Former local man and local United Churches work to help the less fortunate in Guatemala

Ken Johnston
Editor

Who would have thought buying roses would have lead to building a school in Guatemala? Well that is exactly what happened when Rainy River native Kim Hannam travelled there eight years ago.
Now living in Winnipeg, Hannam, the son of Bud and Laurene Hannam of Rainy River, is a whole sale florist. Traveling to South America to buy roses to resell to retail florists was something that few people in his business were doing at the time. While on a trip to rose fields near a community of about 6,000 called San Pedro Sacatebbquez, he saw children playing with a tire. He asked a friend of his there why the kids were not in school. “He said there is nothing else to do and it has always been a dream of mine to build a school here.”
Hannam and his friend, Maurician Cedaro, went 50/50 and built a school at a cost of $11,000. While that sounds cheap, Hannam said Monday that it is very basic. It is a 800 sq. ft. building, has no windows, no electricity and no indoor plumbing. “They rely on daylight to see and have to use outdoor toilets.”
At first families were only willing to give up one child to attend school. “That in itself creates a hardship on a family as they are able to gather fire wood or help in other ways to sustain the household,” explained Hannam. They began with grade 1 with kids aged 7-14. Now the school is home to 72 students and grades 1-6 are offered.
It costs about $25,000 a year to operate, but Hannam said that meeting those costs have not been a struggle. His church, a Winnipeg United Church, has been very supportive, “Whenever there has been a need, it has been met. I really believe this was ment to happen.”
Now two local churches, the Rainy River Knox United Church and Stratton United Church are joining him in his efforts to educate kids who otherwise would not have had the chance to do so. Reverend Pat White said that over the past couple of years the congregations have generously supported Operation Shoe-Box. That program saw people donate items in a shoe box to be shipped to the less fortunate in third world countries. However, United Church personnel that were abroad saw the boxes being delivered and often the items in them were not culturally appropriate or the boxes were too few in number and ended up being fought over.
In an effort to help Hannam’s efforts, the church members will be sending school kits containing 2-3 spiral notebooks, pencils with erasers, a pencil sharpener, a ruler, an eraser, crayons or pencil crayons, coloured paper, scissors, a ball and a book bag. They will also be sending health kits that contain 1 hand towel, 1 wash cloth, 1 toothbrush, 1 family sized tube of toothpaste, 1 bar of soap, a box of bandaids, a comb or brush and a pair of nail scissors.
A collection of cash is also being taken both at the church at at several businesses around Rainy River. Deb Armstrong said that Rainy River Drugs, True Value, CN Hotel, Susan’s Corner Store, The Legion and Beaver Mills Market have all agreed to collect money for the cause.
Hannam said that he can do a lot more with money as he has connections with wholesalers. “Often I can get two note books for the price of one,” said Hannam.
Since starting the school, Hannam said the rate of illiteracy has dropped from about 98% to around 80%. There is also interest in education beyond the age of 14, which previously would have been unheard of as that was when most people began working in the rose fields or corn fields. Last year there were two scholarships in all of Guatemala for students to attend a private high school. One of “Kim’s kids” won it! “The entire town got behind the one from last year.”
This year 9 kids from Kim’s school went on to secondary school.
Hannam said that the results are very encouraging and, “The effects are incredible. We are changing these kids lives (for the better)!” said Hannam.
The Rotary Club has also stepped in and helped him with the project. In fact they built another building, or a second school. Hannam said that he hopes to have a number of professionals volunteer to teach a variety of subjects there. “We can send people from here to teach there.” They also have added a nursery and kindergarten with the new building.
Hannam has also convinced some friends in Ecuador to start a school there as well.
When asked what he thought of Rainy River coming on board to help his efforts, he said, “It is great! It is wonderful!” He noted that the most sought after item in the school kits are crayons or pencil crayons. “You should see the kids faces when they get them!”.
Hannam is planning to take his Sunday School class down to Guatemala in the new year to meet the school kids they have been helping. “Then next year we hope to bring the top three kids here!”