The area of Punta Caliente in Oak Ridge, Honduras is located in a shallow bay or bight along Roatán’s eastern coastline (often called the swamp). It is a settlement of several hundred people (families) living in homes built on top of cut mangrove trees. The community suffers from some of the worst living conditions possible.
Each time the tide comes in or heavy rains occur, the bight is flooded. When the ocean goes back out, setting water, mud, sewage, garbage, and debris are all left behind to litter the ground and stagnate even further. Because of this, children can rarely play outside near their homes, they must go elsewhere. The unsanitary environment, combined with inadequate nutrition and a lack of proper footwear, causes many people to suffer from preventable illnesses.
There is very little hope that the children living in Punta Caliente will have a better future than the previous generations. The cycle of poverty they are living in is very deep. There are no public neighborhood schools, and even if there were, their families cannot pay for the required uniforms and supplies they need to attend. Even then, they are not required to attend past age 12.
Children who are fortunate enough to attend school have difficult and often treacherous footpaths to traverse in order to get to school. Many children have suffered bruises, scratches, and even broken bones trying to get to school. Other concerns for these children include ruined shoes and clothing, which parents do not have money to replace, and lost school supplies and food items. One of our special projects, Stairway to School, is working to build a stable, safe stairway for children and parents to get to Pandy Town School (one of the private schools in the bight).
For the children who do not receive an education and then grow up and try to get a job on the island the pay rate is woefully inadequate to support a decent living. Unskilled laborers only receive about $2 per hour and the necessary expense of transportation costs to work eat into the little bit of profit they make.
It is this cycle of poverty and lack of education that Illumin8 Hope Ministries is targeting to bring about societal and spiritual change in this corner of the world. God has provided a good Christian, bilingual, private elementary school near the Punta Caliente community. 
Additionally, He provided a school for teens and young adults who want to continue their education further than sixth grade. It is Instituto Hondureno de Educacion por Radio (IHER for short) and it is equivalent to American grades 7-12. Would you consider sponsoring a child to attend these schools?
It takes you to give them a fighting chance. There are many ways to help – tuition, uniforms, lunches, transportation, supplies, etc. You can find out more by contacting us or reading the info on the Donation page under “cost analysis”.
