Education

“We will not change the world, if we do not change education” – Pope Francis

The non-profit that we have partnered with in Honduras (Olancho Aid Foundation, Inc) owns and operates four schools.  One of the schools, Escuelita Nazareth is a special needs school that provides Education, Hope, and Transformation for children with disabilities.  The students at Escuelita Nazareth are from very poor families and would not have the opportunity to attend school if it weren’t for sponsors in the U.S.  If you are able to sponsor a child please click on the button below.

Escuelita Nazareth

In a culture where handicaps are viewed as a burden and embarrassment, this school has changed the hearts and minds of many villagers. Instead of keeping children with special needs in the background, families are embracing the notion these special children can be taught skills that make them more productive and less dependent. There has been a significant response to Nazareth.

Students, between the ages of 16-36, make crafts and paintings. Instructors use this as a means of occupational therapy to further motor skills and manual dexterity. Funds are raised through sales of the items. In another move to improve self-sustainability, through the efforts of hard-working teachers and administrators, a small screen printing shop has grown into a large scale business to sell uniforms and other products to many local schools. Students of Nazareth are employed to fold and pack products.

Centro Escolar Bilingüe Santa Clara

Santa Clara is a Catholic school that offers a bilingual education environment at the primary school level. The school serves students from preschool through sixth grade. The faith-based academic environment is challenging. Since it’s inception the student body has grown to over 350 students who are supported by a US-modeled course curriculum, bilingual instructors and foreign volunteers.

Instituto Bilingüe Santa Clara

IBSC is the middle and high school encore for Centro Escolar Santa Clara graduates. Starting with humble beginnings, IBSC shared space with the primary school. Through the generous donations of our sponsors and the yeoman efforts by OAF staff, IBSC has grown
from just 3 grade levels to a full scale school from grades 7 through 12.  In the spring of 2015, the first a class of 21 students graduated from IBSC with every one of the students moving on to university studies.

Instituto Oscar Cardenal Rodriquez

Olancho Aid and the Diocese of Juticalpa opened the Instituto Oscar Cardenal Rodriguez with 56 in the first class. The school is focused on providing educated professionals in the local workforce. The curriculum focuses on sciences and humanities with an eye to create a new product that will emphasize sustainable agriculture.

Unique to Cardinal Rodriguez is a constant dialogue between science and faith, and an emphasis on moral, spiritual and civic values. The administration aims to provide an education that promotes leadership in our students so that these young individuals can make a positive contribution to the development of Olancho. This commitment to development is illustrated in the Institute’s graduation requirements, which include social projects and service-learning components that extend beyond the classroom and into Olancho’s communities.

How You Can Help

All of this is cannot be done without the help of benefactors. If you feel a calling to help further the education of this community, you can learn more about the children and sponsorship opportunities by clicking on the button below.

Or if you wish to direct your donation elsewhere, click on the button on the right where you can specify an amount and direct the use your donation to one of our several fund categories.