Changing a Life!

Kim Hall recently asked Pastor Omar of the El Tablon church to select one family from that sponsorship program, that would represent the needs of all of the families they serve. The idea was to take one child shopping for the same items the sponsorship program provides and compare the costs of shopping in Honduras vs. the cost of sending the items from the U.S. The results were eye-opening!

Anthony was the child Pastor Omar selected. Anthony lives with his grandmother and one sibling. The grandmother earns the money that provides for the family by grinding corn on a home mill. She earns between 500-600 Lempiras a month, which is the equivalent of $20-25.

This “shopping spree” wasn’t about finding the most expensive items available. It wasn’t even about finding the American equivalent. The goal was to buy what they thought were the most reasonable choices for families to make.

They found school supplies, shoes, and a school uniform. Even though the sponsorship program does not provide uniforms, for many families it continues to be a necessary expense. The result was $123 worth of supplies for one child! For Anthony’s grandmother, that’s six months of income! And, don’t forget that Anthony has a sibling. In order for Anthony’s grandmother to send two children to school, she would need to spend 100% of the annual household income! Obviously, that would not be possible, and there was no way that Anthony and his sister were going to be able to go to school, without the shoes and school supplies from the Manna 4 Lempira program!

Even for families earning the average Honduran income, the amount of $123 is usually the equivalent of one month’s wages! Kim was already aware of the approximate costs, and even she was stunned by the amount of sacrifice that would mean for a family. For many families, there’s no amount of budgeting that can make that possible.

Now, here's the video of the shopping trip with Anthony!

 - posted by Christi