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  In situations where survival is a blessing, unthinkable choices are made to maintain the most basic necessities. While Honduras has no sole claim on homeless children, the causes are painfully disturbing... Many of the first children at Jovenes en Camino lost both parents to hurricane Mitch. Others were unclaimed offspring of illegitimate and short relationships. Some children are removed from situations of exteme physical and mental abuse. Perhaps the most common and most disturbing situation, however, involves destitute single mothers who are forced to put their children on the street by the replacement male adult of the house. It is a form of self-preservation triage, and the male children are the primary victims of this culture. Today Jovenes en Camino is home to about 80 children. The program ministers to the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of the children.  The facility is located on an 8.8 acre flat site approximately 14 miles south of the city of Tegucigalpa. The site is a vacated ranch within an existing village only 1 1/2 miles from the Pan-American Agricultural School. Access to the home is via the main highway to Nicaragua, also known as "The Highway to Paradise". Drive time from Tegucigalpa is approximately thirty minutes.      The first dorm on Jovenes en Camino Campus was completed on October 2002 Initially the program accommodated about 32 male children in one residence building. Two more have been added. These two-story residences house up to 16 children per floor. The anchor component of each residence is a two-level counselor's apartment which allows easy and quick access to both floors of the building. The bedroom suites will comfortably house up to four children in a bunkbed plan. The suites are equipped with study space and wardrobe or cabinet units for each student to develop a sense of ownership. Each building is expandable allowing two additional suites to be added without disrupting the existing scale or utilization. The children are grouped by age in these buildings on separate floors or dedicated buildings in the following age brackets: 4-7 years old / 8-12 years old / 13-17 years old  This facility is the nucleus of the Children's Village. The dining facility can accommodate up to 115 diners for group meals when staff and volunteers are on site. The central dining hall may also be used for devotionals or theme social events. This facility was programmed by the donated services of Inman Foodservices Group, a nationally known food service consultant.   Existing structures have been assessed and deemed very useful for supplemental program needs on the property. The residence building is used as an administrative office and may be be converted into the guest reception center. A well-built concrete block warehouse structure has been converted into a vocational training facility. This structure houses training programs for carpentry, plumbing and electrical trades. An adjacent building may be added to house auto mechanics training. Remaining support structures may be utilized to house a groundskeeper or security guard residence, a picnic shelter, a dining gazebo for staff, and two refurbished pools for recreation and baptisms. The balance of unbuilt property will be assigned for recreation, agricultural training and self-sufficiency objectives. By locating the initial Children's Village at the rear of the property, additional structures may be added without a noticeable impact to the existing community scale.  Operational costs and appropriate student/counselor ratios are periodically evaluated. It is the intent of this project to set a benchmark - not to be the solution for all homeless children. By providing these children a foundation of Christian principles, education, and self-esteem, an exponential impact will be realized from this program. The success of this project will be a large step toward igniting other agencies to reverse a significant social inequity. |
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| www.childrenontheway.org | www.jovenesencamino.org | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jovenes en Camino, a ministry of Amicus International, Inc. supported by other churches, caring individuals, businesses and foundations world wide. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
