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Dear Friends and Family,
I am about to begin something I have been meaning to do for years. Surely, all of you can relate to that. As some of you know, I was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer in March of 2017. It has been a challenging year and a half, but, I am back at work, I did a lot of great things in trying to embrace the time we are given, and, for now am in a good place health-wise.
Included in my many travels over the last year as a half was a trip to Ocotepeque, Honduras. This is the town where Brian and I volunteered back in 1996-1997. Unfortunately, life is still a great struggle there for many and it does not appear to be getting better anytime soon. But, I realized, there are things I can do individually because of this personal connection to the community of Ocotepeque to help even a few people. Sure, a drop in the bucket, but, if you are the person being helped, it is significant. Over the years, we have done things for specific families and helped through donations to the organization that we worked for.
On this specific trip, I visited Casa Hogar which is a type of orphanage. It is more or less a group home for kids who don’t have at least one parent who is functioning at a level to care for their kids at home. It could be alcohol, drugs, disease or that they are working abroad. There are some cases of neglect/abuse by a custodial parent. So this house, Casa Hogar, is a place where 20 children from ages 4-18 currently live, go to school, eat, play and are cared for by a wonderful staff.
Our son Adam is currently staying in Honduras to aid in this plan to improve the conditions at Casa Hogar to make it an even more home-like for the kids who live there. In the new year I hope to set up a foundation to help sustain Casa Hogar moving forward because its current principle funding source is dwindling. As you can imagine, the need is great. I met several children in dire situations in April that really should be in Casa Hogar if there was adequate funding. Many Hondurans do go to the states to work and send money home, but that is not ideal in that the family is separated and the children are left with relatives. Casa Hogar has some children in this situation. But, for many, there may be no relative that is safe and so, they leave with their children and hope for a miracle and a better life at the end of their journey.
So, funding Casa Hogar is a way that we can improve the lives of these kids and their families directly What is the plan? The house provides a safe, comfortable environment for these displaced children. There are few frills or comforts. About 15 years ago, the family that replaced us in Ocotepeque, the Detlefs, raised funds to put in a library there for these kids. I am happy to say that it is still there and I enjoyed watching some of the teens doing homework and socializing in there an evening I was there. But, the computers are 15 years old and I would love to get some updated books and other learning tools. I plan on getting some of my late Mom’s favorite books in Spanish to add to the library. Also, the two TVs that they had were ruined in an electrical storm. They have one TV monitor that only allows two kids to play a video game. I was also hoping to get more YA books in Spanish, videos in Spanish (educational and regular) and perhaps some bikes. When I was there, the oven was broken and there were no funds to replace it at the time. Most of the cooking is done on stove top in Honduras, but still, an oven would be nice. Adam has been texting that the sports equipment also needs replacing.
I am hoping to raise $5000 for now and will look to starting a foundation and begin grant-writing in the new year. This Go Fund Me is for that initial phase to try to make the needed improvements/purchases for Casa Hogar. I know you all have your causes that you support. If you could find it in you to support this one, in a small way, or a big way, I will be forever grateful. If you ultimately want to get involved in the long term plan, feel free to contact me. Thank you all for considering helping in this cause.
LOVE, Cherie
I am about to begin something I have been meaning to do for years. Surely, all of you can relate to that. As some of you know, I was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer in March of 2017. It has been a challenging year and a half, but, I am back at work, I did a lot of great things in trying to embrace the time we are given, and, for now am in a good place health-wise.
Included in my many travels over the last year as a half was a trip to Ocotepeque, Honduras. This is the town where Brian and I volunteered back in 1996-1997. Unfortunately, life is still a great struggle there for many and it does not appear to be getting better anytime soon. But, I realized, there are things I can do individually because of this personal connection to the community of Ocotepeque to help even a few people. Sure, a drop in the bucket, but, if you are the person being helped, it is significant. Over the years, we have done things for specific families and helped through donations to the organization that we worked for.
On this specific trip, I visited Casa Hogar which is a type of orphanage. It is more or less a group home for kids who don’t have at least one parent who is functioning at a level to care for their kids at home. It could be alcohol, drugs, disease or that they are working abroad. There are some cases of neglect/abuse by a custodial parent. So this house, Casa Hogar, is a place where 20 children from ages 4-18 currently live, go to school, eat, play and are cared for by a wonderful staff.
Our son Adam is currently staying in Honduras to aid in this plan to improve the conditions at Casa Hogar to make it an even more home-like for the kids who live there. In the new year I hope to set up a foundation to help sustain Casa Hogar moving forward because its current principle funding source is dwindling. As you can imagine, the need is great. I met several children in dire situations in April that really should be in Casa Hogar if there was adequate funding. Many Hondurans do go to the states to work and send money home, but that is not ideal in that the family is separated and the children are left with relatives. Casa Hogar has some children in this situation. But, for many, there may be no relative that is safe and so, they leave with their children and hope for a miracle and a better life at the end of their journey.
So, funding Casa Hogar is a way that we can improve the lives of these kids and their families directly What is the plan? The house provides a safe, comfortable environment for these displaced children. There are few frills or comforts. About 15 years ago, the family that replaced us in Ocotepeque, the Detlefs, raised funds to put in a library there for these kids. I am happy to say that it is still there and I enjoyed watching some of the teens doing homework and socializing in there an evening I was there. But, the computers are 15 years old and I would love to get some updated books and other learning tools. I plan on getting some of my late Mom’s favorite books in Spanish to add to the library. Also, the two TVs that they had were ruined in an electrical storm. They have one TV monitor that only allows two kids to play a video game. I was also hoping to get more YA books in Spanish, videos in Spanish (educational and regular) and perhaps some bikes. When I was there, the oven was broken and there were no funds to replace it at the time. Most of the cooking is done on stove top in Honduras, but still, an oven would be nice. Adam has been texting that the sports equipment also needs replacing.
I am hoping to raise $5000 for now and will look to starting a foundation and begin grant-writing in the new year. This Go Fund Me is for that initial phase to try to make the needed improvements/purchases for Casa Hogar. I know you all have your causes that you support. If you could find it in you to support this one, in a small way, or a big way, I will be forever grateful. If you ultimately want to get involved in the long term plan, feel free to contact me. Thank you all for considering helping in this cause.
LOVE, Cherie