Reg No. 1075562
About Us
CHTrust Board (The People)|
Jennifer Cox (Founder & Treasurer) |
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Shortly after her marriage in 1967 Jennifer became a Christian and member of the Elim Church. The charity was born as a result of a friendship in the church with someone who had connections with missionary work in Honduras. As a Christian, she has always had and continues to have a heart for supporting missionary activity aimed at building The Lord's Kingdom. The endemic poverty and desperate need of the very poorest children in Honduras has spurred the motivation to try and help bring relief for at least some of them. She has also extended the role of the Trust to bring education, opportunity and hope for the future to as many children as possible who could not otherwise attend school.
In the wake of her retirement as a primary and special needs teacher, she devotes her full time to directing, managing and developing the work of the Trust. This also includes the day to day hands on work of collecting, sorting and packing donated goods. She was appointed Trustee and Treasurer to the C H Trust Board at the time of its inauguration and continues to exercise this role. On the charity's 30th anniversary her work was recognised by both the Honduran Government and Derby City Council, who presented her with the Derby Civic Award for 2003-2004. |
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Rita Ligget (Chairperson) |
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Rita became a close friend to Jennifer after the latter joined the local Methodist Church, following relocation into the district. Rita has worked as a volunteer and advisor since 1985. She accompanied Jennifer on several visits to Honduras in this capacity. She has been a committed Christian from her youth. In addition to being a housewife she is also a graduate in Social Studies. Rita was appointed Trustee and Chairperson to the C H Trust board at the time of its inauguration and continues to remain in this role. |
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Dr Keith Plamping (Secretary)
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Keith is a committed Christian and lay preacher in the local Methodist Church. He became involved with the charity as a volunteer helper in 1990. His previous experience and skills were employed to register the charity with the Charities Commission. At the time of inauguration he was appointed Trustee and Secretary to the C H Trust Board and continues in this role to the present day. Keith is a Chartered Engineer and is employed as a safety specialist in a large local engineering company. |
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Jenny Smith (Non-Executive Administrator) |
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Jenny became involved with C H Trust during the mid nineties as a volunteer helper. In earlier times she worked as a technical assistant for a large local aerospace company and also qualified as a bookkeeper. As her interest in the work of the Trust has developed she has taken on responsibility for the Trust's books and the administration of the child education sponsorship schemes. She continues in this role to the present day. |
How We WorkHowever, the importation of goods into Honduras presents many more problems. As a small organisation wishing to deal directly with the children we are trying to target we have sought to work through a small team of co-workers in Honduras. These people must however possess the capability to import and distribute the donated goods. They must also operate with the highest levels of integrity and exercise love and vocation towards the children that need to be helped.
This has been achieved by establishing relationships and mutual trust with a network of churches located in various parts of Honduras. These churches work together to provide the Trust with a single importation identity. Through these churches and their associated schools we are able to reach hundreds of children as far north as Choloma ( near San Pedro Sula) and Siguatepeque, Choluteca in the south, Danli to the east and the capital city Tegucigalpa with its surrounding districts of Nueva Suyapa and the Valle de Angleles. The founders of CH Trust have been sending supplies to Valle de Angeles for over thirty years.
Supplies
Medical supplies:|
In Honduras, health care totally depends on one's ability to pay. Hospital treatment at the standard taken for granted here in the UK is only available to the very wealthy. For those people unable to pay the provision is minimal and largely inadequate. Those seeking help at the state hospitals may have to queue all day, often outside exposed to the hot sunshine. If they manage to see a doctor and need hospitalisation, it is more than likely that no bed will be available. The hospital staff labour in difficult conditions continually faced with shortages including basic consumables such as soap, surgical gloves and dressings etc. CH Trust is trying to bring some relief to the situation in the state and other hospitals/clinics, especially where the treatment of children is a priority.
There are a number of areas where there is opportunity to help. UK local surgeries are being encouraged to use disposable single use instruments rather than to sterilise their own equipment. As a result they may have both sterilising units and instruments which are now surplus to requirements. Industry has first aid posts that have to stock bandages, which now have an expiry date on them (strange but true). Is it possible to intercept these perfectly good items at replacement time?
In the wider context, all the hospitals treating the poor end of the spectrum desperately need all kinds of equipment and instruments suitable for employment in a `third world´ field hospital environment. A list of some of the more basic needs is included below. Anything we can do to help is likely to make an impact on the lives of poor sick people in Honduras.
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Toys:
Clothes and Shoes
EducationMany parents can provide this level of support for one child in their family. However, most families seem to include about four children. Where the children's ages are closely spaced and need to be in school simultaneously, they cannot afford schooling for them all. The main casualties in such circumstances tend to be the girls.
To help meet this need we send all the black shoes, white shirts and socks, etc. that we can. A second line of attack has been to launch the concept of a one-off “one year” sponsoring scheme to cover the cost of the basic requirements noted above, which comes to about £50.
The state schools are heavily oversubscribed with children, often resulting in classes numbering sixty children. In response to this some church organisations are trying to augment their local school capacity by providing additional “private” schools particularly where the congregations include qualified teachers. The churches appear to be able to locate premises, either church buildings or rented property but have considerable difficulty in obtaining affordable furniture, i.e. desks, tables, chairs, etc. These are extremely expensive in Honduras. We help to meet this need by shipping school equipment that has been offered to us as a result of school or church refurbishment schemes.