Escuela Los Niños de Sam
On October 1, 2008 the son of GSP founder Tom Clarke and Rita Redner was
killed in a tragic bicycle accident. The Sam Clarke Memorial Fund was created as
a tribute to Sam’s short, bright life and is dedicated to providing concrete
assistance to those in need, especially children. Sam was a very healthy 20-
year-old young man who often felt there wasn’t enough time in a day to do all the
things he wanted.
He was on the cusp of his life as an adult, and pursuing the things he was
passionate about – music and social justice. Sam was studying Music Industry
Arts at Fanshawe College in London Ontario, he was truly happy studying what
he loved. He was also involved with the social justice group at the college which
contributed to his sense of consciousness about the world
Sam visited Guatemala four times, the first time he was just an 8 month old baby,
the second time he was 12. Sam returned as a GSP volunteer in 2004 and 2007
at the ages of 16 and 19 respectively. He loved his time in Guatemala; it opened
his eyes to another part of the world. He saw the injustice and difficult conditions
people live with day to day in Guatemala, and he wanted to improve things. He
was looking forward to returning to Guatemala again.
With the money collected through the Sam Clarke Memorial Fund we worked
with Clara Colop of the Asociacion de Mujeres Ixchel (one of our Guatemalan
partners) to fund the building of a school in Panimaquim, Santa Catarina
Ixtahuacan, Solola. The school is called, “Los ninos de la Escuela de Sam” and
was completed in June 2009.
Following are some photos of the school.
1. Students inside the school building
2. The school building.
3. The outside of the school kitchen.
4. The inside of the kitchen with the school stove.
5. The toilets and sinks for the school.
6. The sink to wash the dishes, glasses and pots for the school.