Thanks to Saint Thomas Church for help with education

The school year in Honduras starts in February with classes lasting until November.

For more than ten years St. Thomas has provided assistance to students in the parish of Dulce Nombre de María through funding partial scholarships for students enrolled in the programs of IHER – Honduran Institute of Education by Radio, commonly known as Maestro en Casa – Teachers at Home.

There are various levels of public education. Most rural villages have kindergartens and primary schools (to the sixth grade.) A few larger towns have Básico, seventh to ninth grade (similar to middle school). The major municipal centers and some other large towns often have the Honduran equivalent of high school, colegios. These have different programs based on different career track. Most all high school have a few career track options. 

The IHER program offers other opportunities for middle school and high school The student have work books and are expected to listen to programs on the radio and then fill out the workbooks. Saturdays and Sundays teachers give are classes in the four centers.

There are four centers of IHER within the parish: Dulce Nombre de María, El Prado de La Curz, and Bañaderos offer both high school and junior high. El Zapote Santa Rosa only offers junior high classes. 

This past year the IHER program in El Prado de la Cruz, worked to provide a career track in computation, but they needed to provide a computer lab. The faculty and students did several fundraising projects but also asked for assistance from St. Thomas Aquinas, The Honduras Committee designated $1100 for purchase of computers. Here are some photos the director of the center sent me.

This year there were more applicants for scholarships than last year. 211 – 125 high school; 86 middle school. As a result, your gift of 234,840 lempiras – about $9483.75 – was a great help for many poor families.

The scholarships cover part of the cost of the books. The students and their families will be paying for the other costs, including transportation. 

 Thank you for your generosity. 

An investment in the youth here is so important.

Here are a few photos of the graduation from 9th grade (junior high) in Dulce Nombre. 

Lastly, here's a letter of thanks from IHER El Prado: