Bountiful BECAS!

What on earth is a BECA?

That is something I asked myself when I first met Melanie and she told me that we "do" BECAS. Hmmm...

A BECA is basically a scholarship given to kids and teenagers so they can go to school. So many of them cannot afford to go, but they want to so badly! I have overheard several parents that we have given BECAS to say to their kids, "Be thankful that you can go to school, because without school you can't do anything. If you go to school you can get a good job!"

Guatemalans work in order to survive. In some cases it is more serious than others. For example, Clarita and Gaby (the girls shown below) are a prime example of children in a desperate and somewhat hopeless case. Their father died a couple of years back, from what, I do not know, so their mother left them with her old father and she took off with some guy. So here is this old man with two girls, six and eight years old and no work! He has very little to support them with.

So Porch de Salomon is giving these girls a BECA and a chance to not miss out on their education. An education gives them a chance to succeed in this life and to do something different if they choose to; other than end up making tortillas for the rest of their lives! So many young women end up doing that or working in the markets selling fruits and vegetables. (I have to say though, THANK GOD for tortilla ladies... they make the best corn tortillas here, so warm and soft!)

So THANKS to all the families in Florida and all over the world that give so generously to the BECA program! There are many organizations all around the country doing the same thing and when everyone pitches in and helps these kids go to school, we are making a better Guatemala for their children and grandchildren and for generations to come.

PRAYER REQUEST: Pray for the children during this school year. Pray that God will continue to provide for their needs, like supplies and uniforms, so that they can succeed in thier education!