Documentary on Our Little Roses November 22, 2016 News Las Chavas Teaser from Stories Matter Media on Vimeo. Adapted from Gavin Drake, ACNS An orphanage for girls in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, is the subject of a new film backed by Hollywood star James Franco. Franco is the executive producer of Las Chavas (Home Girls), a new documentary detailing the efforts of the Rev. Spencer Reece to teach poetry to the girls of Our Little Roses. Spencer Reece was an award-winning American poet before he was ordained as a priest. He travelled to Honduras to spend a year at the Our Little Roses to learn Spanish. After two months, uncomfortable with the poverty he saw in and around San Pedro Sula, he wanted to return home. But the words of one of the girls struck him: “Don’t forget us.” He applied for a grant to teach the girls poetry — no mean feat considering he did not speak Spanish very well; and returned to the home to embark on the project. He was followed by a film crew led by director Brad Coley. Our Little Roses cares for around 70 girls from birth to age 18. “I worked with Spencer previously, adapting his poem ‘The Clerk’s Tale’ into a beautiful movie,” Franco said. “We became friends during that process and after he was ordained and went to Honduras he discussed this project with me. It seemed like another great combination of poetry and film for a great cause, so I was happy to be involved with it.” The girls’ poems are a mixture of lament and hope: We live in a world that’s full of hate I live in Our Little Roses in Honduras which is next to El Bordo Which is one of the most dangerous places because they kill you rape women and follow you when you’re not looking When I was six years old I came here I felt I was in paradise ♦ ♦ ♦ Sometimes I want to be a turtle To get into my shell and never come out But I still have hope That one day I will get up When I see the sun after hiding in the shadows and be the person that I always wanted to be ♦ ♦ ♦ I am a girl Who has endured being invisible Her entire life I feel an emptiness in my soul Which I don’t know how to fill Las Chavas is making these invisible girls visible, and giving them a voice. Tia Chucha Press will publish a book of the girls’ poems next year. Contact | Covenant | Facebook | RSS | Subscribe | Twitter Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)