I just heard the sad news about the death of Hanley Denning, founder of Camino Seguro (Safe Passage) that runs a large number of projects with communities in and around the municipal rubbish dump in Guatemala City. According to Camino Seguro's website Hanley was killed in a traffic accident on 18th January. You can read more about Hanley's life story here and more information about the work of Camino Seguro.

I first got to know Hanley in 1998 when I worked in the community of San Francisco de Asís, one of the many small neighbourhoods in and around the municipal rubbish dump in Guatemala City. Over the years, I was struck by her complete dedication and energy which was instrumental in transforming Camino Seguro into a project that has supported hundreds of Guatemalan families in zone three and seven. Camino Seguro is responsible for a large number of very successful educational and other initiatives working with families, and in particular children and young people of all ages.

In 2002, Rita María Roesch in Prensa Libre wrote a piece about Hanley and her work with Camino Seguro. In 2003, Noel C. Paul in the Christian Science Monitor wrote this piece about Hanley. Both are fitting tributes.

Update 21-01-2007

Pieces have been written in El Periodico and Prensa Libre. Both are based on this news report from Associated Press in English- here published by the International Herald Tribune.