Safe Passage (Maine)
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Safe Passage or Camino Seguro is a non-profit organization that provides school enrollment and after-school support for poor children whose families scavenge the Guatemala City Garbage Dump in Guatemala City. Safe Passage was founded in 1999 by the late Hanley Denning. The organization assists over 550 children.[1] [2] Safe Passage relies on child sponsorships to keep the program running.
Safe Passage also runs a vocational center where children can learn carpentry, metal working, and baking. The organization has also opened a hotel, Posada Lazos Fuertes, where students on the weekends can learn hospitality.[3] Volunteers make Safe Passage run. They help in the classrooms, run special arts and crafts projects, teach vocational skills, help in many other ways.
The organization has an office on Route 1 in Yarmouth, Maine.
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[edit] History
Safe Passage was founded in 1999 by the late Hanley Denning. Hanley was a teacher in North Carolina who travelled to Guatemala to learn Spanish. While in Guatemala, the lady she was staying with told her that she wanted her to see the Guatemala City Garbage Dump. After seeing this, Hanley called home and asked her parents to sell her car, computer, and other belongs so that she could start a program to help the people of the dump. With around $5,000, she started a drop-in program in a church outside of the dump. Approximately 40 kids showed up in the first week. People gave her a hard time at first, because others had tried to help them but given up. Hanley persevered and about six months later gained people's confidence.
Hanley Denning, was killed on January 18, 2007 when a bus with no brakes collided head-on with the car she was riding in. The car's driver, a Guatemalan father, was also killed. Two volunteers riding in the back seat of the car were injured. Hanley was 36 and known as "El Angel del Basurero," or "The Angel of the Garbage Dump"[4]
[edit] Mission
Safe Passage works to "combat poverty through education." The families of Safe Passage children scavenge through the Guatemala City Dump for items to resell. The organization works to enroll these children in the public schools. The public schools are technically free, but students must provide their own books, supplies, and uniforms, which is prohibitive for these poor people. The school day in Guatemala runs a half-day, so Safe Passage runs a support program for the other half of the day. Students come to Safe Passage for the half of the day that they are not in school. There they are separated by class level and do activities that reinforce what they are learning school. They receive a snack and lunch. If students miss less than three days of school a month and less than three days at the program, their family receives a food bag, with the equivalent of what the money the child would likely have earned if not in school.
[edit] Fundraising
Safe Passage relies on child sponsorships to keep the program running, and many fundraisers have been held across the country. In November 2006, a fund raiser "Unmasking the Truth" was held at the Children's Museum of Maine, and an event called "La Fiesta" was held in Michigan. A school supply drive in Maine was organized in December 2006. Many high schools have also held fund raisers for Safe Passage. Events include bottle and coin drives, school dances, badminton tournaments, bake sales, and presentations.
In 2005, a 5k roadrace was organized in Cumberland, Maine to benefit Safe Passage. The third annual run will be held on April 28, 2007.[5] Over $22,000 has already been raised through this race.
[edit] "Recycled Life" documentary film
The Academy-Award nominated short documentary "Recycled Life" by Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad focuses on the lives of those who work in the Guatemala City Garbage Dump. Hanley Denning appears briefly in the film, and the DVD includes a special video tribute to her. The documentary is scheduled to be shown on HBO in the fall of 2007.[6]
