as it takes a lot to raise 55 boys. On July 4^th, we will begin an exciting campaign called $100,000 IN 100 DAYS.  Our goal is to reach our annual operating budget of $350,000 by October 12^th.  That is the day set for our annual Jovenes Fiesta 5K Family Run at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee.  We want to be able to announce on that day that we reached our $100,000 goal and even exceeded it.  You can help us do that. To kick it off, our staff and boys at Jovenes have collected $550 to make the first deposit to this campaign.  They understand the importance of all of us working together to reach this goal.  What can you do?  MAKE A DONATION!  Go to www.jovenesencamino.org and click on Donate Now.  Send this information to others you know – family, friends, churches, businesses, foundations, etc.  

Let’s work together to continue to see Jovenes en Camino thrive!  Every penny is important to the lives of the boys at Jovenes.