Santi • Guatemala
Come, the man said. Have a meal. Santi squinted his eyes and looked into the man’s face. The man seemed earnest, but was he telling the truth? Santi had heard stories about other children on the streets, children who followed strangers like this and were forced into lives of servitude.
At age eleven, Santi dropped out of school to work in the streets to help his family financially. There had been few cars to wash this week and he had not been able to buy food. Ever since he’d left his mother to find work in the city of Quetzaltenango, he’d counted on washing cars to make a few pennies. At night he slept in boxes with other children. They’d all left even worse conditions at home, but it was hard to convince themselves that this was any better.
Luckily, the stranger was trustworthy: He brought Santi to our partners in Guatemala, who not only gave him food but his very own bed and a place in school.
He slept in a carboard box, and sometimes went days without food, before he was taken to our partner in Guatemala, who not only gave him a meal but his very own bed and a place in school.
ON THE RISE
Santi put on weight and started to excel in his classes. He graduated middle school, then high school. Before, Santi had been part of the staggering 61% of children in Guatemala forced to drop out of school, but now he became part of an even more unique statistic: He entered the 1% of Guatemalans who go on to earn a university degree. He did so with a scholarship earned through his academic achievement.
When Santi graduated, he returned to the program that had taken him in years earlier, and today, Santi is a middle school teacher. He is providing education to children just like he once was. Santi is survivor-driven change in action.
You are making it possible for children like Santi to be in school. Because of you, they will be able to help others.
