Our work in Honduras

Hope for a Family program expands possibilities in Honduras

CFCA has worked in Honduras since 1982 and offers Hope for a Family sponsorship through four projects: Santa Rosa, Santa Barbara, Suyapa and Ocotepeque. Through livelihood initiatives and supplying basic necessities to improve quality of life, CFCA works to give hope to families by helping them create a path out of poverty.

Honduras is one of the least economically developed countries in Latin America. The rugged terrain isolates communities in rural areas. The largest project in Honduras is the Santa Barbara project.

Until recently, many children in this area left school early to seek jobs as farm laborers. With CFCA's support, more sponsored children are deciding to continue their education. Sponsorship is inspiring younger children and their families to realize new possibilities that were once unavailable.

A mothers group in Honduras picked up trash in a
community cleanup initiative. Read their story.

Bringing mothers together

Mothers groups are playing a greater role in the CFCA sponsorship program in Honduras. The concept involves groups of mothers of sponsored children forming small communities to work together.

Elected group leaders receive training in problem solving, finance and budgeting, which leads to more group ownership in the Hope for a Family program. The groups honor the dignity of mothers, who have a newfound voice for their families.

In 2008, Santa Barbara was one of the first CFCA projects in Latin America to form mothers groups. The groups have helped families become more self-sufficient through livelihood initiatives. Other Honduran projects are also forming mothers groups.

A new home offers a new beginning

CFCA focuses on the specific needs of each community it serves. In the Ocotepeque project, CFCA identified many children in extremely high-risk situations. People in this area face extreme poverty, domestic violence, widespread drug and alcohol abuse, and a high incidence of HIV/AIDS in the population.

Some of CFCA's sponsored children in this community have been deeply affected by these problems and survive only with the help of relatives or older siblings when parents are no longer able to care for them.

In November 2008, CFCA opened Casa Hogar (Home Shelter) in Ocotepeque. Funded and built by CFCA, Casa Hogar meets the needs of children and the aging in high-risk home situations by giving them a safe environment to call home.

With agreement from parents or guardians, Casa Hogar offers children more secure living conditions, proper nutrition and help with their education. The CFCA staff also works with the children’s families to improve situations and work in some cases toward eventual reintegration.

Improving health and the environment

Click the photo to watch the video of Rosalydia and her
family's eco-stove.

In 2008, the Santa Rosa project initiated a medical campaign to benefit sponsored members and their families. During the campaign, CFCA learned that many mothers suffered from emphysema caused by excessive smoke exposure from cooking food. Area residents often cook with wood inside the home, filling it with smoke for many hours daily.

Around the same time CFCA initiated a reforestation effort because large swaths of trees were being cut for firewood. But the problem wasn’t getting better, until the CFCA staff realized one solution addressed both problems.

The project decided to build eco-stoves in family homes. The eco-stoves use less firewood and don’t produce smoke in the home.

Rosalydia is sponsored through the Hope for a Family program. Her mother suffered from eye infections and had trouble breathing because of exposure to indoor smoke. CFCA built an eco-stove for Rosalydia’s family, saving the family $22.50 a month in firewood costs, and improving their health.

The project is continuing this initiative so that someday, all families in the CFCA communities of Santa Rosa who need an eco-stove can have one.

Education opens doors to a professional future

Many challenges lead to Honduran students dropping out of school. Continued schooling is difficult because of economic limitations, lack of support and absence of parents, lack of public transportation, inadequate nutrition and more.

In December 2010, the CFCA project in Santa Barbara celebrated the graduation of 125 sponsored members and scholarship students from high school.

The students studied business administration, social service, Spanish teaching, tourism and automotive mechanics. Some graduated as technicians in refrigeration, computers and nursing.

Many students had to work to cover part of their educational expenses. Others had to walk more than six miles to get to school. But with the support of CFCA sponsors, they had the chance to reach their dreams.

"I thank CFCA for supporting me since fourth grade up to finishing my high school. When my mother passed away, I did receive economic and spiritual support," said Nancy, a sponsored girl who graduated from high school after studying business administration.

The parents of Mirta, a sponsored child and now a computer technician, said, "We had five children and only Mirta has had the chance to give us the joy of seeing her graduate because we never pictured having this in our life."