Over three thousand Christmas Shoe Boxes, along with mosquito netting, and an eye trailer transformer for Sister
arrived this week. Where do the contents go? Take a look at the pictures below. 
AHMEN NEEDS YOU TO DONATE YOUR USED EYE GLASSESAbout AHMEN
The Alabama Honduras Medical and Educational Network is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit serving under the auspices of UMVIM - United Methodist Volunteers in Mission - and the General Board of Global Ministries. Working with volunteers and missionaries from across the globe, AHMEN aims to demonstrate the love of God in Honduras through action. AHMEN began as a one-week mission team working in underrepresented communities along the North Coast of Honduras. Since then we have grown to become a diversified, interfaith-based network of partnerships all over Honduras, each following the path God has laid out for them. In addition to general medical, dental, extended eye and veterinarian care, some of our ongoing educational projects include sewing and woodworking schools, a refuge for at-risk teenage girls, multiple feeding kitchens for orphans and widows, an aggressive program to supply shoes to needy kids, the establishment of fifteen libraries across Garifuna communities, as well as the construction of schools and community centers. More recently, we have expanded our role from relieving the effects of poverty to that of educational development. This has resulted in the opening of a rural school for deaf children, sponsoring an International Medical Seminar for exchanging medical ideas and techniques with the international medical community, and partnering with SIFAT in establishing community leadership development workshops. Through continued support, training, and encouragement from all involved, AHMEN continues to provide much needed support for the people of Honduras.
Mission Statement
A.H.M.E.N. stands for Alabama Honduras Medical and Educational Network. We are an international, interfaith-based partnership of volunteers and missionaries confronting preventable disease, malnutrition, and poverty in Honduras through medical relief and educational development.
Motto
Striving to demonstrate the love of God through action! Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and he feeds himself for a lifetime, Teach a man to make a fishing pole and he changes a village
| Sad Ending Submitted by Hugh Guffey Many of you are familiar with our dear friends Mama and Papa Jones (Marie and Leonard) who operate Casa Cielo near Cacao, Honduras. Some of you are also aware that Marie's nephew, Jaimito, was the victim of a kidnapping in Mexico in early June of this year. During one of our visits to Casa Cielo Papa had told us about how the entire family was so distressed. I just found out that the family did manage to pay the ransom, but the kidnappers killed Jaimito anyway. Mama is just back from the memorial service in Queretaro, Mexico. Reflecting on this tragedy, Mama writes "We have made a commitment to the Lord that the 24 children that we have in Casa Cielo, the children in this village, and the surrounding ones WILL have an opportunity!!! We hope to make a difference and prevent the future generations from being polluted by delinquency that would lead them to commit crimes. The Solution is to create an environment: WHERE the word of God is shared with children WHERE they are educated to believe in themselves WHERE they know that they have potential to do great exploits!!! Mary and I have been so very blessed to have witnessed the wonderful work that is being done by Mama and Papa, and their daughter Joy and daughter Jeannie and son-in-law Dell at the Casa Cielo orphanage and the Christian Institute of Creative Learning (the bi-lingual school that is associated with Casa Cielo). Their dedication to the children in their care and their commitment to the Lord is a true inspiration. Mama's response to the violence and corruption that plagues the entire third world is so consistent with her lifelong ministry. They will continue to raise up Christian leaders amidst the turmoil. Working through the "Touch the World" organization, you can choose to sponsor a child's education. Go to www.touchtheworld.org and click on donate, and choose Honduras child sponsorship. Or you may contact me directly. I have brochures that are child specific. You or your small group or Sunday School class can select a child and sponsor that child's education for $40 per month. |
Christmas Container Arrives in Honduras Click here for pictures of kids with Christmas Shoe Boxes More Pictures uploaded 1-6-12
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A message from Sister Evelyn |
| PROJECT 1 - BUILDING PUBLIC BATHROOMS IN LIMON The World Health Organization says public bathrooms save more lives than clean water. Many people of Limon do not have access to bathrooms. This causes unsanitary conditions leading to illness and even death, particularly in babies and young children who are very much at risk from diarrheal diseases spread because of lack of access to public bathrooms. We have land and permission from the town council to build public bathrooms next door to the clinic which we believe will reduce the incidence of disease and parasites substantially among the people there. We are raising $10,000 to build these bathrooms. We have the plans and the personnel to go to Limon, purchase the materials and train local workers to build and plumb the bathrooms, which will be maintained by the town. Check out our short video on youtube, and consider making a year end, fully tax deductible gift to build these bathrooms, scheduled to be completed in June of 2012. http://www.youtube.com/user/Limonaidhonduras |
 (Picture taken by Jon David Schein, August 2011) "I am compelled to learn more, compelled to do better, compelled to go... Missions have not just changed my life--they are my life." -Mary Guffey, Repeat Short-term Mission Volunteer to Honduras |
November Focus: Honduras (From the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission Newsletter) Fourteen years ago a group of twelve from Jasper, Alabama traveled to Limon, Honduras to serve as short-term mission volunteers. Each year following that trip, the team grew exponentially. Eventually the first team broke into many teams. The group incorporated into Alabama Honduran Medical Education Network (AHMEN), serving under the auspices of UMVIM. This year thirteen teams served. They are estimating over 15 teams will be serving in 2012. Each team has a general medical component, as that is the basic tenant from which they operate. However, their reach has expanded to eye care, dental services, sewing and woodworking schools, a refuge home for at-risk teenage girls, many feeding kitchens for orphans and widows, a program to supply shoes to children, the creation of fifteen libraries, the construction of schools and community centers, veterinarian services, and most recently clean-water efforts through bio-sand filtration systems. AHMEN is now collaborating with Servants in Faith and Technology (SIFAT) on an initiative to train community health agents in issues of empowerment, environment and economy. Dr. Byron Morales is directing over fifty community agents who have committed to three years of quarterly workshops. Examples of the types of workshops include: vision testing, clean water and the prevention of parasites, importance of checking blood pressure and maintaining good health practices, and safety of children. Here is a video of Byron leading the "Welcome" with three different community agents offering a greeting in Spanish, Garifuna and Moskitia languages. Casey Farrington offered the greeting in English. For more information about this specific ministry, please email Michael Franklin. Continued |
Containers Arrive in Honduras |
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CHIMES at work in Ciriboya, Honduras 2011
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| Projecto Honduras in Copan 2011 www.projecthonduras.com AHMEN will have a strong presence at the annual meeting in Copan this year of large group of NGO's and other organizations woking in and for Honduras Attending the meeting for AHMEN will be Brent and Doris Brady, Byron Morales, Bruce McFadden, and Tom Camp AHMEN will have three presentations: Bruce will discuss our medical teams, their scope of work and locations. Michael will discuss the Educational and community actions of AHMEN. Byron will present the AHMEN SIFAT Initiative: present and future. A "sneak preview" of these presentations will be given at the AHMEN Annual meeting on Sept 30 - Oct. 1, 2011 at the SIFAT campus. Contact Lou Altman for reservations and more information: on the annual AHMEN meeting: laaltman@netscape.net Click here for more information |
Reliable Contact |
Deaf children in Honduras in need
Total Silence. Not even a rustle of leaves blowing in the breeze. No dogs barking or birds chirping; not even a beat-up old jalopy going by. For deaf people around the world, silence is a way of life that sometimes presents a barrier to communication. In the United States, schools are available to teach communication through sign language for all who wish to learn.
Not so in Honduras. Josue Salinas, a deaf child in Honduras, could never hear his mother say "I love you" as she picked him up in her arms. All he could see was the love shining in her eyes. Mariana, a Honduran mother, knew her son could not hear her as she held him tight and hugged his little body close to hers whispering "I love you" while pain was tearing apart her heart.
AHMEN, Alabama Honduras Medical, Educational Network, is working in Plan de Flores, Honduras with monetary support for a school for deaf students. Mariana Salinas and husband, Fredrico of Plan de Flores take care of their own children with disabilities and recently took a "leap in faith" to set up the school for the deaf. Their son, Josue, the teacher for the school, is deaf and was sent at the age of 3 to the city of Tegucigalpu, the capital of Honduras, and left there to go to a deaf school to be taught sign language, as well as to learn to read and write. Continued
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