Recently, four of our executive team members had the opportunity to visit our Business Institute of Technology (BIT) school in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. We spent four wonderful days meeting with Camilo Torres, BIT Operations Director, Bertha Torres, Pre-Missionary Director, and each of the school directors from San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Managua, Nicaragua. We had many meetings which focused around implementing some new IT strategies, revising reporting procedures, and brainstorming marketing ideas.
In addition to our meetings, we had the privilege of meeting current students, former students, pre-missionaries, and returned missionaries who have benefited from the programs offered at the BIT. Many came to the school so we could talk with them, take their pictures and document their stories. We were warmed and touched by their bright smiles, the sparkle in their eyes, and the gratitude they expressed for BIT and how it changed their lives.
Allow me to introduce a couple of our former students.
Andrea Rodriguez. The moment I met Andrea I felt like I had a new friend. She is this beautiful, energetic young woman who sacrificed her day off to meet us at the airport, where she currently works. She was so excited to tell us about her job and show us around the airport to the various places she performs her duties. And what I learned is everybody loves her! All of her co-workers would wave and come out to say hello. She greeted each with a warm smile and I am convinced that the passengers she interacts with receive the same treatment. Andrea graduated from BIT in 2010, and quickly found a job with the airport security department. She applied and was accepted to a local university where she is continuing her education in Business Administration. “I loved my experience at BIT,” she told me. “I am so grateful for that opportunity and now I can study and receive a degree from my university.”
Luis Rapalu. Luis had such a contagious smile and he was so gracious and patient and just smiled and smiled the whole time. Luis was a former BIT student before participating in the pre-missionary program and serving in the Guatemala City North, Guatemala mission. After returning from his mission, he was able to secure a job at a satellite television company by utilizing the computer skills he learned at BIT. Luis proudly told us that he starts classes at the university in three months and will study to become a lawyer. “I want to have a family and serve faithfully in the Church“, he said. “If it wasn’t for BIT, I think I would be another person. I would be in a worse position. BIT has given me the training to carry out whatever task or job I have, or to progress in whatever circumstance I find myself in.”
Here is a developing nation, where over 35% of the population is either unemployed or underemployed, and 65% of the population lives below the line of poverty. This is a place where the economy is completely unstable and there is great concern for survival. However, each person I talked to and interviewed had a sparkle of hope in their eyes because they now have opportunities they would have never dreamed possible.
This is the special treat we returned home with… to see that all of the passion and hope that built One Life at a Time, and instituted the programs through the BIT, is having the positive impact that we dreamed and prayed for.
And mostly, we are truly grateful for the directors and the load that they carry. Their hospitality, kindness and graciousness are unmatched. These are wonderful men and women who work tirelessly to benefit the people in their communities. They are dedicated and passionate. The students from the BIT respect and love these leaders and we cannot adequately express in words how grateful we are for all they do.
