Off to Honduras

So I will be going to volunteer in Honduras next August for 12 months with ICYE (Intercultural youth exchange)! I will be living either within the project itself or with a Host Family. I hope to volunteer with children/ young people with disabilities, though the specific project will be confirmed nearer the time. ICYE volunteers get the opportunity to specify a preference on which project they would like to volunteer in.

On the top of my list is the "Los Angeles" Programme who's mission statement is:
"We are a programme that satisfies the needs of a comprehensive care and inclusion for people with disabilities in situations of abandonment, generating a family atmosphere with security, health, rehabilitation and education."
Their vision is to become a model programme in comprehensive care and inclusion for people with disabilities, promoting rights based active inclusion in society according to their abilities.
They put an emphasis on not just caring for the residents but ensuring they have a happy and fulfilled life giving them the opportunities to learn life skills. They also develop a life plan for each individual focusing on what they could achieve with the right support.

Also on my list is Casa Hoga: a centre of 20 children with the majority of them presenting advanced cases of Cerebral Palsy. They attend school in a supported environment, receive physical and educational therapy and have various activities available to them.

Special Olympics Honduras is an organisation which I wouldn't mind volunteering in. Special Olympics is a worldwide organisation which enables people with intellectual disabilities to compete in sporting activities and provides coaching in a variety of sports. I was briefly involved with the Special Olympics in Namibia and would be interesting to see how differently they work.

With 9 months to go I'm already getting exited!!!!!