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I have fallen in love with my students, their families, and the community in Cofradia, Honduras. So I'm heading back down for another year of teaching middle school math at San Jeronimo Bilingual School. I have been continually blown away about how insightful and thoughtful these kids can be even if a majority of time they are calling each other terrible nicknames and talking about how much they hate math. I decided I had to return for another year; there was just too much more for me to learn (and, I hope, give) to these students. I had Juan Carlos as a 9th grader this past school year. Juan Car, as most people call him, is a quite, thoughtful young man and is very well respected by his peers and has a great shy smile. However, unlike most of his peers, he acts like an adult. He comes from a family that is even poorer than average and has 5 younger sisters. Therefore, Juan Carlos has had to grow up quickly. When he isn't at school he is working for a local concrete block maker to help provide for his family. Juan Car also takes his education very seriously. At least once per week he would come into my classroom during recess or lunch to ask for help or extra problems to make sure he had mastered all the content we had been learning in class. No one else showed this kind of work ethic. Early in the year, we became friends and Juan Car started to ask me questions and advice about things that were going on his life. As the year was winding down, it became obvious that he wouldn't be able to afford to go on to a bilingual high school as they are all qutie expensive and located about a 45 minute bus ride into San Pedro Sula. Juan Car was just too bright not to go on. Despite really not having the funds (I was thinking about all of you as well), I decided to take on paying for his schooling along with the Honduran family that Juan Car works for. Including transportation, the bill for his two years of education will be around $5000. After high school, Juan Car hopes to go on to university where he wants to study engineering.
To date, I've been without a paycheck for two years and have been
doing volunteer work for about about 18 months. In Honduras my housing
and most of my food costs are covered, but health insurance and my
flights to Honduras have been my responsibility. These things, along
with a healthy bit of travel, have completely eroded by savings
account. While I do get to do some travel (and those are most of the
pictures you see), most of my time and energy is spent sweating and
working for my students. It is hard work and it is challenging and it
is frustrating and it is humbling but most of all is worth it. I know
I'm making an impact on these kids but even more than that, they are
making an impact on me and I am a better person because of them.
Thanks in advance for your support!
Derek Christophel
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