Come plug in and be part of our family as we work, play, eat, and fellowship together in Honduras

Details

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  Description

  Johnnie (licensed school teacher) is from Wheatland, Wyoming and Vickie (licensed cosmetologist) is from Yakima, Washington. They met at Bible college in Scottsbluff, NE in 1984 and were married that same year. They have 4 grown natural children, 3 of the 4 born in CO, the last in WY. They also have two adopted children born in Honduras, one grown and one living still at home.
  
  They moved to Tegucigalpa, Honduras August 8th of 1993, where Johnnie had accepted a job at a private bi-lingual "Christian" school and Vickie stayed home to care for their 4 children and did hair in their home from time to time.
  
  Johnnie volunteered at a juvenile detention center for boys at the same time, until he went "full-time" at the detention center and quit teaching at the school. Johnnie saw a great need for prevention verses waiting for the difficult job of rehabilitation. Therefore, in March of 2001, they moved out to the Guaimaca area to begin a children's home/ranch, where they had land donated to them and purchased the other half for a small amount (67 acres all together).
  
  They have had (raised) roughly 50 (sin cuenta/cincuenta) young people over about 25 years in and out of their home. They normally had about 12 to 18 children and youth living in their home at one time, but at this time they only have 3 grown boys: 2 working on the ranch and Wilmer, who has CP, and their 16yr old daughter, under their roof. Most of the children attended school in town, which is only a few km's away.
  
  They have numerous sheep, cows, and goats, a donkey, 3 dogs, two cats, (had)chickens, ducks, a pig, a pond with Tilapia, (had)a parrot, and a spider monkey. They milk the cows and sometimes the goats/sheep and make cheese, cream, and butter, but most of the milk from the cows is sold. The young rams and bucks are butchered for meat for the home and some are sold to help with finances. There are also numerous fruit trees on the property. They have also grown corn and/or beans from time to time, and are trying to get good feed grass and sugar cane to grow. They are also involved in hosting visiting mission teams throughout the year, which involves doing VBS's at the the public schools, doing a building project, and just hanging out with the family, loving on each other.
  
  Their family is also involved in a couple local congregations in the community and they have fellowship with, help numerous people in the community, and the young people who had lived on the ranch and their families. In Feb of 2015, their family had to confront the battle of cancer, as Mama Vickie was diagnosed with colon/rectal cancer, but is finished with treatment and is cancer free, which wasn't easy for any of the family members, but God has been more than faithful with this trial, as He has with many others over the years. Johnnie, Vickie, and Victoria took their first sabbatical to the USA the end of 2018 and returned the end of 2019. They continue running the ranch, as they finish raising their children, but due to the lack of finances, Johnnie took on an on-call subcontracting job Stateside, when he is called.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Hospitality/Tourism

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are very involved in the culture here and love blending into the Honduran culture, but we are from the United States (North America), therefore, we have a mixed culture of our own.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  There are a variety of options, opportunities, and needs here in the home, on the ranch, and in the community just waiting for skilled and unskilled, open and positive minded people to fulfill. We do have a farm/ranch schedule of early to bed (9ishPM), early to rise (5ishAM), so we'd appreciate adaptable people to that schedule.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  Sign language (American): Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  There are available bunk-beds in our boys' and girls' bedrooms and we have a guest room off our boys' bedroom. There is also a mission house, which has two large dorm rooms downstairs for single visitors, and a house like setting upstairs for MARRIED couples and/or families, for short-term stays and when we are not accommodating church camps/retreats. Our meal times are at about 6:30A, 12noon, and 6:30P, which any worker/visitor is welcome to partake and wash their our dishes used and an extra or two, but we ask that the meal schedule is respected, eat what is served (unless otherwise discussed before stay), and that there is no waste.

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  What else ...

  The ranch is a little over an hour NE of the capital city (Tegucigalpa) of Honduras. One can't get away from mountains in Honduras, even at the numerous beaches, which are about a 4 hour+ drive to the south and/or 6 hour drive to the north (longer on public transportation). As mentioned before, we are only a few km from the small town of Guaimaca.
  
  We have a couple vehicles here on the ranch, there are also moto-taxis, regular taxis, and buses for transportation. We would prefer volunteers not to smoke in our facilities and/or around our young people and to consume very little alcohol if any on the property. We ask for respect for our "Christian" (Biblical) values and principles that we try to live by, even though visitors may not agree with our belief system.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  25 hours per week.

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