MEET JULIO

Learning to dream.

Julio Alvarado was born in a small village outside Jutiapa, in the Guatemalan mountains. His earliest memories are of his family struggling to survive. Violence and darkness dominated his childhood. His mother carried the full burden of providing for the family financially and his father was not a positive influence; leaving the care and responsibility of raising Julio and his younger sister entirely to her.

But around 2007 (at age 9), Julio’s mother, with little support and no guarantees, moved her family to the dump community in Guatemala City, determined to escape the violence and fear of their hometown. Within 6 months of their move, she learned about Safe Passage from a cousin, and although she herself had never learned to read or write, she enrolled Julio in 6th grade—she was determined to give him a better future—to help him achieve an education, and find a vocation.

Julio recalls arriving on campus. He had no self esteem and lacked confidence, but his mother instilled in him three principles: stay focused, be humble, and help others.

Julio remembers this period as a new beginning: when everything started to turn around for him, not only academically, but he started to get to know himself. He said that his teachers, the social workers, and the adjusting their mindset towards education and learning important values along the way. international volunteers made a huge impact on him immediately. They began reinforcing the same values and principles his mother instilled, and all of a sudden he was surrounded by positive adult role models, full of hope and optimism. He also connected with other students and peers who shared similar backgrounds and experiences —they were slowly

“Society doesn’t guide kids in Guatemala,” Julio said. And up until that point in his life, he had no one aside from his mother to positively influence him. Volunteers and staff began to guide and encourage him. He made new friends as well. Julio added that when he started at Safe Passage he “…started to learn to dream.” He envisioned a future for himself and his family because Safe Passage got him thinking bigger.

Around that time, Julio started volunteering to give campus tours to American and European visitors. Growing within this positive learning community, his confidence and extroverted personality began to shine and he took pride in welcoming people to campus. He began to write rap songs in English which he would share with volunteers and visitors. Their attention, friendship and diverse world views boosted his confidence even further. He began to see that, “If you are willing to learn new things, it can change your life.”

Despite Julio flourishing in the new supportive community, he also shared some of the challenges his family faced during that time. He had worked to help support his family for nearly his entire life (from age 5 on) and he said that he still found it difficult to start over, working in the garbage dump. He also described the irony of leaving the fear and violence of the highlands, only to encounter it again with the gang violence in zone 3. And while his mother was supportive and a champion for him attending school, he felt his father didn’t understand the transformative impact his education was having. Before Safe Passage, life had been about survival, not education.

With his mother’s encouragement, Julio continued to attend and flourish in this welcoming school community. He describes Safe Passage as being the “light in the darkness,” which challenged him to think differently, and he discovered that he liked being challenged. He spoke about one particular teacher, Lili, who had a special ability to help others, with love. She influenced him to continue his education and continue seeking new challenges.

In 2016, Julio completed his studies at a local high school, graduating at the top of his class with continued support from Safe Passage’s CRE Program (our high school education reinforcement and career planning program now called Oportunidades). He continued to stay in contact with his teachers and social workers at Safe Passage. His social worker, Elisa, helped him to secure an internship with TELUS, a local telecommunications company that partners with Safe Passage to provide opportunities within their call centers. Julio continued to flourish and from there he took a job at FedEx and became a supervisor, followed by various other jobs where he worked his way up.

From Julio’s Teacher:

“I taught Julio in 9th grade, he was 17 years old. Julio was an example of perseverance and effort…he had clear goals. I always knew he was going to have a good future because I could see his desire to succeed, and how hard he worked every day. I hope he keeps on succeeding as he was doing the last time I saw him.”

Lili Roman (previously a teacher with Safe Passage), now works at our partner organization, Creamos, in adult education.

Of all the challenges he faced throughout his life, 2020 presented the most difficult. Despite Julio’s professional successes, he had to say goodbye to his mother, who passed away from a long illness. Their financial resources were drained by her medical bills and as he took on the sole responsibility of his younger sister’s care, he felt alone and hopeless. Still, he held onto the values taught by his mother and Safe Passage and he began to approach his situation as another challenge he could overcome.

Today Julio and his younger sister Melida live in a gated community in the suburbs of Guatemala City. Julio is 24 years old and works in tech support at GoTo—a unified communications company that sells software such as GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar. Melida attends a private high school with Julio’s support, and is top of her graduating class. She too has excelled academically and her teachers look to her as a student leader and role model for her peers. Julio said that, “In a country where the public education system is struggling, Safe Passage taught me to think open-mindedly and not to put limits on myself.” He is instilling these same values in his sister today.