This post is also available in: Spanish
October began and the adventures of our new SALTers in their placements did as well. This year, our team received Michaela Pries-Klassen from Ontario, Canada, and Ryan Hartman from Tenessee, USA, as part of the Serving and Learning Together (SALT) program which is a year-long, cross-cultural service experience. They both are currently serving in Guatemala and El Salvador with MCC partner organizations in a fully inmersed cultural experience where they live with local host families and learn Spanish, while working alongside local organizations.
Ryan will be serving and working with children in one of the daycares that ANADES, an MCC partner organization, has in Perquin (in the department of Morazan), El Salvador which is called “Centro Hogar Rogelio Ponseele”. Perquín is a small town, very close to the border with Honduras and its natural beauty is as overwhelming as its past – all around stand low, stocky mountains, connected by broad valleys and a patchwork of subsistence farms.
Michaela will be serving with ANADESA in Santiago Atitlan, Department of Sololá as a community development facilitator. This place is right in front of the Atitlan Lake, one of the most beautiful attractions in Guatemala. Santiago is a touristic destination visited by people from all over the world, however, most of the people that she will interact with are indigenous, having the Tzutuhil language as their first language and spanish as their second language.
This year, we also sent a Guatemalan participant, Mónica Figueroa, to serve through the IVEP Exchange program in Quebec, Canadá as a community worker/assistant in a thrift store and in an emergency food program for the residents of a low-income neighbourhood in Montreal.
The Mennonite Central Comittee has 4 programs for young Christian adults to serve internationally:
· SALT: Serving and Learning Together –
A one year program for Christian young adults between 18 and 30 years old from the U.S. and Canada that serve internationally in a wide variety of positions in fields like education, agriculture, health care, information technology, peace and more!
· IVEP: International Volunteer Exchange Program-
A yearlong work and cultural exchange opportunity for young, Christian adults between 18 and 30 years old from 25 countries around the world to volunteer in the U.S. or Canada, where they live with a local person or family, as well as they serve in schools, thrift shops, retirement homes, day cares, farms or others places.
· YAMEN!: Young Anabaptist Mennonite Exchange Network-
A year-long service opportunity for young,Christian adults between 18 and 30 years old from outside the U.S. and Canada. YAMEN participants live in a new culture in a country outside U.S. or Canada, while serving in places like schools, farms, community agencies and day cares.
· SEED:
A two-year program that brings together young adults from around the world to reflect, serve and work for peace. SEED participants live in communities in either Colombia or Bolivia and serve with MCC partner organizations that are working locally to address issues such as violence, poverty and oppression.
In order to work or serve with MCC, you must meet three faith criteria:
1. You are committed to Christian faith.
2. You actively participate in a Christian church.
3. You are committed to peace and nonviolence.
2. You actively participate in a Christian church.
3. You are committed to peace and nonviolence.
Apply now for our 2015-2016 year!
Contact us at: connectingguatemala@mcc.org