Robbinsville resident Tara Dorgan is about to embark on her sixth trip to Guatemala where she will work on an ongoing fundraising project she created.
She is currently writing a book about the Central American country to raise money to provide education to Guatemalan students she has come to know as a teacher there.
Now a junior at The Hun School of Princeton, Dorgan first traveled to Guatemala as a seventh grader at the Princeton Friends School on a field trip with Silvia Estrada, her Spanish teacher at the time. Estrada took students on a yearly trip during Spring Break to teach various different subjects at Guatemalan schools.
“I had the time of my life,” Dorgan said of this first visit.
Dorgan returned to Guatemala shortly before graduation the following year on another school field trip, and realized that she would miss having the opportunity to travel to the country she had grown to love when she moved on to high school.
“I didn’t want to give up this country,” Dorgan said.
She decided that she had to find a way back to Guatemala, and turned to her former Spanish teacher for help. Estrada arranged for Dorgan to travel to the country three more times with a group of physicians from the Princeton area who provide medical care to Guatemalan residents.
On her first few trips, Dorgan had the opportunity to teach dental hygiene at schools in both Guatemala City and the town of Parramos. She enjoyed getting to know the different people she met through these experiences, and listening to their life stories. When she learned that a sixth grade student she had taught on one of these trips could no longer afford to continue his education, Dorgan knew she had to do something about it.
“He is so bright,” she said. “I couldn’t bear to imagine him not going on.”
Dorgan pledged a four-year commitment to sponsoring the student’s entire education. She donates a portion of her earnings as a camp counselor and office assistant to provide uniforms, text books, and school meals for the student.
Soon after sponsoring the first student, she decided to assist two additional children. Dorgan quickly realized that she would like to provide an education to as many Guatemalan students as possible, but needed a way to raise the necessary funds.
That’s when Dorgan conceived the idea to write a book. She decided to compile the life stories that she loved listening to into a book that could be sold to raise money for schooling.
Two years ago, Dorgan began interviewing Guatemalan residents and writing down the stories that they told her. Since then, she has recorded the stories of approximately 30 people. Dorgan will interview anyone that is willing to talk to her, from friends she has made on past trips to interesting people she bumps into on the street.
She plans to address a variety of topics in the book, including Guatemalan residents’ daily routines, their views on the United States and the quality of education throughout the country.
“I’m hoping to be able to market it as an eye opener to American citizens,” Dorgan said.
Dorgan will include biographies of the different people that she has interviewed throughout her trips, as well as the histories of a few Guatemalan immigrants she has spoken to who currently live in the U.S.
She also plans to dedicate a section of the book to debunking some of the myths that U.S. residents believe about immigration. Dorgan said she discovered many people believe most undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are from Mexico, they work in the drug trade and that they come to the U.S. to abuse the government.
“In reality, there are a slew of races that come to the United States, and almost none are involved with the drug cartel,” she said. “Plus, the majority are either here unknowingly [brought over when they are too young to remember], have been here for decades because they made a life here after escaping from war in their own countries or are getting paid under the table by U.S. corporations to stay here undocumented because the immigrants work for less.”
Dorgan is currently working on the first draft of the manuscript, which she hopes to finish by the end of the school year.
“I’m going to look for a publisher, but if I can’t find anybody, I will self-publish,” she said.
Dorgan’s sixth trip to Guatemala is planned for later this school year. She will conduct her final set of interviews so that she can publish the book she has been writing for the past two years.
To donate or for more information, email Dorgan at tarajcdorgan@gmail.com.
