Santa María de Jesús, Guatemala

By Robbin Sicajau

Santa Maria is a municipality of Guatemala located 50 km outside of the capital. It is a beautiful, lush place that would be great for your vacations. Vacations where you can experience the life of the locals, a people determined to fight for a better life and win their daily bread. Unfortunately, there is a lot of need in this community, much like many areas of Central and South America. Thankfully, God has always placed people with good hearts, and a desire to help in our community. Two marvelous individuals with huge hearts were sent to our corner of the world to help us overcome the need in our community. This is the story of Cosechando Felicidad Inc. or “Harvesting Happiness”.

Cosechando Felicidad Inc.

Just as the name says, at this project we intend to sow seeds of love in the hearts of everyone we serve. We hope that the seeds can grow happiness and smiles in the people involved in our organization. It starts with the food we serve. Every morning they come with the hope of receiving a smile to fill their souls, and a hot breakfast to feed their stomachs. Breakfast is typical Guatemalan food, beans, hot tortillas, and coffee. Our volunteers serve breakfast and share each day with their “Mamish” as we like call the elderly here. They are served every morning, every day. There is no rest for our volunteers, the need never stops. We thank God for our determined volunteers who never tire of serving.

Cosechando Felicidad Headquarters

Volunteers serving food at Cosechando Felicidad

The same happens at lunch. At noon, our cooks once again continue the gastronomic tradition of going to the local market to acquire the freshest ingredients for lunch. This allows them to feed each elderly person that arrives. The same happens at dinner which is served at 6. The elderly arrive wearing many sweaters as it is a cold climate here. Aside from their coats, it is our desire to shelter something very important: their hearts. We want the elderly to always feel loved and for them to be able to harvest happiness wherever they go. The large family of the Harvesting Happiness organization has been further united through the good and bad times we have shared together. I invite you, from wherever you are reading this, to in your own way do your part to help sow a little bit of love for those in need here in Santa Maria.