A letter from Ana in Guatemala
Finding Freedom is the fortunate and frequent recipient of thank you letters from our participants. Some are hand delivered during our home visits. Others are sent via our facilitators in Guatemala. Each one is a treasure; a written documentation of the challenges and changes we have introduced into the lives of the women and children we assist.
Reading Ana’s letter allows the reader a brief peek into a life that was unquestionably changed by the opportunity for adequate food, shelter and education….all things that Ana had not known before her introduction to FFF. Witnessing the transformation in a family as they become the people they were meant to be is an emotionally charged event.
Being part of the miracle as it unfolds is humbling, and during the days when funds to do our work are scarce, the process is a boost of much-needed energy. Touching the lives of children who yearn for education is refreshing. Seeing the fear ease from a blind and widowed mother who loaned out a child to keep him fed is rewarding. Watching that child return to his mother’s side when food scarcity is no longer an issue is nourishment for the soul. On days that administering our organization diminishes our confidence, we gain strength from watching Ana and her siblings grow their own sense of a place within their community. Growing a family up from a place of extraordinary poverty takes relationships, commitment, and stamina. Worrying about funding to continue our scholarships demands living in the moment but planning for the future. Watching Ana and her family recover, and even thrive is worth all of the above. Networking with Adopt A Village Guatemala to mutually benefit this Ana’s family was and remains a rewarding partnership.
To Finding Freedom Board Members from Ana,
“I am full of happiness and totally grateful for how beneficial your help was to me during these two years. I do not deny that all that support you gave me, awakened my mind, allowing me to gain new knowledge. Now, I am an important lady in life, I know myself, and I am aware, of all the danger that exists around me. The past had problems with my learning, and I want to offer you a great apology for not having become your perfect student, and I know, I struggled hard and wanted to show you my ability, but the problems in my understanding were greater than that ability. I want to promise you something, I can never forget what you did for me, and when I leave here, I will always be missing someone who has been supporting me in everything, and that someone is Finding Freedom through Friendship.. I know exactly what this is an opportunity that I have, to be honest and humble with you, and I hope that on another occasion we will be able to communicate, to know about each one of us as we have always done during this time that is about to end. The truth, my most sincere thanks to you, has no end. Therefore, as always, I will be thanking you frequently, although it will no longer be in writing as it is now. Well, as I almost reached the end of this letter, I want to tell you if on another occasion I had the same opportunity for you to continue being my sponsor, that is to say in another year, since you have given to me the most important, necessary and sufficient, And then, I would like to continue. That next year my desire is to continue to another level.
Now I say goodbye to you, giving you my deepest thanks, which for me are so difficult to explain, I wish you success in your daily activities and continue to enjoy good health anywhere you find yourself. Blessings of God upon you, and upon your family. Thank you!”
Ana (October 2017)
Photo credit: Maya Jaguar School, Guatemala