Sponsored Child, Radio Evangelist
It is 6 a.m. in the community of Talanga, just 45 kilometers from Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras, and the radio program for children, “Oasis of Love,” is about to start.
One of the commentators is 12-year-old Olvin, the voice for the children in this special radio program produced by his church pastor.
The radio program is organized by the Iglesia de Dios de la Profecia and intends to spread the message of God’s love to every child, through music, Bible stories, a prayer time, and a question and answer time — an important part of the program in which Olvin has a big participation as he expresses his comments over the questions, and later prays for the children’s needs.
Continue Reading ›What Is Life Like for Mexico’s Suburban Poor?
Our child development centers are distributed in different types of settings in Mexico; the biggest difference is between urban and suburban areas. In the context of this blog post, the term “suburban” is defined a bit differently than in the developed world: Suburban areas are smaller cities or towns, normally located on the outskirts of main cities, with at least 5,000 inhabitants, but with few services.
Continue Reading ›
What Is Life Like for the Urban Poor in Mexico’s Cities?
Our child development centers are distributed in different types of settings in Mexico; the biggest difference is between urban and suburban areas.
In the context of this blog post, the terms “urban” is defined a bit differently than in the big cities of the developed world: An urban area corresponds to small communities concentrated in cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants, with the majority of public services at hand.
Roberto Medrano: My Best Day in Ministry
Roberto Medrano has worked for Compassion for seven years and now serves as a Learning and Support Specialist for communication and tours in the Central America and Caribbean region.
My Best Day in Ministry: A Changed Perspective
Haley Birdyshaw, a supervisor in our contact center, took a group of employees on an exposure trip to Guatemala. The trip was a life-changing experience.
Helping Street Children in Honduras
They live in abandoned buildings, cardboard boxes, parks or on the street. They frequent street corners, markets, gas stations, traffic lights and fast-food chains, meddle with the garbage, or sniff glue. Without a doubt, one of the biggest concerns for the Honduran government has been the rising number of children living in the streets — a tough environment without the care and protection of a family.
Children may end up on the streets for several reasons. They may have no choice — they are abandoned, orphaned or disowned by their parents. Or they may choose to live in the streets because of mistreatment or negligence or because their homes cannot provide them with their basic needs.
The majority of street kids live in the capital city of Tegucigalpa or in the second-largest city of the country, San Pedro Sula. Most fled from homes where abject poverty, violence, alcoholism and familial disintegration are the norm. In order to survive, they steal, dig through trash, shine shoes, or do other odd jobs.
Sadly, an estimated 90 percent of them become addicted to toxic “yellow” glue and paint thinner, which is highly addictive and extremely damaging to the human body, causing kidney failure, irreversible brain damage and, in some cases, death.
The reality is that many Honduran street kids do not make it to their 18th birthday because of the dangerous living conditions that prevail in the country. (more…)
Living Off of Garbage
Garbage is everywhere. Two children and their mothers used to trudge over the piles, holding a hook to dig in garbage. They were here at the dump at 5 or 6 in the morning every day.
Nearly 150 children used to work at this dump in León, Nicaragua, looking for food and other necessities, helping their families’ financial situations by collecting recyclable material like plastic, glass and metal that could be sold later.
Juan Carlos and Fatima are two children from two different families who were part of that number.
Almost every day Juan Carlos’ and Fatima’s mothers collected cans, copper and plastic bottles to sell at the end of each week. On a good week they’d get $5 to $10. The children went with them when there were no classes or activities at their child development center.
At the dump they were exposed to the hot Central American sun and an unsafe and unhealthy environment, punctuated with bad smells, flies, dirt and rotten food.
“I ask the Lord to take care of me because anything can happen at the dump. This year someone was killed in a fight for trash,” says Yolanda, Fatima’s mom. (more…)
What Are You Doing, God?
The night before, we had prayed that God would do with us what He would. That we would be open and available to what He wanted to do for us … to break our hearts on this trip.
Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortable
We must ignite passion for children in poverty, to the glory of God. Nobody is garbage.
I No Longer Sponsor a Child
You know the scene in any coming-of-age movie when a teenage girl is about to go to her first dance and she appears at the top of the stairs and her parent (usually a widowed father) stands there with tears in his eyes and a huge lump in his throat, totally entranced by his daughter’s newly uncovered beauty? That’s how I feel.
Living in Two Worlds
How difficult is it for the Moody scholars to transition between the poverty of their homes and life in the U.S.?
Sponsor a Singing Bunny!
Apparently, a singing bunny has made its way into our child sponsorship program in El Salvador. The Compassion Bloggers saw it.
Sponsor a singing bunny in El Salvador.
Thanks for the video Patricia.
