Help 10 Child Migrants Return to Guatemala Safely

Dear KIND Friends,

KIND and the Guatemalan Child Return & Reintegration Project would like to thank all of our friends and supporters.  As we conclude this GlobalGiving Project, here is an update on where we are, and what is next. 

The GCRRP continues to serve unaccompanied migrant children returning to their communities in Guatemala.  KIND has expanded our Guatemalan partnerships, and are serving children from 5 departments in the Western Highlands of Guatemala.  Our Guatemalan partners use their local knowledge, experience, and networks to help returned migrant children and their families address obstacles in accessing services and infrastructure, and to challenge the historic oppression and racism their communities face. 

The GCRRP, with the support of GlobalGiving and other donors, has helped 138 children returning to Guatemala to date.  We have assisted these young people to set goals and seek opportunities to make better lives for themselves and their families.   Here are a few examples of what our Guatemalan friends are accomplishing with the support of the GCRRP:

-          M, 18 years, returned to Guatemala in November 2014, and is finishing technical training to become an auto mechanic.  She loves her studies and is excited to work in her field.  She is one of several youth who earned a scholarship for driver’s education classes and exam support.  Driving is a valuable and difficult skill to obtain in her community. 

-          J, 16 years old, returned in July 2015, and is working hard and excelling in a carpentry program.  He dedicates much of his time to his studies.  Our partner organization has also been providing individual tutoring to J, for whom Spanish is a second language. 

-           F, 16 years old, who returned in September 2015, is learning to use his skills and interests to contribute to group activities, and shows great leadership potential.  With support of KIND’s partner organizations, F has been able to navigate difficult family relationships, and to begin attending school, despite a long gap in studies.  F is learning to read, and enjoying school.

For every child assisted by GCRRP, many more receive no services to assist in their return and reintegration.  KIND’s goal is to ultimately build capacity to serve children returning to El Salvador and Honduras, as well as Guatemala, collaborating with the governments of the three countries, as well as a broad group of international and local nongovernmental organizations to ensure their safe and productive reintegration into their communities and to help them find alternatives to re-migration.   KIND will continue to serve as a catalyst to demonstrate that family reunification support is possible and that reintegration can succeed even with relatively modest inputs, and to call on the U.S. to fund robust reintegration programming in all three countries.

Thank you again for your support of the GCRRP.  To follow our progress, please visit KIND’s website at www.supportkind.org

Sincerely,

Emily Kephart, MSW

Project Coordinator

Links:

• KIND website

Dear KIND friend,

I would like to tell you about Marco, a 15-year old boy from rural Guatemala, whose story mirrors that of so many of our program participants, and whose achievements are a testament to his resiliency and hope.  Born and raised in a small village surrounded by the mountains and valleys of the western highlands, Marco is the oldest of four children in a family living in extreme poverty. His town has no infrastructure, school, or health care facility.  His home has no electricity; Marco’s family pays a small fee to a neighbor, to charge their cell phone on a solar panel.  Marco woke up at 3 a.m. every day and walked an hour and a half to the nearest school.   

At the age of 14, Marco traveled alone to the US, looking for ways to help support his family.  His migration was unsuccessful, and in August 2015, Marco returned to Guatemala, and his family’s home. 

As a GCRRP participant, Marco was connected with partner organization Colectivo Vida Digna (CVD).  CVD’s staff began building a relationship with Marco and his family from the moment of reunification and during Marco’s initial adjustment to life at home.  After a month, CVD conducted a home visit.  During this visit Marco, his family, and CVD identified some educational and vocational goals that both interested Marco, and were realistic in the context of his town and family.  Marco’s family lives in an area that is rich in lumber resources, but his village has no carpenter. Marco went to the nearest town center, several hours from his home, to look for a carpenter who would be willing to apprentice him, but found none.  CVD staff then found an apprenticeship for him in Quetzaltenango, 6 hours from his home, where Marco could stay in the guest quarters of the CVD offices, and complete a one-year carpentry apprenticeship. 

Through the GCRRP, Marco received assistance with modest living expenses, and the cost of the apprenticeship.  He has also recently enrolled in the government-run educational training program, INTECAP, which has a carpentry program, and will give him some of the basic education framework within which to use the practical skills he is developing at his apprenticeship.

KIND GCRRP staff traveled to Guatemala in December 2015, and had the opportunity to meet Marco in person, and to talk to him about his experience.  Marco is an incredibly kind, considerate, and dedicated young man.  He is excited and grateful for the opportunities he has through the GCRRP and working hard to gain skills that will be useful to him and his family in the future.  Ultimately Marco hopes to return to his hometown and use his carpentry skills to serve the community there. 

Thank you for helping Marco, and other young people like him, to pursue the promise of a productive and hopeful future – at home.

Sincerely,

Emily Kephart

Project Coordinator

Guatemalan Child Return & Reintegration Project (GCRRP)

Links:

• KIND website