Alba

Here is Alba graduating from high school in 2010, very likely the first impoverished Guatemalan ever to have four years of high school in the United States. She is now a sophomore at Century College in Minneapolis.

During her high-school experience Alba became highly proficient in English, now speaking without a trace of an accent; the world of knowledge and opportunity opened before her; she drove herself to school and learned to play the piano; and she blossomed into a confident, self-possessed young woman. She is a credit to her host family, to GSSG, to her Guatemalan family, and most of all to herself.

 

 

Pablo

In the beginning we did not know how long it would take for our young clients to learn English and we brought them here for three months, because that was the length of their annual vacation in Guatemala. But by 2005 we had concluded that three months was not enough and that year Pablo came for six months. The experiment paid off handsomely and Pablo is today a senior at St. Thomas More Academy in Raleigh.

Unfortunately, in 2006 the U.S. Consulate in Guatemala denied Pablo and the others in his class a visa and the youngsters had to wait two years before they could return.

In 2010 our students formed their own, as yet unnamed, organization and Pablo was elected the group’s first president. His goal is to become the president of Guatemala.

Lily

Liliana also first came to the United States in 2008 as a freshman in high school. Her family in Guatemala usually does not have enough to eat and when she goes home for the summer, she takes care of the younger siblings while her mother works or sells food.

Lily is now a senior at Grand Rapids Christian High School. She is a diligent student and gets good grades. Pleasant, a bit quiet, and with very high standards Lily is well liked by everyone.

In the student organization referred to above, Lily was elected the group’s first chairwoman of the board. Like the others, she looks forward to starting college next year.

 

Sandra

Sandra’s home is made of tañil, a plant similar to sugar cane but with no commercial value. Her mother cooks on an open fire, as do all poor women in Guatemala.

Sandra is now a senior at the Emerson Waldorf School in Chapel Hill, NC, where she is getting very good grades, a reflection of her diligence and industry. Sandra has cheerful disposition, thinks well of everyone, and is a skillful dancer. She, like the others, is looking forward to college, an impossible dream come true.

 

 

 

 

Griselda

Griselda is also a senior at the Emerson Waldorf School in Chapel Hill, NC, and is also getting very good grades. Griselda and Sandra also live with the same host family, are best friends, and support each other in the pursuit of excellence.

Griselda had a difficult childhood. Her parents executed a bitter divorce; her step-father is unpleasant and abusive; and the poor child had to tip-toe around on eggs in fear of him.

For all of that, Griselda is a perpetually happy and socially very active young adult. A dedicated and creative student, Griselda is always busy with a project, from making her own clothes to writing a children’s book for her senior project, in Q’eqchí no less, the Mayan language common in her part of Guatemala.

 

Nancy

Nancy never knew her father and her mother died in 2000. She has an older sister and a younger brother. At the time of her death, Nancy’s mother was in the process of buying a house from Habitat to Humanity. Nancy’s sister, a high-school graduate, worked two low-paying jobs to keep up the payment and an order of nuns provided schooling for Nancy and her brother.

One could hardly imagine a sweeter girl than Nancy. Now a young adult, Nancy has taken charge of her life. Her self-discipline and work ethic, often studying into the wee hours, have paid off handsomely and she is doing very well in the very difficult classical curriculum at St. Thomas More Academy. Although we do not let our students choose a major until they are juniors in college, Nancy has expressed an interest in nursing, an occupation certainly consistent with her loving and caring personality.

Heidi

In that same, demanding classical curriculum at St. Thomas More Academy, Heidi is in her element. She revels in learning, consistently knocking down A’s with an occasional B.

In Guatemalan, people of Mayan descent, the majority of the population, are often illiterate and unskilled, the object of contempt. Heidi, of mixed-race descent and despite the poverty in which her family lives, is proud of her Mayan ancestry and frequently wears the indigenous garb.

Heidi is not only a good student, she is also a good cook and, with the cooperation of her host parents and some of the other girls, every winter she prepares about 200 tamales for a well attended get-together, and in typical Mayan fashion, she cooks them on an open fire, outside.

 

Judith

U.S. Law stipulates that a student must be in at least ninth grade to come to the United States for schooling. Historically, the schooling available in the villages of Guatemala only went as far as sixth grade. We were surprised, then, to find Judith among our applicants for 2008 but soon learned that her father had decided that one of his children would go to middle school. He first offered the opportunity to his eldest son, who declined. Next in line was Judith. Her father works on a banana plantation and, as we learned, it required his entire annual income to send Judith to school in town. The family owns a small plot of land, on which they grow enough corn to make tortillas.

 

 

 

Marlyn

From the next village comes lovely Marlyn, a senior at Grand Rapids Christian High School. Marlyn’s father works on the same banana plantation and also spent his entire annual income to send his daughter to middle school in town. Fortunately he too owns a small plot of land on which to raise corn but job security is unknown, as are social security, retirement programs, health care, and unemployment compensation. The villages have no electricity, no stores, no sanitary system, and, since most of the villagers can neither read nor write, no books, newspapers, or magazines, and many residents never leave their village. Given the isolation, one can readily understand the ubiquity of battery powered radios with programs in Q’eqchí and cell phones.

 

 

Ana’s family lives in a town and her father is fortunate enough to have a job as a garbage collector, though few unskilled jobs pay a living wage, especially when a large family needs to be fed. Like many other me, Ana’s father owns a small piece of land on which he raises corn.

Ana was, of course, in ninth grade when we re-cruited her. We found the the fact that she had been elected president of the student body at her school very attractive.

Our first notice of her, however, occurred before the group interview at which we met all the applicants from her town, when John struck up a conversation with her and was immediately impressed by the ease with which she carried on a conversation, while so much hung in the balance. Now a senior at St. Paul Prep. in St. Paul, MN, we have much confidence in her prospects for leadership someday back home in Guatemala.

Abner

From the same town and the same group interview as Ana, comes Abner, but it was not until the family interview that we were able to get a good impression of this happy and talented young man. Though his parents are divorced and he lives with his father and younger sister in a house, like Sandra’s, made of tañil, without any windows, no kitchen, and in a barrio without any public services, not even garbage collection, Abner’s winning personality came to the surface once we got to see him up close and personal. His potential for leadership has become manifest in the meetings of the student organization where he seems to have a talent for stepping up to the plate when a problem has reduced the group to silence.

 

 

 

Rossy

What an engaging young woman is Rossy! A member of the National Honor Society and a born leader, she has survived being moved from one school to another in each of her four years of high school. She apparently has imbues her poise from the example of her mother, who lives by a set of principles rather than simple self-interest.

Rossy’s father died some years ago. Her step-father, a math teacher, does not receive a living wage, especially so because of the large family wholly dependent upon him. As a result, the family lost the small, cement-block home which they owned and have had to move to a village with extremely limited appurtenances.

Rossy holds much promise for the future of her family and her country.

 

Like many youth in Guatemala, Pedro never knew his father. He and his younger brother live in one small room in grandmother’s house (not the house in this picture). Pedro’s grandmother had nine children, all of whom have families and live in destitution and none of whom has the resources to purchase the house when grandmother dies. The house will, therefore, have to be sold and Pedro’s small family will have no place to live.

Pedro’s mother is an energetic woman, determined to see her sons educated, but selling food on the street, as do so many women in Guatemala, barely provides enough income to keep body and soul together. Should she become ill or have an accident, the results would be catastrophic. Pedro, of course, is well aware of the fragility of his family, worries incessantly, and studies night and day, to good effect. Not least of all, Pedro is scrupulously honest, respectful of his elders, and serious about the prospects of his role in changing conditions in his country.