Holistic Education

 

HOLISTIC EDUCATION

AFE’s education begins with babies in its nurseryand continues through high school. Each student who attends the school is connected with the garbage dump in some way (either as a garbage scavenger themselves or as a member of a family that depends on garbage labor for its income). However, as children and families continue with AFE and take advantage of the benefits we offer, many of them find themselves completely freed from garbage labor! The majority of our students who have been with us the longest are no longer involved in garbage scavenging. It will only be a matter of time before our newer students find themselves in the same situation.

Every year, at the beginning of the year, AFE does what it did at the start of its ministry: we go up into the garbage dump to teach classes right there in the garbage and rescue children out of the garbage dump. Every year we rescue ten to twenty new students out of the garbage dump. Yet, sadly, for every child we rescue, a new one comes to fill his or her place in the garbage dump. Our deepest hope and prayer is that the government of Honduras would enforce the law it already has in place and not allow child labor to continue in the garbage dump. We believe in faith that this will happen someday…that God will bring the right forces together so that the children would be in school instead of scavenging through garbage with their bare hands.

In the meantime, the 130 – 150 students we attend to have a chance at a better life, thanks to our strategy of employing local Hondurans who are committed to these students for the rest of their lives. Some of the special services we are able to offer them is English instruction, computer training that begins in elementary school, and after school extra-curricular classes such as dance, music, art, and cooking. Furthermore, AFE’s students have the added advantage of a global world view, thanks to our many international visitors. They bring their special skills to share with AFE’s students and stories of the opportunities open to them in the larger world.

In the afternoons, AFE offers classes to older students in the community who would like to learn to read or write, or simply advance in their education. This has served as a great way to reach out to many of our student’s parents, both with the riches of education and the good news that abundant life is available to all.