By Julie Keane, Globe staff reporter
May 13, 2004

Blessed Sacrament and Heelan alum, John Kennedy, is relying on his spirituality and faith in God as he lives in Guatemala for a year helping the poor.

"About a year and a half ago, my faith started becoming much more important to me," said John Kennedy, a 1993 graduate of Heelan. "I attended a retreat in Kansas City at a Catholic Church and felt different about my faith life and life in general afterwards. It was around this time that I began thinking about doing some long-term volunteer work in a developing country."

After the retreat, he was introduced to The Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA), an organization based out of the U.S. where people can sponsor a child or elderly person in one of 25 developing countries worldwide. For $20 a month, the sponsored child or adult is able to have food, clothing, medicine, money for educational costs and various other necessities provided. After he found out about CFCA, he went to Guatemala on a CFCA sponsor mission trip.

"It was here (Guatemala) where I witnessed the conditions of poverty in our world," said Kennedy. "The people I met during the week in Guatemala were very inspirational to me. Faith was a big part of life for the people and much glory was given to God for all the good things in their lives."

When he returned to the U.S., Kennedy said he was so inspired by the experience he felt certain he wanted to volunteer with CFCA or another organization. He began discussing possibilities with CFCA, and decided to volunteer in Guatemala for the year of 2004.

Kennedy was enrolled in a language/immersion school for four-weeks when he arrived in Guatemala where he was taught Spanish. After the four week period of schooling, Kennedy moved to San Lucas, which is far in the mountains of Guatemala. San Lucas is a Spanish village that sits in a small valley in between many mountains and volcanoes.

In San Lucas, he uses his accounting and auditing background having been an accountant in the U.S. for the CFCA organization. He also helps translate English to Spanish and Spanish to English for sponsors and the individuals they sponsor.

"As a by-product of volunteering here, I am learning much Spanish and also a little of some ancient Mayan languages as well," he said. "I have learned much in my three and a half months here. Material things serve a much less important role in my life now. The people here have taught me how to find much joy in life without any type of reliance on money. The pace of life is much slower here and the importance of a daily planned out schedule is far less as well. This culture is a bit more 'go with the flow' than was my life in Kansas City."

Kennedy said he has grown to enjoy the aspect of living in Guatemala. The slow pace lifestyle is very different compared to the life he lived in Kansas City

"Arriving late to dinner, meetings or other events seems to be the norm around here," Kennedy said. "I can't think of anything that has actually started on time for me. It is not that the people are irresponsible or unmotivated, it just seems like they don't take things too serious a lot of the time. Life is much more simple."

He currently lives with two other men who work with CFCA. His house has electricity, which is the norm of San Lucas, but he said that he has traveled to places where the entire village does not have electricity. There was one week that Kennedy spent without running water and electricity. He said it was "quite an experience for me and the other volunteers here, but we all managed to get by though."

San Lucas has very few people who have vehicles and most people walk around the town. If a person needs to travel a further distance, hitchhiking tends to be the most popular method. The normal price for a ride in the back of a truck is one quetzal, which is equal to 12.5 cents.

"Most of the vehicles I see here are pick-up trucks," Kennedy said. "When they drive by, usually the back of the truck is completely full of people catching a ride. More days than not, I hitch a ride in the back of pick-up. Because so many people need rides, many times there are people hanging off the back of the pick-ups as they drive through town and up and down the mountains. I usually try to get a spot standing inside the back of the pick-up, but there have been a few instances where I have had to stand on the back edge and hang on for dear life. I know this sounds kind of dangerous, but once you get the hang of it, it is no big deal - just a way of life here."

Kennedy said he does not know what is ahead of him when he returns from Guatemala. He said his perspective on life has changed after being in San Lucas, and one option he is considering is working for CFCA when he returns.

"As time goes on, I'm sure the path for me will be revealed," Kennedy said. "I am grateful for the opportunity to spend this year in Guatemala. The experiences I have had so far and will continue to have are priceless for me In the end, I believe it was the strengthening of my faith along with the experience of visiting Guatemala last July that inspired me to take this year and volunteer in Guatemala. My faith has been the driving force in my mission this year. Leading up to my departure, often times I had doubts and fears about what would lie ahead for me in Guatemala. Many times, my faith was the only thing that brought comfort to me during these times."

Anyone wishing to sponsor a child or find out more information on The Christian Foundation for Children and Aging visit the organization's Web site at www.cfcausa.org.