AFE's New Teachers

As more and more kids move on to high grade levels there has been an increasing need for more teachers. This last year we have been delighted to welcome three new members to AFE’s staff and two new short-term volunteers.

Oscar Manuel Rosales Hernandez is a young father and new Christian, who is seeing his life-long dream to teach become reality. Pastor Jeony was impressed with Oscar when he first met him. He jumped into church-life with fervor in his faith and action. He is a likeable young man who finds his joy in teaching. He travels nearly an hour across to town to come to AFE, then returns home to care for his six-month old baby. Oscar teaches 4th grade in the mornings and 4th and 6th in the afternoons in our adult education program.

Many will recognize Jose Arturo Lopez Valladares from the Amor y Vida Church. On Sundays he is often in front of the congregation helping to lead worship with evident passion for his savior. Arturo was hired to teach 2nd grade at AFE because he is “an exemplary husband and an exemplary father,” (says Jesi Ordonez) and AFE’s children desperately need positive male role models in their lives. In the afternoons Arturo also serves as a good role model to our older students in the adult education program.

Jeymi Johana Figureroa comes from good genes. She is the cousin of the famous Figueroa siblings: Roger and Wendy (who now serves as AFE’s social worker). Like her cousins, Jeymi is a grounded young woman…something the children of AFE truly need. Jeymi came to AFE to teach the sixth grade highly recommend from her church, in which she was a leader in Christian education. She can often be seen hanging out in her classroom after the bell rings, chatting with students who need someone to listen to them.

Vannesa Nicoll Romero Ordonez has been a part of AFE for the majority of her life, working alongside her parents Jeony and Jesi Ordonez, to help as needed. Now she is excited to work more directly with children from the garbage dump, teaching biology and chemistry as she herself studies medicine at the university level.

AFE is excited to welcome this new staff and to see the impact they have on the children of the garbage dump!

Creating Family for Reina

AFE´s educational program is outstanding; it helps to provide a path out of the garbage dump for the children here. But AFE also offers something more, something even greater than education for its students. Each member of AFE´s staff serves as more than a teacher. Each teacher was specially selected for their ability to represent God´s love to these children.

AFE´s staff serves as the extended family of God for the children of the garbage dump. When older brothers and sisters are gang members or drug addicts, AFE´s staff serves as the positive influences they need. When parents are inept or guardians are cruel, AFE´s teachers love their children unconditionally and provide a place where they can feel physically and emotionally safe. AFE´s teachers get to know each child personally, they watch to make sure they are eating well, they notice if they come to class with a sad look in their eyes, they visit them in their homes if the child does not show up for school one day. They advocate for the children in every way possible.

This function of AFE, serving as the family of God, will prove especially important in the life of Reina Margarita, a new student at AFE. Reina is a new recruit from the garbage dump, and this is her first experience in school. She is nine years old and in the first grade. She lives with her mother (who also works in the dump), and her older sister who is addicted to yellow glue. Her father died last year when he was hit by a car as he crossed the street in front of her home. Reina does not have much in her life. She no longer has the love of a father or an older sister. All she knows is the trash dump, but she does have an extended family of God in the staff at AFE.

If we can hold on to her, I know what will happen to Reina Margarita. She will feel the consistent warmth and affection here and blossom before our eyes. She will find her place among the other students, who have already made amazing strides themselves. She will discover what she´s good at doing and what she enjoys. She will begin to wonder how such an unconditional love exists, and she will be pointed to Jesus. In a couple of years, a pretty, happy young woman will be unrecognizable from the sad little girl I know today. I know this to be true because we have seen it happen time and again with other students of AFE.

What a joy it is to see God place his hand into the lives of children like Reina Margarita, to heal and transform them from the inside out. And what a privilege it is to be part of it.

How can I get involved?

Wendy Figureoa: Case Worker Extraordinaire

She stands no more than 5´1”, an unassuming woman with soft eyes. She could be any Hondureňa, but there is none better suited to serve as AFE´s new caseworker.

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She picked her way through the dirt to a house on the edge of a busy street, pieced together from garbage, vacant except for dogs milling about the yard. Yesterday one of AFE´s new students, fresh from the garbage dump, came to school but wouldn´t enter class. Sandra was too shy to tell her teacher why. She walked behind Wendy Figueroa as they went to visit her home and her mother. After the first knock on the aluminum gate it was apparent that no one was home. The only sound came from the flies landing on the laundry. But Wendy persisted. And persisted. Until a small woman with a suspicious scowl appeared in the doorway. As Wendy chatted with her, smiling gently, I saw the woman’s face change.

Although Wendy serves as AFE’s “eyes” in the communities, watching for home situations that are suspicious of child abuse, families immediately recognize her as their friend and advocate. At the same time, they know that AFE will come in strong with police and CPS if Wendy has anything suspicious to report to them.

With Wendy acting in this new position, the home life has changed for one young woman at AFE. Last fall the thirteen-year old girl confessed that her drunken father would come into her bed at night, instead of her mother’s, and she was afraid. When she voiced her fears to her mother she denied the problem. Yet, after Wendy’s home visit, the young girl’s mother and older brother have taken an active role in her protection. The young girl once again sleeps peacefully alone in her own bed.

When a tenth-grade boy sent a note to AFE saying that he was dropping out of school to work, Wendy visited his parents to remind them that education is a right owed to every child in Honduras. Jeyson is back in school today.

AFE has high hopes for what Wendy can accomplish in her new caseworker position. Thanks to Orphan Outreach who has donated the salary and helped train Wendy for her important role.