GRIDLEY - Lourdes was only 5 years old when she started selling tortillas on the streets of Santa Barbara, Honduras, to raise enough money to go to school.

Her father was absent from home and while her mother helped Lourdes make the tortillas each morning, she didn't play much of a role in raising the young girl.

The money Lourdes earned paid for the books, pencils and other school supplies she needed through sixth grade - the extent of education offered in much of the country.

Lourdes then joined about 400 other children at Plan Esclon, an orphanage and school located between La Entrada and La Jigua, Honduras, that recently partnered with a Gridley nonprofit organization called Lifesong for Orphans.

Plan Esclon is one of four orphanages/schools Lifesong helps throughout the world. Started by Gary Ringger of Gridley, Lifesong also has partnered with organizations in Zambia, the Ukraine and India, and is in the process of expanding to Ethiopia.

Once at Plan Esclon, a determined Lourdes successfully completed her junior and senior high school education. She currently is in her last year at a university, finishing a degree in computer science.

She also has returned to Plan Esclon - this time as a teacher, said Director Guy Henry.

Lourdes is one of the lucky ones.

"We have to refuse 150 to 300 applicants a year," Henry said. "We don't have the facilities."

About 35 percent of the children in Honduras are orphans, he said - a number that jumps to 50 percent when you include children abandoned by their parents.

But Henry has high hopes that Plan Esclon, which translates to Plan Escalate in English, can help even more children with the support of Lifesong.

The two agencies became connected through a common individual about a year ago.

"We hope to continue to grow ... and start at a younger age," said Henry, noting that Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. "Lifesong is helping us upgrade our campus ... has given us money for hands-on education projects."

"When we go into the community for food distribution ... 80 percent of the adults can't write their name," said Henry, who also is president and CEO of Tree of Life Ministries, a Michigan-based organization offering community health and service programs in Honduras.

On average, children who go to Plan Esclon for seventh grade are at a fourth-grade learning level, he said.

Plan Esclon prepares the children for jobs and requires a semester internship at a business. In addition to the 400 children who live on the campus, 100 more are bused daily to attend school.

"About 70 percent of our graduates get offered jobs," said Henry "Our whole vision is to change a nation by preparing men and woman to be successful and trained."

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Lifesong Outreach

Zambia

-- Preschool through fourth grade school serving 170 students.

-- Originally started by a church.

-- Lifesong purchased new property, renovated it and converted it to a school.

-- The facility currently is the only school in Zambia that serves two meals a day.

-- Lifesong's goal is to add a grade every year and also is investing in micro-business opportunities, including fishing, aloe vera products and banana fields.

India

-- Six orphanages/children's homes serving 600 children.

-- Started 30 years ago by a man from Ohio.

-- Lifesong recently took over the homes and is in the process of creating English and computer labs.

-- The organization's goal is to improve sanitation, privacy and job skills training.

Ukraine

-- Lifesong focuses on five orphanages that serve 1,200 children ages 4 to 20; also helps four other orphanages

-- The organization also started two transition homes and plans a third. The homes teach youths life skills to help them transition to adulthood.

Honduras

-- Orphanage/school offering seventh-grade through high school for 400 live-in children and 100 students bused-in on a daily basis.

-- The goal is to add a grade each year to eventually offer preschool through high school.