Leaside United Church hosted a Rally of Hope Saturday which saw many members of the community join in a “four-wheeled scavenger hunt” to raise money in support of El Hogar Project Canada’s homes and education programs for poor and abandoned children in Honduras. El Hogar, which means The Home, has four homes in Honduras The featured speaker was Eduardo Bennett, an El Hogar graduate who went on to become a celebrated soccer player in Honduras, Argentina and Chile. He spoke with passion and humour about his upbringing and the opportunities he gained when his mother enrolled him at El Hogar.
FEARED A LIFE OF ALCOHOLISM
She feared he faced a life of alcoholism. Bennett spoke of a broken home with four children in which he said he was “a freedom kid” who could do whatever he wanted. With is father gone and his mother working to keep the family alive, he had little opportunity for a relationship with his mother. He went to the streets and refused to attend school. His life was fighting and football, he said. His older brother George was drinking heavily. It seemed like Eduardo might follow the same path. His mother wanted him to go to El Hogar. “I didn’t believe my mother, that she would send me to El Hogar,” he said. “I am the special guy, she’s not going to let the diamond leave home,” he recalled to laughter.
LEARNED TRADES
But his mother was serious and despite his tears, Bennett found that he began to care about the El Hogar people who cared about him. At the technical institute he learned to love his new home. He was taught welding, plumbing and carpentry, skills he enjoys and is proud of even though his place in life was secured by his skill as a soccer player. The large church gymnasium was the scene of a fine dinner catered by Andy Elder of Grilltime. The gym was filled to capacity. Some well-known Leaside residents there were Tim Morawetz and his wife Sue MacGowan and Tim Magwood who was MC for the evening. Below is a video outline of El Hogar’s program by the organization’s chair Margo Mingay.
