April 26th 2010 – Our Technical School Students

Remember that Leap of Faith we took as a Pastoral Team in January? Deciding to send Alejandro to a 2 year Mechanic school and Tito to a 2 year English Education school?

I figure it is time for an update.

And it is good news. I like a happy ending – and even though we are far from the end of their journeys, we are doing ok so far. And the young men are doing VERY well in their studies and when I see them I can see an almost physical change in their demeanors. And Tito’s English is improving – his vocabulary and pronunciation was always pretty good – but now he is less hesitant. And Alejandro has been doing practical work – hands on work in addition to class time and he is really enjoying it. It appears to come easy for him.

Alejandro’s grades are 8’s and 9’s. That is equivalent to B’s and A’s.

I don’t have Tito’s semester grades yet but he brought me a folder full of his work including his midterm exam which he earned an A+. We can’t ask for much more than that.

But of course, we do ask for more!! I need to tell you that the times we have needed some help here at La Casa Pastoral, both young men have not hesitated to lend a hand. Even helping to load fertilizer into a truck one day, and all the things we needed to schlep to a community for a celebration on another day.

They are both very grateful to be able to further their educations. I will ask them to write a message. Tito’s in English of course!!
:o)

So where do we stand financially?

We’re building the fund little by little thanks to many very generous people! And I want to thank them publicly here (just first names to not be intrusive to their personal lives):

So THANK YOU to Mike, Tom, Andy, Scott, Carl and Brenda, again Mike (as a birthday present to me, how cool is that!!), Sandy, Marcia and then Nick (who gives monthly!).

We have paid out so far – between January and the end of April:
For Tito: $352 – which includes registration, monthly tuition and transportation.
For Ale $421 – which includes registration, monthly tuition and transportation.

It is a little less for Tito because his family said they could pay the tuition every other month and the transportation cost to San Miguel is less than to Usulután.

So how much more do we need?
In all we need about $1,658 more to complete the year.

How much do we have in the Tito/Ale fund right now?
We have $1,102

So for this year, we are only short $556.
We’re not doing too badly with our leap of faith. We should never have doubted! We think God has been using you all as his angels.

Now … we have to keep praying for funds for the rest of the year and then pray anew for NEXT year!!

Tito (red shirt) and Ale loading the truck for a community celebration.

Tito and Ale loading fertilizer to help us out!

Alejandro in his work jacket.