After running away from abuse at home, “W” survived on the streets of Xela, Guatemala by shining shoes until he entered Sandra’s Estudia Con Amor program when he was 8 or 9 years old. Like many young children from difficult backgrounds, he was desperate for love and attention and his antics tried Sandra’s patience! Despite his obvious intelligence and popularity with the other children, he was close to failing school, and in early 2025 we even considered holding him back a grade.
But there was a noticeable shift after we built his “family” a new house. This family had so many holes in their roof they had to live and sleep with a loose plastic sheet held over their heads in the rainy season! Suddenly he was taking good care of his school supplies, he was washing his school clothes, he started coming to Sandra’s house for tutoring on Sundays when he came to Xela to shine shoes. He developed a sense of ownership and pride.
Over time, “W” witnessed that Sandra loved them all unconditionally, and Estudia con Amor was going to be there by their sides long-term, helping them make their dreams come true.
The clincher was when a “brother” from the streets was selected to join our trade school pilot. Suddenly the idea that his future life could be better than his current one became real, and he started to study diligently so he would be selected for trade school too – his dream is to become an electrician. In the last year and a half, he has gone from almost failing school, to becoming a helper in our after-school program, to being honored publicly at the community’s Independence Day celebrations for being the best student in the school!
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