4H club members, headed to Guatemala, need help to get there

Jeff Green | Feb 17, 2016

Shelby Eves, who lives near Sydenham, and Hilary Voith, from Battersea, know each other from the Frontenac 4H club.

They share a passion for travel and a desire to make a difference in the world as well. When their 4H leader, Darlene Clement, started talking about Common Hope this past fall, the girls' interest was piqued.

Common Hope was founded 30 years ago by the Huebsch family from Minnesota. They began developing educational programs in Guatemala at that time, and have since established a family center, as well as education and health programs serving 11,000 children and adults in the vicinity of Antigua, Guatemala, located to the southwest of Guatemala City.

In addition to being a 4H leader, Darlene Clement is a member of the Kingston Rotary Club, and Rotary has developed a relationship with Common Hope. Part of that relationship involves trips to Common Hope programs by groups of high school students over the March school break.

Shelby and Hilary are the only two Kingston area students who are planning to go this year.

It will be Hilary's second trip to Latin America. Last May, she went to Nicaragua with her school, Lasalle Secondary, and spent a week working in a school. The trip was transformative for her.

“I found the difference between our two countries is very great. Everything they have, they value and cherish; community and family and friends are everything. I felt they were more down to earth, more connected with each other,” she said.

The participants in the Nicaragua trip had to give up their phones for a week, and when Hilary came back to Canada she found her attitude had changed.

“I didn't want my phone back. Over there, I was just teaching English, and trying to talk in Spanish, which was hard because I know so little. They got pencils from the program, and I remember one boy that was so happy to get a pencil, something we don’t even think about at all.”

Shelby is looking forward to seeing a different world, and to helping out.

“I look forward to looking at the faces of the people; to seeing how they react to things. It is a good feeling to help people out, and to learn about them and how they live; how they see the world,” she said.

“You could say - why don't you just send money, and they can buy school supplies - but it's more about breaking down these barriers between us,” added Hilary.

The girls don't know what they will be doing once they get to Guatemala. They could be working in a crew, building houses, going into homes with a worker, or teaching English.

“Whatever is asked of us, we are ready for it,” said Shelby.

The project also includes a fund-raising component. The group includes students from Cornwall and a number from Deep River, where the Rotary Club has a focus on this project.

As an entire group, they have a goal of raising $4,000 to donate. A Go Fund Me page has been set up for the team goal at gofundme.com/e3747qm8

Each individual participant needs to raise as much of the $1,600 US cost of the trip as they can through fund raising to subsidize their own costs.

Shelby and Hilary have done fund-raising in the community and at their schools; Hilary at Lasalle, and Shelby at Sydenham High School. Shelby can be contacted at 613-376-3913 and Hilary at 613-353-6388.

There will also be a fund raising Euchre party at the Storrington Fire Hall in Sunbury on Saturday, February 27 at 7:30 pm. Admission is $5 and there will be prizes, sandwiches and a draw in addition to the card game. All are welcome.

As for Hilary and Shelby, the trip is coming up in a few weeks and they are getting pretty excited about it.

“We have been planning this for four months,” said Shelby, “ever since we heard about it at 4H. There were four or five of us thinking about it at the start, but now it's just us two.”

The girls have become close friends through the planning for the trip, even though they did not know each other well beforehand.

“We know each other pretty well now, though,” said Hilary.