Rainbows For All Children Guam helps student through difficult times with support and counseling

For Wettengel Elementary School 5th grader Blaise Leon Guerrero, life threw a curve ball when he was just five years old. His mom, Mariam Rupley spoke of one of the biggest challenges he faced - his parent's separation. 

"A few years ago, our family went through a huge change," she said.  And Blaise was affected and it was really hard for him."

She also shared it was also the last time he saw his half-brother. 

"It was hard for him to focus on school," Rupley said. "It was hard for him to vocalize his feelings. He was acting out a lot, not wanting to get up in the morning, not wanting to go to school."

But that all changed when he joined a peer support group for children going through a life-altering crisis. Marie Halloran is the executive director of the nonprofit Rainbows For All Children Guam. 

"What we do is we help the children navigate their feelings and we also help them process the grief that they’re feeling," she said. "And hopefully foster healing, acceptance, forgiveness and hope for a better brighter tomorrow."

Wettengel Elementary School Principal Evangeline Iglesias adding the school has been partnering with Rainbows for 18 years, taking that extra step to support students going through a tough time. 

"So the whole point here as the school administrators provide support to our faculty and staff because we do have faculty and staff who do get together with the students during the school day to provide them with support with whatever they’re going through," she said. "Basically like counseling, support, guidance or just having an ear to listen."

For Blaise, it’s a safe space where he could share his feelings and heal. 

"It helped me focus on the good things, not the bad things. And everything that is happening is not my fault," he said.  It’s nobody’s fault."

Now the student loves learning, and he was even awarded student of the month, making his mother proud. 

"Since joining Rainbows he has really changed a lot," Rupley said. "His grades has picked up. He’s able to focus. He now participates in a lot of school activities."

Mom is simply grateful he’s no longer struggling.

"Sometimes he wakes up in the morning and shouts on the top of his lungs ‘today’s going to be a great day.’ And it’s a big change from how he was three to four years ago."

Greater days for Blaise and the thousands of more children that rainbows helped over the decades.