2019 Annual Report
HIGHLIGHTS
Grade Schools: Hundreds of teachers used the PTTW book, Principles that Make you Strong in 50 schools, to teach 14,000 children. Universities: Fifty to one hundred professors are teaching their students how to live using the PTTW book, Values and Principles that Can Change the World. High Schools: The initial steps have been taken to train teachers in high schools with good results. We are currently working on a new book for use in these schools.
DETAILS
This was a tough year for Honduras in many ways. There were closures of streets including those in front of UNAH, the national university in Tegucigalpa. As a result, the university was closed for over a month and then was sometimes open and sometimes closed until late in the year. The original protests came from teachers and health professionals protesting their pay and lack of medicine in the hospitals, but many students joined the protests for their own reasons. This made it difficult to work at the university and many schools closed as well for the safety of the children. We had planned a trip to Honduras in March which we canceled mainly due to a lack of clarity on its purpose. Instead, we had a Board Meeting and invited Arnulfo Matute and Elin Torrez, our two Honduras workers, to meet with us in Colorado. Arnulfo came but Elin’s application for a visa was denied. Nevertheless, the meeting was beneficial to all, helped our vision, and gave us insight into what was happening in the country and why our work here is so important. Despite this, Arnulfo Matute in Tegucigalpa and Elin Torrez in Comayagua, accomplished a lot, visiting primary schools, high schools, and the universities many times.
Primary Schools
Work in the schools began in 2016 with the publishing of the book, Principles that Make You Strong. The program has four steps.
Arnulfo or Elin visits the Principal of a school to explain the program and donates a book.
He returns to see if the Principal wants the program in their school. If the Principal likes the program, a date is set to meet with the teachers.
In this meeting, a book is donated to each teacher and training is provided in how to use the book.
Follow up meetings take place after that to see how the program is working and to encourage the teachers.
The program that started in 2016 using the PTTW book, Principles that Make You Strong, is now in 50 schools with several hundred teachers teaching 14,000 children how to live by God’s principles. This year we printed 1000 more copies of the book. Already in Tegucigalpa, 269 copies of this book have been given to teachers in 11 schools who will teach 6,897 children in 2020. If all 1000 teachers use the book in the coming year, 30-40 thousand children will be impacted.
Many teachers commented on the improved behavior of their students. One teacher commented; “The children have more discipline and there is more order when working in teams. This helped me to develop subjects in my other classes.”
And this is just the beginning of a program to reach all of the schools.
High Schools
Elin began the work in the High Schools last year with good results. He spoke to students using the PTTW book, Values and Principles that Can Change the World. This gives us the opportunity to work in these schools. The book they are using was written for the universities but a book written especially for high school students is needed. Realizing this need, we have begun working on a new book for this age group.
Universities
During our trip in September, Mike Guerrero and I heard many stories from professors and students on the impact of the PTTW program. They all agree that the students are changing, they are more motivated, confident as they work together on teams to put into action what they learned in the classroom. Many have done dramas or made videos to present to the other students in their classes.
One student said, “We had an activity distributing sweets and hugs through the university and telling people everything will be fine. We don’t know what problems they are facing, but ... I think they feel special knowing that someone cares. The university is giving us knowledge in different areas, but I think it is important to remember that we are human and need to value people for what they are more than for what they know.”
We are now in many different schools at the university. One professor encouraging other professors who were concerned this would increase their workload, told them, “I give them 10 minutes of my class time at the end of each hour every day. I have them form groups of four or five students that take turns giving presentations to the others. Some make presentations with slides, videos, dramas or personal experiences that have happened to them regarding values. This takes some of my class time but requires no preparation on my part. I have seen how students have changed.”
When I look back at what has happened, I see the hand of God through it all from the meeting in the office of the Dean of Engineering in 2009 to the enthusiasm this year of Rafael Nuñez the head of the Department of Business Administration. Even though Arnulfo and Elin are making all this happen and we only come to visit once or maybe twice a year, the teachers, professors, and students still want us to come and give talks to them. One professor said our visits were important if for no other reason than to get the attention of the authorities. We need additional support for more workers and to print more books. Please help us to realize this challenge that God has given us to transform Honduras, making this country an example for the rest of the world.
Our next trip will be March 7-14. The cost has gone up. We can’t continue to do it for $1500/person. This year it will be $1800/person. If you feel a tug from God, come with us. God bless you all.