A Dream Come True for 2

With our house mostly packed up and get togethers with friends scheduled all week long, there was only 1 thing left on our list to do before leaving Guatemala after an amazing year here. It was time to meet our newly sponsored Common Hope child, Jackeline Elizabeth. The date had been set, and as the days grew nearer we became more and more anxious. What would she be like? Would she be excited to see us? Since we're new sponsors to her, does she even know about us? Will she talk or be timid? Will her family be loving and supportive? So many questions. So much hope.

Finally the day came. We met Paola our social worker at the Project and off we went to San Juan del Obispo, armed with bagful of little treasures for a 9-year-old girl and her family. Somewhere down the hill from the center we pulled over next to a metal lamina door. This was her home. Paola knocked on the door. "Tortillas and Tayullos" for sale a sign read (forgive me if my spelling is off). "What are tayullos" I though as we waited? Soon enough a young woman came to the door with a little girl by her side who rushed over and hugged us. She didn't look like Jackeline from what I remembered from our photo? She must be a sister. And as I turned to look around, there she was. Standing tall, thin and color-coordinated from head to toe, she looked a bit different than her photo, but there was no doubt in my mind that this was her. With a giant smile plastered on my face, we embraced. It felt right already. This is the girl that we will be connected to for years to come. I couldn't wait to get to know her!

Our "Goddaughter"

Claudia, her lovely mother, welcomed us into her home as we walked back through the property, meeting Jackeline's grandmother along the way. Small but sufficient, clean and bright Jackeline's family of 5 (mom, dad and 2 little sisters) share a 1 room concrete block home that sits at the back of a lot where two or three relatives also have homes. During my year volunteering at Common Hope, I had seen all types of houses and met a myriad of families, all different, but all a bit the same - everyone needed a hand up. Jackeline's family was exactly what I had hoped for, although I would have been accepting of any child and family in need. A happy, healthy family. 2 loving parents, 2 stable jobs, a safe home, and a dream for the future.
As we entered into their home, I tried to take it all in - comparing it in my memory to the short report that we had been given. As we sat at a small wooden table in the middle of the room where the afternoon sun streamed through a window, the pieces of this puzzle began to come together.

Claudia, Jackeline, Melany & Lucero

A few weeks prior upon hearing the news that not only Jackeline, but her middle sister Melany, had both become sponsored, this newly Common Hope affiliated family felt very fortunate. And just a few weeks later the sponsors would be coming to visit? They could hardly believe it. Unfortunately Jackeline's father who works as caretaker of a home in Antigua was not able to have the afternoon off of work and therefore wasn't able to make the visit. Claudia explained that while they are appreciative of the good job that he has, it is often hard on the girls when they sometimes don't get to see him for a week at a time. Quite obviously worshiped by a houseful of females, the girls ushered us over to his bedside and proudly pointed to his photo high on the wall above the bed, a Father's Day present they said.

It just so happened that our visit coincided with the annual celebration of the town saint, San Juan, a huge deal in the community, and the girls had the day off of school. As a surprise, Jackeline's mother had prepared a special meal for us, my favorite Guatemalan dish, pepian de pollo with blue corn tortillas. We chatted over our delicious lunch and Jackeline answered all of questions very articulately. She shared with us that she really likes school and most enjoys studying the natural sciences. She also likes math, but her mom added that she struggles a bit with it. We learned that she loves marimba music and is learning how to play and one day she wants to become a doctor of children (or animals). Upon our social worker's prompting, she brought out her school notebooks and proudly handed them over for us to review. Cautiously we inspected page after page of neat cursive handwriting, with Jackeline beaming over our shoulders. After lunch she presented us with a picture that she had drawn of her family with 2 angels floating overhead. When she told us we were her family's angels, I was completely speechless. I don't feel like an angel - I feel completely lucky. Right there in front of us was a lovely little 9-year-old girl with a huge dream and we have been given the opportunity to be there alongside her, all the way until the end.

The beginning of a beautiful relationship

Not wanting the visit to end, we opened up the card game we had gifted her, Uno. Luckily her mom said that the family spends a lot of time playing games together and Jackeline and Melany brought them all out to show us. Of course their games were mostly just little cards for bingo or memory, but she expertly matched them all us for us nonetheless. Then Ben explained the rules to Uno and together we played for nearly an hour, teasing and laughing all the while, while the littlest sister carried around the family's 2 little puppies that were only about a month old. It was a really great way to really feel a part of her life and we highly suggest any sort of interactive activity for a sponsorship visit with young children.

Before leaving we asked Jackeline if she had any questions for us. She couldn't think of many, so we shared a few things about ourselves that we thought she may find interesting, like how we will be sharing her sponsorship with Ben's sister and her family, so she has 2 sets of "Godparents." I told her that I'm a teacher (of sorts) and can help her learn English when the time comes and how I worked at Familas de Esperanza for the past year, helping people learn about the organization. We explained that we had decided to move to Guatemala to make our Spanish better and help others in need. And being a water engineer, Ben asked the family if they use purified water. Claudia responded that she knows it's important, and they use it when they can afford it, but that it's not always possible. He shared a bit about his job and how he would like to help bring affordable clean water to the towns around Antigua in the future.

(Later on we asked the social worker if it would be acceptable to purchase an Eco-filtro for the family and she thought it was a good idea. A few days later we did and dropped it off at the Project for the family to come and pick up. We also purchased one to take back to the States with us with the intention that each year when we purchase a filter replacement for our own, we will also replace theirs.)

"Uncle Ben" with Melany

As we prepared to leave, we took the obligatory photos and promised that we'd mail copies as soon as we were back to the states. We encouraged her to keep studying hard and to write us letters filling us in on the details of her life. By the front gate we exchanged lots of hugs and kisses and they told us that their home is open to us any time we return. And as we pulled away, they all stood by waving until we were out of sight, Jackeline the last to turn back toward the house.

Our new family

My latest gig

As I'm sure most of you know or have figured out by now, I love arts and crafts. Not the scrapbooky, kitchy cute kind of arts and crafts, but the useful, looks-like-they-could-be-store bought kind of arts and crafts. You also probably know that my real profession (no I'm not a trained hospitality coordinator, interior designer or professional blogger) is speech-pathology.

It's not very often that one has the opportunity to combine their hobby and their job, but I was lucky enough to be given that very opportunity through Common Hope. Beginning in January I took over as "teacher" of an Occupational Therapy class that was originally developed for young adults with moderate to severe cognitive and/or learning disabilities. Because Special Education in Guatemala is limited (it does not exist at the public level) often times students with special needs end up leaving school at a young age. This class at Common Hope was designed for students in which traditional education is no longer an option. The idea is to give the students support with concepts that are functional like problem solving skills, planning, measuring, organizing, sequencing and basic daily functional tasks like money management, social skills & personal hygiene. It sounds in depth, but really all of these "lessons" are slyly hidden in arts and crafts!

We meet two half days a week - sewing one day and making jewelry the other. Both activities allow the students to practice functional skills and make a product that is later sold to Common Hope visitors. In addition it is a great opportunity for developing their communication skills, provides them with a boost of self confidence and offers a bit of independence that they probably wouldn't have had otherwise.

Every few weeks we hold a sale for our vision teams and volunteers. A small portion of the proceeds go back into the class funds (for purchasing of more materials), but the majority goes home with the students so that they can help contribute to their family's income. Their families are quite good about letting the student make decisions on how to use his/her money. Most of them end up purchasing clothes for themselves which in turn helps out their parents. Students in the past have saved for big items like a bed.

While my class is small at the moment (only 3 or 4 students), it's great fun. I get to combine 2 things that I'm passionate about and use my Spanish (much more than I do in Hospitality).

Would you like to meet a couple of students? Let me introduce you!

This is Sonia.

While Sonia prefers the jewlery making class, she works really hard at sewing as well. Recently she used her earnings to help her mom purchase a new huipil (an indigenous women's blouse) since her mom is always spending the family's extra money on Sonia and her 2 sisters. Isn't that considerate?

Now, meet Nery. Nery is a wiz in both classes, but really prefers the sewing. He is really good at following directions and paying attention to details. It is my dream that one day Nery will be given an opportunity to work as an apprentice to a tailor.

This is our workspace. The colorful boards lining the walls are where we display our finished jewelry.

We really try hard to come up with ideas that are unique when it comes to our sewing class. Since textiles are so abundant here in Guatemala we want to offer something that is not seen everywhere else. Most of our products are make from traditional woven indigenous fabrics, since it's so beautiful & that's what the people normally prefer.

Check out some of our recent sewing projects. Hot pads & microwavable heating pads filled with rice and cardamom.
Mmmm, they smell so good!

We're trying to be green with these fun coffee sleeves.

A spin on the ever popular reusable bag.

It even rolls up to a convenient portable size! These have been really popular.

The lastest vision team, nearly cleaned us right out, so we'll be back to work hard trying to beef up our inventory! We're always looking for unique, practical, fairly simple sewing projects, so if you have any ideas please send them our way!

Gifts that Give

If you are feeling like we are this year and you & your loved ones don't really want or need anything for Christmas, you may want to consider giving a gift that keeps on giving. Supporting your favorite local charity is something you'll surely be able to feel good about and even see the results right in front of you in your own community.

While we most likely aren't local to you, Common Hope the Guatemala based NGO that I volunteer with, would certainly appreciate your support. We understand that it takes all kind of donors to make the non-profit world go round, so we offer you several choices.

Here are three ways to make the season bright:

A gift to Common Hope through giveMN.org will be free of credit card fees through December 31st so 100% of your gift will benefit our work. Last-minute shoppers can honor a loved one by giving an alternative gift through our gift catalog. Or for the gift that keeps on giving, ask a family member or friend to sponsor a child and begin a life-changing journey with someone who lives half a world away.

If it's a personal connection that you are looking to have, then I highly suggest sponsoring a child. We offer 2 types of sponsorship: leading ($60/mo.) and guiding ($30/mo.). With your donation, your sponsored child and her or her entire family gain access to education, health care, housing and social work services at little to no cost. Since we look to partner with families who have already placed an importance on education by sending at least 1 of their children to school, our sponsored kids are very likely to continue their studies through high school, and will remain affiliated and supported by Common Hope as long as they remain in school.

In Guatemala, education is said to be mandatory & free, neither of which is necessarily true. Between inscription fees, school supplies, and uniforms, we estimate that the cost of 1 year of education per child is about $100. Now considering the fact that the families that we work with earn around $150/month and have an average of 5-7 children, you can quickly realize how education isn't an option for everyone. Nationally, of the children that enter the 1st grade in Guatemala, about 50% of them graduate from primary school and only about 24% from high school. Studies have been done that show in developing countries like Guatemala, secondary school education will afford students an economic equivalency twice that of their peers who do not have a high school degree.

Think about the effect you can have. How rewarding would it be to see your donation make that kind of difference in a child's life?

With Common Hope's affiliation process we double the national statistics and we can proudly say that over 50% of our affiliated students will graduate from high school. Because once a child becomes affiliated with us, the whole family is eligible for our services, we estimate that we are working with about 8,000 Guatemalans, from 2,400 families.

Check out some highlights from 2009:

• 2,576 students attended elementary, high school, and university because of your support
• 113 high school students graduated, ready to embark on professional careers.
• Our medical clinic averaged 692 visits per month and 2,147 prescriptions filled.
• Affiliated families worked 4,553 sweat-equity hours to earn running water, stoves, and homes.
• Social workers made an average of 300 visits each month to our 1,302 families.

Now who wouldn't want to be a part of all of this?

Since beginning my work with the organization back in May 2009, we've been waiting for the right opportunity to become sponsors ourselves. Due to the economic crisis this past year in the US, many NGOs have been negatively affected, including Common Hope. Currently we have around 400 students who are affiliated, but do not have sponsors to cover the cost of their services.

As a Christmas gift to each other, this January we have decided that we will become sponsors of a child in need and would like to invite you, our friends and family, to take this journey with us. It's actually quite a neat experience, picking your "godchild". Since there are literally hundreds to chose from you can take your pick of sex, age, location, birth date, etc. Wouldn't it be awesome for us to sponsor siblings together? We totally understand it is a huge commitment, so we wouldn't want you to jump into things too quickly, but think it over and let us know by January 2010 if it's something that feels right for you. We promise that you will never look at poverty the same way ever again.

Back to school

Primary education in Guatemala is mandatory and thought to be free, but unfortunately neither is necessarily true. While the government is lax in enforcing the attendance of kids in school, is the estimated cost per year of the children who are enrolled in school is about $100, including inscription fees, uniforms, and school supplies. Considering that the average Guatemalan family has 5-7 children and earns a monthly income of $170, you can see how it becomes impossible for all the children to attend school. This is where Common Hope steps in with sponsorship. Because we seek to form partnerships with families that share our same values, we affiliate 50% of the children in the families that we work with. Upon affiliation students have the cost of their education covered as well as health care, housing and social work services for their entire families. Since we sponsor 2,400 kids, that's a whole lot of pencils & crayons, isn't it!!

Just as the kids in the States have headed back to school, the students in Guatemala are finishing up their exams before vacation begins. Each month we ask for a specific donations to help stock the shelves of our warehouse so that when school starts back up again in January each affiliated child will head back to class with a backpack full of all the things he or she needs to be successful. This month we are specifically collecting colored pencils (12 packs). Of course we will always take any supplies that are donated, not just our monthly need. Check out our suggested monthly needs right here.

As you head out to scoop up some last minute deals in the school supply aisles, think about grabbing a few extras for the kids in Guatemala. You can make a huge difference in their lives with just a simple donation and I promise you it will be worth it!

Please contact our St. Paul, MN office at (651) 917-0917 or info@commonhope.org for more information about collecting or delivering items.

Donations can be mailed year-round to:

Common Hope
PO Box 14298
St. Paul, MN 55114

¡Viva Guatemala!

On September 15, 1821, Guatemala gained it's independence from Spain. Each year on this date the people celebrate their independence with parades, marching bands, torch runnings, and general excitement - firecrackers not optional.

Today we're up bright and early to check out the festivities in the center of Antigua. We'll report back tomorrow about all of the happenings. While we're gone check out this article that Common Hope published on their website about Guatemalan Independence Day.

King of the Mountain!

At Common Hope we partner with an affiliated man and his family that live and work in San Miguel Escobar - right at the base of Volcan Agua. Don Filiberto Salazar is his name and farming the volcano is his game!

King of Volcan Agua!

Every single day, Don Filiberto hikes about 5 km up the volcano to his property where he grows coffee, corn, frijol (black beans), avocados, and flowers. He carries all of his tools and crops up and down the volcano on his back and usually makes the trip at least twice a day! To make a living, Don Filiberto is involved in a co-operative of 20 coffee farmers that have joined together with the help of the organization As Green As It Gets to receive fair wages for their product. Together they share the responsibilities of the processing of the coffee and even export it to the US. In fact you learn more about it and even purchase it (with free shipping) right here. And let us tell you - it's some of the best (and certainly the "greenest") coffee we've ever had. Plus it's traded fairly and supports honest farmers and their families.

green coffee, not quite ready to be picked

Aside from farming Don Filiberto also gives tours of land and tells an interesting story about his life. Many of our vision teams at Common Hope chose to participate in his tours and are never disappointed. The tour starts out at his home where he and his family of 11 serve hot chocolate and pan dulce (sweet bread) to the group while Filiberto shares the story of his town, San Miguel Escobar that was named after a rich man, Miguel Escobar.

According to Filiberto, eruptions from Volcan Agua destroyed the village and many people left. A number of indigenous people stayed. They had no formal government, so Miguel took charge of the village. After awhile the village started to grow again, but during this time, Miguel died. To honor him, they named the town after him. It is also believed the first cathedral of Central America is here in this town. Some excavations were done in which they found jewels, swords and bodies which have helped them to date the church and on June 12, 2001 the national press confirmed that indeed San Miguel Escobar is home to the first cathedral and not Ciudad Vieja, like many people believe. The church in Ciudad Vieja was found to be a Franciscan Convent and not a cathedral. Ciudad Vieja considers San Miguel Escobar to be Zone 6 of Ciudad Vieja and the government does not recognize San Miguel Escobar as being it it's own town. However, the townspeople do not want to lose their identity so they always tell others that they are from San Miguel Escobar.

After their breakfast snack and story the group hikes an hour and a half or so up the volcano to Filiberto's land where he shares a bit of history while his wife prepares some of the yummiest fresh tortillas, beans and guacamole that we've ever tasted!

warm beans and fresh guac - yum!

Approximately 60 guerrillas, including women and children, hid in the mountains near Don Filiberto´s land. On one occasion when Don Filiberto hiked up to tend to his land, two guerrillas came to see him. They told him to bring water and food for them and threatened him that if he told anyone about their presence they would kill him and his family. Obviously worried for his family's safety, he began to taking water and food to them, carrying much of it himself and using his mules to carry the rest. He had to be very careful because if the army caught him assisting the guerrillas, they would have burned down his house and family.

Once the army even stopped him and asked him why he was carrying water. He lied and said that he needed it to fumigate his crops and he would carry insecticide with him to prove it. To hide the food, he would wrap garbage around it so that when the army slashed his bundles with their machetes, they would only see the garbage, which he said he was using as compost for his crops. When the guerrillas met him at his land to get the food and water, they would sit next to him with their guns and ask him to tell them what was going on in Antigua. Filiberto told no one about what he was doing except for his wife and he would only talk to her about his experiences after his children had gone to sleep.

One day, when he was up at his land, Filiberto heard bombs exploding. He was very frightened and ran back home where he found out that the army had encountered the guerrillas. He didn’t return to his land for 15 days. When he did go back up, there was no sign of the guerrillas who had gone further into the mountains. Shortly Don Filiberto started to talk to his neighbors and soon discovered that they too had similar experiences. He continued to lived in constant fear of both the guerrillas and the army until the peace accords were finally was signed in December 1996 by then president, President Arzu (now the mayor of Guatemala City).

The government, as part of this peace process, promised jobs to all of the army and the guerrillas, but only in fact found jobs for the higher ranking parties in the army and amongst the guerrillas. Consequently, the trouble and violence have now moved to Guatemala City where there are many unemployed ex-army men and guerrillas with guns. There are now many gangs of disaffected ex-army and guerrillas and according to Don Filiberto, there were 5,635 "disappearances" from January to June 2004 alone and these problems continue today.

The Salazar family, preparing a delicious snack.

Some members from my last team that hiked the volcano.

Upon returning from their hike up the volcano, the team always has an opportunity to purchase some of the hand made goods from Filiberto's daughters. One of his older daughters, Martha, sews aprons made from recycled Guatemalan textiles and is working on creating a selection of teas. Another daughter, Maria Benita, is creating her own line of cosmetic products (with the help of As Green As It Gets).

We think Don Filiberto is a pretty amazing guy - and probably the nicest man we have met here in Guatemala. We're proud to support his efforts in the coffee and tourism businesses and recommend that you do too.

(Information about the history of San Miguel Escobar and interactions related to the Guatemalan Civil War, are personal accounts from Don Filiberto and may not be 100% factual.)

Hope 4 All

Now that I’ve put in close to 2 months at my new “volunteer” job, I feel comfortable enough to share about the mission of the organization and specifics of my position with Common Hope. (It’s also good practice for the community tour that I give twice a week as a part of my position!) Prepare yourself – this is a long one, but so very worth your time.


Common Hope was founded in 1984 by Dave and Betty Huebsch, a missionary couple from Minnesota who were residing in the area of Lake Atitlan (specifically Santiago Atitlan). Dave and Betty fell in love with the culture and people of Guatemala and quickly began asking the locals what they could do to help. The people all responded with a resounding answer – Educate our children, so the Huebsch’s began a simple sponsorship format of writing letters to their home church in MN and asking for donations. Soon enough they came to understand that education isn’t enough when the children are coming to school hungry, sick and often not coming at all due to the impoverished circumstances in which they were living, so the areas of housing and health care were eventually added to the goal of the “Godchild Project”.

Dave & Betty Huebsch

Unfortunately about 23 years ago, during the Huebsch’s time there, it was the height of the civil war in Guatemala, and the Lake Atitlan area was in the center of the warfare. One evening in 1988 Dave and Betty received a very credible death threat and they were forced to shut the doors of their program and leave the country immediately. Reluctantly they went back to MN, but remained hopeful that one day they would be able to return to Guatemala. Sadly though, during their time at home, Betty passed away, due to circumstances unrelated to their time in Guatemala. However, keeping the dream alive, Dave and his son John were able to return to Guatemala a few years later in 1990. Because of the continued instability of the Lake Atitlan area, they sought a safer location to rebuild their project and ended up in Antigua, an area that has always remained fairly safe. They started by renting offices in Antigua proper, but the project soon outgrew the space and when they had an opportunity to purchase land (a coffee farm) just a few kilometers outside of Antigua in 1993, they jumped at the chance.

Over the next few years with the help of volunteers and affiliated families, the Family Development Center (the largest site of Common Hope) was constructed and continues to operate from the same location today. While there have been a few changes (the name as well as the fact that the organization is no longer religiously affiliated), the philosophical center of the project continues to be education and housing, healthcare and family development (social work) programs have been added. Additionally the Heubsch family no longer runs the organization, but they do continue to be supporters.

Common Hope (or Fundacion Familias de Esperanza as they are formally known as in Guatemala) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) comprised of about 150 paid staff and long-term volunteers. Of the 150 only about 15 are foreigners. When Dave & Betty were forced to leave the country back in the 80’s, sadly no one was left to run the organization. This is something that Common Hope has worked hard to change, so that if there is ever a time when it is not safe for foreigners to be in Guatemala, the project will not have to come to and end. The employees are spread out over 3 sites in Guatemala and 1 in the US. St. Paul, MN functions as the main fundraising site. The Family Development Center outside Antigua is comprised of a primary health care clinic, dental clinic, educational offices, construction site, social worker offices, psychology department, national administration, sponsorship offices, human resources, and the hospitality department (that’s me!). Throughout these departments many programs are offered, such as occupational/speech therapy classes, nutrition clinic, job training, a youth group, mentorship program, day care, pilot school, legal services, and many more. In 1993? After devastating Hurricane Mitch hit Guatemala, New Hope (located north of Guatemala City) community development and relocation program was founded and now consists of New Hope Village as well as a Common Hope school. More recently Common Hope began assisting with education in an indigenous village called San Rafael el Arado, about 45 minutes from Antigua. Common Hope strives to not duplicate services already existing in communities and for this partners with the public school system as well as other existing programs to meet the needs in the 4 areas of the project.

Family Development Center & New Hope School

Today Common Hope supports 2,707 affiliated students, however upon a child’s affiliation their entire family is able to receive services. That’s 1,398 families helped for a staggering grand total of approximately 8,000 Guatemalans served! It’s a truly amazing organization and a really inspiring organization to work . I feel completely privileged to have had the opportunity to be a part of it all.

There are so many other aspects of the work that I want to share with you including my job specifics, but considering this is already one heck of a long blog entry, I’ll save it for another day! If you're hook and you just can’t wait to hear more, check out their comprehensive website at www.commonhope.org.

Girl ♥’s D.R.

Meet my cousin Erin.

For a few years now she has been going on mission trips to the Dominican Republic and has fallen in love with the culture and people. Through her experiences in the DR, she as become inspired to help the local children overcome poverty through improving the quality of their education. (I know I haven’t given you much info. on my new job, but the mission of Common Hope sounds awfully familiar to this. We might just be carving a new path in our long family line of educators!)

Having just graduated from Grove City College (in Pennsylvania) with a dual degree in Early Childhood & Elementary Education and an emphasis in Spanish, Erin is already setting off to make her mark on the world – today in fact! Sometime today, June 15th 2009, she boarded a plane to Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic where she will be soon begin work as an English teacher in The Compassion International School of Hato Mayor. She’ll be working with the school’s director to help them with the process of becoming a bilingual school. Commonly in developing nations such as the DR and Guatemala, the demand for English education is high – especially from a native English speaker. By learning English, graduates have a greater chance of securing jobs in both tourism and business, two areas that developing countries rely on heavily.

A few years back, Ben and I took a trip to the D.R. to visit a friend and embrace the culture. We loved it there, despite the fact that we could hardly understand a word of the Spanish dialect they spoke! During our trip we visited a few of the water purification systems that Healing Waters Intl. (Aguas de Unidad) has in the country. It was here that Ben really began to envision his “dream job” of helping people who live in poverty have access to safe drinking water.

While Erin will certainly have many things that she has to adjust to – like spotty electricity, early morning roosters and noisy motorcycles – she’ll never have a lack of good, clean drinking water – just ask Compassion where the nearest ADU system is Erin! Oh and if you want to know where the best cliff jumping spot is, we’ll get you that info too!

If you are interested in supporting Erin through prayer and receiving prayer update emails, or if you'd just like to know more about what she will be doing, please email me and I will happily pass your info along.

Buenas suerte Erin! We’re so proud of this step that you’re taking. Hope we can visit you one day soon!

Exactly what we've been hoping for

After years of searching for a position in Central America that felt right, we may have just found ourselves a match. For the past few months we have been communicating with a non-profit group called Common Hope. Lucky for us, they happen to have positions available in their Antigua, Guatemala office that are right up our alley.

Common Hope, a non-for-profit organization, strives to make the lives of people living in poverty more stable, by providing supports in the areas of education, health care, housing and family development. They aim to create opportunities for children and families, so that they can improve the quality of their own lives. Common Hope believes in a work that is based on developing personal relationships with the people as they struggle for independence and dignity.

What we love most about Common Hope is that they are an organization that welcomes anyone willing to serve the poor without regard to religion. They believe people can join together in service and live spiritually without proselytizing. While their vision is based on spiritual principles, they value the strength that diversity offers and recognize that all people are equal and deserve respect, not matter what their beliefs are.

This week we both have telephone interviews with Common Hope for team coordinator positions they have available beginning this spring. The positions would allow us the best of both worlds - coordinating American volunteers while having working relationships with Guatemalans. We couldn't be more excited about this opportunity. Please keep us in your prayers!

If you are interested in learning more about Common Hope check out their website (www.commonhope.org). There are so many ways to help - everything from sponsoring a child to collecting supplies; hosting a party or even visiting Guatemala and volunteering your time. Who knows maybe you'll even run into us during your visit!