A Shining Future for Rosa

It is 6 a.m. in Honduras and Rosa’s mother has already left to work at a local restaurant. Rosa wakes up and starts her chores around the house.

Rosa’s daily workday begins with making the first round of tortillas to sell, followed by tending to her personal hygiene, the house cleaning, preparing the meals, doing her school work, and finally, getting ready for university.

Adding to her workload is caring for her 2-year-old nephew, Yerson, who is a very active boy. Rosa is in charge of him while her older brother, Yerson’s father, goes to work during the morning. She has to feed Yerson, bath him and dress him, among other responsibilities.

It is a tight daily schedule, Monday through Friday.

As the time passes, Rosa starts to prepare lunch and gets ready to go to the university. Right before leaving for the education center, she goes over her school work and organizes her assignments.

Multiple activities have not impeded Rosa’s determination to do well in her classes. She is committed to honor the generous support of her sponsor, as well as being a voice for other young people in her center who dream of being part of the Leadership Development Program* (LDP).

Finally, Yerson’s father returns home for lunch, and Rosa is free to go. Rosa attends the university five hours daily, Monday through Friday. Her university is the largest education center in the country with approximately 50,000 students.

This bright young girl lives with her mother, who works from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to support her small family. This provides the necessary income to cover their monthly expenses.

The absence of Rosa’s father has been difficult for her and still brings tears. Like any child, she dreamed of having a normal and happy family but, unfortunately, the separation of her parents has left much sadness in Rosa’s heart. Her father has never been around and was never interested in being part of his daughter’s life.

For more than a decade, Rosa has been registered in a child development center in the neighborhood of Flor del Campo in the capital city. It’s a big neighborhood that has been affected by the presence of gangs in some areas.

Walking very late at night it is not safe for residents; however, local authorities have taken control of the zone and the situation has improved.

Ever since Rosa was a child, the child development center represented a strong figure in her life. There she made her first steps as a newborn Christian girl. Rosa opened her heart to Jesus, and received peace and comfort which helped her feel secure and loved.

“Since I opened my heart to the Lord, many things started to change in my life, and that was good because I did not feel the absence of my father anymore because the Lord was with me.”

Rosa has persevered at church, and always participates in the church meetings. She is also involved with the worship ministry. Her brother is also part of the music ministry.

“I try to go to church every Friday, Saturday and Sundays because I like to go to the youth meeting and Sunday school. I’m currently serving as a backup singer in the worship ministry, and I’m very happy to serve the Lord.”

Today, Rosa is studying business administration and she is among the first class of 19 LDP students. She started her classes in February 2008, and has passed 10 classes so far. She is determined to pass more classes, with God’s help.

In spite of all her responsibilities, she has been able to complete all her assignments and do well in her classes. However, her main challenge is lack of time, and she sometimes misses not having the necessary time to go to church.

“While I’m studying, I do not have much time to go to church because of my classes, but I try to go every weekend. I know that I need the Lord in my life in order to be successful in my studies and that is why I’m doing my best to congregate whenever I can.”

As part of the leadership program, every LDP student has to do some kind of social service. Rosa chose to volunteer in the correspondence area of Compassion Honduras.

“I have seen the huge amount of letters that the children write to their sponsors and vice versa. I know that many of my letters passed through this area, and now I’m happy that I’m involved in this process.”

One of her duties is to organize the translated letters and place them in their respective drawer in order to send them to each center. She has also been able to participate in sponsor tours, where she shared her testimony and experience as an LDP student.

Rosa sees herself in the future as an independent person, with her own business and always willing to help others in need, especially her mother. Rosa is committed to shine as in her community and church.

*This content honors our historical Leadership Development Program. To learn more about our current youth development opportunities, click here. Brian Seay first introduced us to Rosa in February 2008. Read what he thought of this amazing woman back then.