Anita is Going BEYOND!
We want to introduce you to Anita! The first participant in Hope for Families brand new BEYOND program for minors. Anita is 15 years old. We first met her in 2017 as a participant in the girls’ club in the Agua Chuca community. At first, she was an extremely shy, quiet and withdrawn young lady. She attended the club meetings, but really struggled to participate due to her timidity, and perhaps, fear. Little by little, Lorena, her club leader, was able to pull Anita into participation and to develop a relationship with her. We have been able to observe the advances in her walk with God and her growth as a young woman. Anita has discovered her inner beauty
What is BEYOND? Candidates for BEYOND are young ladies between the ages of 15 to 17 years old who have been participating in a girl’s club for several years, and who have stepped up to take a leadership role in the club. They must be in, or be ready to start high school and, more importantly, have a hunger to know God and grow in their relationship with Him.
WHY did we start BEYOND? We began the BEYOND program because we saw the need to better prepare possible, future residents of the Hope House Discipleship/Scholarship Home for all the dynamics they will face as participants.
Being a part of the Hope House program is extremely challenging in every way: emotionally, spiritually and educationally. The public school system in El Salvador offers an extremely low level of education. Many children graduate without the ability to read or write, if they graduate at all. Many girls don’t have the opportunity to graduate high school as they must drop out of school early to care for siblings and to work. Knowing that education is a key element in escaping poverty, participants of the BEYOND program will be provided with a full scholarship at a local private high school, including transportation and any other incidentals. This will give them the opportunity for a much higher level of education that will prepare them better for the future. Should they choose to pursue university studies, their chances for success would increase substantially. We want to ensure that we are setting up these amazing young women to succeed!
“God is guiding my steps. I take courage and gather all my energy and strength in God to continue step by step.”
Anita
Anita is nearly half-way through her first year in the private high school we enrolled her in. This has been a great change and with it has brought many challenges: new friends, new educational challenges, new routine, new everything! Another of the challenges that Anita has faced is her family’s situation. She has been a great support to her family in taking care of her nieces and little sisters at home, while all the adults went to work during the day. Because she is now in high-school, and stays to study after school, she doesn’t return home until early in the evening. This was a great challenge for the whole family to adjust to. Thank God, the family got together to discuss how they could support Anita in this process so that she can have all the time necessary to complete her studies. They decided to adjust their schedules and take turns caring for the children.
An essential part of the BEYOND program is discipleship. Once a month, Jeanne, Marcelo and Fatima travel over an hour outside the capital city, to Anita’s village, to meet with her. Anita receives spiritual mentoring from Jeanne (Program Director) who oversees the foundation’s discipleship area. Together with Fatima (Director of the Girls’ Clubs and Director of Education) and Marcelo, (Director of Communications/Administrator) who has been training Anita with computer skills, they continuously work together to share steps to follow, and tips and practical exercises that can equip Anita to overcome every obstacle she encounters on the way.
Anita has shown great commitment to this new stage in her life. She is very determined and consistent. In addition to the deep poverty she and her family daily face, this last year they have had to deal with the grief and trauma of the murder of Anita’s oldest brother by gangs members. It is truly incredible that she has the fortitude and focus to press on in spite of all of this. When situations in her family make her feel very discouraged, she tells us that she remembers again that “God is guiding my steps. I take courage and gather all my energy and strength in God to continue step by step. “
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and to care about Anita’s life. She will be receiving her first grades soon, and we will update you as to her progress.
