In the fall of 2024, our Director of Inernational Programs, Lius Bourdet, and our Internatonal Programs Specialist, Yefiny Mena, visited our affiliated sites in Guatemala and El Salvador to meet with our volunteer coordinators and sponsored children, and hear more about how our sponsors are change the lives of children and families in need in Central America. Today, we hear from Luis about their visit to Santa Isabel Ana Seton in Guatemala City, where Sister Ana Juilia Herndandez welcomed them warmly and spoke with them about how our Feeding Program Fund is helping kids she is looking over.
Visiting with Sister Julia
“Santa Isabel Ana Seton is located in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. It opened its doors to children in 2006, and since then, Sor Ana Julia Hernandez has been our coordinator,” said Luis.
“Out of the 390 students attending the school at the moment, 90 of these students are participating in our sponsorship program. Santa Isabel Ana Seton students also benefit from our feeding program every month, where the coordinator selects 25 children out of the 90 participants in Children Incorporated to provide them with nutritious food. The children selected are the most in need, as Sister Julia has conducted home visits and met with all of their parents.”
“This school is located in the center of Guatemala City and absorbs students from the periphery and red zone areas of the city (zones of low-income families, where common crime is always present). The school has a program that goes from Kindergarten to 9th grade. Santa Isabel Ana Seton School is a well-cared-for school, where children feel safe and enjoy a clean environment, conducted for education. They have ample space inside the compound, and it is all enclosed and protected. All children here seem happy and eager to learn in school, and the children on the Children Incorporated program were very polite while we met them. They wanted to present a small program with culture and songs and dances from Guatemala for us, and we truly enjoy it!” said Luis.
“The school has a series of buildings in a rather large plot of land right in the middle of the city, which is very unusual. There is one building dedicated to kindergarten, one for primary education classes, and one for middle school education. They also have other small buildings, one with a kitchen, another with a facility for a food preparation skill program, and a garment-making program, which were implemented with the support of Children Incorporated a few years ago. These two programs are very important as they prepare and provide such skills to older children, as well as their parents and relatives, so that they can increment income with the skill. The skill training programs are a one-year program of learning and on-hands practice for them to be completed, and they are very comprehensive and prepare the participants well.”
Children Incorporated’s monthly support at Santa Isabel Ana Seton covers school fees and other needs, such as school supplies at the beginning of the year and sometimes shoes and clothing, mainly during the holidays and when sponsors send additional gifts. Yefiny and I met with Sister Julia after we toured the school and left very satisfied with all the programs and support the children received, thanks mainly to our sponsors and donors.
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