/

UMF’s Rotaract club students organizing trip to Guatemala

4 mins read
Rotaract club. We're making Christmas ornaments for our Christmas tree for last year's Chester Greenwood day (for the Christmas tree auction Rotary holds, in particular)
Members of the University of Maine at Farmington Rotaract club are organizing a trip and fundraising activities to go to Guatemala to help support the Safe Passage program which provides educational opportunities to those in need. UMF Rotaract club members Bryce Neal, at left, and Madeline Soucie, at right.

FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington Rotaract club is teaming up with a non-profit based in Yarmouth to bring educational opportunities to the people of Guatemala.

The organization, Safe Passage, was established in 1999 by a graduate from Bowdoin College, Hanley Denning. After selling her car and her laptop and withdrawing her entire life’s savings, Denning began offering free tutoring to 46 students working in the Guatemala City dump. The program quickly grew and is now bringing educational opportunities to over 600 kids and adults working in the dump. After Denning’s sudden death in 2007, friends and family have worked hard to make sure her efforts continued to make a difference.

Today, volunteers from all over the world participate in the Safe Passage program. Rotaract, a branch of Rotary International, works hard to support programs like Safe Passage.

“We do a lot of work both locally and globally,” Bryce Neal noted.

Neal is a junior at UMF and treasurer of the Rotaract club. “I first joined as a freshman. There was talk of going to Guatemala, but we didn’t plan enough in advance,” he said. Last year Neal proposed the idea again, knowing the club would have plenty of time to organize a trip.

The club decided to make the trip inclusive of anyone who wanted to participate. “We have UMF alumni, Mt. Blue High School students and community members of Farmington,” Neal said. As of now there are 12 people going on the week-long trip, set to depart on Feb. 19, 2017. “Right now we are working on planning English lessons for the students. But I’m sure there will be a lot of things to do. There are over 50,000 people who live and work in the dump. It’s a serious humanitarian crisis,” Neal explained.

The group is trying to fundraise for most of the trip’s expenses. The goal of $11,200 will cover the cost of room and board, as well as airfare for the group. “We have lots of things planned. We sold popcorn at the fair to raise some money, and we’ll be hosting other events before February,” he said.

A documentary screening will be held this Wednesday, Sept. 28 as one of the fundraising efforts. Although admission is free, there will be baked goods for sale and donations will be gratefully accepted. The documentary, Manos de Madres, follows the story of a single mother living in the Guatemala dump and how Safe Passage impacted her life.

The screening is from 6-8 p.m. at Lincoln Auditorium in Roberts Learning Center on the UMF campus.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

3 Comments

  1. Awesome endeavor! I have been to that dump. I know two girls who grew up on the dump and were adopted by a local missionary couple and they continued living in Guatemala City. The girls are now adults, healthy and doing well.
    I would like to suggest the team consider bringing water filters. These can be attached to buckets and are literally life-saving. When one of our church members returned to Guatemala after our trip, we collected money so he could bring as many water filters as money would allow. They brought them to a variety of communities and families so many could have clean water.
    Best of luck to the team!

  2. It takes courage. I am very proud of the group going and please remember them in your prayers especially for safety.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.