*Pictures of the thursday tour in Guatemala City are now up*
Hanley Denning was just an ordinary recent graduate when she was studying Spanish in Antigua. The day before she left home, she got an invitation to see the Guatemala City garbage dump. There she witnessed the dark reality that thousands of people faced everyday living there. Finding things from the dump to recycle was their only income. The children helped by digging through the trash or taking care of children smaller than themselves. Everywhere, she saw poverty at its worse. People lived in cardboard boxes and everyday, they would do the same thing. They would dig through the trash. To survive. They only lived days at a time and the saddest part was there was no hope. There were children everywhere who would never be able to afford an education and whose potential would never be realized. They had no options in life, except for digging through the trash, hoping to find enough material to survive on. Hanley was so moved by what she saw, that she decided to do something about it.
In 1999, Hanley founded Safe Passage (Camino Seguro). It was an organization designed to fight poverty in the Guatemala City garbage dump through education. She raised $2000 before coming down to Guatemala. Her original plan was to select 15 children for her program. She started at a small chapel located next to the dump with the initial intention of providing a safe place for a meal while gradually building an educational program. From these humble beginnings, the organization exploded. Over 500 children are served today and Safe Passage is now one of the most successful children´s non governmental organization in Central America, raising $100,000 per month in support with hundreds of volunteers coming to help from all areas of the world.
I got a chance to take a tour of this organization and I was very impressed. On Tuesday, I visited Casa Hogar which is located in the town of San Pedro, a few kilometers away from Antigua. Casa Hogar was originally meant to be a Condominium but after years of trying to sell, the builder finally leased it to Safe Passage at a very cheap price. This is a place where neglected children living without homes can go and receive an education in a safe place. The children there were just like children. They were happy, full of life, and curious about the new visitors. As I walked around and witnessed how content the children were and knowing the hopeless situation from where they came from, it just made me so happy. These children would have the opportunity to go to college. These children would have choices. All because a young lady cared and was moved to act.
On Thursday, I visited the sites Safe Passage has near the dump in Guatemala City. The tour was led as a sort of crescendo. He led us first to the chapel where it all began. Then we went to their current primary education center where the younger children learn. The building is actually a warehouse right next to the dump complete with a cement slab as a floor and grey walls. However, it appears they tried to make it as colorful as possible as everywhere there are posters and drawings. After that we were taken to the recently constructed primary education center. The land purchased is directly on top of where the dump used to be. A couple of people from the University of Washington constructed all the buildings and did all the landscaping for the site and they did a fantastic job. This facility is not being used yet but it will be a great improvement to the spot they have now. After that, we visited the old Casa Hogar, simply a tiny house crammed in between other houses. This is now being used as a small educational center. Finally we visited the school for the older chilren. It is a huge building complete with dozens of actual classrooms, a library, a cafeteria, and even a computer room! I have to say I was extremely impressed on how big this organization has grown to be. This program, after only seven years, already has two college graduates, and there will no doubt be hundreds more.
Still, the children lucky enough to be involved with Safe Passage, only comprise roughly 25% of the entire population of children living in the dump. Despite the great success of the project, there is still a tremendous need. Thousands of children still dig through the trash to survive. If you have an interest in supporting Safe Passage or are just curious about it here is their website. This is a great organization making a huge difference.
*On a random note, I had one of those small world moments. I was accompanied on both tours by a couple that stayed at the same hostel that we stayed at in Quito, Ecuador. They have a fearless little girl who loves to be in the middle of everything which made for a fun tour! They plan on volunteering at Casa Hogar for 2 months. I am still undecided on what I am going to do.
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