When Place of Mirrors was first published, it seemed right to me that I should return a portion of my profits to the Maya people. But how to do that? Sending money to Mexico or Guatemala seemed out of the question--there was no way to guarantee that it would get into the right hands. Then I came across a little book, called Children of the Maya, by Brent Ashbranner. In it he has wonderful photographs of the Maya people living in a Florida town. He explains that since 1982, Maya refugees have been coming to Indiantown, in the heart of Florida's citrus and winter vegetable country, to work the farms. Some came as part of migrant crews, but most had literally walked all the way from Guatemala, where attacks by the army and the harassment of guerrillas had made it impossible to live. No one is certain how Indiantown came to be a focal point for these refugees, but their numbers continue to increase.
Hope Rural School educates the children of migrant workers in Indiantown. The National Catholic Education Association awarded the school with its Catherine McNamee Award for "it's leadership in promoting a vision of Catholic education that welcomes and serves cultural and economic diversity."

While it is sad that the children of the Maya refugees will lose much of their cultural heritage growing up in Florida, the education provided at Hope Rural School will prepare them for all of the opportunities available to every hard-working citizen of the United States. That seems like a worthy cause to me.
Commissions from Amazon.com for books sold from this Web site are donated to Hope Rural School.

If you would like to know more about Hope Rural School , or would like to help them with a donation, you can call them at 561-597-2203, or write to Hope Rural School, 15929 S. W. 150th Street, Indiantown, Florida 34956 or visit their Web site at http://www.gate.net/~hopesch/hopeA1.htm