Projects

Honduras: SAT Programme

Honduras: Tierra Santa

India: Sikkim

India: Uttar Pradesh

Romania

Samoa

The Honduras projects

Tierra Santa Home for Abandoned Children

What is the project?
The Tierra Santa Home for Abandoned Children provides shelter, subsistence, education and some vocational training for destitute and other needy children in Honduras. See www.hogartierrasanta.org for more details.

Where is the project implemented?
The Home is located in Villa de San Antonio, a town about 60 miles northwest of the capital Tegucigalpa.

What is the project s background?
The Tierra Santa Home was officially opened in 1986 by its founder and current Director Sr. Santiago Martinez. Sr. Martinez set up the Home to address the needs of abandoned girls who were otherwise neglected.  Originally, the Home was established simply to offer food and shelter to children, but over time it has grown to include new infrastructure, innovative vocational training and agricultural schemes. The children come to the Home through the social services or the family courts. Some are brought by their families. Some of these children are orphans, some are abandoned, some are abused, and some are from families too poor to look after them.

What does the project include?
The Tierra Santa Home is home to 120-140 children, the majority of them girls. The Home has its own school, including:

• pre-kindergarten
• kindergarten
• six classes of primary level instruction.

The school also educates children from the town. Some of the teachers are paid by the government and some by the Home.

For secondary education, the children of the Home go to government schools in the local towns. In addition to basic schooling, Tierra Santa offers children rudimentary classes in sewing, baking, English and driving instruction.

Several girls, after completing high school, have obtained scholarships to study elsewhere (some of them supported by BASED-UK). Many attend typing, textile, computer courses etc. to learn skills which will help them become financially independent.

Recently, the Home has expanded its activities to encompass an agricultural education project. This project will help make the Home more self sufficient in terms of food production. It will also improve the quality of the diet by growing a variety of vegetables and fruits, while using as far as possible more organic farming practices. It is hoped that this project will be able to generate income for the Home. It also allows the children to develop agricultural skills and proficiencies.

All children are brought up to be serving members of society. The Home runs a supplementary nutrition project for nutritionally deficient children from the town.

How is BASED-UK involved?
BASED-UK has been supporting the Tierra Santa Home since 1996. We provide financial assistance to support administrative and food costs, as well as teachers salaries. Several youth are given the opportunity to pursue their higher education elsewhere.

BASED-UK also identifies suitable Spanish-speaking volunteers for short- or long-term help. Since teaching English is a high priority, BASED-UK is willing to provide a basic salary for trained English teachers.

Financial support is coordinated closely with that of the Home s other main source of funding Tierra Santa Support Incorporated (TSSI). TSSI is based in Minnesota, USA, and has a predominantly Christian support base. BASED-UK and TSSI are working together to make the Home a genuinely multi-faith organization.

All projects:
Honduras: SAT Programme Honduras: Tierra Santa India: Sikkim India: Uttar Pradesh Romania Samoa