School Supplies for Guatemalan kiddos!

It's been a busy January and February at Groundwork Guatemala as the new 2011 school year begins. (The school year in Guatemala begins in January and ends mid-October.) Throughout 2010, our mission teams with the help of their support congregations, friends and families collected hundreds of pounds of school supplies.

Because the public schools here receive little or no funding for supplies or books for the children (an average of less than $5 per student for the entire year), we keep our ear to the ground to find the schools that are most in need of these basic supplies. There are often adults and children who walk great distances to come to the Faith Lessons that Groundwork Guatemala offers each week. So, it is frequently to the remote schools close to where they live that our staff distributes to these children and teachers any donations given above the needs of our sponsorship project kids.

You wouldn't think that a backpack or a Ziploc containing pencils, glue, crayons and scissors would bring such big smiles, but both teachers and students are thrilled to receive these little bags of blessings. So, after Oscar and Ruth told each class that what they were receiving was, indeed, a blessing received from God, hundreds of school supply bags were given to these eager, smiling children.

We are grateful for the gifts of love that so many of you have given to support God's work in Guatemala. Gracias!!