Phoenix Ops: Project 53

Through Project 53, TBLM/Phx Ops has permission to work with  the 53 “country-run” orphanages across Honduras…

Project 53 has the goal of turning the 53 orphanages in Honduras into 53 places of refuge for over 5,000 Honduran children. The goal will be met by meeting the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs of the children, by working side -by -side with the government and staff to provide education and strategies on how to care for abused, abandoned, and trafficked children.

Providing a Refuge

The privilege/opportunity that has been given to TBLM - participating in the care of orphans and the training of government staff- is the first for any faith based 501c3 organization in Honduras. TBLM/Phx Ops will spend the next 2 to 5 years working with the Honduran government to provide better protection, healing, safety and general well being for all the children in the orphanages. Since the children are sent to the orphanage by court order, we have the law supporting our efforts. It is vital to also provide training for the staff and workers within the orphanage system. Statistics show that when care -givers are not adequately trained to deal with abused children, the tendency is to hurt the children they are hired to protect. This is mainly because it is difficult to work with that population of children without sufficient training and knowledge.

Helping with Basic Needs

The way of life on the streets has an unexplainable and strong draw on the children. They often enter the orphanages addicted to drugs and battling the lies they’ve learned from the streets. The children believe they belong on the streets. So, when most children arrive in the orphanages they go through detox. Ideally, they are to receive the medical attention they need, they are to be treated for sexually transmitted diseases, they are suppose to be provided with overall physical body care, and given counseling. They are also given clothing and food. Because of the extreme poverty level in the country, the orphanages are unable to provide the basic needs listed above.   

This is one of the ways TBLM/Phx Ops can help the orphanages- by getting people to donate their time, energy, and money. The children go without the basic needs for their hygiene. I worked with one orphanage where the girls who were old enough to have a menstrual cycle weren’t able to receive sanitary napkins. There just weren’t any. This is where donors can help.  They can give money to help meet these basic hygiene needs. Medical professionals can go to Honduras and train the orphanage workers on the basics of “body care”. As basic needs like these are met, children feel loved and cared for and are more apt to want to stay in the orphanage. The love they feel when they are cared for, helps to fight the call of the street that, as I said before, is unexplainable. 

Educating for their future

AS TBLM/PHx Ops continues to work with CPS, we will be adding to their educational curriculum.  We will be able to teach English as a second language and teach them skills for healthy independent living. Part of the curriculum is teaching them a trade and preparing them for employment.  Also during long term care they will have a chance to receive counseling that will help them identify unhealthy patterns of relating and coping associated with their past trauma/abuse.  Another long-term goal is to teach the staff how to be supportive and how to create a nurturing environment in which the children grow mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. If it’s possible, and only for some, children can at some point reunite with their families.

Even though most programs are already offered in the orphanages, they are not consistent and fall short due to lack of money. The workers, the staff, the government want desperately for these children to be provided for in a correct way. TBLM/Phx Ops is going to help create orphanages, places of refuge, which the people of Honduras can be proud of. 

Who is placed in the orphanage?

• Children rescued from the sex slave trade
• Children that are considered “throw away kids” living under bridges, on the streets, and being abused daily
• Children who are being physically and sexually abused in their place of residence
• Children, placed in the orphanage under court order, means their abusers cannot take them away from the orphanage.