In February 2021 the Connect Global team was able to start the school year off by assuming the financial and logistical responsibilities of a school, Las Huellas Del Maestro, which as of March 1st, 2021 has 172 students as a part of expanding our ongoing commitment to education and care for children.
At Connect Global we believe that Every child deserves a quality education.
Connect Global promotes education initiatives, funds scholarship programs, and provides other sustainable resources when and where we can in order to support those who educate children.
It has long been our desire and one of the guiding pillars of our work in Honduras to provide quality education to as many people as we can. We have provided logistical support, aided in construction and rehabilitation efforts, and have provided clean water access to schools across the country since our founding team members first mission trips to Honduras in 2004.
This year we have taken a step into a more immersive role in education by becoming stewards of a Primary and Secondary school in San Juan Pueblo, Honduras.
“Connect Global formed and has funded an education scholarship program in Honduras since 2017. ”
Las Huellas Del Maestro
Las Huellas Del Maestro translates to “The Master’s Footsteps” and is the name of a K-12 school on the northern coast of Honduras. The School was founded by David and Dialis Romero in 2008 which you can read more about here. The school has provided a quality, Christian education to students over the last 12 years in a caring and dignified way. Basic Education, English classes, Computer Classes, Science Labs and Athletics have all been a part of the many benefits of this school for its students over the years.
L-R Connect Global Co-Founders, Javier, Danielle, & Saige Mendoza; Founders of Las Huellas del Maestro School, David and Dialis Romero, Travis Moffitt, Co-Founder, Connect Global — 2020
When the pandemic hit Honduras, Las Huellas Del Maestro had an enrollment of 237 students, it’s largest year ever. From March 2020 through the end of their school year in December, the dedicated staff and teachers worked hard to creatively keep up with teaching in a digital format. Distance learning was a new concept for many teachers and students around the world but this school did what they could to still meet the milestones for their students and against many odds still graduated 24 students at the end of 2020.
To start off this new school year the teachers had found many strategic ways to connect with their returning students amidst an ongoing mandate to not meet in person. Programs and Apps like WhatsApp and Google Classroom are a part of their daily teaching schedule.
Many Students have still found it hard to connect because of the lack of tech devices and the scarcity of wifi and or cell service.
Connect Global has been able to help aid in this year’s new virtual format by providing tablets to students in need as well as a few other items such as webcams and cables to ensure the teachers have the tools they need to connect virtually to our students. We are grateful for the support we have received in order to get the tools needed into their hands.
A New Season Begins
We officially began stewarding this school on Feb 8th with visits to both the Primary and Secondary. We were able to learn more fully the impact that COVID-19 pandemic and Two Hurricanes back to back truly had on this precious school and its students and faculty. We have personally seen how challenging the economics have been as well as the difficulty of keeping the student body engaged over the months of social distancing.
The New school year that started in February saw a deficit of 116 from the year prior. Many students felt that they could not commit to distance learning due to lack of connected devices, resources lost due to hurricanes and pandemic, and school debt acquired as a result of parents having lost employment.
In spite of the hardships, we have been working closely with the staff and directors to bolster their efforts within the virtual learning environment as well as a strategy to reopen safely, and securely when the time comes. In just a couple of weeks our team has already regained 51 of the students who were lost from last year in part because of the generous donation of 31 tablets from Connect Global bringing our total student enrollment to 172. We have also implemented a plan to help parents who have struggled to meet the tuition costs from last year get their children re-enrolled this year and begin an appropriate repayment schedule.
While this is a big expansion for Connect Global education initiatives here in Honduras we know this is only the beginning. There are many challenges we are still facing and many opportunities to continue growing the school and ultimately honoring the legacy of School founders, David and Dialis Romero. Our work is cut out for us but we see this as a great leap of faith into something we have been growing into since the launch of Connect Global.
Through this education expansion we have also committed to providing 12 additional scholarships to a group of girls that live in a local children’s home, Little Lambs Refuge, that Connect Global has supported since 2015. This commitment brings our total number of full education scholarships provided by Connect Global to 28, (9 at New Life School, 7 at Heaven’s Door, & 12 at Las Huellas.)
We not only see this as an expansion of our dedication to education, we recognize this as a seed towards the planting of the Connect Global School of Missions.
Here is how You can Help
As we have shared in the past, one of the main ways Connect Global has been able to serve La Ceiba and the surrounding communities and really make an impact is through our advocacy for education. We have been involved in supporting education in Honduras since before Connect Global was founded, and we have a special group of partners who have chosen to Give With Us towards this initiative since the 2017 school year.
In order to partner with Connect Global most effectively through this great endeavor we have defined 2 ways in which you can help:
Pray With Us - We need your prayers. This is a big job and we have just gained 24 team members and a large property here in Honduras. We need wisdom and strategy to make this great school even better!
Give With Us - This school is a huge undertaking. We are working to win back each student that was enrolled last year and we are so close. We are looking for monthly supporters to help us finance the Education Scholarship Fund, as well as investments to help us with infrastructure such as building maintenance, desks, computers, and clean water.
We are grateful for your support and look forward to seeing how we can partner together and make Las Huellas Del Maestro the best Education option for students in San Juan Pueblo and across Honduras!
Connect Global’s participation with Founders of Las Huellas Del Maestro over the Years
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
Simple and easy ways to support teachers and their classrooms is by donating school supplies through Connect Global