After spending three days visiting our affiliated projects in Guatemala, Luis Bourdet, our Director of International Programs; Ron Carter, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and I arrived at the last project we would be visiting: Casa Central in Guatemala City. Founded in the mid-nineteenth century and run by the nuns of the Sisters of Charity, Casa Central has a long and honorable history of ministering to children living in poverty, offering them a place of refuge from the instability and crime that pervade their neighborhoods.
Providing children with food to take home is an important way to keep them healthy so they can attend school.
When we arrived in the early afternoon, we were greeted warmly by our Volunteer Coordinator, Sister Estefanía, who showed us around the center. The center is a large two-story facility that comprises classrooms for primary and secondary schools, a social assistance center, courtyards, and an industrial-sized kitchen. Beautiful flowers grow in pots along its walkways, and some of the buildings there are painted bright colors. These things make the environment at the center a cheery and welcoming one.
As we walked, Sister Estefanía explained to us that children between first and twelfth grade attend school at the center. There, they are not only provided with a good education, but they are also given a safe place to learn and play during the day while their parents are at work.
A powerful ending to an amazing trip
After touring the school, we made our way to the social assistance center area, where our sponsored and unsponsored children and their parents were waiting to meet us. Chairs were lined up on two sides of the room, and there was an aisle down the middle. Two long tables full of food items, like cereal, grains, cooking oil, and spaghetti noodles, stood in the front of the room. Luis addressed the crowd of more than fifty families, all of which listened patiently as he described how grateful we are to have the opportunity to help support the children we serve through Casa Central.
Two long tables full of food items, like cereal, grains, cooking oil, and spaghetti noodles, stood in the front of the room.
When Luis finished, Sister Estefanía invited each family, who had brought their own large woven bags with them from home, to approach the tables. Two other Sisters began filling their bags with food items. Once the bags were full, some of them stood as tall as the children!
As the families left with their food through the back door, we said goodbye to each one, shaking the parents’ hands – and they all had big smiles on their faces. I, too, was smiling – thinking about just how lucky I am to be working for such an amazing organization as Children Incorporated. To see that these families are receiving the food items they require for proper nourishment, and to know that their children are healthy enough to attend school – all thanks to our sponsors and donors – was a great way to end a very special trip to Guatemala.
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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN GUATEMALA?
You can sponsor a child in Guatemala in one of three ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members; email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org; or go online to our sponsorship portal, create an account, and search for a child in Guatemala that is available for sponsorship.