Kids in Guatemala

My team of fourteen raised money over a period of a five months to travel to Guatemala to aid their physical and emotional needs. We held garage sales, sold a donation of nuts and worked to meet our goals. We traveled to Campur, a small village eight hours from Guatemala City to visit four schools and provided them with toys, sports equipment, crayons, and paper to enrich their education. We then split up into smaller groups and visited homes of families that needed support. Through translators we were able to listen to the stories of different families and connect with them. I was amazed at their stregnth and courage! After two days at Campur we left to go to Guatemala City. At Guatemala City we visited a hospital and greeted the people who did not have visitors and gave them fruit juice and toilet paper. Even the basic necessity of toilet paper is not given to patients in the hospital! They can only recieve neccesities through friends and families who bring it. We also visited an orphanage, Momentos Preciosos where we sang songs and played with the kids, giving them the rest of the donations. The woman who began Momentos Preciosos, we later found out, was behind in rent by three months and was going to lose the building soon. A leader from our team paid the debt and today we are still working on donations to keep the orphanage running, which is constantly growing. Later, we also visited an AIDS/HIV positive hospice where we played with the kids and ate lunch with them, which we provided. It was devastating to see these innocent kids whose lives would inevitably end from this global problem. Finally, we gave sandwiches and hugs to adolesents who raised themselves on the streets of Guatemala City from ages as early as seven. After listening to their stories, I realized that it wasn't their fault or a mistake that they made that got them in their situation. I am truely lucky to have the oportunities I have in the United States, and I hope someday to go back there.