November 11, 2019 - Day 1
Graduation week in Honduras kicked off with the celebration of 14 young men who've been participating in the Success Academy inside a juvenile detention center in San Pedro Sula. The student speaker at this graduation shared the following: "In my early teens, I was extorting, trafficking drugs, and committing armed robbery. As with almost all people in this situation, I knew my lifestyle would either lead to prison or death. For me it ended in prison. That's where I met the Orphan Helpers teachers and started attending their daily devotionals. I finally confessed to God that I could not run from Him anymore. I studied in the Academy and now I'm willing to serve God any way and anywhere He wants. To my peers, I say that if He can change me, then He can change anyone."
November 12, 2019 - Day 2
Today 34 young men graduated from the Success Academy inside a juvenile detention center near Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Several of the youth's family members attended the ceremony to celebrate the new direction their incarcerated teens are headed.
November 13, 2019 - Day 3
Inside the juvenile detention center for girls we congratulated 11 Academy graduates for the huge steps they have made over the past year! A student at the center for girls said: "I arrived in this center in 2018 after my arrest. I soon joined the Academy to learn more about God and personal leadership. It has helped me to become a better person. I now realize how much I have failed my family. Today I want to ask for their forgiveness."
The final 2019 Success Academy graduation took place at a Honduran detention center where 32 boys participated. One graduate who spoke at the ceremony said: "I thank God for this opportunity to graduate from the academy. It's a big accomplishment for me. I came to this place because of a big problem in my life. But after I arrived here, I started to change little by little. I joined the academy which has influenced me in many ways. I've learned to work as part of a team and to get along with others. I've developed Christina values. Not of the classes that impacted me most was how to forgive others and how to forgive myself. Forgiveness is a decision that has brought peach into my life. Thank you to the Orphan Helpers team and all who make this program available to us!"