by David LaMotte, co-founder of Senderos
Last weekend in the United States we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In our house, we call it “Interdependence Day,” since I asked Deanna to marry me on that day 24 years ago. Amazingly, she accepted, and our subsequent honeymoon in Guatemala led to the founding of Senderos.
On the Fourth of July, we talk a lot about ‘freedom’, and that had me thinking about what the word really means. In its most basic form, it seems to me that freedom simply means the opportunity to choose between multiple options. In the United States, we are particularly fond of, and accustomed to, having lots of choices, as almost any supermarket cereal aisle clearly illustrates. Deeper freedoms, like being able to choose a career path, or choose where you would like to live, are taken for granted by many, and less available to others.
My son Mason is 17, and in a couple of months he will start his senior year in high school. People are constantly asking him where he plans to go to college, or whether he will make a different choice. For the record, he actually hopes to take a gap year in Guatemala. But my point is that he has choices. Lots of them. There are options that are unlikely, as well, but there is no shortage of paths to choose from.
Children growing up in the village of Tz’anchaj, not far from Santiago, Atitlán, often have fewer choices. Economic realities sometimes mean that parents will sometimes encourage them to drop out of school in order to work, selling candy on street corners or working at farms. They might join their fathers getting up before dawn to hike up the mountains and cut leña,the wood that most people use to cook. Or they might shine shoes in the town square. But because of the limitations of local educational systems and of the local economy, there are not too many options for career paths.
Senderos means “pathways” in Spanish, and that is really the heart of our work: creating options for children in Guatemala, and access to other ways forward. Through education, nutrition, and a loving environment that leaves room for children to dream a little bigger, the kids who go to the Escuela Comunitaria David LaMotte have support that opens up more pathways, and creates a bit more freedom. The same is true of the support offered to young musicians in El Tejar, or youth in the Brillaguate program, who get the educational, social, and material resources they need to get through high school and veer away from generational cycles of poverty. It is beautiful to see what that freedom can lead to.
Thank you for supporting this work and being a part of the good things happening there through the good work of the teachers and community leaders who are our partners in Guatemala. If you would like to meet them and see this work for yourself, registration for the 2027 trip is now open and we would love to take you along. If you are able to contribute to this work financially, we are deeply grateful to you for walking alongside us. Please keep in touch, and together, we will do what we can to let freedom ring.
