Dear Friends,
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday. Its focus is on friends and family: the sharing of a meal and each other’s company. It re-focuses us to the essence of life: gratitude for all we mean to one another. And it invites us to be mindful of all we take for granted: the essential blessings of our lives.
Thank you – always – for providing these blessings to those who have less than we do. You are a lifeline. We are honored by your help and your faith in all we’ve done and continued to do together…because we can.
With gratitude.
Chuck
BE ON THE LOOKOUT: CELEBRATING OUR FIRST 10 YEARS
Our incredibly talented volunteer graphic artist, Tony Ross, is working his magic to create our annual appeal. It celebrates our first 10 years and looks ahead to our next steps together. Look for it around Thanksgiving. If you know anyone not on our mailing list who may enjoy receiving it, please let us know. We’d love to include them in our mailing and grow our family of friends. Thank you!
MEET YURI and BE INSPIRED!
Note: This was posted on our Facebook page by our chairperson: Ally Warhol
“A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, but a woman of strength knows it is in the journey where she will become strong.”
I can’t help but think of this quote when thinking of Yuri del Socorro Guadamuz.
Yuri is a mother of three children who has been cooking traditional Nicaraguan food to sell door-to-door and in street markets for 12 years. Additionally, she has a small vegetable stand in her home, open to the public. All of this is done to stay afloat.
It was Yuri’s entrepreneurial spirit that led her to our school, Centro de Oportunidad. Each morning, from 9-11 she participates in our cosmetology courses at the Matthew James Haley Vocational Center, and then from 11-12 she takes literacy classes. And THEN it’s off to sell the food she so expertly and lovingly prepares before returning home to sell vegetables to local residents. (Did I mention she’s also a mother of 3?!)
What a gift to be able to provide Yuri with skills to pursue her dream of opening her own beauty salon. We have a feeling she’s going to do every single thing she sets her mind to.
Onward and Upward, Yuri!
WE NEED A SECRET SANTA
(or two)
It’s difficult to describe the young man pictured below. His name is Axel Alexander Mora. (He goes by “Alexander”). He’s 15 years old and is unlike any 15 year-old I’ve ever met. His father died during Covid. (The mention of his father brings him to tears). He lives with his mother and grandmother and is clearly both child and “man of the house.”
After his classes in the morning at his public school, he comes to us. He enjoys a meal and spends time in our library. He has an angelic singing voice. If you ask him – as the street kids do while they’re working – to please sing, he complies and sings a hymn with beautiful pitch and heartfelt emotion. The others clap; he feels welcomed and appreciated. He is.
When I was leaving Nicaragua last time, he said, “I will pray for you.” When I thanked him, he said, “No, I mean right now.” He bowed his head, evoked God, gave thanks for the shoes we bought him and for the good we bring to the lives of so many. Then he asked God to keep me safe on my flight home. He loves and he blesses others unabashedly.
The keyboard player at his church is teaching him how to play simple accompaniment for his singing. He said the he dreams of one day having his own keyboard to practice on. I told him to price them out.
The next day, he returned. In the commercial market in Managua, they’re $300.
I will contribute but perhaps you would like to help as. If we raise more than the minimum $300, we will purchase a better quality one or other things the family needs for Christmas when I travel there in early December. Many thanks!
WHY WE LOVE THESE KIDS!
Since we opened our new center in January, we’ve had a recurring water problem. Our center is located at the bottom of a small hill. We’ve learned that water runs downstream!🙃 It stagnates, creates health concerns, and generously shares its less-than-pleasant odor. 2022 was a great test run with a heavier than normal rainy season.
We sought advice.
Once we received it, our kids from our youth program, our adult literacy program, and our soccer team, jumped into action. This past week, they installed PVC drainage pipes and painted the iron doors and window frames with anti-oxidizing paint. They are constantly taking ownership to show their gratitude.
They do it because they can.
