Ten Creston Valley residents are leaving for Guatemala on Feb. 12, and are hoping to take school supplies and personal items to students in 20 schools. A donation box is at Glad Tidings Pentecostal Church is ready to be filled with pencils, erasers, new bottles of children’s vitamins and toothbrushes.
Heidi Graham de Olivares, who spends three months in Creston and six months in Guatemala, has worked for six years for Seeds International, which offers humanitarian aid in the form of a Bible and course book, which teaches students about God, morals, respect for others.
“They love it,” said Olivares. “I’ve had teachers say the whole class has changed.”
She works with 3,500 Grade 5 students in 127 schools, most of which are in very poor areas of the country. At one of the schools, the 10 Crestonites visiting with her will help cement one 400-square metre schoolyard, currently in rough condition.
“During the rainy season, the rain puts ruts into it,” said Olivares. “The other half of the year, it’s a big mud pit.”
For some students, Grade 5 is their last year before heading to high school, and for many others, it is their last-ever year. One student, in particular, encouraged his entire family to change through the Seeds program.
“At the end, he took his Bible and was memorizing all these scriptures,” Olivares said. “He would memorize these totally random verses.”
The boy’s father was an alcoholic who beat his wife.
“They noticed a change. His dad quit drinking and started to go to church. … His mom was illiterate and got him to read the Bible to her. She started to not just go to church, but enrolled in a literacy program.”
Experiences like that are the ones that keep Olivares going back for more.
“I can’t imagine a better job,” she said.