When Brenda Hunsberger turned 50 earlier this year, she skipped the presents and decided to use the occasion to make a difference. After reading about our educational work with indigenous children, she contacted Child Aid and set out to raise enough money to support our Reading for Life program in the village of Santa Lucía Utatlán, Guatemala. Over the course of a year, Brenda and her partner, Patti Boote, raised over $9,800 for the community, all through modest donations from friends, colleagues and family.

Last month, Brenda and Patti traveled with us to Guatemala to see the fruits of their effort firsthand. They visited Child Aid partner villages, observed our field staff in action and journeyed by “chicken bus” out to Santa Lucía, where they spent four days volunteering in the village library they supported.

“The most special part,” Brenda told us, “was the day we were invited to the principal’s father’s home for lunch. They made this big lunch for a dozen of us. No one spoke English and we hardly speak Spanish, but we had an absolutely wonderful time.”

When we asked them about Reading for Life, Patti replied that “Child Aid’s work was much more than we ever thought it was going to be. This is so much more than building a library – it’s about supporting a whole community.”