FIESTA to Benefit Guatemalan Children
From staff reports
On Oct. 26, Great Lakes Friends will host its seventh annual FIESTA to celebrate our community’s commitment to 550 children of families living in unimaginable poverty at Guatemala City’s garbage dump. Since 2005, Great Lakes Friends has raised nearly $170,000 to support the work of Safe Passage, a nonprofit formed in 1999 to bring hope and opportunity to these children.
Over 40 percent of Guatemala City’s 3 million residents live in slums, many of which border the region’s huge landfill, the largest in Central America. A steady stream of municipal trucks deliver over a third of the country’s waste to this site, dropping loads of household and institutional trash, used syringes and other medical waste, discarded gas tanks and other bio-hazardous materials. Some 10,000 people work at the dump, scavenging in this toxic wasteland for recyclables they can sell, household goods, clothing, and even food. Homes are built on hazardous landfill along the perimeter of the dump. Most have no running water, no sanitation, no electricity.
Without intervention, children from these neighborhoods face tremendous barriers in escaping grinding poverty that has trapped their families for generations. Safe Passage offers children pathways to a new life, enabling them to attend school by providing financial support to cover costs of enrollment, supplies, fees, and uniforms. At the Safe Passage Educational Reinforcement Center, school-aged children receive help with homework, tutoring, computer training, English classes, sports and art programs, as well as hot meals, health care, and a safe place to socialize. In addition, 90 preschoolers participate in developmental activities at the Early Childhood Education Center. Parents and caregivers can enroll in adult literacy and join economic cooperatives that provide alternatives to working at the dump. All programs are designed to help each child and parent gain skills needed to obtain stable jobs, to be self-sufficient and lead their families out of poverty in a dignified and permanent way.
Thirty of the 550 children served by Safe Passage are sponsored by members of the local Great Lakes Friends network. Each year, Great Lakes Friends organizes visits to Safe Passage so people in our community can meet these children and see programs first hand. Visitors have witnessed the organization’s success, evidenced by the children’s health and the progress they are making in school. Some of the earliest enrollees have graduated from high school, gained employment outside the dump, and are even pursuing professional careers.
FIESTA 2012 will be held on Oct. 26 from 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Children’s House, 5363 Long Lake Road, in Traverse City. The event will feature live music by Chris Skellenger and friends, a Latin buffet with beer and wine, a Mercado with Guatemalan arts and crafts, plus a live auction featuring a trip to the top of the Mackinac Bridge! This year, for the first time, there will be Salsa Dance demonstration and competition led by local instructor, Marta Hubbell.
Great Lakes Friends will also welcome two special guests from Guatemala to the event. Fredy Maldonado, who worked with the late Hanley Denning as she founded and developed the organization, and Jess Britt, a volunteer at Safe Passage, will share their perspectives on the difference Safe Passage is making in the lives of the children served.
Reserved admission by Oct. 22 is $35 for adults, $10 for children under 12, $20 for students, and $240 for a table of eight. After Oct. 22 or at the door, admission is $40 for adults. Space is limited, reservations are recommended. To register, email greatlakesfriends@safepassage.org or call (231) 590-6072. Mail checks, payable to Safe Passage, to Great Lakes Friends, PO Box 621, Traverse City, Michigan, 49685.
