When you see children working in garbage dumps, it changes you. You know there is nothing they did to deserve such a punishing life. You can’t pretend you didn’t see it and just assume that everything is going to be OK, because it is fundamentally not.
A person working in a garbage dump has an average life expectancy of 35 years. And that doesn’t even speak to the horrors they live with daily. This is why every single holistic scholarship that you help provide means so much to them! This is why we are asking you and all of our friends to help fund 50 new scholarships for students who have been given the chance to escape a life in the most squalid poverty.
When you give to support a scholarship, you are giving childhood back to children. This week, I want to share with you some of the lives that have been transformed as a result of your giving. The “before” pictures would break your heart. Here are some of the “after” pictures from just the last few weeks of this school year.
Bianca (left) in Jamaica got one of the highest scores on her national exams! Angie (right) shows off her Academic Distinction for Excellence from her school in Nicaragua.
Diego (left) marches in a Day of the Child parade in Honduras. He is dressed as the engineer he wants to be after seeing an engineer lead the building of a water system in his community (Buen Samaritano) last spring. Mariam (right) is dressed in traditional Nicaraguan attire for a school celebration.
Young scholars in Ethiopia last week were preparing to celebrate their New Year.
Liam (circled left) was asked to join a celebration because of how well he is doing in school in Nicaragua. Stiven (right) sent us this photo to say thank you for giving him a chance in Honduras.
I thank God that these children have a childhood and a future because of you!
So many more children like them still need you. Please support a scholarship for one of them by raising money or by simply donating to this year’s IntSam Global 5K.
The race T-shirts have arrived!
Our USA team members are ready for the IntSam Global 5K.
You can register at intsamglobal5K.com.
Mike Tenbusch, IntSam President
Mike joined IntSam in 2018 after two decades of leading social change in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. He’s a University of Michigan Law grad and author of The Jonathan Effect: Helping Kids and Schools Win the Battle Against Poverty. He and his wife, Maritza, have three children who keep them young.
What’s Your Story?
Someone, somewhere in your family line, broke out of poverty, an accomplishment that changes the...
It’s Not an Impossible Dream
International Samaritan’s founders were shocked when they visited a dumpsite in Guatemala. With...
It’s a Wonderful World
One of the blessings of my role here at International Samaritan is to visit with our teams and...
Showing Love with Food
In Honduras, “everyone knows how to make nacatamales,” says Ronia Romero, our program director in...
A Gift of Christmas Cake
When Christmas nears, the Jamaican Christmas cakes start appearing. “The newspaper man gets a...
For Your Holiday Table
In Ethiopia, “there’s no such thing as Christmas morning gifts,” said Selam Kahsay, our Health and...