One of the greatest gifts the Farm of the Child provides to our orphans is a quality, Catholic education. Education is the key to ending the cycle of poverty and hopelessness that left these children orphaned and abandoned. We are committed to offering every child the opportunities needed to pursue his or her individual goals, be they vocational, training or academic advancement.

Historically, adolescents completing their primary education at the Farm’s St. Peter’s Primary School were integrated into the Honduran state-run secondary school system. It has become increasingly difficult to continue on this path. Consider:

- Students in the state secondary schools missed 43% of class days in the last academic year due to faculty strikes, at times placing all students at risk of not advancing to the next grade level.

  - Teachers strike for reasons outside of the sphere of education since they are the only organized labor force in Honduras. For example, in some cities they held work stopages to resist the privatization of public utilities.

- Children who had performed well in our primary school and later enrolled in the state secondary school regressed in most key areas such as basic math skills, essentially losing an entire year. Yet, they were promoted by the school system to the next grade.

- Socialization within the state school system comes at the cost of breaking down the moral fiber instilled in our children. In Honduras, 65% of the school-aged population lack the opportunity to continue studying beyond the sixth grade. Over half a million young people do not have access to complete even basic education. Addressing this situation has been an enormous challenge for the Farm of the Child. We cannot come this far and not finish the job with these children. (The late Bishop Virgilo Lopez)

This past year we launched the first and only Catholic middle school in the entire eastern one third of the country. We adopted a new rural educational program called Educatodos developed by the Honduran government for small communities. We increased our upcoming volunteer class by four in order to properly staff the new school with qualified, yet low cost teachers.

Yes, we are underway and making great progress, but we are in desperate need for classroom space. Due to the simple fact that our kids are growing up, we will need to expand the enrollment from the current 7 students to 20 in the next two years. With a vibrant and ongoing primary school, a busy clinic and orphan homes filled to capacity, we do not have any space available to house this new middle school.

The U.S. board of the Farm of the Child is committed to the construction of this new school to educate our orphans and the children in the surrounding communities. Amazingly just $40,000 will build and equip the school to provide an excellent Catholic education for our students. The Farm has received commitments from a private source to match any donations made during this appeal up to a maximum of $20,000. If we can raise only $20,000 from our donor base, grants will cover the other half of our costs!!

As our children continue to grow, he window of opportunity to complete our children’s academic education and their faith formation is upon us now. With this opportunity to double the impact of your gift, would you consider making a financial gift today? I can personally guarantee you that your donation will have an impact on these children’s lives for years to come.