What is your favorite thing about your students?

My favorite thing about my students is that many of them come with a desire to learn and improve themselves. Seeing in their eyes the desire to learn is something that continually motivates me to grow and give my best as a teacher.

What do you value most / what is your favorite thing about IVA?

I highly value the effort made by our collaborators and the organization regarding the future of our community and country. In the same way, I like the atmosphere that exists within the institution, it breathes love and the desire to learn and I greatly appreciate the effort that teachers put in every day when interacting and living with our students.

What is a change that could make a big difference at the school?

I think that if there was the possibility of implementing technology in our classrooms, that would make a big difference since the students would learn new things in a more interactive and interesting way. However, I am aware that there are many factors that influence that part. Other things that I think are being done well are the continued expansion of the institution with the construction of new classrooms and the opening of new career paths. In the same way, it would be good in the future to see other modalities such as pre-school and kindergarten or even a university in 20 years.

What makes you feel excited about the future?

I am very excited to see the direction our institution is taking by projecting itself as one of the best in our region. It is something that fills me with pride and excitement as a teacher. I am also moved as I see our graduates advancing and becoming good professionals, and even seeing many of them stepping foot in the doors of universities, I think that is something that excites all of us and fills us with pride.

What is your next big goal?

I have many plans for my future. Despite some bad experiences, I still have the desire to get my master’s degree. I have always said that one as a person never stops learning. I am open to many options, I want to continue learning as much as possible about different things related to education and beyond. Similarly, I want to share my knowledge with others because I believe that knowledge was made to share.

On Acelerado and our new Penitentiary Program

What problems do Acelerado and our Penitentiary Program help solve?

They partially solve the desertion in some cases of students who, for various reasons, had to leave their studies on hold, generally older individuals who still have the desire to get ahead and obtain a mid-level degree. It also helps to integrate people deprived of liberty into society, which is positive for all parties involved.

How does this program serve people?

This program serves people in many ways by providing an avenue for individuals to resume their studies regardless of their age, nutritional support, delivering an education appropriate to their needs and available time, and receiving classes in a healthy environment are all things that in some way or another help serve our future professionals.

Tell us about a student who has benefited from this program. What was their life like before they started?

Moses is a student who started his studies inside the penitentiary. However, after a short time, he received his letter of freedom and decided to continue his studies in our traditional Acelerado program. His story is definitely an example to follow as he is now graduating at the top of our Acelerado class. The dedication that he has put into his studies is evident, and he has proven to be an outstanding and responsible student in every way, an individual worthy of admiration and respect.

What was it like meeting this individual for the first time?

I initially met Moses inside the penitentiary when we began classes there. I can say that it was definitely a new experience for me since I had never been inside a place like that before, I wasn’t sure what to expect or how I should act at first. However, I can say that it has been one of the most natural and productive experiences possible since most of the individuals inside the penitentiary had the desire and the courage to pursue their studies.

What/How does he feel now? 

I have seen a huge shift in his life. To this day I can say that he has become a very responsible person and is committed to his reform and future. In fact, he finished with the best grades in the whole program, a clear example of his determination. It is evident that he wants to do things well and strives for it in everything he does. Without a doubt, these are the changes that we hope for and want to see in our students.

What is his outlook on life like now? 

He is very different now from when I first met him. It is interesting how a person can make a radical change in their life and appreciate the things and opportunities that come their way all the more because of it. It is something that definitely makes you grow as a human being. Now you can see in him a vision of improvement, wisdom, and love for everything he does. His story is a clear example of why “we should not judge a book by its cover”.

We believe in the potential of each of our students, and our hope is to see each of them transition successfully into the next step on their way toward their dreams. This is why our Bridge to Life Program exists!

Already in 2022, we have been so encouraged by the opportunities that are coming up ahead for our future graduates and wanted to share the exciting news with all of you.

• A proud moment for us at Abundant Life: This March, one of the top Universities in Honduras, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, reached out to Our Abundant Life Director, Eustaquio, as they had been looking into why passing rates on the university entrance exam are so low for students from La Mosquitia. They noticed in the data that students from Abundant Life Institute were scoring far above the regional average, and after talking with us have requested if they can send university staff to La Mosquitia to partner with us on a pilot series of preparation courses for a group of our students. We are so excited to see them get started in the coming weeks and are honored to collaborate with UNAH!
  
  The national entrance exams as a whole are extremely inaccessible for most students from La Mosquitia due to the cost of travel involved (meaning a first chance is hard enough to get to, let alone a second retake), as well as being in most student’s second language (Spanish rather than Miskito). We are hopeful that this is just the beginning for more students from La Mosquitia to have a better shot at the entrance exam so that they can transition into their next steps more quickly and easily!
  
• Perfect timing for our Agriculture students: Last year as we shared about the new Agricultural study path we were launching for our 11th and 12th-grade students, we mentioned our visit to the new Agricultural University in Mistruk (the first on-campus higher education opportunity in all of La Mosquitia) that has been long anticipated. They officially announced a few weeks ago that they will be opening THIS AUGUST with 3 degree programs: Agricultural Engineering, Natural Resources and Environment, and Social and Agrarian Economy.  These new degrees will be a great option for those of our new Agricultural students who want to continue their studies without having to leave La Mosquitia.
  

Thank you all for partnering with us each step of the way in helping build Reach Out Honduras and Abundant Life Institute to where we are today! We are just getting started and are so hopeful for all of the goodness that is to come.

We have been following the work of 100cameras closely over the last few years and have always been big fans of how they champion the unique voices and perspectives of youth around the world. Their programs are designed to equip and empower youth to process and share their own stories through photography, and with our modified school schedule this year (shorter and fewer school days), we thought it was the perfect opportunity to host a program of our own with some of our Abundant Life students!

The program is made up of 8 different lessons that cover various photography skillsets, concepts, and techniques, along with prompts and exercises to help student’s engage their hearts and minds in their work as well. We kicked off our 100camerasxROH program in early July with 10 of our students, facilitated by our amazing Art Teacher Jonatan Moncada, Accounting and Finance Professor Juan Charles Lopez, and our Executive Director Katie Slaughter.

Meet our 10 amazing 100camerasxROH students below and get a little glimpse of La Mosquitia through their eyes.

Alcy, age 16, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Arleth, age 13, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Dieter, age 14, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Gudjhonsen, age 16, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Óscar, age 11, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Selvin, age 17, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Sitler, age 16, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Susan, age 16, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Yorgely, age 16, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Yubiri, age 17, Puerto Lempira, Honduras

Professional prints from our 100camerasxROH program will be available on 100cameras platform soon, so STAY TUNED for some fun ways that you can continue supporting the incredible work of our students. ALL profits from prints will come back into Abundant Life Institute for a project of the student’s choice!!

In the Honduran education system, upper level high school students choose a study pathway after 10th grade that can be carried into university studies. Our current study options are Humanities, Accounting and Finance, and Tourism. We are so excited to announce that in 2022 we will have a FOURTH upper level study option to offer our students as we launch our Agricultural Engineering track at Abundant Life Institute!

The program will be headed up by our amazing Agricultural Engineer Erick (pictured above) who has been lovingly tending to and overseeing the ALI garden for over 2 years now. With Agriculture being such a cornerstone of both the economy and way of life in La Mosquitia, Erick’s expertise brings a rich and important perspective to the growing operations at the school and how we can continue to set up our student’s for success in their careers after they leave us. This study pathway will set our students up to launch successful businesses as entrepreneurs as they learn to sustainably process and tend to the rich resources of the region, or to go on and be leading contributors to businesses in La Mosquitia and beyond.

Another exciting element of this program is that participating students will be given priority for enrollment in the new Agricultural University opening up in Mistruck, the very first university campus in La Mosquitia, Honduras. To be able to stay in the Mosquito region to continue their studies after graduation is a HUGE deal for our students!!

Making the big move into mainland Honduras is not only costly, but can be really lonely and difficult for some students to navigate when La Mosquitia is the only home they have ever known. While some of our students dream of going out and seeing the world, others desire to stay and study and reinvest in their community, and we are excited about these new opportunities opening up that will make doing so much more accessible for them.

We work hard to make sure all of our students dream big during their time with us, and our hope for each and every one of them is that they are able to grow into the fullness of what God has for them, whatever that may look like for them personally!! We can’t wait to kick off this new program and will have more details soon on what the costs of building out the new needed workshop space will be.

As always, thank you for your continued investment into the lives of children, youth, and families in La Mosquitia, Honduras!! Your commitment and generosity is creating opportunities for all be given the chance to thrive!

On behalf of the US Board of Directors and the Founders of ROH, we would like to officially announce our new Executive Director, Katie Slaughter.

Katie is a 2020 Global Business graduate from UT Dallas and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Social Work. Katie has served as our Social Media Manager and has led strategic projects like our monthly Hope Builders donor group. Katie brings innovation, creativity, and a love for the La Mosquitia region that began 10 years ago through the House of Hope ministry. ROH and Katie are committed to continued unity and Christ-like common purpose between all ministries working in La Mosquitia.

Our founders are very excited about this next step in the growth and future of ROH as an agent of love and educational equity in the La Mosquitia region of Honduras and beyond. 
– US Board of Directors

Through the end of October and the beginning of November 2020, the Miskito Coast was hit head-on by two back to back hurricanes, Eta and Iota. Many of the villages in surrounding areas were hit hard by the winds and flooding, with homes left ripped apart and crops depended on by thousands of families for the year ahead washed away.
Thanks to the generosity of our community, Reach Out Honduras has been able to respond quickly to urgent needs in the area, with relief efforts headed up by the amazing Profa Jienni, our Director Eustaquio, and Facilities Manager Melvin.

Our team has been focused on providing food and repairing roof damage for families locally as well as partnering with Pastor Bertín Contreras, the father of one of our students, to support food distribution efforts out in the villages through his local Assemblies of God church body.

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We have been able to supply food and make home repairs for him and others in similar situations thanks to all of your support!

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We truly have the best team. Thank you to our amazing staff for working so diligently to make sure all our students and their families are taken care of, and to our community for your thoughts, prayers, time, and generosity in making it all possible.

Whatever comes our way in 2021, we are ready to face it head on together!

We dream of reconciliation between races here in the United States. We talk of it. We raise our voices, share our memes, pray for our neighbors. We believe we will see a glimmer of it one day here on earth.

Interestingly enough, we need look no further than our very own Abundant Life Institute for a beautiful example of racial unity.  Right before our eyes in La Mosquitia, Honduras, on a plot of land where God planted Abundant Life Institute, exists a multi-racial group of co-workers and friends. These individuals, in a unified whole, are loving their neighbors and working toward a brighter tomorrow for the marginalized in their community.

In La Mosquitia, you will find 4 primary racial groups – Miskito, Garifuna, Latino and a few Northamericans. Our staff and student population represents all 4 of these groups, as well as smaller tribal groups. Our Director, Eustaquio Jimenez Casildo, is Garifuna and leads with a heart committed to unification. Eustaquio has experienced discrimination and, yet, he believes unity is worth fighting for within his staff, for his students and in front of the community.

Here at Reach Out Honduras, we are committed to intentional diversity within the leadership of the organization. One of the foundational principles and goals of Reach Out Honduras has always been the support and encouragement of Honduran leaders in the mission. God has been faithful to see this goal fulfilled in our staff. We are also committed to ensuring our US leadership is a reflection of God’s beautiful, colorful world.

Thank you to each of you who continue to give even in tenuous times. Your continual care has allowed us to pay all 48 staff salaries in full during these months, to continue to feed our students through food bag distribution, to make thousands of copies of homework packets for our students and to show the community of Puerto Lempira that Abundant Life Institute truly teaches and lives LOVE.

The video above was recorded by one of our English teachers, Francisco, who will be partnering with Katie Slaughter, our US Social Media Manager, to bring the mission of Reach Out Honduras to life on social media and in our newsletters. Watch the video! Francisco’s words will touch your heart today – a day in need of good, good news.

Our gratitude is unending!
The Reach Out Honduras Team

A favorite story from our 2020 Annual Impact Report 💛 

This is Katy. She is 19 years old, a wife and mom to two energetic boys. Katy studied in the Reach Out Honduras New Life Project as a young mom and will graduate from high school in 2020.⁣
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In early 2016, 16-year-old Katy arrived in Puerto Lempira from Nicaragua. She had a 3-year-old son named Jesus and wanted to continue her studies beyond 6th grade but was without the funds or support to continue her education. At this same time, Reach Out Honduras made a decision to begin an accelerated education program for teen moms (and now, dads). ⁣
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Project New Life was born due to the high number of teen pregnancies in the region and the challenges of young moms in continuing their education. Katy was part of the inaugural class of 7th graders in 2016. She is now in 10th grade in our Adult Education program and will reach her goal of high school graduation.⁣
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Katy shows appreciation for the programs at Abundant Life Institute: “I feel so proud to have studied in the New Life Project and now in the Adult Education on Saturdays. These projects changed my life. If it were not for the New Life Project, I would not have been able to continue my studies. I say thank you to everyone who worked hard to make this project happen. We are so proud of our school.”⁣
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A special thank you to our attorney friend, Michelle, who believed in the dream of the New Life Project and provided the seed funds and prayers to make the project happen.

Click HERE to read more stories like Katy’s.

Welcome to Love’s table.

Where women sit who see into my very soul; their eyes pierce, their questions probe, taking my temperature, always in love.

Where my heart breathes in and deeply exhales. A safe spot to share the raw and real.

Where my hands sort beans, while my memory sorts moments. 10 years of living color shared with these beautiful Jesus followers.

Where my brain churns trying to wrap itself around the complexities of geography, poverty and justice. My friends just wrap me in their acceptance.

Where ninja mamas fight for their children in prayer. Where heads of household steward the tiniest of resources. 

Where my need is excavated, my desperateness revealed. Where I am pointed back to the simplicity of the Gospel.

Ovendillia, Aida, Farah, Sara, Lydia, Sandra, Jacqueline.

They serve a healthy plate of unconditional love. They disciple me in the ways of Jesus. They teach me the ways of humility. They live out complete faith. They give it all away. They leave nothing on the table.

Love’s table.

Today’s Guest Author is the GRAY FAMILY! There is something from each one, including little Peter who first visited Honduras at 6 weeks old. Read more about this beautiful family at the end of this FUN post!

“When thinking about ten things we love about ROH, we focused on 10 places at the school we love to hang out. When the kids were asked about what places they love at IVA, they all gave different responses…here’s our list: 

1. Front gate: Every morning the students are greeted by our “Wachis” and welcomed to school.

2. Comedor (Bethany, Canaan and Joel): Students gather to eat, study, fellowship, worship, and more. Tables are used by the cooks to sort and clean piles of beans. Teachers meet during down times to do devotionals together.  Teams of volunteers take a break in the shade to hydrate or get to know the students.

3. Kitchen (Canaan, Lillianna and Lucy): Mmmmm….lots of good cooking takes place here! The cooks sing praises as they prepare nutritious meals to make sure the students’ bellies are full to begin their studies each day. Our personal favorites? DONUTS, beans and fritas, and baleadas. 

4. Digging in the dirt (Peter): What else would be a 3-year-old boy’s favorite?!?!

5. Pulperia (Lucy): Need a snack? We come here to get a cold coke and a bag of chips! 

6. Soccer field (Canaan): Ready for an intense, pick-up game of fútbol? Be ready to get dirty!

7. New pavilion: Even though we have yet to see it finished, we are already super-excited for this addition to IVA. What a great space to hold events (graduation, basketball games, spelling bees…) and be out of the sun and rain! 

8. The Truck (or the bus!): The day starts early here (but not as early as the cooks!), and brings students from the outskirts of the Puerto Lempira area to school each day.  It takes the IVA name to the city, takes a team to a last minute soccer game, and transports North American volunteers to the school.

9. Kioskos (Canaan): Yet another place to seek shade (that tropical sun can really take it out of you!) and gather with students. Canaan’s favorite place to hang out with his friends. 

10. Math classroom (Kevin): This would have to be Kevin’s personal favorite, right?!?!