Delmy Finds Hope After Tragedy

It was early one September morning, the beginning of another busy day outside Guatemala City.

Local people were preparing for business, opening stores and market stalls, while others boarded the first bus to the next town to get to work.

Seven-year-old Delmy’s mother, Lili, woke her up to get ready to walk to a local church, which had just launched a Compassion center. Lili was eager to make it there and register Delmy in Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program.

The morning began in excitement but ended in tragedy.

As Delmy got ready for the day, a bus packed with 80 people veered off a cliff, taking the lives of 42 men, women and children. Among them was Delmy’s father.

Lili was one of the first to receive the shocking news. Despite the tragedy, she made a lifechanging decision: She asked her sister to take Delmy to the center to continue with her enrollment. She thought being around other children and kind people could help her daughter through the tragedy.

And so a new beginning was on its way. In the shadow of a devastating loss, a new life with new opportunities was dawning for Delmy and her family.

For Mother: Support and New Skills

Delmy began to attend program activities at the center, while her mother struggled with the passing of her husband.

“Six months after my husband’s death, I fell into depression. A friend found me, and she told me, ‘Come with me to the center; you’re going to get distracted there. Also, you will learn many things,’” says Lili.

The Compassion center was offering an income-generation program for sponsored children’s caregivers, and Lili dived in, grateful for the preoccupation and friendship as much as for the practical skills she was learning. Together with other parents, she learned how to prepare traditional candy, pizza, lasagna, cold cakes and doughnuts. In addition to food, they learned to prepare homemade surface disinfectant, liquid laundry soap, chlorine, herbal hair shampoo and skin soap.

Lili was part of this program for three years. Everything she would learn to prepare, she would sell. It was a new way to generate income for her family during Delmy’s childhood.

“My life is so different now. This has been a [special] opportunity, because not all programs have the initiative to teach children and families income-generating skills,” says Lili.

For Daughter: Faith and Belonging

For Delmy, the center provided an even deeper support.

“The first memory I have of the center is one with my first tutor. Her name was Reyna. At some moment during an activity at the center, I remember her hugging me,” says Delmy.

“The center means help in many ways for me. My tutors and friends have been a great emotional support. Nobody really knows how you feel inside, but with a simple smile and a hug, everything changes.”

Delmy loved the center from the first day. She met one of her best friends there and quickly began to enjoy sports and learning new skills. Soon she was connected with a sponsor in Canada. She also opened her heart to Jesus.

“God has been the center of everything for me. I know he will always be by my side whenever I need to tell him anything,” says Delmy.

Every activity, every training, every fun moment at the center helped to put a salve on her troubled and hurting mind. But a heart for service was also growing within her. Opportunities appeared in her way; she would have the chance to teach others what she had learned.

Teenage Business Owner

“What I love about the center is that they focus on us and on activities that help us experience and learn new things,” says Delmy.

Now a 16-year-old student, Delmy actively participates at her church and her center, serving as part of the center’s youth board of directors. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she trained other teenagers to make disinfectant. She also taught adults the same skills in a community five hours from her hometown.

As a teenager, she receives training in income-generating skills, such as baking cakes.

“The center granted me a technical scholarship. I just finished a pie-making course. My family is dedicated to cooking and selling food, and I like it so much. I’ve cooked since I was a little girl,” she says.

Delmy has started her own cake business, selling her desserts to help her mother with income. She follows in the footsteps of her grandmother and her mother. They have been cooking since they were young, selling meals in many places.

She is also following in the footsteps of her father, a man who, despite his lack of money, never hesitated to help others.

“My dad was everything in my life. All the good that I saw in him is something that I want to build in my life,” says Delmy.

A seed was planted in Delmy’s heart by her parents. God gave her skills to learn and teach and provided a place for her to develop what was already growing inside of her.