Bienvenidos

This is a work in progress and part of my attempt to craft a life that is meaningful and fulfilling to me and the world I live in. Over time I hope to add the things that are important to me as well as more information about a project I am very excited to be part of in March 2009 - a Vision Team trip to Guatemala with the organization Common Hope! Just so there is no misunderstanding, Vision Team trips are not "mission" trips. Common Hope is not a religious organization, but the work provided is ultimately spiritual as it includes helping a father learn to read, treating an ill child, helping a mother learn to sew, providing emergency food supplies to a family in need, encouraging and assisting a young adult to attend university.

I visited Common Hope in February 2008 when I was Antigua with my good friend Jen and her new baby, Mandy. I was moved by Common Hope's mission to promote hope and opportunity in Guatemala by partnering with children, families, and communities who want to participate in a process of development to improve their lives through education, health care, and housing.

The families that walk through Common Hope’s doors are often barefoot, live in one-room shacks made of cornstalks, and have little access to medical care, clean water, basic sanitation, education, or jobs. While the project’s work centers on keeping children in school, which is a major challenge in such a poor country, it believes a comprehensive and integrated approach toward the entire family’s problems is necessary to provide a stable floor from which the family can improve its situation. Common Hope's Family Development Center in Antigua and New Hope Village, the new town being built outside Guatemala City now serve 2,400 children and their families – a total of about 8,000 people.