LAKEWOOD, Ohio — David Clifford, Ed.D., an adjunct business professor at John Carroll University in University Heights, is back from Honduras.
He went to the country twice this month to build a large one-room school in the Flora Azul Village in the south-central part of the country.
John Carroll University students Christian Dwyer, Chase Hudock, Vladimir Tchepak, and Mohammed Ghanem also went on the mission trip.
Watch News 5’s original report from March 4, when Clifford Zoomed with anchor Damon Maloney from Honduras.
"March was a busy month,” Clifford said. “I think I spent more nights in Honduras than I did in my home."
But it’s something Clifford doesn’t mind. He’s been going to Honduras for more than a decade.
“It was there that I just saw some things that I really needed to work on,” Clifford said.
In November of 2023, he was in Honduras and saw first-hand a crumbling one-room school that he said, in all honesty, was too small to begin with for more than 50 students in grades K-6.
More than $10,000 was donated to Clifford’s non-profit For The Greater Good, Inc. to construct the school. The money came from students and alums of John Carroll University and others across Northeast Ohio.
“So we got down there on March 1 (and) broke ground. You saw that we dug the trenches and the ditches and the footers and got everything poured,” Clifford said. “And we opened the school 23 days later."
Students in the Flora Azul Village participated in a ribbon cutting.
“I’ll tell you, Damon. I've done some things in my life, and I felt gratitude. But I have never felt gratitude like I felt that day,” Clifford said. “Those people were just so, so amazing (and) so gracious, so thankful.”
Hudock had been to Honduras before, as part of a medical brigade, and didn't hesitate to go again upon learning of Clifford's plan.
“I was definitely out of my comfort zone,” Hudock, a biology major, said.
But it didn’t take him long to get into the groove of laying bricks. Connecting with young boys and girls in the village came naturally.
“When we were on our lunch breaks, we were in their classrooms trying to help them learn English,” Hudock said.
Hudock wants to be a surgeon and said the trip enlightened him in several ways.
“Now I know what my calling is,” Hudock said. “I want to work in underserved communities."
Clifford said the new school will also serve as a center for entrepreneurial leadership.
“That helps them figure out a way to make something that they can sell or do something that they can sell to provide for themselves,” Clifford said.
He added that it’s about providing tools to help people move out of poverty. Clifford said even individuals with a college degree in Honduras may still not make enough to survive, and having a side hustle can be life-changing.
“We've got an experiment we're doing with an egg farm there. We have another experiment with a water distribution business. And then the third one is we invested in an ice cream stand,” Clifford said. “So we gave them a little microloan for $250 to buy a freezer and ice cream and they’ll be able to sell ice cream to the various missionaries that go down to the orphanage.”
Clifford said another highlight of this most recent trip was seeing a young woman named Elsy, whom he met many years ago, finally graduate from college with a degree in agricultural management.
“She came from a village with no electricity and no running water. She used to walk into the village 7 miles to get WiFi and to charge her phone, so she could get through her first year of classes,” Clifford said. “And she had straight A’s and she graduated cum laude which is remarkable.”
He thinks the new school provides the space and hope for others to follow in Elsy’s footsteps- perhaps with fewer obstacles.
Clifford plans to return to Honduras in May to paint the school and add doors and windows. He said a friend works at Sherwin-Williams, and the company is donating paint. He’s still fundraising to complete the project and wants to purchase school supplies.
Those wishing to donate can do so through Venmo using @ForTheGreaterGoodInc. Checks addressed to For The Greater Good can be mailed to 17502 Riverway Drive, Lakewood, OH 44107.
