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Safe Passage (Camino Seguro)

 

Entrepreneur: Hanley Denning

Address:

PO Box 663
Yarmouth, ME 04096

Telephone: (207) 846-1188
Email: caminoseguro@hotmail.com
Web Site: http://www.safepassage.org

Grant Amount: $47,340 (2004); $30,214 (2006)

 

Mission Statement

Safe Passage represents an effort to provide hundreds of children at the Guatemala City garbage dump with the skills, caring support, and supervision they need in order to lift themselves and their families from grinding poverty. We work to help these at-risk children stay in school and pursue their dreams of an education.

Purpose of Grant

$47,340 (2004) Support toward the development and operation of a hotel (Lazos Fuertes) that provides training and marketable experience for at-risk youth from the Guatemala City Garbage Dump in the areas of food service, tourism, and hospitality.

$30,214 (2006) Additional support for the hotel training program and to help launch an affiliated "events planning" initiative in a separate location.

Additional Information

The areas in which Safe Passage works are plagued by drug abuse and crime. For the many children who come to them each day, Safe Passage represents a refuge from the painful realities of a life marked by extreme poverty, abuse and neglect.

Safe Passage is not a "hand out" project but instead endeavors to empower the child and family to assume responsibility and play an active role in the child's education. Education is beyond the reach of most, as they cannot afford the uniforms, books, school supplies and enrollment fee required by the Guatemalan public schools.

Safe Passage has turned the dream of an education into a reality for many of the children living there. Among them is a 12-year-old girl in the first grade. She is the first in her family to attend school. All of those working to make Safe Passage a success are guided by a strong commitment to serving the poorest Guatemala's children. They are working to instill within each child a sense of hope and possibility and provide them with the reinforcement, care and support they need to turn their dreams of an education into a reality.