Samuel is a long-time GSSG student who will be graduating at the end of this year. Samuel is somewhat unique in that rather than studying Business or Education, he chose a slightly different path, majoring in Hospitality Management. Samuel has always been interested in food and cooking, and also has a strong commitment to giving back to his community. Two years ago, Samuel organized a workshop for local women entitled “Healthy and Nutritious Food Preparation with Limited Resources”. Samuel discussed the various food groups, such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, and also the importance of vitamins and minerals in one’s diet. The attendees also learned to cook nutritious items that were not common in the standard Guatemalan diet.
This past year, Samuel has been particularly busy. His father recently had to be put on dialysis, and so to raise money to pay for his father’s treatments, Samuel started a catering business called “Sam’s Banquets and More”. This fall, he used the knowledge he had gained in the catering business to cook 175 meals to deliver to people in a small village 2 ½ hours away. When describing this episode to his GSSG sponsors, Sam said “The support you give me not only helps me to go to university, it also is an example of helping other people. While I can, I will make my knowledge and skills available to whoever needs it, as you do to us.”
This is why all the volunteers at GSSG do what they do…to allow young people like Byron and Samuel, and all the other GSSG students, to reach the full potential of what they can do not just for themselves, but also their families, and their communities.