Local residents Marty and Frank Helman recently returned from Guatemala where they took part in the high school graduation ceremonies of Jose Miguel Yos, a student they sponsor through Safe Passage. Safe Passage makes it possible for children who live in shanties on the Guatemala City dump to attend school and create their own futures.

Jose was a teenager when he started to attend school through Safe Passage; he is now a high school graduate in a country in which only one out of 10 citizens ever gets that far. His aspirations? "I want to get a good job (in accounting), get married and then think about the university," he said.

Jose is third from left in the accompanying photo; his brother Juan Carlos — who the Helmans also sponsored and who is shown second from left — has also graduated from high school and is currently working.