Month: October 2010

My husband and I and our two children, Isaac (5) and Jubilee (2) are visiting Love and Hope Children’s Home for 2 1/2 months. We live in Colorado and have visited the home 3 other times. It has been one of our greatest pleasures in life to get to know the children here and watch them grow. On arriving we were happy to find the new location to be a refreshing and beautiful change.

While we are here we hope to put our hands to work in many ways. This week Seth has spent time cleaning up the back courtyard and we are preparing a place for the children to have a vegetable garden. We are also hoping to assist with introducing some art and craft skills (painting, sewing, crocheting) as well as independent sports and activities to the kids. They are all so creative and unique and we are eager to watch them take on new interests. Spending time with the kids in smaller groups and giving them time outside of the their routine is always a true joy. We are stepping forward to take on more responsibilities that will relieve some of the heavy load others are carrying down here.

We always come home learning far more from the children than we can ever offer them.They are our most treasured friends and we are blessed to come and visit them.

Chelsea and Seth Weber

This past Friday, Rachel was presented with the GABRIEL Award for Female Social Humanitarian of the Year during a ceremony at La Universidad Dr. Jose Matias Delgado. All the kids and staff were in attendance to see her honored and share in her recognition. This award is one of the many great ways the home has recently been recognized here in El Salvador.  

Additional coverage of the award in La Prensa Grafica (spanish).

This past week, Seth helped the older boys make their own bows and arrows. First they went out into the woods to find the perfect sticks for the bows, and then cut and shaped them with machetes and pocket knives until they were ready for stringing. Next, they went on the hunt for small straight sticks to use as arrows. After some quick safety instructions and shooting tips, we let the boys loose on the target.

We are looking to fill out our staff with two more full time positions. These are needs we’ve seen develop over the past few months. Bringing on two full-time staff members is a big financial commitment. We ask for your continued prayer and support on how we can best fill these roles.

Psychologist

Many of our kids come from difficult backgrounds and our desire is to help them work through whatever issues lie in their past as best we can. We’ve always had a psychologist on staff, but only on a part time basis. We feel very strongly that we need to make that position full time. In addition to the kids, we’re also hoping to have our psychologist work with our caregivers to guide them in how to best care for the children. We estimate the monthly cost of staffing this position to be $1500 including benefits.

Administrative Director

Keeping the business end of Love & Hope running is a full time job. From payroll to pension to driving passes, there is never a day without paperwork, forms and phone calls. Over the past several months we’ve worked hard to organize and document the paperwork and procedures that keep the wheels of Love & Hope turning and now we’re looking to bring in an Administrative Director, trained in exactly this kind of work, to make sure it continues to  run smoothly. We estimate the monthly cost of staffing this position to be $1200 including benefits.

Thank you for your continued love and support of this ministry. 

Last night we had a cookout with the kids in our new fire pit. We went through over fifty hotdogs and then we had roasted marshmallows and smores. The kids really loved it, and I think we’ll do it again soon.