HRI and the great work of our staff was highlighted yesterday in a news publication by Prensa Libre! Read the article in English below.

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For the past 15 years, Hector Alay has been involved in volunteer work and social projects.

He participated in projects with the Catholic Church, with a local Guatemalan organization, Fabrica de Sonrisas , as well as volunteering with a youth group of the Red Cross.

Part of Mr. Alay’s motivation has been to change the lives of young people. “One hopes to affect their lives and their future families so that they have better conditions than what they and their parents have had,” said Alay.

Hector Alay has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education. He is the founder of Don Bosco Ministries which brings together a group of professionals that provide mental health and educational services to schools, churches, and communities.

Mr. Alay is currently responsible for the youth program, social networking, and special donations at Hunger Relief International (HRI). He began working with the organization in 2016. HRI is an organization that works to improve and protect the lives of vulnerable children and families living in extreme poverty by building resilience, fighting hunger, and promoting family unity and self-sufficiency.

HRI’s Presence in Guatemala

The headquarters is based in the United States and the organization began working in Guatemala in 2011. It was formed as a local Guatemalan foundation – Fundación Hunger Relief International, and the majority of the projects focus on school nutrition and empowering women, especially in the east of the country.

In 2023, the school nutrition project achieved a 97% retention rate of children enrolled in and attending classes daily.

In addition, the foundation provides water filters to families where potable water is not accessible, and they also build of latrines where sanitary facilities are non-existent. It has also focused on bringing clean, energy efficient cookstoves that save on the use of wood into the communities.

Dewi Rosal, the Regional Coordinator for Projects in the Altiplano, explains that the foundation has dedicated its projects to community development, and it is through donations that the organization has achieved these advances.

Currently, the foundation has a capacity building project in San Miguel de Petapa through which adolescents are helped to leave gangs and to minimize their participation unlawful activities.

The foundation has additional programs in other parts of the country and in partnership with other organizations.

“We try to promote community development through building the communities’ own capacities. It is about teaching rather than assistance,” added Rosal.