Noviembre (November)

 Although the Thanksgiving holiday is not celebrated here (except by the volunteers!), there is a lot going on in November. This week is exam week for the older kids and the end of the school year in some respects. The children that do not pass their exams have a couple more weeks of tutoring classes and the ones that do pass have what is described as a kind of summer camp. Graduation day is November 21 for the 8th graders as the school on the ranch goes up to 8th grade. High school and college is in Tegucigalpa. Other important dates in November are:

·       Friday, Nov 17 – Quinceanera – celebrating all the girls who turn 15 on the ranch.

·       Saturday, Nov 18 – Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation – for the kids on the ranch who are the right age or otherwise receiving one of the sacrements.

·       Tuesday, Nov 21 – Graduation (already mentioned)

·       Sunday, Nov 26 – Dia de Las Visitas – where families of the children come to visit for the day. This is held every 4 months and requires that the volunteers put on activities for the kids that do not have family.

Allen has been asked to be the godfather for the baptism of the two youngest children in his Hogar. He is honored to play that role and he will have help preparing the kids and keeping them in line for the ceremony. Although November 17 – 19 would normally be our non-work weekend, I don’t think either Allen or I would want to miss the Friday and Saturday events even if he hadn’t been asked to be godfather.

Allen Playing With One of His New Godchildren

Allen's other Godchild wanted to eat one of the bananas before carring the bunch back to the hogar. (normally the bananas are distributed after the main meal is eaten). 

November also marks the 5th month of the volunteers that started with us in July. The volunteers are not allowed to take vacation for the first four months, but have up to 22 days off afterwards. So many of the volunteers are taking vacation now, mostly with visits home to check in with family and friends. Allen and I are planning a “home” vacation in early December and are hoping that our winter clothes at home will be close at hand since we do not have much here to keep us warm.

The NPH Honduras Volunteers & Volunteer Coordinator With Our New Shirts
(Just Missing Natalie and Elke)

In addition to our normal work and hogar obligations, the volunteers take part in what is called Proyecto Familiar (PF) or Family Project which is where a small group of children (2 – 4) are treated to time with a subgroup of volunteers at San Vicente (our volunteer home). This is usually held in the evening and the kids help make pizza and play games with the volunteers. The child groups are usually siblings and the children without siblings can choose a friend or two. The goal is for each child on the ranch to experience some special time with the volunteers even if they do not have a volunteer assigned to their Hogar.

We recently received our new groups for the Proyecto Familiar along with the child groups that are assigned to us and a listing of the ones that have not had a Proyecto Familiar yet this year. We hope to be able to complete the cycle this calendar year, but there are quite a few PFs left so it may take an extra month before we start fresh for 2024.

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