Evanthia
Speliotis, PhD
Our Guatemala
Enchantment: Student Reflections on
their Experience
Spring Break 2019
was the 22nd year that Bellarmine students traveled to Guatemala. Each
year, we begin our preparations from the preceding October. Meeting
weekly, we learn about the history, politics, culture, and deep poverty
of Guatemala, discuss the role our politics and economy play in
that poverty, hold the numerous fundraisers necessary to raise over
$70,000, and begin to bond as a community - a family. In Guatemala,
working with Hearts in Motion, our work varies depending on need: we paint,
we aid in construction (have you ever mixed cement by hand?),
we offer dental clinics. More than anything, however, students witness
firsthand the reality that is Guatemala; hopefully seeing as they go
forward with their lives, that they will do something to address the great
need and poverty that exists all around - not necessarily in
Guatemala, but wherever the locale.
