“I had to keep fighting for my siblings”

“God will do something new in me”

Many pockets of Honduras are controlled by armed gangs. The capital city, Tegucigalpa, is one such place. It’s here that Lisbeth and her younger siblings started their lives.

As a child, Lisbeth’s hopes were frequently trampled by worry and violence. She carried an immense sense of responsibility for her younger brother and sister. She worked constantly to help support them.

The children’s father was rarely around. Their mother struggled with alcoholism. Overwhelmed by caring for three children alone, their mother disappeared for long periods, into the rough streets of Tegucigalpa.

When this happened, Lisbeth, William and Yenifer had to stay at their grandfather’s. The violence there could be unbearable. They took to the streets, supporting themselves by selling frozen treats, washing buses, running errands or picking up trash.

Even at times when their mom was home, Lisbeth worked to pay for her siblings’ food and school. When a powerful gang began pressuring William to join, Lisbeth looked out for him.

"My whole childhood was about taking care of my siblings,” she says. “I had to keep fighting for them.”

Alone in the capital

Somehow, Lisbeth found ways to attend school, to study. Determined to graduate high school, she wanted to secure a good job and to help her family.

Then, her mother died from alcohol-related conditions. It’s not clear what kind of support she’d been providing her children, but her death sent Lisbeth reeling. She was only 17 years old.

"When my mom passed away, everything fell apart,” she recalls. “Suddenly, I was left alone in the capital, with the kids, not knowing what to do.”

It wasn’t long before things began to change. “When I felt like everything was falling apart, World Vision came into my life," says Lisbeth.

“A moment of joy”

A friend invited Lisbeth to join the “Youth Ready” program in her community, for young people with vulnerable backgrounds. Offered through World Vision, Youth Ready guides participants in exploring three paths: to brighter futures: employment, entrepreneurship or further education.

Lisbeth was determined to prove she could be different than her family. She decided to sign up. “I never thought it would change my life,” she says. "But the person who instructed us made an impression on me, showing me that it was possible to start over.”

Lisbeth chose the “employment” path. In training sessions, she and her peers learned how to dress for interviews. They studied and practiced the attitudes necessary in the workplace. They prepared for challenges that could arise on the job.

"I started working in a store and began supporting my siblings so they could study,” recalls Lisbeth. “Finally, there was a moment of joy.”

A street bakery is born

Soon afterward, Lisbeth married and began working toward a job promotion. Her future was looking brighter.

Then, COVID-19 descended on the city like a shroud. An already precarious economy plummeted further, with tens of thousands of job losses.

On the day of her promotion interview, Lisbeth was suspended from work. Her husband also lost his job. Many people might have felt that all was lost.

But Lisbeth recalled the “entrepreneurship” training Youth Ready had provided. “God had already used World Vision to help me begin again—despite all the problems happening around me,” she says.

“So, during the pandemic, I started a baking business.” YouTube videos became her best instructors. Lisbeth watched cooking and baking tutorials and began to practice.

Before long, she was selling her pizzas, cakes, cupcakes and bread to an eager community. She told World Vision staff that she felt creative, accepted and loved.

“My rainbow moment”

Although parts of Honduras still struggle with violence and instability, Lisbeth and her family are doing better. She’s been able to meet many of her siblings’ needs, including helping her brother, William, to join the army. This will keep him safe from gang life.

"I remember the Bible part about Noah, where … after the storm comes the calm. God sent the rainbow to signify that everything would change.

“So, I thought to myself, ‘this is my moment, my rainbow moment, where the storm has passed, and God is going to do something new in me.’" reflects Lisbeth.

Miracles come to pass

As part of her journey, Lisbeth volunteered with World Vision, managing requests from families in the community. She helped ensure people receive the help they need, as she herself did, years ago.

She proved to be such a strong volunteer and community leader that World Vision invited her to become a Youth Ready instructor.

"Just as my life was changed one day when I was a young person, I realized I could now change the life of another young person,” she says.

Once, she was the girl on the streets praying for a miracle.

Now she’s been an answered prayer for more than three hundred children from her community and more than sixty youth she trained through Youth Ready.