Senahú – Guatemala
I had the tremendous opportunity to be part of a humanitarian service mission to Senahú, Guatemala. The trip was facilitated by the Charity Anywhere Foundation, but a major shoutout to my good friend, Hannah Hawkes, for organizing everything and truly making it possible for everyone in our group of 16 to come.
The main focus of the trip was to help support the efforts of Narú, a foundation in Senahú dedicated to helping malnourished children and educating the mothers on how to better feed their children, prepare their food, clean their homes and so much more. This foundation is in the process of building a distribution outpost to be closer to those who travel great distances to take advantage of Narú’s resources. We helped with the construction efforts as well to help lighten the load of the small full-time crew that’s out there.
In addition to that, we helped by delivering food to really poor families. We put fluoride on the teeth of 500+ children. We taught 30+ women how to use electric sewing machines. We had a massage therapist who taught a family how to improve their technique. We had a highly skilled programmer who made time to teach a small group of teenagers how to create a user database using python.
Even though our time was short, our hope is that we had made a lasting difference in their lives with the many different things we were able to do while we were there.
If you’ve considering doing a trip like this – we would recommend the adventure that is Senahú. While it is truly an adventure (and a journey to get there), you’ll be forever touched by the graciousness of the locals and how even the simplest acts of kindness can touch your heart.
P.S. – At the end of our time in Senahú, we took a quick side-trip to Tikal, Guatemala so we could take in the sites of the ancient Mayan temples that are truly jaw dropping when you consider how all of it came to be.