Quiet. That was how I would have described Cindy in the first five months that I knew her. She has a quiet smile, gives quiet looks, and has a quiet voice. To be honest, in the first five months that I taught her class, I never once heard her
Jumping on the balls of her feet, Bonifacia yells out in her high pitched voice, “Lajuj!” As part of the Family of Women Creamos group, Bonifacia leads a Maya counting class for visiting Safe Passage support teams. Her native language is Quiche, and teaching the Mayan numerical system to
There are some women attending Safe Passage that everyone knows. They are often the outgoing, talkative women – and then there’s Ana Rebeca. Ana Rebeca is a quiet, sensible woman. Though only 30 years old, her big, dark eyes hide countless stories. Ana was born to parents who couldn’t
Walking up the stairs to visit the Creamos store, you can usually hear the cheerful laugh of three or four women rolling in their chairs from some small joke just made. Jeannette is usually one of the louder ones. “Before Safe Passage you wouldn’t hear us laughing like this.”
When Josefa was little her parents died, making it impossible for her to go to school. She needed to start working. Today, Josefa is a fifty nine year old single mother who has 5 grown children and eight grandchildren. Two of her children are no longer in communication with
"I went to Bowdoin College – where Hanley Denning studied – and traveled to Safe Passage on a Support Team through the Alternative Spring Break Program when I was a senior in college. I was inspired by her vision that anyone could travel to Guatemala, roll up their sleeves,
"I heard about the program from my sister, who lives in Maine. She encouraged me to visit the website, which I did soon after. I was immediately moved to tears. The stories of these families, and the hardships they face every day affected me in ways that I could
“In Jan 1999, I visited several projects in Guatemala. I had planned to stay for a few months and wanted to support a non-profit project. I met Hanley and accompanied her for one day with the children she was helping in the little church very close to the dump.
Celeste was friends with a Safe Passage student and would often accompany her to the project, but was not enrolled. When her mom lost the job that had supported Celeste and her siblings, Celeste joined Safe Passage as a student and started her studies, graduating in 2010. Celeste loved
“One day, 2 Safe Passage social workers arrived at my house in Zone 3 near the garbage dump to talk to me about the benefits of joining Safe Passage. I was in 6th grade at the time and studying in another school. Both of my parents had died and
