Education for Impoverished Guatemalan Youth

This November, Common Hope | Familias de Esperanza celebrated the graduation of 159 students. Visitors and sponsors from across the United States traveled to Antigua, Guatemala to celebrate the accomplishments of these dedicated students. A ceremony was held on Saturday, November 11 with nearly 700 people in attendance including family members, staff, students, and visitors. Students from Antigua, San Miguel Milpas Altas, San Rafael, and New Hope were present along with two University graduates.

The theme of this year’s graduation event, Una Meta Más or One More Accomplishment, recognized and celebrated everyone involved in making graduation possible; the students for their persistence and dedication, the families for their continuous support, the staff for their commitment, and our sponsors and supporters for all the ways you make Common Hope’s work possible.

Andrés, who faced a lot of adversity throughout his years of school, spoke during the Graduation ceremony. He addressed his fellow classmates saying,

"With great satisfaction we can now say that our dreams have become a reality." 

At 21 years old, Andrés worked while also attending school. This year he graduated with a Bachelor in Administration Management. He is the first of his family to graduate from high school.

Andrés isn’t the only student who had to overcome many challenges to achieve a high school diploma. Eva, a graduate from the Antigua area, faced a particularly difficult family situation. Her outlook and attitude always remained positive however, and this year she graduated as a Bilingual Secretary. During her graduation speech, Eva encouraged her classmates to see graduation as just the beginning of a bright future and to keep dreaming despite the challenges that may lie ahead.

“Because what would life be without obstacles, without challenges? I think it would be boring. The Spring wouldn’t be as beautiful if it wasn’t for the Winter. If we don’t go through adversity, we can’t welcome prosperity.”

After the Graduation ceremony, the celebration continued with a Carnival that included more than 15 activities like Bingo, a marimba band, traditional Guatemalan games, a photo booth, wishing well, and everyone’s favorite — karaoke! See the photo of Juan, his family and his sponsor, Steve, attempting to build a tower in under a minute (a good challenge as Steve is an architect!)

Graduates were also given the opportunity to give roses of appreciation to the people in their lives who helped them achieve their dreams and goals. In another photo, see Rose and Dave receive a rose from their sponsored student, Jose. Un momento hermoso — A beautiful moment.

We would like to say thank you and GRACIAS to everyone in the GlobalGiving family who donated to our project this year and made this graduation day possible! YOU are what makes this work happen and YOU are the light of hope for many students who have big dreams. 

What doors did graduation open for you? What sense of accomplishment did you feel once you had your diploma in hand? Were you inspired to continue your education? Or did you enter the workforce with energy and enthusiasm? 

Stopping and preventing family crisis and disease is the goal of a recent two-day preventative health care training  between the Antigua Health Clinic and the Social Work Program.

Dr. Miriam, an Antigua Clinic doctor and facilitator of the training explains, "the first step in implementing preventative health care with our families is to work with our key collaborators, Common Hope social workers, because they are the first contacts with our families and play a crucial role in orienting them."

Thirteen Antigua social workers participated in the training. "The training deepened our understanding so that we can serve our families in a more comprehensive way" said Patty, Antigua Social Work Program Manager.

A key component of preventative health care is to diagnose and treat the illness so it can be managed. Having social workers equipped with the knowledge to seek signs of concern earlier will allow them to make clinic referrals sooner. The training also taught social workers to more effectively look for environmental conditions that can be making health problems worse.

The Antigua Clinic offers services that address many health concerns families face, yet in a culture not prone to healthcare access, not everyone takes advantage.

This collaboration between the Health Care and Social Work aims to better inform and encourage families to participate in early childhood wellness, prenatal, cervical cancer prevention, diabetes and hypertension programming.

This is just one step in providing families with the tools, knowledge, resources and care they need to stay healthy. And your donations make it possible for thousands of people to receive access to quality health care and family development services. ¡Gracias! 

Common Hope is always looking for new ways for programs to collaborate in order to expand their reach and deepen their impact. In what ways do you collaborate? Have you ever discovered unexpected opportunities to collaborate that strengthened your team or department?