Hope and Honduras — The Foundation for Education in Honduras (FEIH) is Changing Lives By Paying it Forward

We wanted to give kids in Honduras a safe, clean place to learn. We wanted to give each grade its own classroom. We wanted each child to have her or his own chair and desk and we wanted all of them to have book bags, school supplies and shoes. We wanted all students and especially the girls to have clean bathrooms. We wanted the students to have playgrounds and filtered water. In the face of COVID-19, our organization, the Foundation for Education in Honduras (FEIH), brought PPE, food and supplies to our communities. When two hurricanes ravaged Honduras in 2020, FEIH coordinated with the Honduran Navy to get food and supplies to our communities. The cost, on average, to accomplish all of this is approximately $40,000. Last week, we completed our 15th school thanks to Courtney and Jon Davis who matched donations from friends and family to fund its construction. FEIH has built schools in all areas of Honduras. The 15th school is located in Catacamas, Olancho.

We started FEIH to try to make lives better. FEIH’s efforts bring hope to Honduras. FEIH’s efforts pay it forward and we have witnessed that everyone touched by FEIH pays it forward. And by paying it forward, the people in our communities — even those planning to leave — are staying.

It’s simple. As my co-founder and the heart and soul of FEIH, Ramiro Ocasio, often says, “happy people do happy things.” As we have seen, people don’t want to leave their homes. People want to stay in their communities. And, perhaps, the single most powerful thing to keep people in their home countries is hope.

Here is one powerful story about community and hope.

This is Carlos and his family.

This is the “house” Carlos and his family live in.

This is the family bathroom.

Before we started building school 15, Carlos didn’t have a job. Carlos can’t read or write. Carlos can’t buy his children clothes and struggles to put food on the family table. Poverty and hunger in Honduras is not unique to Carlos. The poverty rate in Honduras is more than 66 percent. Honduras experiences the highest level of poverty in Latin America. Twenty percent of Hondurans live on approximately $1.90 per day. And the people of Honduras are hungry. Food insecurity, i.e., hunger, is reaching unprecedented levels in Honduras. More than one-third of Hondurans are experiencing severe hunger.

Carlos is one of these people. Carlos’ wife and children are three of these people. In the face of this, Carlos made a difficult decision. Carlos made a decision that any loving husband and father would make under the same circumstances. Carlos made a decision anyone would make without hope. Carlos decided he was going to leave the country he loved to make a perilous journey with his wife and children to the U.S. border in search of a better life. To be clear, Carlos wasn’t looking for a great life or a prosperous life. Carlos just wanted a better life.

As Carlos was planning for this journey, FEIH began building school 15. Carlos showed up every morning at the school construction site to volunteer his time. He worked diligently along side the construction crew. The contractor took notice of Carlos’ work ethic and offered him a job. Carlos accepted and now was earning a living and able to buy food for his family. The other construction workers got to know Carlos, heard his story and saw where he lived. They got together and made a decision — when they finished building school 15, they would build Carlos a new house.

School 15 was completed two weeks ago.

Here is the new school.

The school construction crew started on Carlos’ new house immediately.

It is almost complete.

Here is what the outside of the house looks like.

Here is the inside of the house.

And here is the bathroom.

From a $40,000 investment in a community, Carlos and his family are now staying in Honduras. Carlos has a house and an indoor, private, clean bathroom. Carlos is able to feed his children. Carlos’ children have a uniform, shoes, backpacks, school supplies and a clean, safe school at which to be educated. Carlos saw the best in people. Carlos saw FEIH build a brand new school for his community. Carlos saw construction workers care for him and pay it forward. Carlos now has a better life. Carlos is staying in Honduras. Carlos has hope.