We had a few goals with the project.

Our primary goal was to make children feel special, love on them, hug them, and hang out. And this wasn’t a “Cool Americans go save Guatemalans” trip. We were supported in the country by so many locals, young locals, who run some of these organizations and their staff, as well as old friends of Danielle from the children’s home she used to visit.  It was awesome to see people from Guatemala care so much about their own kids and their people.  They were floored that we would come from America to spend time with them there, and together we did something bigger than we all thought.

There are orphans all over the globe. Guatemala is no different; there are so many orphan children. Currently Guatemala doesn’t allow foreign adoptions, and domestic adoptions are so rare because the people have such a hard time taking care of their own family (but we will get into that later)

The second goal was to use our media to impact people by giving them something tangle to remember. This isn’t just a 5×7 photo- this a memory from that special day. And sure, the kids may forget our names, what kind of bounce house we brought, or what we had for lunch, but they will never, ever forget how they felt. These photos help capture those feelings. And when they are feeling low one day, then hopefully that photo will bring them joy. Have you ever pulled out old photos? Do you keep old photos? If you are like us then you do. So that was the whole goal. And most, if not all of these kids didn’t own one single photo of themselves.

Here are some of what we shot for the children:

There is something so magical about going beyond yourself to the point of fear and unfamiliarity and complete discomfort.   Recently, Josh made the mistake of trying to work out with Brandon.  It’s not in the first few reps of the bench press where you feel it.  It’s when you’re out of breath. Your chest feels like its going to cave in and your arms feel like jello. Through that pain, when you reach your limit, Brandon’s voice fades in: “Come on man, two more, one more…then and ONLY then, is when you grow. We grew during these few days in Guatemala. Going to a Third World country is like a slap in the face. We saw people who live in 10×10 homes with four children and a mother.  Exposed cinder block walls, tin roofs, dirt floors. If you want to cook, you have to start a fire.  No bathrooms, the earth is your bathroom. Animals co-existing with everyone. Chickens, dogs inside homes and wandering through the streets — and all we could feel was joy. The children fill the streets with smiles on their faces, eager for you to hold them, laugh with them. You can’t understand them, but smiles, hugs, love, and sometimes soccer need no translation.  They have nothing and they are happier than you. Happier than me. They have joy. Instead we’re busy being upset at Apple because they didn’t come out with the kind of iPhone we thought they should. So this trip wasn’t for us to show YOU, how good you have it. We aren’t the “chosen people”.  We are just like you. We need to grow, so we wanted to stretch ourselves, put ourselves to the limit and do whatever it takes to grow.

Funny thing is, you can read all of this, or you can just look at the photos and I think you’ll understand just fine.

There is something about a photograph.

If you really wanna get involved and help we encourage you to buy a print.

All the proceeds from the prints go to the orphanages and children homes in Guatemala.