Francisco and Luis

Francisco Javier Romero Ramos

Francisco comes from a family with seven sons. He is the third eldest.

Francisco’s father works for one of the large chicken farms that surround Santa Cruz. Often these farms are owned by multi-nationals which control the production of the feed, the hatchery, the processing plants and the stores that sell the products. Needless to say, they also influence the laws governing competition, health and safety and environmental requirements.

Since he was nine, Francisco has helped his father picking up the dead birds and cleaning feeders and waterers. Fortunately for Francisco, the director of Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad has spent more than a few hours doing the same tasks so he is in good stead to do well in the school.

The family has a two room block house which they live in. Even though the two oldest boys have left home, it still leaves seven people to compete for sleeping room.

Once Francisco realized he could go as fast as he wanted, he finished Grade Seven in less than five months. His parents and friends are giving him lots of encouragement so he is able to come to school regularly and with confidence. In fact, some of his friends who are in the regular school system wish they could join him in Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad. They will be even more interested when they find out that he is already in his second Grade of studies before the halfway point in the year.

Luis Enrique Castellanos Gomez

Luis is the oldest child in a family of four children living in El Ciprés. Because Luis’ family has no father, his mother makes money for the family by cooking and selling tamales. Tamales are made from ground maize, stuffed with various meats or vegetables, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. They make a nice snack or meal.

Luis was somewhat puzzled when we asked him if he helped make the tamales. We suggested that if he learned how, he would realize that he had a job skill which no other boys would have. But, of course, that would still mean he had to step into the kitchen.

Luis helps sell tamales or looks after the other children while his mother makes the trip to Santa Cruz (about six kilometres) to sell her wares. Two of the siblings are in primary school and the youngest is at home.

The family live in a small, one room, block house. When someone in Honduras refers to their house as small, it definitely is tiny.

Luis is very grateful for this opportunity to take schooling beyond Grade Six here in Centro de Enseñanza Fraternidad. Without this school, he would be sitting at home with little or nothing constructive to do. We are excited because Luis is one of over fifteen students who are completing a Grade in less than five months. He has worked hard and is excited about finishing Grade 9 with us.