Beyond Borders: Building Brithney's Bedroom

Beyond Borders:

Building Brithney’s Bedroom

In September 2022, we were blessed to be able to volunteer for the Legacy of Hope in Honduras. It was a fantastic feeling to be able to use our time and energy to better the lives of the children in the foundation's care, and it was at this time we met Brithney and learned her story.

As a baby, Brithney bounced from a children's home to a foster family because her mother was mentally unwell, and no other family member could take care of her. At four years old, she was placed in her eighty-year-old grandfather's custody.

Now ten years old, Brithney lives in Santa Rosa de Copan in a one-room house with her grandfather. Through a rickety fence, up crumbled dirt steps, and past a small lot stands the cramped building. On the outside, there is a makeshift kitchen where they cook many of their meals and a small half-doored shed where they shower and do laundry.

The inside of Brithney's house could fit in your bedroom. Bunk beds with mosquito nets for privacy are crammed to the left; a refrigerator, stove, and toilet are shoved to the right. Brithney’s grandfather’s bed sits in the middle, connecting the two sides. Bottles and boxes crowd every corner, and a few framed photos serve as decor. There is black mold on the decaying walls, insects crawling across every surface, and the smell of waste taints the humid air. And, because the house had parasitic dirt floors in the past, Brithney can only see out of one eye.

Her grandfather is an old-school Honduran and believes girls do not need to attend school past the 1st grade. Despite all of this, Brithney is so full of hope. She loves board games, going to school, and learning new things. She speaks Spanish and English beautifully and has a spark in her eyes that is so special. She is a little girl who has been through so much, and as she becomes a teenager, she must have her own space. A small bedroom and a place where she can shower and use the bathroom in privacy are what we hope to provide for her. Something conducive to helping her continue her education and setting her on a path to success.

Everything happens for a reason, and we believe Brithany’s story was brought to our attention because we are meant to help her. We want to make the idea of this room a reality, and we will need roughly $12,000US or 261,780 lempiras. We have a donor willing to match us dollar for dollar, and we humbly ask you to help us help Brithney. Whether through your donation or simply passing this story on, anything will help us with our goal of bringing in the new year with a new room for Brithney.