Bienvenidos a Honduras

The first day we were working in Honduras, I was sent to C.I.D.T to help with a teaching conference about the rights of children. The day started out pretty slow, just making name tags for the teachers, and meeting some of the people that work at the school where I would be spending three days a week for the rest of the summer. We set out cookies and coffee and Coke and ate lunch with the teachers. After lunch, Shelly came to get the other two interns and me because we were going to the house of a small boy, Giovanni, to find out why he had not been attending school. The social worker was going with us. So about 6 of us piled into a van and drove over the dirt roads to get to his house. It was there that I learned that Giovanni, the slightly autistic 6 year old, was left as an infant in the care of the elderly woman that lived there. His mother had not been seen or heard from since then and Giovanni just lived with this woman and her grown sons. He had two outfits total and no shoes to wear. After some discussion with his caretaker, the social worker decided he needed to be out of those living conditions immediately. The woman was not adequately taking care of the boy and no longer wanted the responsibility. He needed more attention than he was getting, and there was also a great possibility that he was being abused. So, just like that, Giovanni came with us to C.I.D.T. until the end of the day when they could send him to a new home. What a first day! I am not sure what I was expecting, but I certainly was not expecting to be able to see a child taken from an unhealthy living situation to a home where he will be loved and provided for and taught as he grows up. I was able to see Mission Lazarus in action, improving the life of one adorable little boy, and it was only my first day in Honduras. I can only imagine what else can happen, what else I will be able to witness and be a part of for the next 9 weeks.

Shanna Crossland