By the Grace of God

Earlier this month, we welcomed students and teachers from Regis Jesuit High School, located in Denver, Colorado, to San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The group was greeted with great love and joy by the scholarship program families, team, and community. Meeting in person was an emotional moment for us all after previously only seeing each other through video calls. 

We did many special activities with the scholars and students from Regis, including visiting the Richard Flasck Health Center, passing out food baskets, and delivering food and water to people working at the municipal landfill. We also worked on renovating the classroom at the San Ignacio de Loyola daycare center.

One of our highly anticipated days was when one of our scholarship students, José Gilson, took time off from work to help us with service projects. Gilson has a technical degree in refrigeration and is also completing a technical degree in electricity this year, two areas that complement each other very well, improving his job opportunities.

With great enthusiasm, Gilson installed the air conditioning in the International Samaritan program space at the daycare center. During the installation, he was accompanied by Regis students who supported him and observed the process as part of their practical learning. Other groups were in charge of cleaning and organizing the daycare center.

Additionally, one of the teams went to support one of our scholarship program graduates, Anthony, with the installation of his barbershop floor, helping with the cement, hauling sand, and other tasks. 

Since Gilson was with us, he also helped with the installation of air conditioning in the barbershop area, an important need for Anthony. Gilson performed both installations completely free of charge, as a token of gratitude to the scholarship program for all the support he has received over the years.

While on a lunch break, Gilson shared his life story with the students from Regis, along with his achievements and how he has grown with the support of the program. 

“I am one of those young people who, as a child, spent time at the municipal dump to earn an income and help their families,” Gilson said. 

He used to accompany his father and brother to the dumpsite, bringing home plastic bottles to sell and also bags of food scraps that he’d sell to a local pig farmer. In seventh grade, Gilson became a Samaritan Scholar. He received support so he could stay in school and study for a career. 

“By the grace of God, I am one of those young people who was able to leave the dump,” he said. “You truly change lives, because mine and my family’s have changed significantly since International Samaritan has supported me.”

After hearing Gilson’s story, some Regis students continued helping Gilson at the barbershop, while others organized to clean up the daycare center. Before ending the day, some students took the opportunity to get haircuts from Anthony.

It was a truly fulfilling and hopeful day!

International Samaritan is a Christ-centered organization built on Catholic Social Teaching. Our mission is to walk hand-in-hand with people who live and work in the garbage dumps of developing nations to help them break out of poverty.

We provide holistic scholarships for students from kindergarten through college, and we’re currently supporting nearly 1,000 scholars in Central America, the Caribbean, and East Africa.

Would your church or school group like to partner and travel with us? Learn about our Learn, Serve, Grow program.

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Erika Cuevas, Program Director

Erika has a degree in Management and Social Development. She has been working with International Samaritan since 2016 and before that she worked with at-risk children and youth for thirteen years. Her work consistently focuses on eradicating child labor in the municipal garbage dumps.