*Old digital cameras that work but that you do not need anymore
*Temperature-controlled storage for a couple of boxes.
*A place to park a car-preferably in a garage because I would like to store some things in it like clothes that can freeze or get hot and also because my parents would like to not pay insurance on it while it is out of use.
El Sembrador
The Missionaries
I will be working with Jerry and Sherri Murphy, whom I had the privilege to work with last year. Jerry does a number of things around the school, including organizing sporting events for the boys. Sherri works with sponsorship programs (people sponsor boys which helps to pay for their living and educational expenses).
Another couple that I know from my first trip is Thad and Ruth Gouge. They are one year volunteers. They have two children, Reed and Shannon, who are 7&5 respectively (unless one of them has had a birthday, which is entirely possible!). Thad, like Jerry, does so many things around the school that I am not sure what all of his responsibilities are. Ruth teaches English at the school . Reed is all boy and his favorite Spanish word is "Vacero" which means "cowboy!" Shannon is all girl and loves princesses and all things pink and purple.
Those are the two couples that I have had the chance to get to know. There will be other families there whom I will write about later. I also will tell you more about the Murphys and the Gouges as I get more acquainted with them and their duties at the school.
More about the school:
It is mostly a boarding school. The majority of the boys who live there are there to learn a vocation as well as to finish school. They come for a variety of reasons, but in general they are disadvanted boys who need the head-start El Sembrador can provide. There are some students from the community who attend the academic classes. There is also a seminary there. The students who are part of the seminary are generally a little bit older though some of them are in the academic classes as well. The seminary has classes for those who are currently pastors as well to help them continue their theological education.
Life at El Sembrador runs on a schedual which is ruled by "La Campana." La Campana is a bell in a tower connected to the dining hall. The bell rings are different points in the day such as wakeup call (which is very early), times to eat, time for chapel, call to quarters and quite a few other important daily events. The boys like to call the bell "mother" and joke that she is very old and has had many children but has never died.
The boys where uniforms for school (which, by the way so do all students of any type of school in Honduras) and they have special polo shirts for work and vocational classes.
Most of the boys have at least one family who sponsers them. The sponsership pays for the boys food and clothing and educational expenses while at El Sembrador. While I was there I got to witness several very special relationships between the boys and their sponser families. Many of the families visit every year or two to get to know their boys better and the boys write several times a year to their families.
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