Loading...In December, the seven-member Board of Directors of Osman Hope, Inc. will hold their annual meeting for the first time in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The Directors, who reside in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, will gather in this Honduran city where they operate four day shelters for about 175 street children. This group of volunteers, paying their own expenses, is responsible for fundraising, hiring Honduran staff, setting policy, etc. for this charitable effort directed toward latch key children who would otherwise be loose in the streets of this large city for half days during the week.
The fund-raising activities of Osman Hope have resulted in committed and continuing support from a number of churches and individuals in many states across the U.S. About 110 individuals sponsor one or more children in the shelters. An annual golf outing in Michigan, a church bazaar in Tennessee, collection of donated computers and school supplies, and a variety of other activities provide needed resources.
They will of course spend some time in each of the day shelters, including the newest one, completed recently in the Jesus Rivera neighborhood through the aid of a generous capital grant of US $44,000 from the firm of Knorr-Bremse. This shelter had operated as a lunch feeding program for several years, but will now be a full scale shelter, providing two meals, two snacks, activities, homework help, and of course the security of keeping the children in a safe environment off the streets during the 1/2 days when they are not in school. The new shelter's operation will serve 60 children, and will add significant operating costs. To offset these costs, we are committed to finding at least 40 new sponsors for these children. Each sponsor commits to a donation of US $624 per year, or $52 per month toward the support of one child. Anyone interested can find out more from our website at www.OsmanHope.org or call one of us.
One of the highlights of this meeting will be celebration of the graduation of two students from high school who started with us in the shelters many years ago and graduation of a young lady from beauty school. In Honduras, the majority of school children do not get an education beyond the 6th grade. It is rare that poor children graduate from high school.
We are thankful for the support coming from the Kingsport area, and for the leadership and serious commitment of personal funds and effort from the following local Board members.
The co-founder and current Treasurer and Operations Manager, Peter Borg, will be a part of the team that will be in Honduras. Borg helped found Osman Hope in 2001 after volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in Honduras. It was on a couple of construction trips that he learned about the need to help “street Children” in Honduras. After consulting local leaders, Osman Hope Inc. was founded to fund the operation of day shelters in San Pedro Sula, caring for street children, or what we call in the States, latch key children. Over the 12 years of operation, the shelters have evolved from just care giving to an emphasis on education so the children can break the cycle of poverty. One of Borg’s areas of focus is quarterly reviews of the grades with each secondary school child. This puts a much needed focus on education and it reveals any problems the children are having, either at school or at home. Peter is also a Habitat for Humanity project leader and Treasurer of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
The Rev. Gordon Brewer has lived in Kingsport for the past 22 years. Brewer began his work with Osman Hope in 2002 has a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity to Honduras. As a result of that first trip to Honduras, he became involved with Osman Hope and later joined the board of directors. Since that time, Brewer and his family have helped to lead several mission trips to the Osman Hope shelters to help raise awareness of the needs of children in the country of Honduras. Brewer is also the webmaster for the organization. He is a deacon for St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Kingsport. He and his wife, Sister Brewer, and daughter Rebecca Brewer, who is a senior at Dobyns-Bennett, have been actively supporting the mission and ministry of Osman Hope over the past several years. Brewer also is a Licensed Marital and Family Therapist and is in private practice in Kingsport.
David Nealy retired from Eastman in 1991, having served as Director, Chemistry Research Division and in several other managerial positions. He worked with Haitian refugees as translator/interpreter in Roanoke and made 11 trips to Haiti from 1992-2003 as volunteer interpreter etc. He is the newest member of Osman Hope's Board, and this will be his fourth trip to San Pedro Sula. He uses his Spanish in email communication with the shelter administrators and to translate and edit success stories from the shelters.
When we fly to Honduras, we love to carry donated school supplies,(crayons, pens and pencils, construction paper, notebooks, playdough, finger paints, etc.) in our luggage so that our operating costs are kept low. Anyone who is interested in donating such things is invited to call Dave Nealy at 423-343 9190 to discuss this.
