The Home Stretch..

Well....I only have 5 more weeks left of this school year(hence The Home Stretch).




Primero-They are reading..and even better, I think they enjoy it! We've been working on this for a few months now and the students are catching on more quickly than I thought they would.

Myself, Andrea and Christofer after tutoring. Andrea(Primero) Grado




Prepa- They just began reading this past Monday. Week 1 has been tough but I think the kids are progressing(and I hope they don't forget everything they know over the weekend). A few have caught on right away, the majority are coming along fine and I have a few that are struggling.



Coloring Book Project Update- The 2nd grade received theirs this past Friday and were so excited! Some of the kids from the upper grades are beginning to ask me "Profe Amanda Maria, when are we getting ours?" Today I went to the Honduran version of the dollar store and bought hundreds of markers for the upper grades. When I was checking out, the couple that owns the store told me to come by sometime when the store's not busy because they have some stuff they want to give me for the kids. I'm going back tomorrow so we'll see what I get.

Soccer Tournaments!


Apparently, our kids from the campo(country) are amazing soccer players. This past week's school schedule has been crazy because of the soccer tournament for all the private schools in Siguatepeque. The tournament is for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders so I haven't gotten to go watch the games .....yet.


Missions Day- A sucess. After a few months of planning we pulled it off.


Bruin with one of her massive sheets of peanut brittle. Her country was India.



Marie Esther, my partner, during our Ethiopia Third Graders
presentation.


Karla, Profe Elsy(computer teacher, secretary, jack of all trades), Kelvin and Alexis. Profe is dressed in traditinal Pakistani clothing.


Prayer Requests

1. Some of my Prepa students aren't doing as well in my class as I would like them to. Pray that they can focus and their grades will improve because I really don't want anyone to fail Kindergarten(Preparatoria).


2. Patience.

It's going to be impossible for me to focus this blog on one topic or recent event so I'm just going to list several things that have been happening in Honduras lately and explain each one briefly.

Coloring Book distribution-Thanks Knoxville Christian Church! My home church donated the funds to purchase coloring books and crayons for each of the Destino students. The kids have been so excited to receive their gifts since most of them don't have any art supplies at their home

Jonathan(Prepa)

Toy Turtle Distribution-Thanks Oakland Christian Church! My friend Amanda Moore's church has donated stuffed turtles for Bruin and I to give to our students. The Kinder students had to learn all their colors to earn their turtles.

Scarleth with her new toy.

Trips to the beach at Balfonte and Lago Yojoa/Pulhapanzak(waterfalls)-Lately I've been on 2 great trips with fellow teacher friends. Bruin, Nathan, Mallori and myself traveled for 2 days, through a river and a herd of cows to visit a beach called Balfonte. It was definitely the most remote, untouristy place I've visited in Honduras. The next weekend Lacy, Steven, Stephanie, Bruin and I went hiking at Lago Yojoa and Pulhapanzak Falls.

Nathaniel and Mallori(the parents, haha) driving us to the beach. Our pastor and his wife let us borrow their car since buses don't go to this place.

Myself, Stephanie, Bruin and Lacy in a tiny taxi on our way to the Lake.

Pulhapanzak Falls

The Rose Children-A trio of siblings has begun to visit our house frequently trying to sell us roses/take our food. Their habit of ringing our doorbell at 7am on the weekends is beginning to strech our pateince.

Reading in Primero-The primero students have begun to read! We began using the Hooked on Phonics program when we returned from Christmas break.

Self Defense Classes- I attended my first one today and it was great stress relief. Plus, it's a nice feeling knowing that I could beat someone up(supposedly) if they tried to mess with me. Siguatepeque is a safe city but it never hurts to be prepared.

Preparatoria-My pride and joy! Their English has come so far since the beginning of the year.

From the left: Javier Antonio, Claire and Franklin(please pray for him, he has a really short attention span and is struggling in my class).

The Neighborhood Children's paterna cravings-In Honduras there is a fruit called paterna's and the neighborhood kids love it. It just so happens that the only paterna tree is in our yard and they are in season. EVERY DAY the neighborhood kids look through our gate to see if any more paternas have fallen off the tree and demand them. We are working on setting some ground rules.

Regina's return!-Our English supervisor, Regina, has returned from her visit to the states!Hallelujah! I never thought I would be so excited about having my classes observed but it's a relief to finally get some feedback.:)

Please Pray For:

Exam Week- The school year is divided into 4 parcials and the exams for the 3rd parcial will be given in 2 weeks. This means a lot of work for the teachers and students. Fortunately, we have a week off for Semana Santa to relax after exams are completed.

Raising more support- So far raising financial support hasn't been as challenging as I feared it would be thanks to my wonderful church. My parents have also been extremely supportive, planning fundraisers and being good pr people. Hopefully, I will be sending out support letters within the next few weeks.

Visiting the USA during Semana Santa-Pray for safe travels and that this will aid in my attempts to raise more support.

Plans for next year-I have ideas, pray that I choose the right one.

Going Past the Gate

Emily(4yrs)

It finally happened! After months of anticipation, a few schedule conflicts and one last minute time change the day arrived. Yesterday the roommates(Zoe, Bruin, myself) and Lacy(an English teacher from another bilingual school in Sigua) spent the afternoon visiting with Rhonda and her kids at the Destino children' s home!

Las profes de ingles y Rhonda(The English teachers and Rhonda) From left, Amanda Bruin, Rhonda, me, Zoe and Lacy


Baby David(1yr) with Reina, one of the house workers.

Las Hermanas(the sisters) Eidy(9yrs) and Cloydi(7yrs). The children's home cares for a flock of chickens and the eggs are used in the school lunches.

Cesar Perfecto(8yrs) with a destino chicken.

With Josue(6yrs) one of my favorite 1st graders.

Abi(3yrs)

A Group photo in the clinic. Destino has been working on the building for several years and the structure is complete. I think they're waiting on the money to finish the electric in the building.

Eduard, Cesar and Blanca at a pupuseria, the restaurant we went to for dinner.

Eidy took this video of the path from the school to the children's home.

Here we go again....

Well...it's been a while since I've updated. Last semester we had to unexpectedly leave Honduras a week early(visa trouble). When I was back in the States I was so busy catching up with friends and family that I put off updating until it was time to return to Honduras! Christmas break was great. There were a few things I missed about the USA such as reliable warm showers, driving my car, and most importantly..... my people! Honestly, I really think I would be perfectly content in Honduras if I could convince all my family and

friends to move down here and volunteer with me!

What I missed about Honduras-baleadas and sunshine. Not that I didn't miss Bruin, but she was in the US too.

What I really missed about Honduras.




With Kinder at lunch on the last day of the fall semester.


Profe Zoe and Maynor.



Precious Geovany. I missed him so much over break.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties!

With the good must come the bad which means with Christmas(or just cold October weather) must come Christmas sweaters! Enjoy some really cute kids sporting some crazy attire!


Yessi(Primero) One of the best English students in her grade. She will go far.




Kenia(Kinder) Bright but has at times has an attitude problem. However, she's come a long way since the first week of school.


Isis(Prepa) Energetic, spunky, smart, and eager to make sure Amanda and I don't forget it. Very adventurous with her English/Spanglish. For example she says things like "Thank you para el water!"

Juana(Kinder) Very smart but it took a while for me to realize just how smart because she's so quiet. However, with quiet comes calm, a rare quality in my Kinder students.

Padrinos

I'm sure many of you know that the funding for Destino comes completely from donations. This funding comes from various sources including churches, individuals, other organizations. However, the Padrinos of Destino del Reino are one of the most important sources of prayer and financial support for this ministry. Basically, a padrino is a Destino student's sponser. Their $60 monthly donation goes towards 2 school uniforms, a pair of shoes, a hot lunch, vitamins, teachers salaries, school supplies, the gas for the school buses...I could go on forever about all the things the Padrinos donation pays for but it's not really necessary to make my point. Plus, being a Padrino isn't just about giving $. It's also about providing spiritual support for their student and the ministry. Rhonda Jackson, the founder and director of the ministry is a firm believer that each student needs to be prayed for by his or her name.

There are 184 students at Destino and 20 of them don't have a sponsor. If you haven't figured it out already, I think it would be grand if you decided to sponsor one of these students. If you don't have the money to donate $60 a month that's ok. You can be a partial sponsor and give whatever you can. And if you can't do that, you can still help. I've posted a picture of the unsponsered students in my classes and included some information about each. Just pick one and pray for them.

Andrea (First Grade)- Smart and sweet. She is so respectful towards her teachers and her fellow students. I think she might be a bit of a perfectionist. Whenever she wants to ask me a question in English she has to practice with a friend before asking me! Also, she loves to sing!

David (First Grade)-At the beginning of the school year we were told that David might struggle in our classes and would probably need tutoring based on his performance in kindergarten. He has really matured during the past few months and is actually one of our best students. He's also well behaved(just look at his student of the week pic!) I'm pretty sure that if he lived in the U.S. he would be a basketball player, he's so tall!

Ingrid (Kindergarten)- This is Ingrid's first year at Destino. She's six, so they decided to let her skip preschool and start with Kindergarten. Ingrid is very sweet and loving but she is not as mature as the other Kindergarteners. However, she has come a long way since the beginning of the year when she would randomly decide to jump up and run around the classroom or lay in the floor. I know she will catch up to her classmates academically and behaviorally but it will just take some time.

Joel Jafeth (First Grade) One of the top English students in 1st grade. He's very mature and can be quite serious at times. English comes easily to him and he sometimes gets bored in class so I have to make an extra effort to challenge him. His favorite animals are giraffes.

Rosa (First Grade)- Rosa has an amazing personality! I can tell she is so excited to be at school by her smile and positive attitude! She was struggling a bit during the first weeks of school but we had a few tutoring sessions with her and she's doing much better in English. Rosa loves to draw and is very creative.

If you would like to learn more about sponsering a student go to http://destinodelreino.org/ddr/school_sponsor

Thanks to all my friends and family who have already decided to sponsor a student! Again and again I am amazed by how willing the people in my life and the Pendleton County community are to help this ministry any way they can. Although you may not realize it the prayers you have said and the financial support you've sent too this ministry have enabled it to continue doing amazing things for Honduras. Amanda Bruin and I have decided to start a blog to keep the school sponsors updated on happenings at school. You can view it at http://losninosdedestino.blogspot.com/

Exam Week

Javier and Fabiola (Kindergarteners) brushing their teeth.

David-the student of the week in Primero!

Kenssi and Karla eating fried plantains and beans at lunch.


We've been in school for 2.5 months so far and so far so good! Today was the first day of exams. The students have an exam in each subject about 4 times a year and they all take place during the exam weeks. Bruin and I have divided up the Kinder(Preschool) and Prepa(Kindergarten) classes for testing and I'm going to teach Primero this week while Bruin tests them. The primero students are so fun to work with. At times, it can be difficult to communicate with the younger students because they haven't been able to learn much English yet and my Spanish skills are limited. However, the Primero students know enough English vocabulary to usually express what they want, even if its not grammatically correct. Bruin has set up a penpal exchange with a preschool in Falmouth so we're going to practice writing English phrases and make cards for their American pen pals. I think it's going to be a great week!

Scarleth-preschool One of the top English students in preschool! My friends Robert and Betsy Powell are sponsering her!

Kinder girls at lunch. From the left-Scarleth, Eyeleyn Mileydey, Michelle, Kenia(eating her arm), Astrid, and Carmen.

Primero learning the days of the week! Marvin, Eunice, Glenda, German, David, Karina Nazareth and Karina.

There's a Wendy's in Siguatepeque! My roommates, Zoe and Amanda Bruin.


Milton-Kindergarten He is sweet, smart and sometimes mischievous!