SHH Chooses Walkathon Cause

After several months of careful thought and hard work, SHH elected to dedicate this year’s Walkathon to the girls at Copprome Orphanage. This year’s Walkathon will fulfill a promise we first made two years ago when we fought to keep Copprome’s doors open in April 2006. That Walkathon gave Copprome the Sunshine Education Center, which fills many of the critical gaps in the Honduran public education system. However, the pervasive lack of collegiate opportunity in Honduras represents a shortcoming in SHH’s effort to provide these children with tools for meaningful, life-long success. Educational opportunity is one of the few priceless assets that should never be taken away from a person, and in Honduras especially can be the single most powerful way to break the cycle of poverty.

SHH wants to give the opportunity of college education to the girls at Copprome and many others like them throughout Honduras. In part, we hope to create a scholarship fund that allows every girl currently at Copprome to partake in the post-high school education of their choice, including university or vocational training. To this end, we also plan to build a women’s academy to ease the transition from the orphanage to the real world. The academy will provide 20 to 25 girls with safe living conditions and an emotional support structure. It will also include space for long-term SHH volunteers, who will provide additional support structures such as academic tutoring, money management training, sex education and emotional support. For this cause, we hope to raise $500,000!