Education:
Development of such God-given intellectual faculties as reasoning, logic and analysis. Our loving tutors also help them with homework and teach enrichment classes.
When the dump is your teacher, the lessons you learn are “I can’t do it” and “I am garbage too”. Without help, our Treasures know no other reality than the garbage. They are bogged down without plans, skills or desire for a better life. We provide access to academic knowledge and the ability to take advantage of all that life has to offer. Here at Potter’s House they learn principles for life, to develop new skills and to realize that they can do it because they are not garbage; they are valuable Treasures.
This program opens the door to a new future - one beyond the garbage.
Spiritual care:
With us they will be learning about God and His values and love, which will help them heal harmful emotional patterns that crush self-esteem and convince them they cannot overcome.
When every day is a struggle just for survival, there is rarely time to pay attention to matters of the soul and spirit. When survival replaces spiritual care, emptiness is always the result. Our Treasures are tired and empty… there’s a sense that life lacks meaning. They are not aware that there is a God of love who offers them hope of eternal life after this troubled earthly one.
Our goal is that these little Treasures come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and that the Holy Spirit gives them understanding, that they receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior and that they start to grow in their relationship with Him.
Health:
Our clinic is available for the children when they are sick as well as for medical check-ups.
Every day the scavengers are exposed to a high-risk environment that causes severe respiratory, gastrointestinal and skin diseases and health is a very urgent concern. The scavengers do not have the resources needed to pay for care when illnesses strike and they have almost no access to medical care. The public health system in Guatemala is inefficient. Medical visits, lab exams, and medication are completely out of the question for the scavengers. At Potter’s House the children have access to medical attention, medicines and even dental check-ups. These opportunities give the children the chance to live healthy childhoods.
Nutrition:
A daily balanced lunch helps them to grow healthy and to concentrate in their studies.
Our little Treasures work with their families recycling garbage, and even though they are young themselves, many of them care for younger siblings and often, after a long day, go to bed hungry. The next day most of them have a difficult time concentrating on school work because their little bodies have not received the necessary nourishment to function properly.
The children at Potter’s House eat daily nutritious lunches that provide them with the energy to focus and to dedicate themselves to their studies. With the help of the lunches and additional vitamin supplements, these Treasures are no longer malnourished or underweight and are able to concentrate in school.
And there is more:
Children who participate in our daily programs also enjoy recreational activities such as field trips, special parties and an annual camp that is sponsored by a church in the U.S. They also receive school supplies, clothing, shoes and other necessities.
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