Durham Charity Continues to Improve Lives in Honduras

Durham teenager continues his work to improve the lives of children in Honduras through his non-profit organization, Honduras Children's Project.

Proctor, a senior at Hopkins School in New Haven, recently spent three weeks in Honduras visiting the Copprome Orphanage.

Through fundraising efforts that include a spaghetti dinner at the United Churches of Durham and the Durham Fair, HCP has been able to hire a teacher and two teaching-assistants. HCP is paying for the college education of a Copprome graduate, as well as providing for 14 children to attend a special-education center.

The organization was able to provide the local elementary school with supplies — 40 desks, a whiteboard, 20 fans, and a color printer. Uniforms, school supplies, and three laptops computers were also purchased for the children at Copprome.

HCP has promised to provide university scholarships to all Copprome graduates starting in 2013. 

In order to support HCP's activities, the organization recently developed www.trashyproducts.com, a web store to sell "trashy products" online.  "Trashy Products" have an interesting story behind them:

"With unemployment over 50 percent, families from Villa Soleada, a small village in central Honduras, are constantly battling hunger, poverty, and uncertainty over what the future might bring," says Charlie. "In 2008, some women from Villa Soleada received loans through a micro-finance initiative.  They have since built a business on selling “trashy products” – handmade bags, bracelets, and earrings woven from trash picked up off the streets."

The products are sold online at www.trashyproducts.com. 

"We believe the only solution to the poverty, instability, and unemployment so pervasive throughout Honduras lies in education.  We strive to empower success in the next Honduran generation, with our work at Copprome Orphanage: We have set-up an after-school program with a professional teacher, we provide university scholarships for Copprome graduates, and we support the local elementary school with supplies," Charlie says.

Purchasing “trashy products” both supports the work of Honduras Children’s Project and provides the families of Villa Soleada with their daily sustenance. 

Please visit www.trashyproducts.com for more information, for a full catalog – including traditional Honduran items (hacky-sacks, bracelets, necklaces, table runners, and more), and for the chance to buy one of these special products!

Charlie Proctor contributed to this report