As we leave winter behind and say hello to spring, we’d like to share a delicious recipe for Guatemalan enchiladas in this edition of In the Kitchen with Vinicio. It’s the perfect dish for warm weather and it can be made vegetarian-friendly, too! Bon appétit! Or as they say in Guatemala, ¡Buen provecho! What you need: Vinicio preparing enchiladas Corn tostadas (fried tortillas) Large leaf lettuce For the meat topping (Omit for vegetarian option) 1 lb. pork loin 4 tomatoes 1 onion Pinch of thyme For the “curtido” (pickled vegetable mix) 1 small cabbage 4 beets 2 carrots ½ teaspoon thyme or to taste 2 bay leaves salt to taste pepper to taste vinegar to taste (approximately 1 cup) Guatemalan-style enchilada For the salsa (tomato sauce) 1 lb. tomato 1 onion 1 red pepper Salt and pepper to taste Additional toppings: 3 hardboiled eggs (sliced) 1 sliced onion 1 cup dry white cheese (queso duro) 1 cup chopped parsley Instructions: To make the “curtido”: Boil the beets in hot water until tender, let cool and then julienne or chop into small pieces Grate the 2 carrots Chop up the cabbage and then boil in salt water, (bring water with a pinch of salt to boil and then turn off heat and place cabbage in hot water for approximately one minute or until soft.) Combine cabbage, beets, carrots, vinegar, salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaves in large bowl and let sit in refrigerator for several hours or overnight, if possible. To make the salsa: Boil 1 lb. of tomatoes, 1 onion and 1 red pepper until soft, then place ingredients in a blender or food processor to make into a sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. To make the meat topping: Boil the pork tender loin in water and put through a food processor Put 1 onion and 4 tomatoes through a blender or food processor and combine with processed tender loin mean in a fry pan and sauté with pinch of thyme Make your enchilada: Place a leaf of lettuce on a tostada and then put a spoonful of curtido, then a spoonful of the pork meat mixture (optional), add a couple slices of onions, place a couple slices of boiled egg, sprinkle chopped parsley and cheese on top and it’s ready to eat! You can serve them already prepared or each person can prepare their own with their desired toppings. Get Involved Donate now Become a partner Sponsor a child Vision teams Accomplishments Our partners Sign up for email updates Sign Up For Email Updates Thanks for signing up to get the latest Common Hope news delivered to your inbox. You'll get 1-2 emails a month with current news and information about upcoming events and activities. Please note that we never share lists of any kind with other parties. If you ever want to be removed from the mailing list, please let us know, and we will respect your wish. Email* First Name* Last Name* How did you hear about us? Found you on the webHeard about you from a friendI'm already involvedNews article or storyOther Careers | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Go Paperless

In October 2014, Rotary members from District 5950 came together and were awarded a matching grant to purchase school supplies for students in Guatemala who are affiliated with Common Hope. The District 5950 clubs who participated in the project included Buffalo, Crystal-New Hope-Robbinsdale, Edina Noon, Minneapolis City of Lakes, Minneapolis South, Minneapolis Uptown, St. Louis Park Sunrise, and Rogers. Additionally, the Blaine-Ham Lake and Coon Rapids Rotary clubs, which are part of District 5960, helped fund the shipment of the container. Members from all of these clubs and Rotary Youth Exchange Students volunteered at the Common Hope office to help pack, sort, and count supplies in October and November. Students used supplies purchased with the District 5950 matching grant to create trains of their own. Then, in late February, Rotary members from Buffalo, Wayzata, and Blaine/Ham Lake had the chance to visit a school in San Rafael el Arado, Guatemala. There, they participated in a reading activity with students who directly benefited from the District 5950 and 5960 clubs.  It was a story about trains, which was from one of the books sourced by Rotary.  The story was followed by a fun craft activity that related to the story in the book, which is a multisensory method of engaging children in reading and comprehension. Using school supplies they received in January, the students and Rotary members worked together and built miniature-sized trains out of cardboard tubes and construction paper. Rotary member Julie Gotham commented saying, “It was so fun to be silly and play with the kids, yet also see how the gifts from our clubs were making such a difference.” Later, after their artwork was finished, teachers loaded kids into a cardboard train which the teachers and students had constructed in conjunction with an earlier reading activity.  Rotary members provided the stop, wait, and go commands with their ‘stoplights’, and eventually joined the kids’ train themselves. Thank you once again to the clubs in District 5950 for your generous contributions to our 2014 school supply drive, and thanks to our friends in District 5960 for helping us fund the shipment of the container of supplies to Guatemala. On behalf of all of the students who have full backpacks this year, MUCHAS GRACIAS! Get Involved Donate now Become a partner Sponsor a child Vision teams Accomplishments Our partners Sign up for email updates Sign Up For Email Updates Thanks for signing up to get the latest Common Hope news delivered to your inbox. You'll get 1-2 emails a month with current news and information about upcoming events and activities. Please note that we never share lists of any kind with other parties. If you ever want to be removed from the mailing list, please let us know, and we will respect your wish. Email* First Name* Last Name* How did you hear about us? Found you on the webHeard about you from a friendI'm already involvedNews article or storyOther Careers | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Go Paperless

March is Women’s History Month, a wonderful opportunity to celebrate women all over the world. At Common Hope, we are fortunate to see the achievements that women of all ages are making every day with their families and in their communities. These accomplishments can be small but mighty, like a preschooler writing her name for the first time, a teenager who joins the Señoritas Líderes (Girls Leadership Group), or a mother who attends Crianza Con Cariño (Nurturing Parenting Program). Many of these women have to overcome many obstacles to achieve their goals, but they are strong and persistent, and they serve as wonderful examples for the rest of us. Doña Susy pictured with her sons Melvin David (9) and Wilson (4) One such example is Doña Susy. Susy never had the chance to go to school, so her options for employment are limited. She works washing clothes twice a week and looks for jobs when she can. For years, Susy dealt with a difficult home life. She was underweight, closed-off from friends, and she had low self-esteem. After joining Common Hope’s programs in 2010, her social worker, Lesbia, helped her set goals for herself and her family. It was a challenging road to take, but Doña Susy took action in order to empower herself and improve her family’s situation. As a mother of 4 who never learned to read, Doña Susy’s knew that an education for her children was critical saying, “It’s important that my children get an education because I never had the opportunity to study and I’m fighting for my children to have something that I did not.” She became very active in many Common Hope programs, including the Reading Promotion Program, which was created to help parents share books with their children even if they can’t read themselves. Last year, Doña Susy and her son Wilson, who was 4 at the time, participated in the program every Thursday and they never missed a class. After Wilson graduated from the program, Doña Susy said, “The program helped me as much as it helped my son. At first he didn’t want to participate because he was scared. Now he tells me, ‘Mom, I have a teacher and I want to go to school and have my own books.’ He’s really coming out of his shell.” The program also motivated Doña Susy to learn things that were new to her and different from her everyday routine. Now, Doña Susy continues to make visits to our library in Antigua to borrow books. She even has 15 neighborhood kids and their mothers who come to her house every week to read. This is just one example of the ways that Doña Susy is achieving her own goals, while also helping members of her community. Though she admits it wasn’t an easy path to follow, Doña Susy said fighting for her children’s education and wellbeing has been well worth it. And with a mother’s smile, she concluded saying, “I help my kids so they are able to come out ahead in life. I tell them their schooling is the most important thing. I don’t want my kids washing clothes or cleaning houses when they get older. It’s important to work for and fight for what lies ahead and to not look back.” A bright future is what lies ahead for Doña Susy and her family, and it’s because she was willing to take a risk. It is our hope that we can help all women, young and old, who are mothers or daughters or sisters or grandmothers, to take action to better their lives. Get Involved Donate now Become a partner Sponsor a child Vision teams Accomplishments Our partners Sign up for email updates Sign Up For Email Updates Thanks for signing up to get the latest Common Hope news delivered to your inbox. You'll get 1-2 emails a month with current news and information about upcoming events and activities. Please note that we never share lists of any kind with other parties. If you ever want to be removed from the mailing list, please let us know, and we will respect your wish. Email* First Name* Last Name* How did you hear about us? Found you on the webHeard about you from a friendI'm already involvedNews article or storyOther Careers | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Go Paperless

Every year, about one in three Guatemalan children fail first grade. Many of these students come from impoverished homes of parents with little education, most of whom are unable to provide their children with adequate stimulation—the lack of which delays their development and puts them at higher risk of failing once they do start school. This is especially true of San Rafael el Arado. But Lesbia Marroquin, San Rafael Site Coordinator, and her social work team are working to change that by visiting children and parents in their homes and bringing them puzzles, toys, and books. The goals of these visits are to get the children accustomed to being around people who are outside of their family, so the transition into the classroom is easier; to develop their motor skills, communication skills and problem-solving skills; to instill good behavior and habits; and to get them excited about their accomplishments. Hermelinda enjoying a picture book. It’s not always easy. Lesbia says that sometimes the kids don’t want to participate, they cry, or they are sick but she never gives up. She knows that if she’s persistent, the kids will warm up. One such student is a girl named Hermelinda. Lesbia says that when she began visiting Hermelinda at her home, she only wanted to be by her mother and she didn’t participate when Lesbia tried to do activities with her. Now, Hermelinda gets excited and applauds when she makes towers out of blocks or when she successfully completes a puzzle. She is receptive to Lesbia, warmly greeting her when she arrives and waving goodbye when she leaves. She also loves to look at picture books, as seen in this photo. Lesbia states that the development of these skills takes a long time but that after seven years at San Rafael, she and her team can see small but important changes, just like Herminda’s accomplishments. “The willingness, enthusiasm, and faith that we put into each one of our activities will have an impact on the community.” We agree, Lesbia! We are proud of Hermelinda and all of the children who are discovering that learning is fun, and we’re very proud of the hard work carried out by the Common Hope staff in San Rafael. As Lesbia mentioned, we expect that these small changes will continue to lead to big successes, like Luis Angel Canel Vasquez, for example, who was the first Common Hope student to graduate from high school in San Rafael this past November. We look forward to celebrating many more San Rafael graduations, including young Hermelinda’s. Get Involved Donate now Become a partner Sponsor a child Vision teams Accomplishments Our partners Sign up for email updates Sign Up For Email Updates Thanks for signing up to get the latest Common Hope news delivered to your inbox. You'll get 1-2 emails a month with current news and information about upcoming events and activities. Please note that we never share lists of any kind with other parties. If you ever want to be removed from the mailing list, please let us know, and we will respect your wish. Email* First Name* Last Name* How did you hear about us? Found you on the webHeard about you from a friendI'm already involvedNews article or storyOther Careers | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Go Paperless

Teachers2Teachers—International (T2T-I) partnered with Common Hope this past November by conducting a two-day workshop for educators that focused on mathematical pedagogy. Approximately twenty-five teachers from Antigua and New Hope participated in this workshop, along with Carlos Lopez Levia, Chadd McGlone and Karen Rothschild, the T2T-I members who facilitated this learning experience. Together, they worked in groups and discovered new and creative methods to enhance their instruction in math. At the end of the workshop, one teacher stated: “I think I can be a friend of mathematics and enjoy them.” Chadd mentioned that the learning experience was mutual and that the T2T-I group learned a lot from the teachers in Guatemala as well. For more information about the workshop, visit Chadd’s blog entry. Teachers2Teachers—International was created to provide teachers with professional training for the mathematics and science classroom. They send teams of experienced coaches to schools in all parts of the world to partner with the local teachers, and the expertise and knowledge of the local staff is included in designing the professional development program. They serve students, educators and schools with the goal of achieving excellence in the subjects of math and science. Thank you, T2T-I for visiting Common Hope and reminding us that teaching and learning mathematics is exciting, fun, and fulfilling! Get Involved Donate now Become a partner Sponsor a child Vision teams Accomplishments Our partners Sign up for email updates Sign Up For Email Updates Thanks for signing up to get the latest Common Hope news delivered to your inbox. You'll get 1-2 emails a month with current news and information about upcoming events and activities. Please note that we never share lists of any kind with other parties. If you ever want to be removed from the mailing list, please let us know, and we will respect your wish. Email* First Name* Last Name* How did you hear about us? Found you on the webHeard about you from a friendI'm already involvedNews article or storyOther Careers | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Go Paperless

Vision Team Makes a Difference in Guatemala and Back Home Network Access Products, a telecommunications company located in Ramsey with a staff of 43 people, has experienced a positive change in its office dynamic after seven of its members went down to Guatemala on a Vision Team from November 30th-December 7th of 2014. Tom Koll, owner of Network Access Products (NAP), is a Common Hope sponsor and an advocate of volunteerism. Tom paid for his employees’ airfare and provided them with paid time off as a means to eliminate some of the obstacles associated with volunteering abroad. The Vision Team from NAP did not necessarily work closely on a day-to-day basis before their trip, yet they demonstrated a great capacity for collaboration while in Guatemala. The group also received an overwhelming amount of support from many of their colleagues. Fellow coworkers donated notable sums of money during their fundraising efforts and they covered their shifts during times of absence. The Spirit of Giving Upon returning from their Vision Team, the group gave a presentation about their experience during their staff holiday party, which was, undoubtedly, a highlight of the celebration. They shared anecdotes, photos, laughter and tears. When the presentation came to an end, there was a minute of silence, Tom responded: “Doesn’t this feel like Christmas should feel? I’m so proud I can’t find the words…I wish I could find the words. I hope we can see this sort of Christmas every year.” A New Kind of Company Culture The NAP Vision Team spending time with Tom’s sponsored child, Cristian, and Cristian’s family. The hand-made mirror was a gift to Tom from Cristian’s father. For Tom, the holiday party was also a time for reflection and appreciation. He explained that, since starting NAP, he has strived to create a new kind of work environment and company culture in which goodwill and collaboration preside. He says that he alone cannot make up this culture; rather it is up to people to make it happen. Tom stated: “It was probably the proudest day of my life, frankly, when they were giving the presentation about their experience and what they had done in Guatemala. Here I was listening to these seven people’s stories…and it was exactly what I was trying to create in our company.” Patty Zenz, the team lead, affirmed that a company does not have to be a big corporation in order to do what they have done. After going on a Vision Team with her colleagues and working with them in a different context, she feels that the work environment in Ramsey has improved. “If you provide an opportunity like this one, you’re going to see so much reward,” she said, “We started seeing it before we went to Guatemala–people were coming together.” When asked about the office dynamic, Tom says he sees a level of interaction that didn’t exist before. He mentioned that his employees came back raving about the way they got along, the way they brainstormed, the willingness they demonstrated when taking on challenges, the ability to laugh and be themselves yet work hard and get things done. “We can’t lose sight of what team work can do,” he concluded. After hearing about the Vision Team’s stories of volunteering in Guatemala, many employees of NAP have expressed their interest in becoming involved as a means to help those in need. Patty says it is hard to describe being a part of a Vision Team but insists that people have to go down and experience it for themselves. We extend a warm thank you to Network Access Products, the NAP Vision Team and Tom Koll for letting us share their story and also for their time, generosity and dedication to our cause at Common Hope. An article on the NAP Vision Team has also been published in the Anoka Union Herald. You can find that story here. If you would like to learn more about participating in a Vision Team, please contact Brianna Jensen by calling 651-287-0716 or email her at briannaj@us.commonhope.org. Get Involved Donate now Become a partner Sponsor a child Vision teams Accomplishments Our partners Sign up for email updates Sign Up For Email Updates Thanks for signing up to get the latest Common Hope news delivered to your inbox. You'll get 1-2 emails a month with current news and information about upcoming events and activities. Please note that we never share lists of any kind with other parties. If you ever want to be removed from the mailing list, please let us know, and we will respect your wish. Email* First Name* Last Name* How did you hear about us? Found you on the webHeard about you from a friendI'm already involvedNews article or storyOther Careers | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Go Paperless

On December 1, 2014, a new ball court at the Antigua site was dedicated to the youth of Guatemala in memory of John “Juan Antonio” Huebsch. Joining the intimate ceremony were a handful of staff members, a group of youth leaders, and Honorary Board member Ed Flaherty and his family, who have been instrumental in helping to make this project possible. Construction on the ball court began in early October and it hit some obstacles along the way. Since the ball court is covered, there were complications regarding the height of the roof. To be in accordance with the Municipality of Antigua’s height restrictions, the construction crew had to excavate 2 meters into the ground to lower the overall height of the building, preserving the surrounding neighbors’ view. Steady progress was made after the excavation was completed; retention walls and support beams were put up, cement was poured, and the roof was assembled piece-by-piece. As of today, the ball court is about 90% completed and is scheduled to be finished by the end of January. Finishing touches include the installation of some large lights so the stadium can be used for night activities and painting the floor to create courts for volleyball, basketball, and papi fútbol (a variation of soccer). Once it is completed, an inauguration with the youth groups will be held sometime in February. Get Involved Donate now Become a partner Sponsor a child Vision teams Accomplishments Our partners Sign up for email updates Sign Up For Email Updates Thanks for signing up to get the latest Common Hope news delivered to your inbox. You'll get 1-2 emails a month with current news and information about upcoming events and activities. Please note that we never share lists of any kind with other parties. If you ever want to be removed from the mailing list, please let us know, and we will respect your wish. Email* First Name* Last Name* How did you hear about us? Found you on the webHeard about you from a friendI'm already involvedNews article or storyOther Careers | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Go Paperless

At any given time, there are more than 1,000 students looking for a sponsor. If you would like to sponsor a student of a specific age or gender, click to email a member of our Sponsorship team. We would be happy to match you with a student. sponsorship@commonhope.org.