Day 3 Guatemala

Today was the cornerstone of the trip, to meet the person you sponsor. In my case it was a 9 year old girl I choose because she has the same birthday as my daughter which is a very special day, and she had a toy guitar in her picture, similar to my daughter’s as well. With that said, we began with morning prayer and breakfast as usual. Shortly after that they had us wait until things were ready for us to meet our child.

As soon as I walked into the gym I spotted her, and of course everyone was a bit nervous, considering the circumstances. However I was extremely humbled by the great love and kindness of this little girl and her family. I want to emphasize, I am not donating any crazy amount of money. It’s actually just $40 a month, and UNBOUND does amazing things for the family with this little bit. Ultimately if the child in this case follows the program, they’ll find themselves in a much better position of coming out of poverty. This currently includes living in a house made of sticks basically, on land they rent. The sticks/wood are in case they have to move.

Add this to the fact the father abandoned the family recently, and now she’s bullied for not having a father, in addition to a perceived awkward mannerism in her neck, kids do not appreciate. It was very humbling for me, which left me wanting to do more, like go to her town, so others could see me walk with her, but humbly I have to trust in the process and pray. I read Psalm 91:11 reminding her she has a guardian angel, and her birthday is a day before the feast of our Guardian Angel. Unknowingly the rosary I gave her to remind her she’s in my prayers, also had a Guardian Angel medallion on it. I now have a whole family praying for me too, which is very inspirational. There’s only 2 gifts I want anymore. If it’s material, I want the person to donate to a charity of my choice that serves the poor. The other gift is if I give something in charity, the one who receives, I simply ask for prayers that I can continue to do more and God’s will be done.

After greeting and getting to know each other a little, we were given a chance to exchange gifts. The family first off brought me unroasted coffee from their region. Truly my favorite gift from anyone, since it’s now a fresh gift I can share with others back home. In addition they brought fruits and a gift for my wife. I was able to give her a backpack that she enjoyed. My wife picked it up at the last moment, which was a very nice icing on the cake. In addition I gave her some of my merchandise since it was something authentic of myself. I shared the symbolism of my logo, since she was an evangelical Christian as well. They appreciated knowing the inspiration. The daughter at one point put the shirt on to be twins with me. Again, I was humbled. At that same time, I asked if she would hold the Elmo shirt up that I gave her. This was a double special moment, as it was a gift my daughter sent from her Sesame Street stash, that my cousin who worked for Sesame Street gave us. We’ve slowly share it with others, but today was really special. This cousin who worked with Sesame Street for 25 years, was laid off days due to budget cuts days ago. It was thoroughly appreciated when I sent the picture of the good her generosity continues to do.

We played games, enjoyed lunch together, and spoke on and off as it was simply just nice to be in their presence. Sadly by 3 pm they had to leave. It takes them about 7 hours to arrive where I was and they now were about to begin the challenging journey home. It was a sad and joyful goodbye, but there will be a return one day, maybe with my family.

The day finished with going to visit the grave site of the founders of everything we’re experiencing. They asked someone to say a prayer to commemorate the deceased, and when no one else volunteered, I was fortunate to be able to do what I enjoy best, invoking the prayers of the saints who have gone before us. My request first and foremost was asking for God’s Providence in bringing more people who need help to UNBOUND, in addition to bring those with resources to help those in need. I closed as well with asking that the founders pray for us on this journey, that we may do more of God’s will.

We then went to get ice cream, to which I was fortunate to have found a coffee shop next door. It was the first good cup of coffee I’ve had here. I noticed on their Instagram that they did pour overs and that’s when I made the detour to finally grab a cup. From here we had dinner, reflected on the day and now time to decompress and take it all in. Here’s the album