Manos de Música: Graduarse: To Graduate (Oneself)

These last few weekends have been filled with graduations, among other special events. I have been working the last (almost) five months in an hogar (home) for the oldest school aged boys on the ranch, roughly 15-18 year olds. These boys just finished their last year of school and graduated a short week and a half ago. After many nights of hours of algebra homework, where I retaught myself (in Spanish) how to do semi-complex alebreic equations, countless technical drawings, English study sessions, and futile reminders to do homework, my boys are finally all grown up (or so they think). In fact, just this morning we send these kids (and the female age equivalents) on to their next big step!

(Lenin, center, with family at Graduation)

Here is a breif run down of post-9th grade Ranch life. There are three paths that my boys are on right now, I will do my best to explain each.

Empleyo->Bachillerato

These boys took the bus into Tegucigalpa today. They will spend the next three weeks (or up to two months) with family or in our NPH home in the city. There mission, to find a job. Some may be able to work where they had their internships the previous year (should they want to and if they worked well the last year). Others will search for a job somewhere else. They get three weeks to find a job, if not they will come back to the ranch until February. Even failure to find a job can be good experience, especially for these kids, coming from NPH who have very (relatively speaking) shelered lives. If they do get a job, and many will, they will work until next February. Then they will begin their schooling at Bachillerato which is best equivelated as a more specified high-school age training. Nurses and teachers usually have Bachillerato degrees and nothing higher. (Keep in mind the national eduacation average is 6th grade). After these boys finish their 3 year Bachillerato experience they will come to the ranch to do 2 years of service to help pay for their education. Those continuing on to University will then go to their programs (these are usually just for lawyers, doctors, and engineers) and once finished will give another year of service to the ranch. Think about how dedicated you woud have to be to get all the way through university, the average ranch kid might be as old as mid to late twenties before finished with University (our college level degree) and able to start life free from school and volunteer obligations. Talk about perserverance!

Empleyo->Año Familiar

These boys are a little younger, 15/16, they will follow the same rough path, doing their job hunting and working till February before coming back to the ranch to donate their year of service before going to Bachillerato. This is used to be the more common practice, until the law changed making it difficult for older kids to go to school, which is way those who are 17 or 18 will straight to Bachillerato first, before later doing their service to the Ranch.

Empleyo->La Vida Verdadera

These boys will finish their jobs in February and then head out into the "real" Honduras. They recieve a certain ammount of aid from NPH during their fist few months, getting a housing situation settled figuring out life on their own, etc. These boys will then be a part of the Hermanos Mayores program or "Older Brothers" program. They are no longer under the legal guardianship of NPH, but we will always be there to lend a hand if they should ask.

Feeling strangly like a proud dad, we waved goodbye to our kids that we spend the last five months coming to love. In the end you do whatever you can, and hope that it was enough. You laugh with them, pray with them, play with them, yell at them, discipline them, help them, work with them, love with them. You fall on your knees hoping and asking God, yourself or both, "Was it enough? Will they be okay?"