Mission Trips and El Hogar

Trinity continues to strengthen its bonds with El Hogar de Amor y Esperanza (The Home of Love and Hope) in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Having supported El Hogar with monetary contributions for many years, in 2007, Trinity sent its first volunteer work team. The volunteers readily felt the hope and love on all three campuses, and enthusiastically shared their experiences with the parish family and others in the community.

In 2008, volunteers on the second work team from Trinity had similarly moving experiences during their time at El Hogar. The third annual work team is currently being organized, and we at Trinity aim to continue our face-to-face mission work there on a regular basis.

Volunteers stay in the volunteer house on-site at the El Hogar campus for the youngest children. This campus, located on a cloistered few acres right in the heart of the capital city, has 105 children this year. Most are boys. El Hogar began accepting girls only in 2007, so there are few girls, but their numbers are growing. Always quick with smiles and hugs for the volunteers, the children radiate the love and hope that they receive from the staff and faculty at El Hogar. 

While the volunteers undertake a work project over several days, the leaders of El Hogar allocate a part of their time to interaction with the children, visiting the other two project sites (the technical school and the agricultural school, for the older boys), and learning about the culture and people of Honduras.

Through their telling stories of the children’s lives before their arrival at El Hogar, taking the volunteers on visits to the actual homes from which some of the children hail, and talking with some of the students and staff of the El Hogar projects, volunteers learn much from the community of El Hogar about the overwhelming poverty pervading the country, and its impact on the people. They also experience the warmth, openness, and graciousness of the Honduran people in the face of desperate circumstances.

While rich in faith, love, and hope, El Hogar’s tangible needs are great, so opportunities for sponsorship of the children and other contributions abound.   Toward this end, Trinity’s Christmas offering has gone to El Hogar for more than 30 years. Additionally, several Trinitarian families sponsor children at El Hogar.

 If you’re interested in learning more about El Hogar, please contact the rector or Murray Van Lear.