An amazing experience in Guatemala

With weeks of travelling already behind them, Clare Stevens and Joseph Glover broke off from their round-the-world travels to visit the child who Clare's mum sponsors in Guatemala - a day that became an "amazing experience". Here is their story.

"We were collected from our guest house by the social worker for the community and taken to the Plan office in the Zacapa region. After meeting everyone in the office, having a few photographs, we left to travel for an hour in a 4x4 pick up truck up the mountain track to the village where Frandy-Anail (my mum's sponsored child) lives.

The journey up to the village was fun and I can see why in the rainy season it's hard to reach these parts - the roads aren't really roads, just dirt tracks and incredibly steep in places.

We learnt all about Plan in the car up to the village, asking our interpreter many questions. It was great driving through the villages Plan works with, and learning about the impact they have on the community.

We were a bit nervous when we arrived in Frandy's village. His family run a tiny kiosk selling sweets and drinks, which is where we met them. Our nerves soon went though, as they made us feel very welcome. It was wonderful to meet them all; we have seen photos of Frandy for eight years and to see him in person was brilliant.

We had a tour of the school, saw the classrooms, spoke to the teachers and took photographs of all the children who seemed amazed by us. We saw the new roof Plan had built and also the resources provided by them to the school.

Next stop was the health centre - which was in full swing. It was great to see Plan's work, how nurses come into the community offering support, advice and vaccinations.

Lunch was a brilliant experience. Chicken tortillas and a variety of vegetables, which they told us were hard to get for this time of year. We were so thankful for the wonderful meal and chatted throughout, learning about the family and what they do.

We think, overall, the community enjoyed our visit as much as we did. They all made us feel very welcome, from the children in the school to the policemen riding around on their horses. We would love to return to visit Frandy and Guatemala again; it was such an incredible country with equally incredible people.

If sponsors ever have the opportunity to visit their sponsored children, we would 100% recommend it - it is such an amazing experience. Not only meeting the child you have been sponsoring for years but to see what affect Plan has on the local community and how they are improving people's lives as best they can."