Celebrating 20 Years of Success

It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come in 20 short years. It seems like only yesterday that Dave and Betty Huebsch arrived in Guatemala with their sleeves rolled up and their hearts and minds open, ready to serve the poor. In 1986, they enlisted our first Sponsors and were able to enroll children in school. The organization that was to become Common Hope was born.

John Huebsch, Executive Director, looking at the plans for the Anitgua site in 1993.

The early days were unpredictable in Guatemala. The war was raging, and a death threat on a deserted mountain road drove Dave and Betty back to Minnesota after two years. Even though they were forced to temporarily shut down the project, their hearts remained with the people they had come to love. Then Betty suddenly died at age 52. Dave and his son John returned to Guatemala in 1990 to re-establish their work in the villages surrounding Antigua. They started with 175 children needing Sponsors. They worked from a small house, with supplies and medicine stacked all around them. Dentists worked in the dining room, and volunteers crammed into the bedrooms. The garage was a waiting room, work area, mini-soccer field, and lumber storage area… as well as a place to park the old blue van at night. But the needs were great, people kept coming, and soon Common Hope needed to expand.

During the next 10 years, Common Hope experienced tremendous growth. A construction crew of 50 fathers, brothers, and uncles of sponsored children worked alongside many volunteers over seven years to build the three-acre, six-building Family Development Center near Antigua. Through that time we expanded our services in education, health care, housing, and community and family development. By 1995, Common Hope was serving 660 families, with 875 sponsored children. The number of supporters had grown by leaps and bounds too, numbering in the thousands.

New Hope School. Photo taken May 2005.

Then came Hurricane Mitch. The silver lining around this disaster was an outpouring of support that allowed Common Hope to begin another chapter of our story. New Hope Village began as a resettlement for hurricane victims from the ravines just north of Guatemala City and has grown into a community of 50 families with a new school at its heart. New Hope School is a model for education in Guatemala and will celebrate its inauguration this month. We also help run a junior high school in the Ixcán jungle. Today, nearly 2,200 children go to school, more than 8,000 family members participate in our programs, and we are blessed with thousands of supporters from all over the world.

Even though we’ve worked hard and have seen each day pass, we remain absolutely amazed by everything that has been accomplished over the last 20 years. We are hopeful and excited about the possibilities for the next 20 years – perhaps even more hopeful than when we began. In fact, we’re just getting warmed up, and look forward to building upon what we’ve learned and accomplished to provide opportunity to even more people in need.

Our 20th anniversary will be marked by special celebrations throughout the year. We hope you will celebrate with us and help us to achieve even greater things in the years to come. In February, there will be a formal inauguration of the New Hope School to commemorate the first official school year in the new building. Our supporters will be hosting reunions and celebrations around the United States to help us mark this significant milestone. After all, it is only with your partnership that we have become who we are today!

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