On Thursday afternoon, we were pleased to welcome Rosalie and Mark Balfour in to school to talk about their work in Guatemala. It was particularly pertinent as the children have been learning about the Mayan people who originated from Guatemala. For Rosalie, it was like stepping back in time as she attended Shebbear School as a girl. She was able to have a tour and see the many changes that have taken place since she left. Rosalie is the daughter of Nigel Mead who was the vicar at Shebbear church for 25 years. They talked about their work with street children in Guatemala City through the charity Street Kids Direct. They talked about how many of the children they work with are homeless and may have to sleep in a cardboard box (Buster in reception showed what this would be like). They also told us that the children will collect litter which they can sell to be recycled but often working in awful conditions and having to wade through rotting food to retrieve it. Victor and Bethany did a litter pick in the hall to demonstrate (without the rotting food thankfully). It was a really thought provoking assembly and made us all realise how lucky we are! Thanks to Martin Warren for arranging the visit along with Mark and Rosalie for coming in. You can see details of the work through the website: https://streetkidsdirect.org.uk/
