Mark and Evonne Zalewski, together with Larry Winkelhake and his wife Jean Guzetta, will represent Elmbrook Rotary Club in Antigua, Guatemala, at the high school graduation of their sponsored students (Monica Rivera & Carlos de Leon, respectively). They will also visit our own club student (Sergio Cuc), who is finishing 11th grade.
This graduation trip encompasses five days of learning about Common Hope’s programs, diving deeper into Guatemalan culture, and of course attending the graduation ceremony to see their sponsored students receive their diplomas.
Mark and Evonne began sponsoring Monica Esquivel Rivera six plus years ago as an outgrowth of their first Vision Team experience in 2013. Having visited her several times, they have steadily tracked her progress and are very proud of her. She will graduate into the field of teaching and hopes to be a doctor someday.
Larry and Jean attended the graduation of our club student, Juan Pablo Martinez Ramirez, in 2018. During that week met Carlos de Leon, who is majoring in Accountancy and IT. They became his sponsor and will see him graduate, as well as spend time with his family, during the visit.
ERC’s club student this year, Sergio Cuc, is finishing 11th grade and will graduate in November 2020 in the field of automobile mechanics.
Anyone interested in representing Elmbrook Rotarians at that event should contact Erik Moeser. We have had representation from the club every year since 2014. It is a display of amazing volunteerism in action and is so very meaningful to the graduates as they begin an adult life that is quite different from those who do not have the advantages of an affiliation with Common Hope.
The graduation trips, Vision Teams, and club student sponsorships are a project of the ERC International Committee in the broad field of literacy, helping Common Hope create environments to allow school attendance rather than the more common practice of field labor (that occurs from sometimes an alarmingly early age). The results, per a University of Chicago study, are palpable and measurable.
Just a reminder: Anyone can sponsor or “half sponsor” a Guatemalan student through Common Hope.
