18-year-old Acacia travelled on dirt roads through the windy mountainous regions of Guatemala with her family to meet Wilbur; the boy whose letters and photos have been in their lives since they sponsored him four years ago.
By Acacia, Guatemala child sponsor
In January this year we got to meet Wilbur, our sponsored child from Guatemala. It was amazing to finally meet the person that we have been sponsoring for so long; it made him seem real to me.
"We send Wilbur Christmas and birthday cards every year; although, we didn’t really have a personal connection to this one person on the other side of the world. But going there, you realise that Wilbur does exist and he has his own life and what we’re doing by sponsoring him does make a difference."
I learned a lot while travelling to Guatemala – here are some of the things I didn’t know.
1) It was quite an adventure for our families to meet
It was quite an adventure to meet Wilbur, or was it an ordeal? We travelled half way across the world from Sydney, Australia to Antigua, Guatemala. There we were picked up by Jose from World Vision, and embarked on a five hour car trip to an isolated mountain community. Jose was a fantastic World Vision ambassador who filled us in on everything, from the culture to the language and about the struggles that people like Wilbur and his family are facing. Wilbur, on the other hand, had a long trip as well. He travelled with his mum and little sister from their remote home in the hillside to meet us in the nearest community.
2) Spanish was Wilbur’s second language
In Guatemala they speak Spanish and so do my mum and I. However, we learned that the indigenous communities often speak their own language, making Spanish their second language. We asked about his brothers and sisters, what he liked to do and we chatted with his mother as well.