Dana

12 year old, Dana has known Toybox’s partner, Puerta de Esperanza, in Guatemala for years. Initially, they came into contact because her parents were both struggling with alcohol addiction. When her mum decided she wanted to change her life, the organisation supported them all to find ways of earning enough money to survive, allowing the children to go to school. Now, Dana and her sister are the first girls in their family to attend school past Year 2.

"The people in my community are generally happy – sometimes the happiness is so great, I wish there could be a little silence! Although it’s happy though, it’s not a safe place and there are lots of risks for children like me. Families face economic difficulties here and they have to work hard to support their houses. Children have few opportunities to learn. Personal hygiene is also hard because having running water and using the bathrooms is costly – much of the time, it’s not the most important thing for people.

Before we started at the project, life was different. Since we’ve been coming to sessions, we’ve become more united as a family. My mum has focused on getting better and leaving her vices behind. My dad also shares things with us a lot more. We’ve now also got a lot more resources and opportunities and we will never leave school now."

"I go to school because I learn better there than through books on their own. The project has helped me to learn more about respect and to not use bad words. I also learn how to value other people and have time to paint which I like and enjoy a lot.I want to keep moving forwards with my life so I can help my mum and be a vet in the future.

I want to be a vet because I love animals. I have two cats, Nala and Tony, and a dog called Colocha, who is my favourite. I like having a pet because I can spend time with them, and they give me so much love in return. I feel happy with them. Before we had them, I didn’t have anyone to spend time with or do fun things with.

I love my pets a lot and I like it when they’re just chilling out. We keep everything out of the way that might hurt them and hide things from them that could be a temptation to cause them harm. I like that they live in the house and that the cats don’t escape. I love carrying them around and introducing them to my friends, so that they start to love them too."

“Colocha is my favourite. We rescued her from the street and then she was very ill. But Puerta de Esperanza helped us to make her better. She’s a very special dog and I love it when she licks me!” Dana