Gratitude from Guatemala
Six years ago, Finding Freedom through Friendship took Lorenzo, his four siblings and his widowed mother into our program. It is not a normal business plan format for a nonprofit organization to keep a family in our program for such an extended period of time. In many cases, we have found that the most effective way to “rise a family up” out of extreme poverty is through the education of their oldest children. Thus our adventure with Lorenzo. We are terrifically proud of the responsible and capable young man that Lorenzo has become. The collaboration between FFF and Adopt-A-Village in Guatemala allowed us to combine our FFF funds with AAV’s boarding school to create a young man with a bright future on a mountain in Guatemala where opportunity rarely knocks. Lorenzo’s most recent letter to us is below.
Dear Mrs. Greenlee and the Finding Freedom Board,
My dear and appreciative friend of the soul, I feel very touched by having the opportunity to write to you one more time. My joy is reflected in the beating of my heart for writing this letter with great affection. With my face radiant with so much emotion, I greet you affectionately. I hope one day I can give you a hug and thank you for so much solidarity that you have with me. I sincerely hope that you are in good health; I know that good people like you stay healthy.
Actually, I was really surprised with the $100 gift you gave me for my graduation. Believe me, that gift served me greatly. When the director gave me the present, I could not believe it. My eyes filled with tears because I had never in my life received so much gratitude from a person. Thank you for celebrating my triumph with me. All the contributions you have made in my life are already bearing fruit. I feel a person capable of facing the challenges of my life on my own, and I owe that to your organization.
A young man with a bright future on a mountain in Guatemala where opportunity rarely knocks.
As I am aware of, I am no longer a student of Maya Jaguar, but, because of your favor to put me in your favor, I am now an intern of the Foundation and I also have my job for Finding Freedom through Friendship, managing the widows and orphans program. My desire is to do my best for you, and I send my thanks for your trust in me.
Once, I visited and distributed food to them; I also distributed the chickens for their good meals for Christmas. Now, I’m about to make another visit to them. At the moment, my supervisor is teaching my all of this work. I realize that there are many details and I want to learn everything well. I am very grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to be here. I never imagined working one day on what I love doing, but for your support, I am making my dreams come true.
Thank you, my dear Lady, I can not reward the great works you do to help me. Let me tell you that with what I earn for the work I do, I help my family. My mother is very happy that I am working because I bought her things for her and my brothers. I feel very grateful to you.
I feel very motivated, because working on vegetables is more than a job for me, it’s my favorite hobby. I love the field, I love to work it, I love working in the vegetables. I am also a vegetable technician in some villages, where I work with groups of people and train them so that they can grow vegetables.
I say goodbye to you very grateful. I feel the happiest man to have the favor of a woman and board members as special as you. Thanks for continuing to support me. There will always be gratitude in my heart for the good works you do in my life. I will never forget everything you do for me. Thanks with all my heart. If I have another opportunity, I will write again with all my love. Thanks and goodbye,
Lorenzo
(Photo credit: Adopt-A-Family Guatemala)