Expressions of Easter
In Jamaica, the Easter season starts with a public holiday on Ash Wednesday. For our program director in Jamaica, Sonja Robinson, and her family, that Ash Wednesday church service is the first of many they’ll attend during Lent. “It’s a very religious time for us,”...
A Holy Procession
In my home in Guatemala, Holy Week doesn’t start on the calendar, it begins with a scent. My mom always says her favorite childhood memory of Holy Week, Semana Santa, is the smell of corozo and incense. It's a fragrance found in streets adorned in purple and visits to...
Sharing Easter
Zenebe grew up with his parents, aunt, sister, and brothers in a one-room rented home. They had to walk to a community bathroom. They didn’t have beds, so they spread cardboard on the floor to sleep on. Despite their extremely limited finances, Easter was always a...
It’s Never too Late
Growing up, Sonia would wake in the early morning hours, and instead of heading to school, she'd walk for about 45 minutes to get to the city landfill. Day after day, sunshine or rain, she was at the garbage dump in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, collecting all kinds of...
Unstoppable Moms
Villa Guadalupe is home to more than 1,000 people. This area was once part of the capital city’s dumpsite, and it is where our Samaritan Scholars and their families live. Most of the parents of our scholars previously earned their living by working at the open-air...
A True Neighbor
In the heart of Apartama, a neighborhood next to a city garbage dump in Ethiopia, one woman stands as a beacon of hope, strength, and constant care—Yeshi. Her presence is not just felt but deeply respected, a rare feat in a patriarchal society where women’s leadership...
The Gift of Shoes
Clothes were becoming a big deal for me as a sixth grader at St. Scholastica on Detroit’s northwest side in the early 1980s. Our school had gone from mostly white to mostly black over the previous two years, and I was doing my best to keep pace. I let go of my Gordon...
Sisterhood at the Dumpsite
Making friends is very noble. Maintaining the friendship despite all odds is loyalty. The story of Regina and Sarah epitomizes true friendship, showcasing the essence of "a friend in need is a friend indeed." Regina and Sarah have been neighbors and co-workers at the...
Pressing On
“A lot of our Samaritan Scholars have had to grow up too quickly,” said our Program Director in Jamaica, Sonja Robinson. “They haven’t had the opportunity to just be children without responsibilities.” These students are growing up in Riverton, in an area known for...
Two Secret Pathways to Prosperity
How do we break the chains of poverty? This is the last in a three-part series on how we achieve our mission. The primary lever we use, thanks to your support, is a holistic scholarship, costing $3,000 per year for almost 1,000 students this year—or a $12,000...
Poverty to Prosperity
We received two responses last week to our invitation to share your story about the personal characteristics needed to help people break out of poverty. I enjoyed their responses so much that I thought I would share them with you.Dr. Richard Buchta Grew up in upstate...
What’s Your Story?
Someone, somewhere in your family line, broke out of poverty, an accomplishment that changes the direction of an entire family tree. Almost 1,000 young people in eight cities are working hard to accomplish a similar feat for their families this year through a...
