Overview of Las Sonrisas de los Niños

We (Reid and Patricia, retired, from the US) operate a small charity project near the poor village of El Cacao in rural Honduras, Central America, called Las Sonrisas de los Niños.  Our goal is to provide the youth in our area opportunities beyond what they might normally experience.  This includes play and recreation, nutritional support, reading, exposure and instruction in English, music, and overall a chance for kids to act like kids.  We are somewhat a mix of a day care center and youth center, and the ages of the kids that attend range from infancy to teens.

                                                      Above: phone call for Cesia; dia de los niños celebration; Palblito the clown; Cinderalla (aka Lupita ) in her fancy carriage on the way to the ball

A main emphasis of our project is volunteerism. It is absolutely wonderful watching these poor kids meet, develop relationships and friendships, and learn so much from our volunteers.  And it is equally amazing seeing the volunteers respond to the kids.  We have had volunteers from the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, Holland, Belgium, the UK, Denmark, and Ireland, ranging in ages from the teens to the 60s.  We’ve had individuals, groups of friends, and whole families.  In many cases volunteers have kept in touch with the kids or our local employees long past the time they were there, and many times volunteers have returned to renew their relationships and experiences- the current record is 7 trips.  We try to make volunteering as easy as possible, with no applications or fees (we do maintain and offer hostel type housing for $25 a week, which seems to be pretty popular), and volunteers have been with us for a few days to 5 months.  New volunteers should click here to read about how to travel to the project.

                                        Below, volunteers: Kayla reading with Esperanza; siblings Johann and Karin getting palm prints;  Stephanie and Rosalinda share a hug

We typically operate Monday through Friday 8am to 4pm.  Since we opened in May 2007 we have run the project in "sessions," i.e. we’ll be in operation for 4-5 months, then close down for several months in order to live our US life (rest, visit friends and family, work on our small house and land in southern Alabama, etc).  We would like to have more continuity, which prompted us to consider trying out what we termed on-site managers in our absence.  This was never brought to fruition for a number of reasons, but our goal remains.  Hence with this April 2010 update to our website we are posting a request for operating partners, perhaps a retired couple that has been looking for a meaningful challenge and has the financial wherewithal to run the project in our absence.  Please click here (the page about volunteering, then scroll to the bottom) to learn more about this concept.

           Above: end of Session 4 party for las mujeres (i.e.our employees); climbing in the treehouse; Mirian was put in charge of crafts during a time of no volunteers and came up with some good ones

Note that we are a tax-exempt organization in the US under the umbrella of a group called Congressional District Programs (CDP).  The group actually has nothing to do with congressional districts, but it does provide small charities such as ours to function as a so-called 501c3 organization without the significant legal and accounting burdens the IRS requires.  Through the CDP people (at least US citizens) can make tax-deductible donations to us, but for this the CDP requires us to recognize and post their various policies.  Hence on this website you will see references to the CDP and links to their website.  We are fortunate that such a group exists.  For more information click here.

Thank you for visiting our website.  We hope it provides a lot of useful information, especially if you are considering volunteering with us.  If you have any questions or want further information, feel free to contact us. 

Las Sonrisas de los Niños is a project of Congressional District Programs, Inc (www.cdprograms.org)– a registered 501(c) (3) public charity.  Those making donations are encouraged to review the following policies:  Privacy Policy   State Fund Raising and Solicitation Guidelines    Nondiscrimination Policy    All moneys raised by Las Sonrisas de los Niños are received by Congressional District Programs and become the sole property of CDP which, for internal operating purposes, allocates the funds to the Project. The Program Manager makes recommendations for disbursements which are reviewed by CDP for approval.