EL CARMEN
El Carmen Juvenile Detention Center is located in San Pedro Sula. It houses about 120 teen boys who have been arrested for a variety of crimes and misdemeanors. The Success Academy at El Carmen has 15 students.
JALTEVA
This rural detention center is home to about 50 teen boys. The center is located one and a half hours outside Tegucigalpa. Currently, 19 boys are participating in the Orphan Helpers Success Academy at the center.
SACRED HEART
Sagrado Corazon (Sacred Heart) is a detention center that holds about 50 teen girls. Currently, 18 girls are attending the Success Academy. Through an alliance with a local nonprofit, Orphan Helpers provides cosmetology classes. The girls are certified upon completion of the workshop, giving them an opportunity to become entrepreneurs and operate their own salons.
REBIRTH
Renaciendo (Rebirth) is a detention center that houses about 150 teen boys. Currently, four boys are enrolled in the Orphan Helpers Success Academy. In partnership with a local nonprofit, a new barbering workshop has been built to train and certify boys to be professional barbers.
“When I was sent to the juvenile detention center for girls, all my hopes and dreams were shattered. I was facing a sentence of four years,” Sohani says. “Fortunately, the teachers from Orphan Helpers comforted me. They presented plans that God has for my life, plans to give me hope and a future. They encouraged me to learn a skill like cosmetology.” – Sohani
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Today, Sohani has completed an entrepreneur training program in Honduras and is launching her own beauty salon.
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Orphan Helpers exists to transform the lives of more young people like Sohani. Our goal is to lift abandoned and incarcerated youth out of their desperate situations and equip them for success in their community.
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Orphan Helpers serves in four detention centers in Honduras–three for boys and one for girls. Our Success Academies inside these centers provide incarcerated youth with life skills, leadership training, Bible studies, and vocational workshops.
After graduation from the Success Academy and upon release from the detention center, Academy graduates are mentored by a Success Coach. The Success Coach identifies community resources and connects youth to job opportunities, churches, housing options, and other resources critical to their successful transition into society and adulthood.
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In 2017, 42 incarcerated boys and girls graduated from the Success Academies in Honduras. In 2018, 56 are enrolled. Thanks to a partnership with another Christian nonprofit, we have two Success Coaches working with the youth as they’re released.
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To succeed, many of these youth require services such as trauma counseling and tattoo removal. Above all, they need an opportunity to work and become a productive member of their society.
MEET THE
HONDURAS TEAM
Nahun
Honduras Country Director
Fanni
Executive Assistant
Heymi
Success Coach
Humberto
Teacher at Jalteva
Jonathan
Teacher at El Carmen
Roberto
Teacher at Rebirth
Saul
Teacher at El Carmen
Regina
Success Coach
"When I was seven years old my life got complicated. My mother abandoned me and left me in my grandmother’s house, leaving a big void in my life. I began to misbehave in school to the point I was expelled numerous times.
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I started to smoke and drink and that was the start of my wrong path. I got involved with a bad crowd and was caught in the middle of a homicide which I witnessed. I was charged with murder and was sent to a juvenile detention center where I met some Orphan Helpers teachers that got me on the right path.
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I started to develop a new beginning for my life. I got right with the Lord and enrolled in the Success Academy. I learned to hear God’s voice, talk to Him, and understand the importance of baptism and communion. It was glorious!
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Now I find myself on the outside of the center. I can look back and see how that desert made me stronger. It changed my life. I’m ready to fight the good fight of faith.
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My plans are to finish high school, get into a vocational school, and help my family financially. I give thanks to God for my circle of family. Now I have chance to honor them. I also want to thank Orphan Helpers for the opportunity that they provided me."
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(Xavier served two years at a juvenile detention center for boys in Honduras. With the assistance of Orphan Helpers, Xavier has completed an entrepreneurship training program and now has started his own carpentry business.)
Marlon
Teacher at Rebirth
