For the past 10-years Jasperite Donnelly Hart has been quietly helping hundreds of Guatemalan students and women learn essential vocational skills, like sewing, to break the cycle of poverty in the impoverished Central American country.
Known as the Wisehart Charity, the program has become such a success Hart is in the process of fundraising $40,000 to build a new school鈥�$10,000 of which was already donated by her family.
鈥淚t's exactly like home-ec,鈥� said Hart, referring to home economic courses offered in Canadian high schools, like cooking and sewing classes.
鈥淲hat we try to do is offer them some skills to be able to get out of the poverty cycle,鈥� said Hart, who previously ran an after school sewing program in Jasper for 13-years.
Located in the rural community of Alotenango, about an hour and a half drive from the capital, the program works closely with a not-for-profit school called Bendicion de Dios, which offers kindergarten to grade 6 education to poor families.
鈥淲e work very closely together,鈥� said Hart. 鈥淏ut now we have established that we are a separate entity offering a product to the school.鈥�
Part of the reason she decided it was time to build a new school was because they had to frequently move due to increasing rent payments.
With a permanent location she said the charity will now be able to offer vocation training to students from Bendicion de Dios as well as training to people in the community. This year 40 students and 28 young people took sewing classes and another 20 children took cooking classes.
According to Hart, they also started a co-op this year. The aim is to sell the products they produce so part of the money can be reinvested into the sewing program and part can be given to the students who make the products.
鈥淥ur goal is to expand the cooking program, expand the sewing program to include the co-op and then offer other vocational programs like bartending and learning to work within the tourism industry because those are where the jobs are,鈥� explained Hart, who spent two and half months in Guatemala at the beginning of the year.
Over the years she has been able to fundraise money from private donations and various organizations in town like the Jasper Rotary Club, but with such a large fundraising goal she decided it was time to reach out to the wider community.
One of the first people to step up was Nicole Koebel, the owner of the Jasper Dance Program, who visited Bendicion de Dios over two days in February to teach some dance classes.
鈥淚t was a really great opportunity for the kids at the school because they don't get chances like that,鈥� said Hart.
鈥淭he kids just had big smiles on their faces and they were so happy and laughing the whole time,鈥� said Koebel, who donated all of the proceeds from the final dance concert on May 1 to Hart.
Before Hart left for Guatemala this year she applied for charity status with the Canadian government. Unfortunately her application was rejected, but she said she intends to re-apply soon so she can begin issuing tax receipts.
鈥淚 have a very good feeling that this community along with the help of others that are interested we can raise the money that's needed to build this school,鈥� said Hart.
For more information or to donate contact her at 780-883-0244.
Paul Clarke [email protected]
