Bless the Children - John Grove High School Renovations - Part 2

High in the Mico Quemado Mountains of Honduras a great deal of teamwork is providing the miracle of education to children beyond the 6th grade.  Like many Central American countries, Honduras only provides education to its children through the 6th grade.  

According to UNICEF only 58.8% of Honduran children enrolled in first grade will continue past grade six; and only 6 out of 10 Honduran teenagers are enrolled in secondary school.

In response to this situation Bless the Children and our dear friend John Grove established the first-ever opportunity in this mountain region to help children continue their education.  On his passing many have come on board to ensure the dream would never die.  Your help is needed.

Along with members of the Church of the Epiphany in Richmond, VA and the McCroskie Threshold Foundation we have recently made many improvements to the school.  We hope you enjoy this second installment outlining those improvements!

(condition of walls prior to renovations)

Vince is measuring just right to cut the perfect replacement!

The men make a plan!



Throughout the process our students worked hand in hand with Epiphany volunteers who took the greatest care to help them learn useful skills.  Many new friendships were made and the kids were thrilled to be involved and learning.

Preparing for the new door!

Attaching the new walls!

And after several days of non-stop productivity the students and volunteers had much to be proud of!  The Bless the Children - John Grove High School has had a remarkable facelift!  Thank you to all who have made this possible.  The children are so proud of their "new" school!

We are excited to let you know that the students have put the final touches on this extraordinary project!  While in Honduras we bought paint yet time ran out so the students took it on themselves to finish the job...we are looking forward to sharing photos with you soon!

Please make a donation to help us continue providing the children of the Mico Qumado Mountains an education.  Together we can help them have the tools to escape poverty.  Thank you for sharing your love with these children. 

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Bless the Children - John Grove High School Renovations - Part 1

The Bless the Children - John Grove High School is located high in the
Mico Quemado Mountains of Northern Honduras, Central America.  (top left)

(School, top right)

In early March, 2011 Bless the Children took a medical and construction team to the Mico Quemado Mountains composed of members from the Church of the Epiphany in Richmond, VA.  The medical team delivered clinics at four elementary schools in the mountains helping hundreds of poor children and their families.  (A total of 6 clinics were delivered...blog post to come soon on this!)

The construction team was very eager to get right to work to make improvements on the high school and so much was accomplished.  In just a few short days, working side-by-side with the students, they completely broke up and removed the old cement floor!  We hired a professional mason to lay the new one and he did a fabulous job.  In part 2 of this blog you will see that walls of decayed wood were torn out and replaced and a lovely, new door was installed.  As well, new paint was purchased that the students applied after our trip to beautify the school.

The beginning of the construction adventure!

The original floor of the school is shown here.  It was not level so the teacher and students had such a difficult time properly utilizing the space.  When the property was first purchased in 2006 a small house was on the land and while the floors suited that arrangement we needed to make the floor just right for our classroom setting!

The team jumped in with lots of energy and enthusiasm for the very big job of taking up the old floor.  It was truly a site to behold!  Vince, Joe and Will were unstoppable!

Our students were on the team and worked hard to help break up the floor and remove all the concrete and debris.

The buckets of concrete and dirt were much, much heavier than they appear!

Everyone was so happy when step one of the floor project was completed!

Then came time to haul the sand from the bottom of the hill for the NEW concrete preparation!

Our teacher, Oscar, jumped in to help the students mix the concrete! (in yellow shirt)

And even the Honduran Air Force was on board with making this project a success!

Our students really got into this hands-on learning experience!

Next to lend his energy to the project was a professional mason!

And here it is...the new floor!  It is amazing what can be accomplished in such a short time when good people come together with love in their hearts for children.  It is an honor to work with all of you!

With all our hearts we thank every member of the Church of the Epiphany and those who went to Honduras and worked so hard to make the needed improvements to the school.  We thank you too for befriending the children and working with them, teaching them skills during the improvements that will last throughout their lives.  Your interest in their education and their welfare will have such far-reaching effects.

We are also deeply grateful for the support of so many of John Grove's friends for doing all they can to keep the school in operation for the children.  The McCroskie Threshold Foundation (MTF), the Air Commando Association and members of the 20th SOS (Special Operations Squadron) have kept the dream alive.  MTF, your donation made it possible for the construction supplies to be purchased.  The children, the community and everyone with Bless the Children is so very grateful for your long-term support of this school.

The John Grove High School has been a program of Bless the Children since 2006.   Our best friend and humanitarian aid partner, John Grove, was instrumental in the founding of this school.  While talking with his good friend, Karen Hubbard, founder of Bless the Children, he learned there was no education available beyond the 6th grade for the children of the Mico Quemado Mountains he said, "To help these people out of the cycle they are in, generations of poverty, an education is necessary.  It is my plan to help with this effort..."   To the heartache of all who knew and loved him, John passed away in December of 2008.  This school is a tribute to our combined love for children and exemplifies the fact that dreams of the heart never die.

Please help us to continue the education of these students.

As a team we can provide them the opportunity of a lifetime!

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Coming soon...in part 2 of this blog we'll share the removal and replacement of the walls and the installation of the new door - another amazing project!