Eyes Full of Hope: Mission Trip to Santa Catarina

Last Updated on Monday, 23 November 2009 13:15

By Kevin Northcraft
Seven of us from University Christian Church in San Diego, California went on a mission trip to Honduras for nine days in April 2009, assisted. It is so disturbing that many trips since then have been canceled or not scheduled because of the unrest. The following is an article written to encourage our church to continue to help by contributing towards a school in the village of Santa Catarina. We have since sent the funds for the requested improvements.

The malnourished kids, their eyes full of hope, their smiles begging for help, still haunt us. Santa Catarina is a place where over 100 kids met us one Sunday morning, full of hope and expectation. When I asked why so many live in an area with little resources and no potential, the answer was that they had inherited the land, and that that was all they had. The houses had no windows and no doors; if there is nothing inside to steal, there is no reason to lock up.

Still, these kids have a tremendous amount of unmet potential. The luck of the draw means that they do not have medical care, adequate food, computers, toys, restrooms, running water, and school materials. Can we make a difference? Yes, I think we can. We cannot solve all their problems, but we can offer help, an opportunity to learn, a chance to achieve.

Someday, one of these children might be the person who finds a cure for cancer or some other great achievement in our world. I believe that each of them deserves the chance to prove what they can do. A roof for a classroom for these kids costs about $1,500. Construction of a new classroom so that the children would not have to meet on a dirt floor costs around $2,500. It is not a lot, but it is a start. It represents a chance to answer the hopeful look in their eyes.