Steps of Hope-Guatemala

Tomorrow is Independence Day in Guatemala! 🇬🇹
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It is hard to believe that the school year has only about two months left. Our students are working hard to keep their grades up during this last semester but have also been enjoying the Independence day festivities starting this past week.
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Thank you to ALL of you who support us on so many ways...and to those who are faithful in prayer!

We are in the process of getting the future center's land soil tested! This is very important, as it is a scientific tool to assess and analyze the physical and engineering properties of the soil and its bearing capacity.
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Again, thanks to Miguel and his team for their support and knowledge!

Some of our students have been with us since 2015...and others just shortly after that!
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Thank you Ana for this special part of the celebration!

August 17 is the 9 year anniversary of Steps of Hope! 🥳 We celebrated with prayer, thanksgiving to God, a clown and lots of laughs, some photos of students when they were much younger, a gift, and of course good food! 😋
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God has guided us every step of the way and has working in the lives of these beautiful children. We give Him thanks for all that He has done in these past 9 years and all that He continues to do!

We continue to get closer to the official design for the future Steps of Hope center! Still many important questions and details involved...buy we are thankful God has put many amazing people/architects(aka Mary Weiss and Miguel Sunun) in our path to help!

We are thrilled to have a new addition to our playground! A climbing wall!
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Thank you Kimberly Neal for the idea...and Dawn for making it happen!

We were sad to see Laura go as she has been serving here since last week with Dawn! (Amazing Dawn has stayed with us).
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They have been busy building bunk beds, repairing things at the center that need repairs, building a climbing wall, organizing and handing out donated shoes, and loving on our children and staff.
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Every single person that comes makes a difference in the lives of the children at Steps of Hope! ❤️ Thank you Laura for making the difference!

We were so blessed to have Amanda, Kelly, and Isla with us this past week! (Isla was a rockstar, as our youngest volunteer!) They brought some craft activities and side walk chalk to decorate our walls with.
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They were also able to provide shoes for many of our students who are in need of them (which is always, always a need). We exciting to be giving them out!
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We are thankful for such big hearted people that choose to share their time and energy with our students and staff...we will miss you three and can't wait to have you back! ❤️

If you weren't able to catch up with Jessalyn on her recent visit and grab a copy of the official Steps of Hope-Guatemala, Inc. Annual Report for 2022-2023. You'll find it on our website at this link. Lots of good info and updates! We remain humbled by your support.
https://www.stepsofhopeguatemala.org/_files/ugd/0cdd66_eed452cca0f840b3a76e8a9d9eb8f317.pdf

There has been a tropical storm affecting Santa María and the surrounding areas since Sunday evening. The extremely strong winds and rain has caused some families to even have to evacuate their homes, as well as affected many houses and harvests.
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Please pray for the safety and protection of these families and that the storm passes quickly 🙏

We have water and electricity hooked up on the property for Steps of Hope!
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Making progress each week towards construction!

Executive Director Jessalyn Waddell de Mena and official Steps of Hope baby Vanessa applaud the wonderful turnout of more than 50 supporters last night. Thanks to all who made the visit! What a great night.

A Visit with Steps of Hope-Guatemala's Executive Director & Founder, Jessalyn Waddell de Mena: Thursday, June 6, 2024 • 6 - 7 p.m. Catonsville UMC • 6 Melvin Avenue • Catonsville, MD 21228. Hope to see you there! (Scheduled to appear: Vanessa. Lord willing!)

Play time for children is so important! 🤸‍♀️🤸‍♂️

We are so excited to finally be getting electricity and water connected at the future Steps of Hope Center, as well as looking to confirm the final design of the center within the next few weeks!
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Each step has been taken very seriously as it requires so many carefully thought out details. A big shout out to Byron who has been doing aj excellent job at managing this project!
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Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us during this entire process!

Today is Mother's Day in Guatemala! ❤️
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May God bless all of the mothers...which we also know that being a mother takes many forms. It may also be aunts, sisters, friends, and any woman that loves a child with her whole heart.

To celebrate the Taharka fundraiser...our kids also received ice cream from a very special someone!🍦😋

REMINDER-ICE CREAM for HOPE! Order by 11 p.m. TONITE!!

https://deliver.taharkabrothers.com
Enter school code:
STEPSOFHOPEGUATEMALA

Happy Easter to all! 🐣
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Because of Jesus' resurrection we can live in freedom.

ICE CREAM for HOPE!

https://deliver.taharkabrothers.com
Enter school code:
STEPSOFHOPEGUATEMALA

Thank you once again Water4Life Ministry for donating your amazing filters! Clean water in the home is a such a huge gift 🙏

From education and play time, to enjoying a meal-we are thankful to provide all that we can to our students!

Part 3: The last day of the CUMC mission team was a powerful day-as we dedicated the land for the future of Steps of Hope to God.
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Throughout the week Mary had been working hard on making the plans and design for the future center. Her commitment to ensuring that we have the best building we can provide our students was SO appreciated. Thank you Mary!

Part 2: Construction! Some of the week was dedicated to building bunk beds for the children of the center, as well as building much needed shelves for the classrooms.
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So many relationships were made and made stronger this week.