Celebrating local strength and determination to thrive💛

10th Anniversary of Escuela Milagros

Ten years ago, Amigos de Santa Cruz and donors Jan and Gary Jantzen met in a coffee plantation with a group of parents from the small, remote mountain village of Tzanjomel to listen to them express their wishes for a better life for their children. They prayed for a school. Because of that meeting and the generous hearts of special donors, Amigos was able to work with the community to build its first school which was named “Escuela Milagros” (Miracle School). Before Escuela Milagros opened its doors in 2012, children of Tzanjomel as young as five years old had to trek almost an hour on treacherous mountain paths, across rivers that flooded during the rainy season, to attend school in the neighboring village of Tzununa. Their parents, mostly poor subsistence farmers, rarely sent their children to school and instead put them to work helping in the home and in the fields. For those who did attend school, most dropped out after a few years. None made it to the 6^th grade.

Over the past 10 years other generous family donors have funded the expansion of two second story classrooms and a small computer lab. Since then, Escuela Milagros has become a thriving center of village life in Tzanjomel and it is changing perceptions on the importance of education in this community. In 2021, together with some of the same donors, Amigos purchased a new piece of land to extend the school. This will become a new sports and recreation space for the children to play, community to meet, and extra space for outside classrooms and a community garden.

A special thanks to our Tzanjomel donors, Jan & Gary Jantzen, Karen & Richard Theil, Neal Carson, Annemarie Russell and Charlie Roof for their generous support. Without them, Escuela Milagros would not have become a reality.❤️

Children from Tzanjomel carrying la Primera Piedra (First Stone) before the construction of the school began 10 years ago.

Help us to create better educational conditions

Meet Alfredo Santos

Head Waiter of Amigos' Café Sabor Cruceño

"For me, my job means a lot of responsibility and courage to be able to achieve my goals. The interactions with my clients are special to me, I see them as a way of learning about people, about myself and about so many fascinating languages! For my family, my work means a regular source of income to support them, both my parents and my younger siblings benefit from it. My dream is to finish my studies, strengthen my English and become the man I know I can become. Until then, I will continue to do my best, what else can I do, right?".

Alfredo is a young man from Santa Cruz who always loved seeing how the older women of his village cook. He was mesmerized by the way they mix the ingredients with so much wisdom and love for their families. This interest led him to enroll in the Amigos Culinary Program back in 2015.

Alfredo's trajectory to what he has achieved today is unique and filled with challenges. Just a year after graduating from the Culinary Program, the boat that Alfredo was traveling in to return home from work late one evening crashing into a rocky hillside, leaving him in a come for weeks with skull injuries and contusions. It was unclear that he would even survive, let alone be able to continue to work. Five years later, Alfredo is now not just back at work but thriving in his role as Head Waiter for Amigos' social business, Café Sabor Cruceño. Alfredo's will to overcome and the support of his family were stronger than his physical and emotional injuries. So much so that today he is not only head waiter, but also our newest trained Instructor of Guatemalan Cooking Classes for tourists - all in English!

Way to go Alfredo!

Consider becoming a monthly donor.

Help the children of Tzanjomel have access to a quality education. Support the purchase of school supplies and healthy daily snacks for a class of students with a donation of just $20 per month.

Support one student in our Culinary Program with a donation of $75 per month that will help to pay for qualified instructors, uniforms, and food products and other supplies.

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