Rob Murray: Tell us a little bit about the Hearts and Hands Foundation for those who aren’t familiar with the work you do.

Jan Townsend: We’re celebrating our 16th year working in Guatemala. We work in very rural areas because that’s where all the extreme poverty is, and we do programs in health and education. We’ve been very successful in our 16 years in building 68 classrooms. We’ve constructed over 5,500 stoves. I’ve taken over 4,000 volunteers. We’ve graduated 589 students from high school and university. We’ve built 68 classrooms, 12 dental clinics with Lloyd Evans. We have two literacy programs and we have a major teacher training program with the University of Puerto Rico Department of Education.

RM: That’s amazing! Congratulations on your success. This is obviously a different year though. I’m assuming the Guatemala trip isn’t going to be happening?

JT: No, I’m sorry to say I had to cancel the one in March. It’s a very difficult time as you well know for everybody, but for small charities, it is really difficult time for fundraising right now.

RM: How is Hearts and Hands holding up?

JT: We’re holding the line for this year. But considering next year, since we’re very limited on the fundraising that we can do and also any fundraisers that we can do in Guatemala, it’s very difficult for us.

RM: You’ve come up with this new concept called the Walk to Guatemala Fundraiser. It runs until August 28th. What can you tell us about it?

JT: We’ve tried to be creative and come up with a fundraiser where people could be involved and still respect the regulations that we have to follow for distancing. We’re not able to fly to Guatemala, but we can all virtually walk there. I think it’ll be fun. People can do it in groups or they can do it as a team, or they can do it as an individual. For every kilometre they either walk, run, hike or cycle, there’ll be $1 charge. But people can definitely have sponsors.

RM: What is the distance, by the way, between Canmore and Guatemala?

JT: It’s 5,740 kilometers from Canmore to Guatemala City.

RM: That’s quite a bit of walking! Obviously people can do the entire amount if they want, but if they can’t do the 5,700 plus kilometers, are they still welcomed to participate?

JT: Absolutely. They can decide how many kilometres they want to specifically do on their registration form.

RM: Where can people register for this?

JT: On our webpage.

RM: What is the COVID-19 situation Guatemala right now?

JT: It’s very severe. They’re about two weeks behind us here in North America, but due to the last two federal administrations in Guatemala over eight years, the coffers are really empty as far as health and education. So we’ve tried to be as active as we can, even though I’m not there. I do have a sister charity there and we’ve been providing mask clinics for those who request them from us and also the thermometers to EMT and the fire departments. They’re so short to supplies and the government has no money to provide anything, so we’re trying to do what we can. My staff are safe. They’re all in quarantine. They’re not allowed on the streets, that’s the federal rule, but in the rural areas, it’s really rampaging because there’s no clinics and there really is no resources available for the people.

RM: It sounds like Guatemala can really use your group’s help to recover from this.