In March of 1999 we traveled to Guatemala to visit the buildings constructed with money raised in Daniel’s name. It was an amazing and rewarding trip!
During our trip we were hosted and escorted by Bob Hentzen, then President of the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (now known as Unbound), along with his wife and son. He was an American who spent most of his life living and working in South and Central America, someone really dedicated to helping the less fortunate.
A school was needed
CFCA raised money in Daniel’s name to build a needed school in the town where our sponsored child lived. They needed only $31,000 (just a rudimentary structure compared to our schools) but ended up raising over $77,000! We traveled to Guatemala to meet Evi, our sponsored child, for the first time and witness the dedication of that school, plus another building being constructed elsewhere with the extra money!
We were really impressed with how far an American dollar goes there. Many volunteers were used. The school they were building in Daniel’s memory had a 14-room high school and a 6-room elementary school. The elementary part was done already, and the high school was about 2/3 done. They had a very nice reception for us in San Ixtan, complete with a Mass said in Daniel’s memory. It was very moving, with school children singing beautifully. As seen in the photo, they installed a beautiful plaque and picture of Daniel.
A new library!!! We then traveled a hundred miles away, to the city of San Lucas Toliban, which lies on Lake Atitlan. There we saw the other structure being built with the CFCA funds. It was not a school, as we had assumed: it was a library!!! What a pleasant and symbolic surprise for us, given that Daniel’s life ended in the Columbine library. And how pleasing to know this was the first dedicated library for this city of over 20,000 people!
wrote to me and sent photos. Note Daniel’s photo on the wall.
Once again, we were surprised to discover how much could be built with less than $40,000: a two-story building, complete with books, computers and a t.v. and VCR. The building was built mostly by local apprentice laborers, though there were a number of college students there from Illinois on spring break providing voluntary help.
Appreciative community
The library is adjacent to the parish school and church. They held a Mass for us in the church (built in l572!). After the Mass they presented us with gifts, including a wonderful wood carving of “Daniel in the lion’s den” carved by a villager. It was all quite moving.
Afterwards, we visited each classroom, and the children gave us handmade cards. They were so appreciative and friendly. We were particularly impressed with the spirit of the schoolchildren we met. They seemed so energetic and enthusiastic, not downtrodden, despite their poverty and the fact this country had been torn recently by a civil war. We developed an appreciation for how much we have in America; the people’s strength inspired us and their suffering provided us with a context for our own our suffering.
was held. This church was built in the 1500s.
Daniel Mauser Memorial Website 