OUR LITTLE ROSES FOREIGN MISSION SOCIETY

The goal of Our Little Roses is to prepare the girls in our care for the future to be integral members of society by creating an atmosphere of love, self-reliance and respect. We are committed to providing our girls with the best education available. We know that when a girl is educated her need to rely on others to support her diminishes, she will wait longer to have children, and chances are that those children will also have access to education. The girls who come to Our Little Roses has all been subjected to abuse, neglect, abandonment and abject poverty. Many have never been to school and/or are living with un-diagnosed learning challenges and illnesses. At Our Little Roses our goal is to work closely with the girls to assess their medical, emotional and psychological state in order to help them reach their own personal best. Our goal is that all of our girls graduate high school and attend an institution of higher learner; university, college or technical schoool.

Our strategy at Our Little Roses is to create a loving atmosphere that promotes development of self-esteem, self-reliance and self-respect that is needed in order for our girls to move forward. When a girl arrives we assess where she is at physically, emotionally and educationally in order to get her the needed medical care, emotional care and to place her in a learning institution that best fits her academic needs. This may mean that she will need special education for some time before she is ready for to attend a tradition school. Once in school, we work closely with the girl and her school to ensure that she is on track. We believe in a holistic approach to education and so plan after school Cultural Identity programs that include such things as ballet, poetry, woodworking, exercise and sports and more. Having the ability to speak English is a huge asset and so each of our girls will have access to either a bilingual school, or ESL classes at the home. Developing a faith connection is also very important to OLR; we will incorporate a faith formation program that can help the girls to develop a connection to each other and to God.

As Our Little Roses enters our 30th year in San Pedro Sula, Honduras we feel that we are capable of continuing our success. Over the years we have grown from a small organization with just three girls in a rented home to a campus that includes space for over 70 girls, Holy Family Bilingual School that is open for grades pre-first through 11th grade (the year of graduation in Honduras). Through the support of our donors, we have realized many success stories with girls who are now working as social workers, engineers, teachers, counselors, and even a dentist! We have expanded our capabilities by adding the REST program which is a work-study, independent living program for our girls who are attending university or technical school.

Our Little Roses has touched the lives of approximately 241 girls over our 35 years. Four of these girls have attained graduate degrees, 16 girls have graduated from college (19% vs national average of 6% for Honduras), 18 have attended some college, 54 graduated from high school (64% vs. 13% national average for Honduras). We currently have a total of 70 girls living in the home with all of the girls attending either in-home special education classes, Holy Family Bilingual School, other private or public schools, university and technical school. Even the girls who do not attend college have waited longer than the national average age to have their first children.

In 2023 we implemented a new program that will give access to higher education to women who left our program but have made the decision to return to school. This will increase the number of educated women in Honduras and help to reach the overall goal to break the chain of generational poverty through education.