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Little faces stare at me with wide eyes, wondering who is this stranger carrying all this stuff. Nevertheless, the shyness fades away quickly, and I end up in company of three guides who show me the different areas of Hogar Diamante.
Kevin, 14, wants to be a baker. José David, 11, is still unsure of what he wants to be, but he likes natural sciences because it’s a bit more than the others he said.
Hogar Diamante, an NGO, located in Amarateca, Honduras, about 30 minutes away from the capital city of Tegucigalpa, was founded 30 years ago. Mr. José Hidalgo, general director, said that the project was born out of what was newly known as children in high-risk situations. These kids come from broken families where there is a lot of domestic violence. In response to that, the children go to the streets where they become addicted to substances like glue and gasoline. Today, they also have access to marihuana and crack.
“The idea is for them to feel in a healthy environment, that they are always kept busy with positive things, educational things, and develop their abilities, and overcome their troubles,” Mr. Hidago said.
The child enters the home between the ages of 7 and 13. An educational and wholesome rehabilitation in coordination and support with his family is at the heart of the program. The child is also provided with proper nutrition, room and board, medical attention, caring for the social, psychological, spiritual and technical aspect, Mr. Hidalgo said. The children receive four to six years of schooling, depending on their level when they first come in, and at age 15 they go to the National Institute for Personal Formation (INFOP).
Mr. Hidalgo emphasizes on what he defines as the life project. He assures to me that the combination of all the elements that are given at the home, from the educational part to the religious part; help the child in establishing his life project and making it a reality.
My three guides; Kelvin, Carlos, and Kevin, take me on a tour of the beautiful landscape. We start at the workshops. The aroma of freshly baked bread lingers in the wide kitchen. Cecilia Mejía, the baking instructor, receives me with a smile and shows me how well equipped they are for the daily baking chores. What a wonderful country, and the passionate people who live in it!
A familiar noise leads me to the wood shop. The heaviness of the machines reminds me of my dad’s work, and the minty smell of wood makes me feel at home. Pedro Cruz, the wood shop instructor, said that the small children are taught how to sand wood and prepare it. The older children are taught how to use the machines and other tools.
We climb a small hill to get to the agricultural sector. Before that, Kevin teaches me a little bit about the different trees they grow at the home. I get close to the avocado tree, and I can see the small fruits starting to grow. The midday sun is coming close, and the heat hugs us tightly in an attempt to slow us down, but we climb the hill and say hi to the animals. Cows, hens, goats, and tilapia encompass the fauna of the place.
I stand on top of the hill, and I admire the school, which is as big as the hope that resides in it. Yet, I don’t forget the sad reality that hinders my country’s progress.
With gang and crime problems, some children do not want to go visit their homes yet, Mr. Hidalgo said. They are afraid that they will be obliged to enter the gangs and sell drugs, and thus lose everything they have worked for.
Candice Lloyd-Cosenza, president of the board of directors, said that the temptation that organized crime presents to these children is very high. The incentive is very big when a child is offered from $230 to $330 to complete a certain task when their families are receiving a mere $10 every two weeks.
“The willpower that takes for a child to say no and choose another life, needs to be strengthen,” she said.
Mr. Hidalgo explained to me the process of reestablishing a healthy relationship with the family. When the child comes in to the home, the family is brought here and we give them orientation on how to heal wounds, and help them understand why the child left to the street. When we get the family to integrate and support the child, he wants to start going back to visit his home, he said.
“The child who used to give problems now gives solutions. The child who use to be a reason for conflict is now a reason for unity and encounter,” Mr. Hidalgo said.
To be able to maintain this success, money is needed, and for the home it is a stress to be constantly looking for resources. Mrs. Cosenza breaks down the numbers for me. Annually, the home costs $150,000 to run. With that money, about 55 children are cared for internally. We also maintains the Program for External Monitoring, which is for when the child is already of age to take the next step outside of the home, which tends to about 20 children, summing up to a total of 70 children. The home also works with the families, so the indirect outreach is of about 400 people. Doctors come every two weeks, the school and workshops are sustained, and clothes, and food are bought.
“I always stress about how we will survive another year, especially knowing that the program is a success, ” Mrs. Cosenza said, “We are solving the government a problem by successfully taking potential criminals out of the streets. ”
Mr. Hidalgo said they usually start the year with about 20 to 30 percent of that annual budget, and they have to compile the other 70 percent. He recognizes that Hogar Diamante is just one NGO out of the many that exist that also try to attend to Honduras’ many needs. The government helps very, very little he said.
The home receives donations from people and companies, and also a lot of foreign volunteering. The Canadian government has a program where they send volunteers to countries Canada gives monetary aid to. Delegations of young people from 18 to 25 years of age come to the home for three or four months a year. They establish theatre programs, they help with the planning of the home’s activities, and they even pay for their stay.
The home has put up with this monetary fight for the last thirty years, and so far, they have been successful. Giving back these children the right to dream and helping build their life projects is the biggest motivation. The life project consists of defining what the child wants to do, what are his goals, and what are his dreams, Mr. Hidalgo said.
Juana María García, director of El Diamante School, said that for her the most wonderful thing is to see the transformation these children go through. They come from negative and toxic environments where they are addicted to harmful substances, and turn into men of good.
“We reinforce in them moral and spiritual values, so when they walk out of here they have the ability and skills to join back their families, and be productive citizens,” she said.
Mr. Hidalgo concludes my visit on an inspiring note. He strongly believes that we have to believe in our youth. He assured that the current situation of the country reflects that we have not focused properly on the solution, and he recommends that we all have more solidarity, common sense, and less egoism.
My three guides go back to their classrooms and put themselves to work. Inspired to reflect on my own dreams, I leave smiling and full of energy. The present state of my country might be full of violence and bloody newspaper covers, but my vision of the future has as much faith and hope as I found at Hogar Diamante. We have to give back our children the right to dream, so they don’t have to wake-up every morning to an uncertain sunrise.
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NATALIA FONSECA 