As the pandemic raged through Guatemala City, Guatemala the 500 families whose children attend Safe Passage were particularly hard hit.  Their main source of income has been selling items recovered from the city dump and with the lockdown restrictions, their income quickly disappeared.  GCF with the support of our donors was able to provide support last year to ensure that the students and their families did not go hungry.

We asked for an update on the school, the students and their families and were very happy to get the below response.

“We want to share that our school is still closed, due to a government mandate. We are hoping to reopen on February 8th, 2021, in a hybrid model to ensure the safety of our staff and students, but it depends on the current situation with the pandemic. In the meantime, we will distribute study guides and projects for our students so that they can continue their education and not fall behind in their studies, and food bags to maintain food security and good health. We had success with our study guides in 2020 and had over 98% of our students move on to the next level!

To ensure that we are following proper regulations and safety measures, we have been remodeling the classrooms and facilities so that proper social distancing can be maintained. We have also added a new water well so that there is enough resources to maintain proper hygiene and hand washing. Attached, are some pictures of the project so you can see the work that we have been doing.

Aside from school, the students and their families are getting by. We have held routine disbursement of food and necessary supplies throughout the pandemic. We are also happy to report that as of now, we have no cases among those in our community and are closely monitoring the situation. Our social workers have been getting weekly updates during the closure, as well.”