Breaking Barriers: An Encounter with Some of Guatemala’s Most Determined Students
The view from Kimberly’s rooftop in La Limonada
My alarm sounded at 2:30 AM this morning, but I might as well have never set it in the first place. I was too excited to get a wink of sleep.
I endured eight hours of travel—driving, and airports, and security, and flying, and security again and hauling luggage. Finally, mercifully, I landed in the country that has become my second home.
It’s only 5 PM now and I’m settled in my room and a cozy bed. I’m ready to turn in for the evening. I’ve been awake for 30 hours, after all.
But it’s Saturday, the day that Hope Renewed International (HRI) scholars assemble for their weekly meeting. And my new team members and I are the highly-anticipated guests of honor.
So we freshen up a bit, hop on the school bus that will be our transportation for the week, and make the winding, descending journey into the heart of La Limonada, Guatemala City’s poorest community.
We disembark at the bottom of a ravine across from a cluster of patchwork-like homes of all different heights and colors, a staple of La Limonada. Waiting outside one of the multi-story structures is a young, petite woman with a welcoming and smiling face. This is Kimberly Ruiz, the HRI scholarship coordinator. It’s her responsibility to work with the students to ensure they are studying, earning good grades, and that their tuition payments are received on time by their schools.
Kim welcomes us into her home, which serves as the center for scholar meetings, and directs us up the concrete steps to an open-air roof that overlooks the community soccer field. It’s a cool and crisp midsummer evening, and the sun still shines brilliantly.
Several of the students have already arrived for the meeting, sitting in pockets around the perimeter of the roof on blue, plastic stools. Some are grown men and women, some teenagers and others school-aged children. There are entire families in the scholarship program together. The students smile shyly at us, and I stumble through some polite Spanish conversation with them, not yet settled back into the rhythm of using the language confidently.
MEGAN
“There are tears in the eyes of my teammates as they marvel at what these men and women, boys and girls have overcome, and the lofty goals and dreams that are now within their reach.”
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory. Eph. 3:20-21a
Once everyone has gathered, Kim calls the meeting to order. Our team from the United States is welcomed heartily and each student is called up one-by-one to share—through a translator—his or her name, age, course of study and career aspirations. Among the students are a 30-year-old who is studying at the 7th grade level and an 8-year-old who wants to learn Chinese. Each student shares his or her accomplishments with immense pride.
There are also two young women who have reached a very advanced level in their study of the English language. Each woman takes a turn sharing about herself in Spanish as the other translates into crystal-clear English. Our team gasps and laughs in surprise and delight at their impressive skills.
Within mere minutes, an undeniable bond has formed between these determined students and our team of Americans newly arrived on their turf. There are tears in the eyes of my teammates as they marvel at what these men and women, boys and girls have overcome, and the lofty goals and dreams that are now within their reach. The students express heartfelt gratitude towards our team for its support—yet most of us are total strangers to them. We’ve merely given them a listening ear and an open heart for the evening, and that is enough.
As the sun begins to vanish behind the distant mountains, and the meeting comes to a close, the rooftop is alive with chatter as the two groups of people mingle with one another as if we’re all old friends. The translators among us help facilitate conversation, but sometimes body language and facial expressions suffice to get one’s point across. And, of course, laughter is a universal language.
By the time we have to leave, any remnants of jet lag have vanished and there’s energy among my team. It’s the inevitable rush of meeting someone with whom you have nothing in common—language, homeland, upbringing or socioeconomic status— yet connecting on a profound level. It’s also the humbling experience of getting to know people who have endured more heartache and difficulty than you can ever imagine, and seeing firsthand the unshakeable joy and grace they possess.
To think I ever had second thoughts about leaving my bed to come here tonight.
Megan, Hope Renewed Board Member