Sunday walk carries a message of hope to distant Guatemala

UP to 200 walkers, runners, cyclists, pensioners, toddlers and a few dogs hit the road west from the Grey’s Lane Bistro on Sunday for the annual Hope Guatemala charity walk that raises money to help the desperately poor Mayan people of the Pochuta region in Guatemala.

These native people are treated like dirt by their own government and are shamelessly exploited by the plantation owners who pay them a couple of dollars a day to work like slaves harvesting crops such as coffee, sugar cane and rubber. As the name suggests, the West Kerry based charity Hope Guatemala aims to bring them hope through their work in providing food, medical care, education, housing… and simply by recognising that they exist and are human.

Hope Guatemala operates with zero administration costs and every cent of the €2,000 expected to be raised from this year’s charity walk will be ploughed into the CERNE clinic in Pochuta which feeds 50 – 60 children a day, keeps 20 – 30 children in school, provides work for mothers and pays a doctor to provide vital healthcare.

Hope Guatemala gets great support from West Kerry where, aside from those who took part in Sunday’s walk, others contribute by sponsoring a Mayan child’s education for €300 a year and even by donating the food served in Páidí Ó Sé’s pub at the end of the charity walk. “The local support is fantastic,” says Hope Guatemala director Ed Mulvihill of the Grey’s Lane Bistro and he hopes to expand that support with a little help from his restaurateur colleagues.

Ed hopes to persuade Dingle restaurants to each sponsor the education of two Mayan children, with the restaurant owner contributing €300 and the staff making up a second donation of €300 from their tips. He would also be very happy to hear from anybody interested in volunteering to work in Guatemala. The work could include could include building houses, helping in the clinic, teaching Spanish to Mayan children who only speak their native tongue. “There’ll always be a job but showing solidarity and letting these people know they’re not forgotten is just as important,” he says.

Meanwhile, back in Páidí’s, Sunday’s walkers put their tired feet up to enjoy music by the Dingle Gospel Choir, the Dingle Ukulele Ensemble and a trad session while Sacred Heart University students helped in preparing and serving the food that was donated locally.

To find out more about Hope Guatemala, to donate or volunteer, contact Ed Mulvihill at 086 8264118.

Photo by Declan Malone Naomi Gardiner, Rachel King, Kíla Massett and Orlagh King at the start of the Hope Guatelala charity walk from Dingle to Páidí Ó Sé’s pub on Sunday.

Doireann Ní Choileáin and Niamh Browne at the start of the Hope Guatelala charity walk.

Ciara Ní Laoithe from Baile an Fheirtéaraigh taking care of delicate ears as the Dingle Carnival Band played for participants in the Hope Guate mala charity walk. RIGHT: Dingle-based Sacred Heart University students Katie Potter, Aidan Whalen and Kate...