Claudette's Journey to School

Mission Lazarus has been in Honduras for more than 20 years with the mission to provide opportunities for a better life for those in need. We are inspired by so many people we encounter on a daily basis. Our hope in sharing their stories is to help you understand what it’s like to live in the region we serve, where many young people have difficulty getting access to education above the 6th grade, and then do not often have the opportunity to dream of a better life beyond the four walls of their parents’ houses.

Claudette is a 14-year-old with the same desires as many young people in southern Honduras - to study, learn a trade, and work to help her parents overcome the difficulties of providing for their family. Claudette travels to further her education at Lazarus Academy every day from an isolated village named Las Flores, a mountain community located in the area we refer to as The Other Side of the Mountain. To get to school, she wakes up very early and starts her journey while it’s still dark. 

All of the students at Lazarus Academy are given the opportunity to learn one of the three trades offered in our vocational programs: leatherwork, carpentry, and sewing. Claudette decided to go against the norm and enroll to learn leatherwork, a trade that is typically done by more male students than female students. Her instructor tells us that she is among the top 5 students in the program where 25 young people are currently enrolled.

In America, learning a trade isn’t so out of the ordinary. Sometimes it’s what we do because we have an interest in it, we find something we’re good at, we have extra time on our hands, or we see an opportunity to grow a business. But to young people like Claudette, it’s no small feat. Learning leatherwork helps Claudette dream for her future, providing a practical path to better her circumstances and her family’s livelihood.

In addition to the educational and career growth opportunities afforded to students who attend Lazarus Academy, they also experience the Lord’s love through Bible education, a daily part of their class schedule.   

We can’t wait to see what Claudette will do in her life and how God will lead her. With a passion to learn and a marketable skill in her back pocket, the sky’s the limit!

This is the work you support when you purchase goods from Lazarus Artisan Goods. Take a look around the site and purchase something this month. Each and every purchase ensures that more young people like Claudette will have opportunities to grow beyond what they could have ever imagined.