By MARK MISIAK
Contributing Writer
May 07, 2008 04:00 am
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PLATTSBURGH -- Pens, pencils and paper.
Three things that almost all children in the North Country have packed away in their backpack with their peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches.
For children in Third World countries, the chance to even go to school, let alone bring basic supplies and a lunch, is a privilege, not a right.
Guatemala, a small Central American nation of about 12 million people, has one of the lowest gross domestic products and one of the highest poverty rates in the world.
Thanks to the efforts of a former North Country couple, current residents and a school community, one Guatemalan school is able to give its students a brighter future.
Colin Price, a 1997 graduate of Northeastern Clinton Central School, and his wife, Sarah, took a trip to Guatemala last spring. After visiting a school in the village of El Hato, they returned vowing to do all they could to help the children have the best educational and life experience possible.
El Hato, just five miles from Antigua -- a well-known tourist hot spot -- has a population of about 800 people. Families are often made up of six to eight children, many of whom live in poverty.
VITAMIN SUPPLIES
"The first thing I noticed is how calorie-deficient the children were," Colin said. "They eat a diet of mainly rice, beans and tortillas but very few fruits and vegetables, so they are therefore lacking essential vitamins."
Colin and Sarah, who are both pharmacists, had a friend who was more than willing to help with the problem. Dan Bosely, the owner of Cornerstone Drug and Keeseville Pharmacy, donated more than 20,000 vitamins to the effort. "Our biggest challenge has been actually getting the vitamins to Guatemala," said Colin. "Luckily, we've been able to find travelers who were going to visit the area anyway."
FINANCIAL STRAIN
Most of the effort has gone toward improving conditions at the school.
"Families only earn about $200 U.S. per month, while schooling one child costs about $30 per year," said Colin's mother, Janet McFetridge, who is also involved in the project.
"Multiply that a few times over, and there is little money left over for even the most basic necessities," she said, adding that many of El Hato's residents work for resorts in Antigua. "These people are often forced to walk five miles to work. There is a bus, but it costs about a third of their wages."
SCHOOL DONATIONS
McFetridge, who teaches French at Northeastern Clinton Central School, was influential in orchestrating a campaign at the school that helped raise money and supplies for the school in El Hato.
Colin noted that, through a raffle, about $700 was raised -- enough to buy a refrigerator for the El Hato school.
"We held a raffle at the school to raise money, and it went really well," McFetridge said. "We (the McFetridges) own a bed and breakfast in Lake Placid, so we donated a two-night stay as one of the prizes."
Her son Connor, who is a junior at NCCS, also decided to help out, sponsoring a year's tuition for a child and helping with the raffle.
"The senior class decided to sponsor three children and also donated a bunch of supplies," said McFetridge.
The school was able to amass about six big bags of pens, pencils, markers, erasers and other basic supplies.
McFetridge and the Prices plan to visit the village in the not-too-distant future. When they do, they will no doubt be able to see the fruits of their labor.
"It's hard to imagine that just two years ago the mothers in this village carried wood to school each morning to cook 170 children breakfast over a wood fire," Colin said. "Now, they have a propane stove. They also just got running water."
He and Sarah have also sponsored individual children.
"We get updates almost weekly, and it seems like things are getting a lot better," he said. "There's still a lot to do, though.
"These people have so little, and yet they are so happy. They have a zest for life that we just love."
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