Graduations, Baptisms and Bible studies - all in a day's work at Casa Ester!
Natalia Graduates in Accounting 
Our heartfelt congratulations to Natalia*, who graduated from Instituto Evangélico America Latina in November! From Guatemala City, Natalia grew up in a girls’ home and moved to Casa Ester in September of 2018. She took on the enormous challenge of working and studying accounting simultaneously and persevered to graduate. Natalia was also privileged to complete her practicum in accounting from the prestigious Guatemalan Association for Autism. This institution makes a significant difference in the lives of children with autism by promoting their holistic development and demystifying autism.
Casa Ester Coordinator, Waleska, helped Natalia find this opportunity. It got Natalia’s attention right away, because she didn't know anything about autism but wanted a practicum at an institution that served others. In the past two months, Natalia completed 200 hours in accounting — supporting the office with settlements, archiving receipts and bank statements, filing invoices, and learning from the director of the program. She was also able to exercise some of her exceptional qualities, such as a sense of responsibility, punctuality, respect, dependability, and communication along with her accounting skills. Natalia is grateful to the Guatemalan Association for Autism for this opportunity as well as to Casa Ester and Kids Alive for their support and help in opening many doors. She loves her job working with children at the neighboring Kids Alive center, Oasis and La Arquilla. With her steady income, she now hopes to pay her way to study accounting at Universidad Mariano Galvez de Guatemala.
*Name changed to protect privacy
