In Guatemala, the life of a child laborer is difficult and often dangerous. We are helping them change the trajectory of their lives through education, but we want to do more. We want them to experience some of the joys of childhood! Our primary school children have been enjoying pinata parties, the zoo, movies, ice cream… but our middle school kids can’t afford to miss work because their families depend on their labor to survive. It made us sad to see them head off after school every day to carry bricks, chase work shining shoes or washing cars, or… We wanted to feed their hearts and souls, not just their brains and stomachs!
So, this month we tried something new. We invited the middle school kids in our “former street child” group to go on a three-day trip to Antigua – and paid them for their lost wages. Of the 12 children we invited, 8 were able to go. (3 couldn’t get out of employment contracts and 1 was sick). The idea came because one of the boys saw a picture of Antigua, the most beautiful city in Guatemala, in a textbook in primary school. Ever since, he has dreamed of someday going there in person, and he shared his dream with everyone in the village. When he told us about his dream, we decided that TODAY was a good time for SOMEDAY to arrive!
“I never ever thought I’d actually travel there. There’s nothing I can do to thank you enough,” said the boy with the dream.
The three days were filled with fun activities: a hike up a volcano to roast marshmallows over a volcanic vent, a visit to an old hotel/museum, a chance to explore key sites like Central Park, the famous yellow arch… And, of course, there was more food than they had ever dreamed of – fried chicken, pizza, and more fried chicken. For breakfast there were eggs, chorizo, tortillas, and oatmeal. They couldn’t stop talking about how good the food was!
There were also a lot of group discussion sessions – about hygiene, and emotions, and about their dreams for the future. We wanted the kids to get out of their daily survival mode to really think about what they wanted in the future and how to achieve those dreams.
We couldn’t have been happier about how the trip went. Here is some feedback we received:
Two boys, practically in tears, said, “I’ve never seen a place so beautiful in my life.”
A girl said, “It was like living in a fairy tale dream”
A leader shared, “This trip made them all feel so valued.”
One boy said, “Knowing that we love him makes him not give up, even though working shining shoes and in the field has not been easy, he does not give up because we are his example.”
A girl said, “I’ve never been treated the way this organization treats me. It’s a love I’ve never experienced before.”
Our own hearts are full, seeing how much this trip impacted the kids. We have decided to expand this opportunity to ALL our middle school kids and make it a permanent part of our program!
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