After several weeks of all-day practices, many into the late night hours, the PAHS Pathfinder group placed 4th overall in the NorthWest Honduras Conference Camporee. The Club was awarded 1st place in marching drills and in first aid competitions, and our Pathfinder leader, Ian Haylock, was named Best Club Director. We are so proud of them all! Our deep gratitude goes out to our sister Club in Oakhurst, California and to the Sunnydale, Missouri group for all of their help, advice, and their support. Thanks for sharing!

A group from several Missouri area churches arrived, led by Melvin and Milton Greenwood and Alan Blackford. The yearly visit of our extended “family” members is a wonderful boost to our construction efforts on the New Children’s Home. The group worked on finishing the walls with texture in the Boys wing of the new home.

Once again our campus was lit by smiles brought by the visit of our extended family, members of the Oakhurst SDA Church. The much anticipated yearly visit of the group, led and organized, by Dr. Tom Wieg and his wife Calle brought many smiles and warm feelings to our children and staff. The main project of the group was to do much needed finishing touches of the new Children’s Home construction site.

Baylin Moreno, who we first met in November 2002 when she was brought to our Nutrition Hospital, lost her valiant and courageous battle against kidney failure on February 12, 2008 at the age of 13. Baylin is survived by her father, mother and 5 younger siblings. Baylin leaves behind many sad but inspired caretakers as well. She and her family would travel three days a week from her remote mountain village to the city for dialysis. Her quiet but solid courage is a testament to the human spirit and to the will to survive against the odds.

Our children and teenagers returned for a new school year to the Centro Educacional Adventista.  Over 60 primary and secondary school children were registered sponsored by PAHS. Our Technical School has a total of 175 registered, serving the poorest of the poor in our surrounding community.

Maria Suyapa, our newest admitted child, was found by the AMWH team on one of their outings.  At 15 months she weighed 9 lbs.  She is one of the happiest children we have right now and is recovering well. 

A group of 27 from Chicago area hospitals arrived to provide basic medical care to the surrounding communities, vacation Bible school for the children in our local town and to help with the construction of the Boys Wing of the new Children’s Home. The Construction team, headed by Jim Today, had only three members that work very hard and got so much done to get the new dorm facility closer to completion. Our girls are so grateful and delighted with their new bunk beds which the group purchased.

Possibly the most anticipated activity of the year; our annual Beach Camping trip took place under sunny skies and amid many happy faces. The trip was uneventful until the last day when it rained and the weather turned gray, stranding the boat riders on the soggy beach one more day. Jesus's smile shows he is happy to be on the beach!

Amid much anticipation the children received their Holiday presents to ring in the New Year. Children of all ages were delighted to open the wonderful gifts lovingly packaged by members of the Oakhurst SDA Church. It was great fun to watch their eyes sparkle as they opened their boxes and took out gift after gift. A big THANKS to all who put their heart and resources into making the Christmas Holiday special for our children!

Jasmin Zork, a student of Andrews University, has arrived ready to volunteer her time with our children. Jasmin will be working with the school aged children in the school and tutoring them.

All of the children - from Pre-K to Secondary - marched today with their schools. There were many different special groups that the children could choose to be part of and they looked very proud of themselves and their participation. We are proud to report that many of the children and young people that were marked as "honor roll students" with a special ribbon were from our campus, including 3 of the top 9 student flag bearers.

Zack spent the month giving the plaza garden a much-needed makeover and varnishing the mural in the children's play area of the Casita Feliz.  We are very grateful for all his help and will miss the water balloon wars he organized for the older children!

A small group from Rochester, New York arrived to monitor the progress of the program that allows a special rotation for resident physicians to come from the University of Rochester to the PAHS campus and surrounding community for exposure to poverty medicine in a developing country. The team was spearheaded by Dr. Bridgette Weifling and was made up of special consultant Mark Schiesser, and Dr. Walter Brooks and Dr. John Robison representing the specialty of Dermatology.

It was a pleasant surprise to happen upon two of our former students upon going for servicing of a work vehicle in the city of San Pedro Sula. Luis and Edin graduated in 2003 from the Mechanics course at our Vocational School. Both expressed their deep gratitude for their education and stated a desire to return and give a motivational talk to the students currently studying in the School. Edin stated, “I want to tell other students that things are going well for me. I really appreciate the education I got”.

A group of medical personnel and construction volunteers from CTMC in San Marcos, Texas arrived on campus ready for work. Their plan is for part of the group to hold medical clinics while the others work on the construction site of the new Girl’s Dorm.

Karl is a recent graduate from Pacific Union College in California. An accomplished violinist Karl raised funds to buy the children their own violins and is volunteering for several months on our campus to teach our children how to play their new violins. We are very grateful for the gift of music that Karl with the help of his supporters has brought to our children!

Two year old, Maria Aurelia, was admitted; her mother had tears in her eyes as she told us the sad story of how her husband had left in the middle of the night, abandoning the family in a village they had just moved to.  Unable to pay the rent on the shack they were living in, the mother, caring for the grandmother and 3 children, finally found a piece of property she could take care of in exchange for a place to live.  Maria is malnourished and cannot walk.  She weighs 23 pounds. The mother cannot afford the nutritious food Maria needs to make her strong enough to walk.

The children received their new bikes at last, after having them ordered, assembled and greased. The Loma Linda, California SIMS group donated the money to buy the children in the Homes new bikes. The kids, of course, LOVE them and can be seen cruising around almost constantly. New bicycle racks were installed on the porches of the Homes for parking the new possessions.

Our long-term volunteer from London, Kirstie Nielson, began her journey home after a going away party that the kids threw for her. A wonderful volunteer, Kirstie did anything and everything. She began her days early by washing the children and preparing them for the day. She usually then turned into a mason and helped construct a number of essential elements at the new dormitory. At the end of her full day she would then return to the Casita Feliz and help with dinner time, bathing, and snuggle the children to get them ready for bed. Her work was always done with care whether it was bathing children or painting. She will certainly be missed by everyone on campus, especially the children.  We appreciate the time she spent here and hope to see her again soon.

Erik and Scarlet, the youngest patients in the Casita Feliz, are now 3 1/2 months old and gaining some much needed weight.  They have enough energy to interact and move on their own now.  It is wonderful to see their continued improvement.

Todd lien and Diane Ward from Alberta, Canada concluded their volunteer time with us. They were both truly talented did a variety of jobs with great competence and results. Todd worked with the Missouri group on construction of the Girl’s Dorm and then also worked on the Casita Feliz.   Diane did a wonderful job working with the little patients in the Casita Feliz. She helped with mealtimes and bath times, toke the children on walks and taught the little ones how to walk.  They are missed. We look forward to having this talented and loving couple back again.

Nancy Davison, a volunteer from California left after a two month work bee. She was a true blessing, assisting doctors on clinics, playing with the children in the Casita Feliz, and best of all teaching babies and slow-to-develop toddlers how to walk. Her presence will be missed!

The Beerman family and Tawni Sportsman arrived. Merlin and Vonda Beerman held an evangelistic series for the greater Lake Yojoa region at the local Adventist high school. All of the meetings were presented to a packed house with standing room only. Tawni handled the youth meetings in the nearby elementary school, where her messages were very popular with the children - one evening she had over 300 children at her meeting alone! The community felt very blessed by this outreach.

Kim Johnson and Kara Kettler, both resident physicians from the University of Rochester arrived to do a one month rotation.  They have been a great help; caring for kids in the Casita and doing field clinics for children in remote communities around the Lake. We are so grateful they chose to come spend time with us.

Maynor went home with his mother a very robust and giggling little toddler. His mother was very happy and said that she had thought her little boy – twenty-three months old and  9.9 pounds upon arrival - would never get better and that she had been very scared when he first got sick. Now she is grateful and very happy to be able to take him home a healthy 21 pound boy.

Adam, Tim, and Tristan took the boys from the Home camping at a nearby forest. There they played in a spring, ate wild fruit, and did manly things. They were even able to harvest some wild bananas that later they sold to local merchants which paid for their trip.

A group of volunteers from Missouri arrived ready to work hard on the Girl’s Dorm. This is the group’s fifth trip to our campus since February 2003 and they have done much of the work on our new building.

Drs. Finn & Beirne, residents from the University of Rochester, are here for a one month rotation on the PAHS campus and the surrounding communities. This program is intended to provide an opportunity for physicians to be exposed to international and poverty medicine. We welcome this team of physicians to our campus.

Nancy Davidson, a nurse practicioner from California arrived to lend a helping hand with our little patients in the Nutritional Rehabilitation Hospital. Nancy's attention to detail in the children's care has been a blessing to them.

Dr. Richard Sullivan of the University of Rochester, along with daughter Callie Sullivan and nurse Jayme Donlon, arrived to spend the Holiday Season playing and doing activities with our children, as well as helping out with the health needs in our clinic and hospital. The children throughly enjoyed several activities with the young-at-heart playful Dr. Rick and "side kicks" Callie and Jayme!

Christmas Day the children frosted sugar cookies lovingly made by SIMS group volunteers; Had a ride in Santa's White Pickup "Sleigh" and opened presents in the late afternoon. The children were very happy and enjoyed the extra attention from all of our special volunteer Holiday visitors. They were especially happy and surprised by the arrival of Stephen who had been away since October and arrived just in time to watch the children open their presents. We are so grateful for each and every volunteer that made the decision to make our campus part of their Holidays, as well as those who were there in spirit through the gifts they prepared and sent for our children!

We were delighted to receive a special Christmas visit from beloved friends Greg and Heidi. The children were befriended by the Eisemans when the couple volunteered on our campus for the first half of 2005. Their Christmas visit was a wonderful treat and Greg and Heidi took right up where they left off with the children as well as the staff. They also came bearing gifts sent by Dr. Louis Tran of Loma Linda, California for the children.

The LLU SIMS group arrived on our campus to spend Christmas with our children. They brought gifts, much good cheer and many willing hands to help in preparations to make Christmas a special event for each of the children in both our Homes and in the Nutritional Rehab. They even brought Santa (Patrick Haoung) with them! The groups presence was a lovely Christmas gift in itself. The warmth and love they brought was a blessing.

In addition to all the other Holiday cheer they brought with them, the SIMS group left money with which to purchase each of the children in the Home a new bicycle! The children LOVE their new bikes.

Patty and Katy graduated from Secondary school. Patty has lived in our home since she was a toddler. Katy is the daughter of Hilda our Dorm Mother who grew up in our Home in the 1970’s. Both girls are very happy to reach this milestone and looking forward to University. Patty plans a career in Medicine and Katy would like to be a Psychologist. A dinner party was held in honor of all the graduates on November 26.

Brothers Carlos, Bryan, and Alex went home with their father. All four were beaming ear to ear. The father went away with an extremely grateful heart, thanking all for helping his sons recover from their severe malnutrition. It is gratifying to be part of this special story with a happy ending.

We were happy to be able to pass along supplies to the Government Hospital Mario Catarino Rivas in San Pedro Sula. We received a generous donation of hospital gowns from the Adventist Community Service Depot in Keene, Texas. The Hospital's representative was most grateful as his hospital is in constant need of materials and supplies.

Adam and Susan Fenner started working on our administration team. Both bring a fresh perspective as well as new enthusiasm. Adam works with plant services and child life activities, and Susan administrates daily operations overseeing both the main campus and technical school's offices. The Fenners are a terrific addition to our team!

Martine Polycarpe of Loma Linda University organized a group of 29 volunteers, most of them medical professionals or students of these professions, from the Loma Linda, California area. These volunteers held clinics and saw approximately 130 patients on campus as well as holding a field clinic at a recently flooded town. 

The 15th of September is Independence Day in Honduras. All of our school children from Pre-K to Academy practiced for two months either playing in the band at their school or in marching groups preparing for the Independence Day parade which took place in the town of Peña Blanca. This is a time of much excitement for the children and an activity they love being a part of each year.

September 10th is a nationally recognized day set aside to make children feel special. Our older children had a party at their school, and the younger ones had several groups come to visit bearing treats and gifts. Aileen baked three giant cakes for the older well children to enjoy.

PAHS met up with numerous old friends and made new acquaintances at their exhibit booth during the annual meeting of the Adventist Services and Industries convention held in Grapevine Texas. A brief pictorial story was shown on a large projection screen featuring several of our children from the Home. Pictured are Dago Fernandez, PAHS Creative Technician; Aileen Youngberg, Director of PAHS; Alejandra Hernandez, Student Missionary and "Big Sister" to our children from September '05 - April '06 ; and Anita Zelaya-Youngberg, Administrator of PAHS Honduras.

A number volunteers visited our campus in July. Dr. Bridgette Weifling and Dr. Carolyn Petronaci of the University of Rochester came accompanied by businessman Mark Schiesser and Miss Melissa Shaw of Syracuse University. The team performed health and community assessments as well as did planning for future community health interventions. Dr. Gary Harding, a long-time supporter and volunteer from Montana, also joined the team in their activities as well as accompanying our nurse to do health screenings in remote villages.

Carlos 5, Bryan 4, and Alexander 3 came to our Nutrition Hospital on July the 5th . Alex was beginning to show dark blotches on his skin from severe vitamin B deficiency. He was transferred the next day to the acute care hospital in the city and over the next three weeks underwent blood and plasma transfusions and many diagnostic tests. On July 26, Alex was released from the hospital following intense treatments and rejoined his two older brothers who were recovering well at our Rehab center

On September 7, 2005, 10 month-old baby Janet lost her mother to an unknown illness two days before her father brought her to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Hospital.  Over the last year Janet has blossomed into a happy, healthy toddler, and on July 2, 2006 she went home with her joyful older siblings and proud father.

Nancy, 20 and Denia 18 were enrolled in the Autonomous University in San Pedro Sula. Nancy has lived with us since she was a newborn and plans to study Law. Denia, has lived on our campus since the age of 3 and is studying Tourism. Both girls graduated in November 2005. Classes commence in August. We are very proud of both of them.