[grommy]

Can you host a Guatemalan student in your home, help them to learn English, and change his or her life forever?

Our family just went through an orientation weekend for hosting a rural Guatemalan Student. It is a wonderful
program that provides education in the US for
impoverished Guatemalan students.
It is not foreign exhange. It is a small grass roots type of
organization started by a retired university professor, who went on a trip one week to help distribute textbooks to rural Guatemalan schools. What he saw changed his life and he went back to teach and ultimately to start this program to help change the students' lives, as well as those of their families and communities.

We are going to be hosting a student this summer/fall (for six months) to teach them English via immersion into our family. Others can host a student for the school year while they go to a local high school.

The organization is always looking for good, loving host families and this year need more families in the North Carolina research triangle, Ohio and Pittsburgh, or Minneapolis areas for this summer&fall students. (If you live outside these areas, you can still host a child!) They like to cluster the children within 100 miles or so of each other for monthly get togethers -- you can imagine how homesick they can get.

It's a wonderful opportunity to help a child
and profoundly change their life. The ultimate goal is for
these children to rise up to be leaders of their communities and help impact changes.

The program pays for everything -- a family just needs to provide room/board and a small allowance for chores ,
lots of love and patience while the student adjust. Just by speaking English in your day-to-day lives, the student will learn English. These children come from such extreme poverty yet they are bright, hardworking, honest and resilient. Many of these children have lost one or both parents yet continue to work hard to get an education

Programs start in June and February. We are still in awe of how much this small group of determined people work to get these children a chance to change their lives. Such a simple but powerful program. We know that we will be blessed as much as the children in the program, and we think you would be too.

PM me or our gracious hostess Bassette for the contact info


Jill

[csw]

Hi
I would love the contact info..we have an extra bedroom upstairs and I am currently only working a few shifts a month..so I am home alot. We have an older son who could teach skateboarding to the child along with English! Thanks..

[carney10]

I have had contact with John about this program and would love to do it. But we live in a small rural town and I felt discouraged when I saw the email on the big list wanting families to live close to the citites listed. We do not. The closet would be Ohio and it would 3-4 hours.

Maybe next year!
I think it is a grat program.
Lisa

[Bassette]

Thanks for your informative post Jill.

I hope everyone will help keep this bumped. I am eager to learn more about this program and hopefully host a student in the near future.

[Anne1377]

Hi!

I would love to receive info on this program. Can you please PM me with the info? Thanks so much...

Diane

[grommy]

I've talked to several of the mom's who hosted in the past or are currently hosting and they absolutely love their student -- the students come with eagerness, humbleness and a delight -- we cant wait to pick them up at the airport.

The director hopes to have a 1000 students per year in the program -- this year 16, but as word gets out I think it will grow fast. They like to cluster the students near each other but if anyone wants to start a cluster (which is what we are doing) then jump in -- there are many many students they have to turn down due to lack of host families.

any specific q's you can ask me -- I've grilled the director for an entire weekend!!

Jill

[mommatomm&m]

I would love to have more information on this program. We are in the eastern part of Kentucky so I am not sure if we would be to far away but I would LOVE to hear more about this and if we would qualify! r

[heartened]

This is a program I could get behind - I'd like more information as well. I'm at the Ohio/Michigan border and would gladly travel monthly to bring the kids together or host a gathering.

This just sounds like such an interesting program!

[grommy]

to mommatomm&m: there is a host family in Charleston WV and that is fairly close to KY!
And hopefully another wonderful momma in KY
soon!!

[tandc999]

Could you please pm me with information too? I had mentioned during our adoption journey that it would be great to host a child for schooling purposes.

[dspakowsky]

Bumping you up!

[nina03]

Please PM me as well. We are certainly outside the cluster (Washington State) but would like the info to see if we could start one here?

[beachdreams]

PM me as well please

[lmvsmom]

What age range are the students? This sounds like a wonderful program; thanks for posting this. Would you send me info as well? Thanks in advance.

[Bizzie]

Pm'd you would love to have mre information, we live right near the Ohio/WV/PA border.