MARIPOSA COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR COURTNEY LYONS (ABOVE) HUGS ONE OF HER YOUNG FRIENDS ON HER TRIP TO HONDURAS. I t is no accident that Dr. Thomas Wieg and his family

found itself setting up a

makeshift dental clinic in Pena Blanca, Honduras. The clinic, however, was a secondary effort to the years of volunteerism Wieg’s family and some local youth have been doing in the Central American country.

The Wiegs, Thomas and Callee, began volunteering in the povertystricken region to give their sons exposure to another kind of reality. “We wanted our kids to get out of the American lifestyle rut,” Dr. Wieg said. At the same time, they hoped to branch out from some larger mission trips they had done with a group of churches.

“It’s important,” Dr. Wieg said of his group’s work. Not only for the children in Honduras, but also for the Mariposa youth who participate. “It impacts our kids. They can’t believe the (Honduran children) are happy. They just have the basics.”

A CHILD ENJOYS A HEALTHY MEAL IN THE CASITA. MOST OF THE CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING FROM SEVERE MALNUTRITION AND RELATED ISSUES PHOTOS COURTESY OF THOMAS WIEG Callee said that impact results in a concerted effort. “Our kids work hard when they go,” she said. “They see the conditions. They want to work. They want to make a difference.”

The end result began in 2004 when they traveled to the Pan American Health Service’s facility in Honduras. The beautifully tropical setting is home to children who have experienced unimaginable poverty, malnutrition and sometimes abuse.

The late Dr. Steven Youngberg founded the facility, and his family continues to run it. It is an orphanage of sorts, with some children living there until adulthood. The facility does not adopt the children out, so they become a family on the site.

ABOVE, WENDY IS PICTURED AFTER ARRIVING AT PAN AMERICAN HEALTH SERVICE IN HONDURAS. SHE WAS SO SEVERELY MALNOURISHED THAT SHE HAD LOST ALL HER HAIR. WHEN THE WIEG FAMILIY VISITED THIS YEAR, WENDY SWUNG HER BEAUTIFUL BLACK HAIR AS SHE PLAYED ON THE MONKEY BARS. “This is such a cool place,” Dr. Wieg said in a recent interview. Some children come to the facility so severely malnourished that they are half the size they should be. Others have no hair.

The first order of business is get the children healthy. Much of that nursing back to health

begins in the “Casita Feliz” or happy house that the Wiegs and other Mariposa volunteers helped to build over a fouryear period. The sick children start the road back to health in the building. Some parents want to come back for the children when they are healthy, others leave them forever.

The Wiegs have added to the program, creating a Christmas present project. They return each year to do whatever needs to be done. “Our main goal is to help them out,” Callee said. “There is always something to be done.”

Dr. Wieg said all the facility’s residents work their way into their hearts. “It’s like having 100 kids,” he said. The group’s work in the area has expanded to rebuilding a home in the community and the dental clinic.

Their effort has now grown to their own relief project, “Mend a Child,” that helps fund education for these children. The non-profit organization is dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty through education.

In Honduras, a child’s education ends at the third-grade level. Mend a Child helps the orphanage provide a quality education and life skills. “Positive life change is what we’re all about,” the organization’s pamphlet reads. “Education empowers people to rise above the pit of poverty.”

ABOVE, CALLEE WIEG HOLDS LITTLE SUYAPA WHEN SHE WEIGHED JUST EIGHT POUNDS. A YEAR LATER AFTER RECEIVING CARE AT PAN AMERICAN HEALTH SERVICE IN PENA BLANCA, HONDURAS, SHE WAS CHUBBY, HAPPY AND WALKING (BELOW). Anyone can become a sponsor for these children. The investment gives the children of Pena Blanca the “ability to be productive citizens, bringing positive change in their own country.” Many of the children the Wiegs have worked with over the years are now college students.

A child in Pena Blanca can get a private school education for $50 a month. It doesn’t sound like much, but most families in the agricultural region in the center of Honduras earn less than $100 a month. Anyone interested in sponsoring a child at the orphanage can visitwww.mendachild.org.