[You’ve never volunteered like this before]

1. [You’ve never volunteered like this before]

2. In 2008, SHH built a three room elementary school at the village of Por Venir that is currently enrolling nearly 150 children [ who we are ] In 2006, SHH built a one classroom elementary school at Siete de Abril that is currently enrolling nearly 100 children. Villa Soleadad was inspired by a little girl living in Siete de Abril. It is an always-ongoing project. Read below! The people of Siete de Abril live in extreme poverty. Homes are roughly constructed using scraps of corrugated tin and cardboard. There is no clean water, and illness is widespread. More than half of the over four hundred residents are children. It is no surprise then, that when ten year old Carmen Flores talked to Shin Fujiyama, she expressed only one wish – she wanted all of the families in her village to have a home.

3. So You Want to Go to Honduras?Students Helping Honduras will be hosting multiple service trips during 2010 and 2011. Remember that our service trips are for students AND adults! As we can only accommodate a limited number of volunteers, spots will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Before registering, please be sure to check out the Trip Preparation Pack!Summer 2010SUMMER I (Two trips, Standard and Medical)May 15th-May 22nd3 spots remainingSUMMER IIMay 22nd-May 29th5 spots remainingHIGH SCHOOL IIIJuly 31st-Aug. 7thRegistration openSUMMER IVAug. 7th-Aug. 14thRegistration open

4. [what you will be working on] • Villa Soleada Water Tower SHH is currently constructing a water tower at Villa Soleada that will distribute clean drinking water to the community. It is in its third and final stage, now that the first two horizontal support beams have been poured. The Standard Fruit Company of El Progreso donated a water tank for the project, which will soon be cleaned and repainted. Even though the tower has not been completed, the clean water tubing has already been connected to the well and supplies drinking water to the houses three hours a day. When the water tower is completed though, villagers will have access to water twenty-four hours a day. Education Center and Library The University of Mary Washington chapter of SHH collected $25,000 for the construction of a new library in the Villa Soleada community. With the help of the organization Global Playground, the project was expanded to include a technology center and a study area for students. The construction has already progressed to the point that the walls have already been completed. The roofing will be the next phase of this project, which has already begun with the installation of support beams for the roof.

5. [ongoing projects] Women’s Eco-Bag Campaign The women's eco-bag program is an empowerment program for women from Villa Soleada, Siete de Abril and other impoverished communities in the El Progreso area. It was started in 2008 as part of the SHH summer fellowship by two fellows, Rachel Mason and Megan Coolidge. They taught women how to find chip bags and drink wrappers, clean them, cut them to size, and then stitch them into magnificent purses and hand bags. Each month SHH purchases bags from the women, which are then sold to student volunteers in Honduras and online to people in the United States. Since the beginning of the program, many of the women participating have become the main wage earner in the family based just on their bag sales. http://store313.collegestoreonline.com/ePOS/form=cat.html&cat=202&store=313 klockett@hollins.edu

6. [ongoing projects] SHH’s women’s scholarship program SHH is providing girls from underprivileged communities and orphanages the opportunity to study at the best universities in Honduras. The program offers group housing and full scholarships to qualified candidates. Currently, four girls are enrolled. The number is expected to reach fifteen by 201 Microfinance Institution A lack of a sustainable income prevents many from overcoming poverty. Since Students Helping Honduras seeks to not only ameliorate current problems through intervention, but also to empower community members, partnering with La Ceiba provides an opportunity to reach to the root of poverty. La Ceiba, a microfinance institution created by University of Mary Washington students in the summer of 2008, combats this by allowing entrepreneurs to receive small loans to create or expand businesses. La Ceiba seeks to empower women in the community, as they develop business plans, undergo training and create their own businesses. Already, thirteen women in Siete de Abril have established businesses with the help of loans from La Ceiba in the first round of loans. La Ceiba hopes to expand to provide increased training and loan availability to residents of Siete de Abril and Villa Soleada. To find out more and hear these women's stories, visitwww.laceibamfi.org

7. [what we’re fundraising for] Library Project This municipality in the department of Intibucá, Honduras, currently has a 90% illiteracy rate among children and adults. This can be attributed to the fact that the underdeveloped town has a limited number of schools, with none going higher than the ninth grade, and has never had a library. The San Francisco de Opalaca Library will be the first public library in the entire northeastern region of Honduras. Having this library built would be the first step to help provide the villagers with the means to further develop their literacy skills. The ability to read and write are essential skills needed to get ahead in life. Improving the literacy rate of the town would cause a ripple effect to improve the impoverished state of Opalaca.

8. Hollins Will be hosting a Honduran Dinner (which happens each semester) On May 11 from 8-9 Apt. 211Stop by to .....pick up informational packetsask questions to students who have volunteered hear about all the opportunities within the organization >>> including jobs and internships !EAT GREAT FOOD! Donate to the SHH and the Library Project Donate old children’s books (and toys!) to the Library and the Orphanage