Tierra Santa Home Growth 1999–2001
2001 Medical Visit
Dr. Manaji Suzuki traveled to Honduras for a week-long medical visit to the Home from February 9th through the 17th. $10,000 worth of medicine and vitamins were dispensed.
2001 The Bakery Initiative Has Begun
Our visit to this home January 27-30 was inspiring. We saw the fruition of our “Bakery Initiative,” where five participating girls have spent the last six months learning how to bake the best of cakes and pastries, and who already have $100.00 in their account. A teacher comes to teach them new recipes every week, and once they have practiced a bit more, they will begin active sales of their products in township of San Antonio. You may remember that this initiative was designed to be an income producing venture both for the Home and for the participating girls. 20% of the net income of the sales is put aside so that the participating girls may eventually have their own investments for their own businesses.
We also met the very competent teacher that with the support of Mona Foundation Mr. Martinez has hired to teach elementary level. She is very committed to her task and we are confident that now the children of Tierra Santa will have a better educational opportunity.
The word processing unit contributed by Mrs. Margarite Holland is also hard at work with other donated computers used to teach typing skills to all the children of the Home.
Our team of doctors and nurses will be visiting the Home from February 9th through the 17th. How excited were everyone in anticipation of their visit, and the medicine and the vitamins they will bring with them.
We also continued our consultations with Alba, the supervisor of the infant feeding center, for another income producing venture. She had taken many months to research the needs of the community, and has finally concluded that a meat and vegetable shop would be the best option as there are no such shops available in the immediate community. $2,000.00 is needed to seed this project. The Mona Foundation board will consult on this proposal and will let you know as soon as a decision is reached.
Of course, their desperate need for financial resources towards educational cost of the children are always ongoing.
top2000 Mr. Santiago Visits
Mr. Santiago Martinez, the founder and the director of this home came to Seattle area to meet with his many sponsors including the Mona Foundation. Mona held a reception in his honor on Friday, September 15th, in which the video of the Home was shared. Prior to the reception he visited Mukilteo Montessori School, which has supported this school in the past, and was was interviewed by the Everett Herald daily newspaper.
Two other organizations have also expressed their interest to support this home: Brighten School in Edmonds, Washington, through the efforts of our friend, Mrs. Lisa Enquist, and Seattle Rush Hour Rotary Club, through the efforts of Mrs. Ruth Moen. Mrs. Moen and this club has already committed to provide proper clothing for 12 girls and two boys (Khaki pants and white T-shirts) who will be spending two months of their summer in community outreach projects throughout Honduras. We are grateful for these individual efforts.
Mona Foundation is extremely grateful to the children of Tierra Santa for their special gift seen in the picture to the left. On their own, the children made this hand stitched collage, which was presented to our Board when we met with Mr. Santiago Martinez, the director of this Home, in September. Our token of gratitude was also extended to Attachmate Corporation for its continued support of this Home by presenting Mrs. Diana Meredith, Executive Assistant to the Chairman, through presentation of a recognition plaque, picture below. Thank you Mrs. Meredith for your support and confidence in our work.
Also, as we reported last month, Mona Foundation has funded a full time teacher for the elementary school attached to this Home. This grant enables the Home to hire a reliable and competent teacher who will provide stability as well as excellent academic standards for all the children at the elementary school. In addition, thanks to Mrs. Candace Johnson, Mrs. Pat Savage, Patrece Banks, Nancy Corbin and Dr. Manaji Suzuki, a total of 26 boxes full of clothes, personal hygiene items, baby formulas, and other items have been mailed to this Home in the past 2 months. Also, Mrs. Zlon Le has secured a year supply of Vitamins for each of the children, which will be shipped as soon as receive them. And more, Dr. Suzuki, a pediatrician, has committed to go to Honduras on a medical mission, in February and spend one to two weeks treating the children of the Home. WOW!!!! Thank you all for your exemplary support. Please note below, the girls involved in the Bakery Initiative are busy baking and learning!!
2000 Project Adopted
We are grateful to Mukilteo Montessori School staff, parents and students for their efforts on behalf of children of Tierra Santa Home. They adopted this Home and collected 15 boxes full of clothes, toys and books. These items were shipped to the Home last month, and gratefully received. THANK YOU MUKILTEO MONTESSORI!!
The board of Mona Foundation fully consulted on the needs of this Home during its annual meeting and adopted the following for the school year 2001/2002:
- Expand the Home's WebPages, link it to Mona Foundation pages, and publish it to our lists.
- Support Curriculum development & design of after school enrichment programs.
- Pursue Clothing and other basic needs drives.
- A grant to cover the cost of shoes.
- An educational scholarship grant.
- Income producing ventures: A grant towards the "Pastry Project".
1999 Sister School is Adopted
Our trip is scheduled for March and the Montessori School in Mukilteo, Washington is preparing a care package which we will take with us. As you may know, this school has adopted the Home as a Sister School, and we look forward to helping them establish a mutually rewarding relationship. Randie Gottlieb who is fluent in Spanish will accompany me. Our goal there is help them set up a vocational and skill center so that when these girls have to leave the Home, they will have the skills to sustain a livelihood.
An initial grant of $500 plus an earmarked contribution is also approved for this Home. We have also scheduled a meeting with them in March after our visit to Panama, to consult on setting up a vocational center. This center will offer training in job-related skills so that the children will be able to have a livelihood once they leave school.
2000 Our First Visit
Dr. Randie Gottlieb and Mahnaz Javid traveled to Honduras to visit this school. We took with us a care package full of Spanish books and toys, courtesy of Mukilteo Montessori School in Mukilteo, Washington.
We consulted with Mr. Santiago Martinez, the director and founder of the school, and his wife who serves as the Home's administrator and with the Board of the Directors, an elected body who is responsible to oversee the activities of the Home and with other supporters of the schools.
We asked Uncle Santiago, “What are the priorities of your needs?” We received thoughtful silence, and then, “This is hard to answer because we need everything. We need food, we need clothing, we need toothbrushes, we need a doctor, a dentist, a counselor to help our kids when they first arrive at the request of the courts. We need teacher training and curriculum enrichment, we need . . . everything.”
The spiritual force moving the Tierra Santa Home for Abandoned Children in Honduras is the principle of love for, and service to, the world of humanity, tangibly visible in every aspect of its operation. As Randie and I shared with all the children on our last evening at the Home around the campfire set up on the Home's immaculately cleaned grounds, Mona Foundation will do its best to support this Refuge and this worthy educational initiative in any way it can.
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