PASO DIRECTORS VISIT SPONSORED STUDENTS
Paso Directors Judith & David Rapson and Patricia Pretty with sponsored student and his mother.
On Thursday 27 January, 20011, the four Paso members in Guatemala met fourteen of the fifteen students for whom Paso has found sponsors.
The four Paso members in Guatemala are David and Judith Rapson and Patricia and Roger Pretty.
The meetings were arranged by David Rapson with the assistance of Mayan Families, the Guatemalan organization with whom Paso works. The meetings took place in the courtyard of the Mayan Families’ office.
There had to be two meetings because some students attend school from 8:30-12:30 and the remainder from 1:00- 5:00. The five morning students were all from Panajachel, while the afternoon students included four from Tierra Linda, two from San Jorge and two from San Antonio.
The students range from kindergarten to grade nine and are equally split between boys and girls.
A translator were needed because no Paso member is sufficiently fluent in Spanish. An additional translator was needed to translate Spanish to the Maya language Katchiquel. Notebooks and pens were distributed so the students could record their answers to questions Paso was asking about them.
The highlights of the sessions were first;the preparation of Valentines for the sponsors using materials provided by Paso. Paso will take the cards back to Canada and mail them to the sponsors and second; the homemade muffins and slices of watermelon and banana which Judith Rapson had prepared.
Before they left, several students presented to Paso either a letter of appreciation, drawing or a small item, bracelet, ring or small handbag they had made.
There is a range of economic and family circumstances. Those from the small mountain farming commuities are slightly better off. Others have a father working as a day labourer, often digging and sorting gravel from the river bed and a mother who might assist her husband in the river or do laundry or bead work. The total family income might be $40 US per week. One student’s family was abandoned by the father so is especially stressed while another lost his parents and some siblings in the landslide caused by Tropical Storm Agatha in May 2010. Hector is now living with his grandmother who also has to care for her blind husband.
From: David and Judith Rapson, 4223 Line 12N. RR #2, Coldwater, L0K 1E0
