El Cacao is situated between the mountains and the Caribbean Sea along the Northern Coast of Honduras. It is a disadvantaged community and vulnerable to the effects of poverty due to its remote location and minimal economic opportunities, resulting in few resources accessible to its people.
The Honduran constitution states that free primary education is obligatory for every child between the ages of seven and fourteen. Yet in the village of El Cacao, approximately 15% of students who enter elementary school will graduate. Of those students enrolled in school, attendance is extremely low, averaging less than 50% due to teacher absences, environmental factors, and lack of motivation. Students who do graduate from high school are not equipped financially or academically to pursue further education. In the past ten years, less than 2% of students have successfully achieved post-secondary education without the direct help of Adventure in Missions. Studies show that the instruction provided in Honduran public schools is greatly impaired by poor teacher training, low wages paid to teachers, outdated teaching methods, poor administration, and lack of organization. The resources available to students in El Cacao are extremely inadequate. There is no available library, technology, or organized athletics. Without education, adolescents are being pulled into a life of drugs, gangs, and early parenthood resulting in further poverty.
AIM has partnered with various local schools to provide English language education, health education, and literacy projects. We have witnessed benefits of these short-term projects, the most satisfying being a growing love for education amongst the locals. Yet, we have seen the need for a sustainable and larger scale education project. AIM’s goal is to partner with and improve the local education system to better equip students to reach their full potential through education both academic and spiritual.
Through biblical teaching and celebrating God’s love for each of the students we believe we can see young lives committed to serving God and saved from a life of gangs and illegal drugs. As well, through adult education both spiritual and academic we will see many more literate adults and souls brought to a saving grace of Jesus.
AIM is inviting you to partner with the village of El Cacao in our journey to establish sustainable educational opportunities. These opportunities will aid children and youth to learn, and be equipped to guide their families out of extreme poverty.
