Childcare
Social Work
Gloria (our full-time social worker) has been working with the caregivers to better their skill in taking care of the children. She is also working with the kids to teach them to care for our property and facilities better.
Gloria is organizing different “workshops” for the children. The caregivers are helping with this also. The main idea of the workshops is to encourage the children to learn new skills and give them structured activities to do during vacation. Some examples of the workshops include: drawing, cooking, making Christmas cards and money management.
Psychology
Jessica (our full-time psychologist) is using the extra time that the children have at home (due to vacation) to work with them in groups. She created a weekly schedule just for the next couple months. She also continues to work with the families of our children.
Some of the children are also receiving individual therapy to prepare for starting at a new school or children that are exhibiting behavior problems at the house.
Education
The children that attended Kinder Carussel and CEFAS during the 2012 school year had final exams beginning the week of November 5th. There were so many visitors at Love & Hope during the week of exams, we were able to match each child with a volunteer who helped them study everyday.
Gloria and Kirsten began the process of re-enrolling or enrolling all of the children in their respective schools. Mandy and Kirsten have been organizing donations for the supplies needed for the coming year.
The eleven children that will be starting at Colegio Luz de Israel in the next school year began a summer course there on November 20th. The children are required to attend every weekday for one month from 8:00am-12:00pm to prepare for the coming school year.
One of the older girls won an award for finishing the year in 2nd place for her class at Colegio CEFAS. We are so proud of her!
During their “summer” vacation, the children have been participating in a house-wide reading competition. The children who have logged the most time spent reading will get to go to Pizza Hut in December.
Activities
On November 3rd, the entire house (children, caregivers, staff, missionaries and visitors) was invited to our social worker’s, Gloria, wedding. Six of our children participated in the wedding. The rest of the children all wore their best and attended as well. Everyone enjoyed the ceremony and dinner. There was even some dancing and swimming afterwards!
Two of the older girls went to a retreat with the youth group from the Union Church of San Salvador on November 9th and 10th. They came home with a lot of stories, clearly having enjoyed the weekend! Several of the girls have been attending youth group at the Union Church regularly and have begun forming friendships with the leaders of the youth group, who in turn enjoy having our girls attend!
Leodina’s quinceanera dinner was on November 10th at Toscana in Los Planes de Renderos. Two of Leo’s sponsors were able to visit El Salvador specifically for her special dinner.
During the week of November 26th, three of the younger children had their “clausuras” at CEFAS. Clausura means “closing” in Spanish. The children usually put on some kind of Christmas program, receive academic awards and collect their grades.
The children have been enjoying their “summer” vacation from school that began at the beginning of November and will last until mid-January. Some of the activities that the children have been blessed to enjoy so far are:
The older boys and girls, along with their caregivers, went to see The Rise of the Guardians in 3D. They really loved the 3D movie!
Some of the younger children visited Santa Claus.
We decorated for Christmas and put up our Christmas tree at the house.
FURESA, a zoo in El Salvador, donated 30 passes to Love & Hope Children’s Home so that our children could visit (see pictures in previous post).
On Thanksgiving, we celebrated with the children by cooking a traditional meal. Mandy organized a special round of “Turkey Bingo” and the kids all wrote down what they were thankful for on handprints to create leaves for a “Thankful Tree.”
Property
The microbus that is used everyday for school runs and other driving got a new interior.
A good friend of Love & Hope donated money to purchase a new oven. This is a huge blessing!
Finances
Gary Klubnik, Justin Klubnik and Phillip Miller’s climb in Ecuador has raised over $13,000 for the education fund so far. On November 22nd, the three climbers made it to about 18,000 feet on the Cotopaxi Volcano!
Networking
We met with people from Mark 2 Ministries and The Supply Change. The Supply Change even bought us most of the notebooks we needed for the coming school year!
A deputy army section chief for the United States military in El Salvador came to speak to the children at our first “Career Night.” This is a connection we made at the Union Church. The children were very interested in what he had to say, enjoyed trying on his gear, and were especially excited about his therapy dog. This friend is interested in staying involved at Love & Hope and working with some of our children.