Overview of Las Sonrisas de los NiñosWe are making significant changes to our small project in Honduras:First a few notes, beginning with a mention of appreciation of Omprakash and our partnership with them that has brought us many excellent voliunteers over the years. We have not been in session since October 2011. This is because my son (Las Sonrisas de los Niños  was founded and is operated by Reid and Patricia, and this is Reid writing) was deployed to Afghanistan with the New York Army National Guard and until his safe return, supposedly by early January 2013, I have been determined to be readily available and close to a reliable phone.Since we began the earliest steps of developing the project in 2004 Honduras has been changing for the worse and now has claim to being the number 1 country in the world in per capita murder, and significantly so. This is not limited to the cities, but violence is found in small towns and villages. It is not uncommon to hear gunfire in our area, and though this is usually recreational (drunk guys firing pistols) there have been a number of murders in our area. Additionally robbery has increased such that for a time our project building was being robbed on a daily basis. While it is unlikely any volunteers will find themselves the victim of violence, this needs to stated so potential volunteers can make informed decisions. We believe this risk can be minimized by using common sense, especially living a quiet life and not frequenting bars and clubs (widely available in the city of La Ceiba) and limiting travel around the country. This deterioration has been very sad for us to witness- the majority of people in our area are peaceful but they more and more are living under the fear of violence.Since we first opened the project in 2007 we have run the same basic program, which happily evolved into a kind of routine including designated story times, arts and craft times, etc. These operated best with volunteers, and in many cases the volunteers became essential to running these activities. During the sixth program session in 2011, after ten weeks of excellent volunteer coverage we found ourselves without volunteers (with one important exception) and decided to forgo the typical scheduled activities. What this led to proved to be quite enjoyable- we finally had the opportunity to do real individual or small group instruction in computers (as compared to the kids mostly playing games) and we were able to concentrate more fully on English class and general academic subjects. Overall the fund of knowledge for even high school students is pretty dismal but it gives us an opportunity to really enhance the learning of those with academic potential. Typical examples of things we take for granted but are not known among high school students in the village include is the moon closer than the sun, what is a country and can you name another country in Central America, and what is a verb.Also we were able to begin something we never previously had time to do, work with the very “at-risk” older boys in terms of teaching them the basics of carpentry- they would build with supervision something their family needed, especially tables and shelves. These boys typically had quit school, their fathers were in prison or alcoholics (perhaps their mothers as well), and in general are set for failure. Who knows what the future will ultimately hold, but they really seemed to respond to this attention and opportunity to create something with their own hands.We have decided to make this our future approach. Clearly volunteers would still be welcome and very beneficial, but they would need to either function creatively and almost independently, essentially using our infrastructure for their own mini-projects, or be willing to work with us directly in terms of teaching, or helping teach, small groups or individuals. In general, but not absolutely, Spanish speaking ability would be more necessary than before.As a rule, in the poor villages of Honduras, there is always a need that can be addressed by someone willing to take action! We are leaving our former wording in tact below: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. 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 pre-teens to the almost 80.  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 10 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.  We typically operate Mon. through Fri. 8:30am 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 we have posted 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.  In the summer of 2009, totally unrelated to our presence, a Canadian group called Adventure in Missions opened a needed clinic in the village of El Cacao.  We of course came to know each other and in the spring of 2010 they expressed an interest in trying their hand at running their version of our project using our facilities.  As we closed out session 5 in October 2010 we handed them the keys and they have been active since then (this being written in May 2011).  We will be returning towards the end of this month to open session 6 and we'll look forward to learning in person of their experience.  We have a few additional goals for session 6.  We now have two sewing machines courtesy volunteers from session 5 and hope to form a viable co-op for some of the older girls and local women.  We also plan to purchase an industrial weed-whacker and form a co-op for some of the young men around that.  Lawns like we are accustomed to in the US are uncommon in Honduras but rather in order for land to be usable it has to be constantly cleared, and this provides a significant livelihood for those few that can afford a weed-whacker (typically called a Shindawa in our part of Honduras).  Machetes are often used but are very labor intensive and time consuming and power lawn-mowers are rarely seen and not efficacious for coarser land, so heavy-duty weed-whackers are the most viable and variable tool.  Lastly we plan to (finally) offer  instruction in carpentry, allowing those interested to build something useful- a shelf, table, stool, etc- while learning the basics.  Thank you for your interest and if you have any questions or want further information, feel free to contact us.