Safe Passage: Creando Esperanza y Oportunidad / Creating Hope and Opportunity

     

T-shirts worn by all the students at Safe Passage

This photo says it all: "Creating Hope and Opportunity".  The Cape Elizabeth 2013 Safe Passage team had a memorable experience volunteering at Safe Passage. The Guatemalan children seemed to enjoy our Olympics and Spelling Bee projects, in which we combined academics with fun. We noticed that the children were willing to engage in activities, regardless of the fact that we were yet another group of volunteers with whom they worked. They had a genuine desire to learn and work with us. The smiles on their faces said it all.

The program provided hope and opportunity to the Cape Elizabeth students because they now have a new perspective on life outside of our town. Many plan to use this service team opportunity to continue volunteer work in their school and community and some are going to sponsor a child in the Safe Passage program.

Thank you to the many community members who supported our fundraisers throughout the year. Also, a big thanks to our major donors: the South Portland - Cape Elizabeth Rotary Club, the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation, and the Cape Elizabeth High School Safe Passage Club.

Sincerely,

Cape Elizabeth 2013 Safe Passage Team

CE Safe Passage Team Trip Video

Mr. O made a wonderful video of our Safe Passage Service trip. It includes our excursions to San Antonio Aguas Calientes, the Filadelfia Coffee Plantation, our service work at Camino Seguro, a hike up Pacaya Volcano, and team members' reflections on the trip.

Video link is here.

CE Students and Chaperones

Day #9, Return to Maine, waiting in airports and Logan arrival

CE Safe Passage Team filling out the Guatemala exit form and the U.S. Customs and Immigration form, right after checking in bags at Guatemala City Airport.

Waiting in the Guatemala City airport for flight to Miami. Hmmm...could Will and Parker be watching soccer on the monitor??

Guatemala City Airport, waiting at our gate.










At Miami International Airport, tram from international arrivals to our gate for Boston flight.

Last leg of trip, picking up our bags at Logan and then off to find the CE school bus for our trip to Maine.












There was a loud HURRAH on the bus when we crossed the NH line into Maine. ¡Glad to be home!

Day #9, Returning to Cape, last day in Guatemala

After a busy eight days, we're ready to return home. We left for the Guatemala City airport at 10 a.m. from Hotel Casa Antigua on Monday, July 1. We had some time to walk around Antigua prior to our departure: last minute trips to the market, packing, walking around Antigua, or buying our last Guatemalan coffee.

Monday morning, half an hour before departure,  an Antigua street half a block from our hotel. We walked down this street, towards the volcano, to go to the banks, the main plaza, artists' markets, and past a team favorite restaurant, Monoloco.







Esperanza and Edgar gave us yellow ribbons to tie to our suitcases so they'd be easier to spot in the airport. ¡Gracias a los dos! It made it much easier in Miami and Logan to pull any yellow-ribboned bag off the conveyor belt. We had our 26+ bags all together in no time. We learned this trick from a large Bangor mission trip traveling with us on the flight down to Guatemala.

The hotel courtyard, while we're waiting to load vans.  Hotel personnel arranged fresh flowers in the fountain after a Saturday morning market trip to buy flowers.

Waiting in hotel lobby, Monday morning. Ready to return to Maine.

Van #1 on the way to Guate Airport, leaving Antigua area.

Day #8, Chichicastenango

Today, our last day in Guatemala, we went to Chichicastenango, an indigenous area in the Guatemala Highlands. Students bargained and bought souvenirs for family, friends and themselves. Chichicastenango is a explosion of sounds, colors, people, crowds, smells, hawkers, tourists, and more. It's the largest indigenous open-air market in Central America.

Day #7, Saturday afternoon in Antigua

After the bowling excursion, we spent the afternoon in Antigua. Students went to the local open-air market, hung out at the hotel, or visited some of the city's cultural sites.

Before our Safe Passage Good-bye Dinner, the students wrote lots of thank-you letters and post cards to the numerous relatives, friends, neighbors, and civic organizations that supported our trip. We'll mail them from the U.S. to be sure that they arrive.

After dinner the team posed for a group photo in the hotel courtyard at about 10:30 p.m.