MAY 30, 2007 2nd Mayan Families Connection Shipment arrives!
HERE IN PANAJACHEL!!
I have to go to the school in San Jorge tomorrow at 9.am. because they are having the inaguration of the cement floor that we put down. But as soon as we can we will be back to open these boxes!!!! Yippeee!!!! Thank you so very much, thank you for all the hard work packing it. This is a huge job to take on, all the work you did packing it and it has all arrived in one piece or 18 pieces. Another good job by Medrano!! Once again, I didn't see them arrive - I was in San Jorge at the graduation party for the women's sewing class.
Once again, thank you all so much, Sharon
MAY 29, 2007 Chabeli Update:
Chabeli is doing much better. Here she is yesterday picking up food supplies for two weeks with her children. They were now going to carry these loads an hours walk up the mountain.
Isabel: I have no news yet. She left Panajachel yesterday at 4.am. to get to the hospital by 7.am. She had the blood donors with her. I asked her mother to call me when the operation was over and let me know how she was. But they don't have a cell phone, the public phone can sometimes be challenging. It is quite common, that they may have changed the operation until today when she arrived. I have been thinking of her also. I made a mistake with her age, she is only 18yrs old.
As soon as I hear something, I will post it. Thank you for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers. Sharon
Rodolfo
was buried today at 2p.m. He has been very ill for the past two weeks, he
had severe diarrhea, his wife had to spend money on disposable diapers which
are very expensive but they did not have enough rags to be able to use. The
night that he died, he woke his family up around midnight and had the
children sit on the bed with him, he was not in pain, he was very happy that
he had no pain, he knew that he was going to be passing over shortly. He
told the children, his wife and his mother, that he was dying but he was
going to be with the Lord and that he was in Peace. That his dreams had come
true for the children, they had a TV and they had food to eat. He thanked
Mayan Families for looking after him and said that he knew that we would not
abandon his children after he died. He felt comfortable with that and told
the children to think of him as if he has gone to the U.S. to work and that
he would be sending money back to them. He said that he had a dream and the
Lord told him that money would be coming for his children.
His wife and mother told Gloria this yesterday when they went to the house.
When they got to the house, there was nothing except the body of Rodolfo
wrapped in a cotton sheet. The family did not even have enough to offer
everyone coffee which is customary when going to visit someone who has died.
We had left money for food but they had used a lot of that on disposable
diapers for Rodolfo.
Julio went to the funeral house and they bought the cheapest coffin. The
coffin cost $453.00 . They also had to rent chairs from the funeral home for
the visitors who would come to the funeral. The photos show the candle
holders and the material that is draped on the coffin, that also was rented
from the funeral home. This is the very basics.
Julio and Gloria both said that the family was very sad, one of the young
daughters clung to Gloria and begged " Please don't forget us now".The wife
told Gloria that she used to sell tamales for a living before Ernesto got
sick. But when he was sick she had sold all her pots and pans to buy his
medicines. She now would like to sell tamales again, so we are going to buy
her pots and pans so that she can cook this food to sell. We are also going
to fix up her kitchen. The kitchen is full of holes in the tin sheeting.
With the rainy season upon us, it is very difficult to cook in such a place.
Thank you all for the donations that were made by members of this group, to
pay for his coffin, to buy the TV and to help with food.
You have made such a difference in the life of this family. Sharon
MAY 26, 2007
TRADITIONAL
CLOTHING BLOG: This is an ongoing year round project.
One of the projects that is very close to our heart is enabling the people who wear traditional clothing to be able to maintain their culture. We have a project of buying and giving second hand Guipils( pronounced weepeel) and Cortes ( traditional skirt) at a fraction of the cost of new ones and giving them to children and adults who cannot afford to buy new ones. These children, daughters of Chabeli from Tierra Linda, both received "new" Cortes and Guipils yesterday. They were thrilled.
The main reason that there are less children wearing traditional clothing in Guatemala is because the family cannot afford to buy it for them. The cost of new hand woven clothing is very expensive. If you would like to donate a Guipil ( blouse) or a Corte ( skirt) for a child - we can buy them second hand for around $10 US each. If you would like to donate a new Guipil or Corte to a child - the costs is approx. $25 US for a blouse and approx. $40 for a traditional skirt.
The woven belts that they use cost approx. $7. These costs are way beyond the means of many families here who would like their children to be able to wear the traditional clothing but because of economic hardships are forced to buy second hand western clothing.
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IN TRIBUTE:
Rodolfo Ramirez is the man who was suffering from a terrible tumor on his leg and was then found to have cancer. We recently took him a TV and food. His wife called this morning to say that early this morning Rodolfo passed away. She needs $400 to bury him, Julio and Gloria will be leaving at midday to go to the house and take them some money. It is the custom here to bury people very quickly. Usually the next day. I imagine on the coast they cannot wait even an extra day.
Rodolfo has suffered
horribly and I am glad that he is now at peace. Any donations to help bury
Rodolfo will be very much appreciated. Please keep his family in your
thoughts and prayers. Thank you for everyone who made the last months of his
life so much more pleasant for he and his family. Sharon
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ISABEL UPDATE
Thank you to the very generous and kind anonymous donor who is matching the funds to $375 that have been raised here by this incredible group - Isabel will now be able to go to the hospital with the money that she needs to pay for her operation and pay for her blood donors. She is coming today to find out if we can help her. I know that she is so anxious about the operation and so anxious about not having the money to pay for all the costs. She is a single mother here which is a hard road anyway, she has family support but her mother was telling me that she often cries because she cannot work because of her heart condition and her tears are for her son, because she cannot provide him with even the basics such as soap.
Please keep Isabel in your prayers as she is operated tomorrow. Her main concern is for her son, she wants to survive this operation so that her son has a mother an that she will be here for him as he grows up.
Blessings to you all for making another miracle happen. Sharon
BIRTHDAY GIRL
Todd who sponsors
two girls to go to school in Guatemala, celebrated by telephone the birthday
of one of his sponsored girls, Iris. He arranged to buy her a birthday gift,
she came to the house and excitedly unwrapped her traditional blouse, plus
crayons, art supplies and paper. Todd is a very accomplished well known
author of Children's books and wanted to share his love of drawing with
Iris. Todd is pictured below meeting his families here on a visit in March.
Todd pictured with Iris as he presents her with a copy of one of his books
and a photo of the drawing that he did of her. His drawings are absolutely
beautiful. He is also photographed with the family and the gifts he brought
them.
Todd photographed
with the other student that he sponsors, Gloria and her big sister.
.www.toddaaronsmith.com
TRADITIONAL CLOTHING BLOG:
One of the projects that is very close to our heart is enabling the
people who wear traditional clothing to be able to maintain their culture.
We have a project of buying and giving second hand Guipils( pron. weepeel)
and Cortes ( traditional skirt) at a fraction of the cost of new ones and
giving them to children and adults who cannot afford to buy new ones. These
children, daughters of Chabeli from Tierra Linda, both received "new" Cortes
and Guipils yesterday. They were thrilled.
The main reason that there are less children wearing traditional clothing in Guatemala is because the family cannot afford to buy it for them. The cost of new hand woven clothing is very expensive. If you would like to donate a Guipil ( blouse) or a Corte ( skirt) for a child - we can buy them second hand for around $10 US each. If you would like to donate a new Guipil or Corte to a child - the costs is approx. $25 US for a blouse and approx. $40 for a traditional skirt.
The woven belts that they use cost approx. $7. These costs are way beyond the means of many families here who would like their children to be able to wear the traditional clothing but because of economic hardships are forced to buy second hand western clothes.
MAY 25, 2007 ISABEL'S HEART
OPERATION - URGENT ACTION NEEDED!
Isabel is a young single mother of one child, 2yrs old. Isabel needs to have open heart surgery this coming Tuesday. She has been waiting four months for this appointment. She needs to be able to pay the hospital in the city, and be able to pay for the blood donors. She had the amount of money organized that she needed for this operation, they were borrowing it.
Late yesterday afternoon, she came to me in tears, the borrower was no longer able to lend her the money. The appointment for the operation is Tuesday. This has been a long time coming, she is unable to work due to her medical condition and she has been looking forward to this operation with hope for the future that she will be able to work and care for her child. She has also been dreading this operation as it is a big operation, she has never had an operation before and she is scared.
Her problem was discovered at one of the clinics that Dr. Jennifer did in San Jorge. We then paid for all her tests and trips to the city to be evaluated.
But right now she urgently needs $750 US to be able to pay for this operation and pay for the blood donors. The hospital has cut their costs to the bare minimum because she does not have any money. The blood donors, unfortunately, here do not donate without being paid. It is always hard to get blood donors, people are scared of donating, they think that the could lose their health, or die. It is also a big trip for them, they have to lose a day's wages going to the city. So they have to be paid. Isabel has to pay their transportation, food and costs for the one day. She has everything lined up and is just devastated right now. Please, if you can help with even a small donation towards this operation, it would be greatly, greatly appreciated.
Please keep Isabel in your prayers.
MAY 24, 2007 San Jorge Blog
Today we took a
lot of children's clothes, blankets, towels and blouses that we had made
from fabric donations and gave them out to the Women's Group. They were all
very happy to receive new clothes for their children, especially with the
wet season coming, when clothes do not dry too quickly.
We gave out balls and some old sports uniforms to the coach of a neighborhood children's team. He was very happy to get these donations.
DOG BLOG
These two poor dogs are tied up and barely given two tortillas a day.
The bulldog is
skin and bone. We were told about these dogs so we went to investigate the
situation. Unfortunately, the owners do not want to part with them, they
also do not want to feed them. We took them some food and a volunteer is
going to continue giving the dogs food until they get some strength back.
Hopefully, the owners will be shamed into feeding them.
This little puppy
was brought to us earlier this week, she had been dumped and had a nasty
gash on her neck. We were able to send her to the animal sanctuary, AWARE
and they are hopeful that she will be bound for the U.S. to a new home.
Tigre is a sweet little dog, we were happy to get her off the street and
hopefully on her way to a good home.
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It's school report time for most of the students that we sponsor. They have been coming to the house for the past few days and proudly showing their report cards. Thank you to all the sponsors that make it possible for these children to go to school.
MAY 23, 2007
Carlos and his family received their water filter that had been donated by The Eagle Scout troop while they were here. This comes at a great time because Carlos's mother has just given birth last week to a baby boy. He was born at home with a midwife. But Carlos's mother has not had enough milk to feed the baby. Carlos came and told me that the baby had been screaming for the first two days of his life because his mother did not have any milk, they had been foraging in the hills for herbs and boiling it up with water for the baby to drink.
We supplied him with formula and a bottle and the poor little thing ( both the baby and Carlos got a good night's sleep!) The baby also had no clothes, just a diaper made of material scraps and a blanket, thanks to all the wonderful donations that we have received we were able to give him plenty of clothes.
Thank you to
everyone for your help with clothes, formula and bottles.
Andrew, Sarah and Sophie visited to deliver food to this very happy family Odilla is doing so much better but she still needs to be very careful so that she does not suffer a relapse. She is still mostly eating just vegetables and she carries a little flask of oatmeal with her to staunch the burning that she still has from her stomach.
She is photographed in front of her stove that she uses for cooking. The stove has no shelter and it will be a huge problem for her to cook during the coming wet season. We really need to be able to build her a tin structure that will protect the fire and the wood. Anyone willing to donate to help build that structure would be greatly appreciated.
Sarah, Sophie and Andrew also visited Candelaria's family and brought them a large supply of food. Candelaria is a widow who is suffering from M.S. She has five children, the eldest is 17yrs old. He went to the U.S. to try and earn some money to support the family but was caught and put in jail and eventually sent back to Guatemala. In the meantime we supplied the family with food because they often had nothing to eat. Even now with the son working, he is driving a Tuk Tuk, he only makes $4 US a day so it is not enough to be able to pay the rent and keep the family fed. We supply a lot of clothing to the family and three of their children are sponsored to go to school.
Here Sarah, Andrew
and Sophie are photographed with Candelaria's mother who is showing them how
she ties up her thread to start weaving. She makes beautiful cloths that
take her 3 weeks to make, she then sells them for $10 US. each. I was very
honored to receive two of these weavings as a gift from the family for
Mother's Day.
Candelaria, who
suffers from M.S. was also the very happy recipient of a water filter that
had been donated. This was donated by the Eagle Scout troop who recently
came and built a house in San Jorge. They did a wonderful job while they
were here and they left donations to buy water filters which will keep on
giving the gift of clean water for a long time to come.
Marisol receiving
the medicine and much needed milk for her tiny baby boy, he is 8 months old
but has suffered many sicknesses already in his young life.
School supplies being received! This is the end of May and we are gearing up
for still more Students who need Sponsoring!
This is Julianna, she is approx. 56 yrs old, she is a widow with no family to support her. She used to live on the coast but was no longer able to pay the rent and was evicted from her house. She then came to live with her brother and his daughter, Marisol, who is a single mother of three children. The father supports them all but he does not make a lot of money. He works on the garbage truck in Panajachel. We are fortunate to have been able to sponsor two of the children to go to school. The baby has been very unwell, he is 8 months old and very tiny. When we went to visit he had been to the Dr. two days ago suffering from a fungus in his mouth and was unable to eat. The family had not been able to buy the medicine for him, so we purchased the medicine and sent it back to them that afternoon. We also purchased the medicine that Julianna needed to be able to help her foot heal.
We also gave her vitamins that we were fortunate enough to have donated. Julianna has diabetes and recently had a toe amputated. She has had a lot of trouble since the operation. We recently sent her to the Doctor and he found that she also had a staphe infection in her foot. Last week she collapsed in the street and was sent to the hospital. She is suffering from vertigo, she gets faint a lot and has no strength. We have bought her medication for her, Sarah and Andrew supplied her and her nieces, family with enough food to get them through for at least a week. It is a struggle for Marisol's father to support his daughter and his grandchildren.
Julianna realizes that she is placing an extra burden on the family and feels very badly about this. She tries to help as much as she can but she has very little strength. She is afraid to walk even short distances because she gets dizzy. She is trying to help the family by not eating very much. This is not good for her diabetes.
This family was very happy to receive the food and medications.
This little boy somehow burnt his eye at the San Jorge Fair. His mother does not know how it happened as she was not with him, he was with his brothers.
I imagine that it would have had something to do with fireworks. It is almost a month ago now and his eye has not healed, it is swollen and red and it causes him a lot of pain. We are sending him to the clinic this week and hopefully they will be able to help him.
MAY 22, 2007
Hola Amigos, I am so thrilled to tell you that we have received an anonymous donation of $1,000 US from a very generous, kind hearted person to be able to buy the computer for the staff!!!! Thank you so much to our anonymous donor, this is so kind of you and it will be greatly appreciated. When I told Sandra that she would have a computer soon, she was just thrilled, she could not believe it!! This will help us so much! Thank you to everyone for all your emails, suggestions, good wishes, prayers and hopes. Thank you so much to the person who donated this money for making this dream become a reality. This is so appreciated! We are all so excited about this!!!! Sharon
MAY 21, 2007
Hi everyone, Dwight, Sharon's husband here. Our PAYPAL account is still offline and we are actively addressing the issues on getting it working again. We estimate that it will down for another week or so. Until then please send your Donations to:
MAYAN FAMILIES
c/o Dwight Poage
2609 Hartford St.
San Diego, CA. 92110-2315
Tel: 619-200-6800
and they will be deposited into the Mayan Families account so that Sharon
and Patti can access them.
OR
Sharon is
recommending for the time being, any persons who wish to
make a donation for any specific project or fund for Mayan Families,
to please do so through World Link Partners until Mayan Families are able to
get the PayPal issued resolved on their website. It is unknown at
this time exactly how long it will take before it is functioning
again.
For the direct link to World Link Partners PayPal page, please click
here:
http://www.worldlin
To make a donation by Check, please issue and mail to:
World Link Partners
% Helen Hogan
411 East 3350 North
North Ogden, UT 84414
Please note on your form of payment that it is for Mayan Families
and the specific project(s) you wish the funds to be assigned to.
Please send Sharon an email
mayanfamilies@
of your donation so she is able to cross check the information to
the funds received from World Link Partners, Thank you!
MAY 20, 2007
Dear friends, we are so happy to say that yesterday was an amazing day. Not only did we find out before we left for the trip that the $10,000 has been collected for the land but when we got to the embassy - when they finally saw us - within 15 minutes they found the paperwork and then completely floored us by bringing out our PINK paper!!!
For those of you who have not been involved in adoption , this is the last paper they give you, this entitles you to have an interview that gives you the visa or passport for your child to go to the U.S. It is the light at the end of the tunnel!!
After three months of having this paperwork lost, numerous emails with no-one knowing where this paperwork was, in just fifteen minutes this woman found it and said the problem was it had been marked that our daughter would be having an escort come and pick her up, so they had been waiting for an escort to come to g them the paperwork. How that happened is just one of those mysteries that will never be solved. They finally gave us this paper at 5p.m, with an appt. on Friday at 8.am. at the embassy, in the meantime Aleeya needed her physical exam from an Embassy approved Doctor. We are lucky that this Dr. Bunge is our pediatrician, we have used him since Zoe was born in 1994. So we rushed over there and got it done.
Dwight and I are
still pinching ourselves...
Our poor driver, Oswaldo then went home to get a few hours sleep before he was up at 4.am. to take Julio and Juan to the coast. They are going to a small village near Tiquisate where we are building a house for a birth mother for one of the women from the adoption list. The adoptive mother contacted us several months ago to see if we could do this for her birthmother. I am very happy that we have been able to work this out for her. Julio just called me from there and said that this woman who has three children is very poor and that the land that she has is great for building a house and one room of the house will be a little Tienda (store) for her to run. We are opening a bank account for her so that she will be able to pay the builders every week. What a wonderful gift from one mother to another.
When they leave there they are heading to visit Rodolfo. They already have the TV in the car and about two weeks supply of food. We cannot buy too much at once because they do not have refrigeration and on the coast things will rot quickly. I would love to see their faces when they see that TV!!! They are also taking a big bag of clothes, shampoo, soap , toothbrushes etc, things that have been recently donated that will help their family.
So now I am going to try and answer my emails, sorry for the delay. Thank you so much for all your good wishes, they were greatly appreciated.
With love, Sharon
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FAMILY RESCUE - BABY NEEDS INFORMATION:
It is wonderful to have all this formula and bottles coming. This week we have fed three babies. One born just four days ago, the mother did not have any milk so they were collecting wild herbs and making a tea with sugar for the baby boy. This is Carlos's #33 family. Fortunately, Carlos had come to the house and mentioned to Gloria that the baby is crying all day and all night. He had come for clothes, the baby had only a piece of cotton cloth for a diaper and no clothes, he was wrapped in a blanket. Thanks to all the wonderful donations we had received we gave Carlos lots of clothes, blankets and a few cloth diapers for the baby, we were also able to give him a bottle of formula and a new bottle. We gave him an Advent because that is all we had and he seems to be doing fine with it. I asked Gloria to find out yesterday from Carlos whether the baby was taking the bottle and they said yes. But now there is something going on wit mother that they think she has a "tumor" in her stomach. She gave birth at home, so I am not sure what is happening, Gloria will go visit today and get some details.
I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to be able to clothe this little baby and be able to give him some milk Thank you all for making this possible. Hopefully, the mother's breast milk will come in, one of the local healers came and gave her an injection to get her breast milk flowing, It always worries me when people get injections and no-one really knows what exactly is being injected, especially for a hopefully, breast feeding mother.
Either bottles will
be o.k. - people are just grateful to get a bottle for their child. They
are more accustomed to the narrow bottles but they are adjusting fine to the
advent as well. Sharon
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This week we were invited to the opening of the classroom in Panajachel. This classroom was donated by Peter, Michael, Helen and their families. The school has called it the "Classroom of Friendship" and it is truly that. The money was very generously given and the physical work was done by Gary Jantzen, Stu, several parents from the school and a few other volunteers who were able to spare a few hours to work on this project. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.
The school had
wonderful festivities to celebrate this and a water deposit that had also
been donated by another group of people. The children danced, in one dance,
they wore traditional clothing, did a corn dance and served us a delicious,
traditional meal of Polik, chicken in a brown sauce. There were speeches
and many kind words of gratitude for this help from the Director, the
teachers and the parents. It is wonderful to have this classroom finished
before the wet season begins.
One of the
children , Debora , that is sponsored through Mayan Families to go to school
was chosen to present an award. She did a great job of it and we were so
proud to see her doing that.
The Princesses of the school greeting us.
The children
presenting us with their traditional meal of Polik - chicken in brown sauce.
Debora came to the house this week to collect the money that her sponsor, Paula, is sending her to enable her to pay for her physical therapy treatment. The family was very happy as they were behind in two payments and did not have enough to be able to cover it. We also gave her a packet of diapers, she needs disposable diapers to be able to go to school . Debora is a paraplegic. She is in kindergarten and loves going to school. Thank you Paul for making her physical therapy treatments possible. They only cost $10 US for the month but it is impossible for her parents to keep up these payments, they have several other children that they have to send to school and with a large family the money does not stretch far enough for many extras.
MAY 10, 2007
Suzanne, thank you for doing such a wonderful job on this shipment and thank you for everyone who has donated goods and money for the shipping. We are waiting anxiously this shipment.!!! We have already promised blankets and clothes to a small (14) children's group home up the mountain in San Andres. They do not have enough blankets for the upcoming wet season. These are abused, neglected, abandoned children from the age of 2 up to about 14yrs old. We also have several elderly people in need of the blankets and sheets.
We have given everything out from the last shipment, I think there are some baby clothes left but they are going every day. Yesterday, we gave out clothes to about four mothers with babies. Three single mothers, two who are thinking about giving their babies up but I don't think that they will. One is 11 months old ( I wish the mother would give her up as I feel the baby is not being looked after very well at all), another 8 months old, another woman we sent to the Dr. with her baby that is a month old because she said the baby was not breathing well. Another little girl, and I do mean little, she is 3yrs old and she fitted into shoes for a 1yr old. She is just tiny, the family is small but this child is really malnourished, she got shoes and clothes, the clothes she got were all for 1yr -18 months old. My Aleeya looked like a giant next to her.! We also sent clothes to a newborn who is only being wrapped in a piece of cotton. Another young single mother who fell for a married man. Also another tiny one, only 5lb. The woman with the baby with hydrocephalus also came by yesterday for clothing for her baby. She is a wonderful mother to this baby, the little girl celebrated her 1st birthday last week and is doing much better, the swelling in her head is going down and it appears that she is not totally blind. This young mother has been through such a terrible time. The baby is a result of an assault, she was attacked coming home one evening, she has had her family reject her because of the pregnancy and then her baby suffered hydrocephalus. Until recently, they were sleeping on the floor. They now have a bed. Only her mother helps her with the baby, the rest of the family do not care for the baby at all. Despite all this, she is very loving towards the baby and she is always in good spirits. She came by to wish me a Happy Mother's Day yesterday.
We are cleaning out
the bags in the storage room and we have been getting it out as quick as
possible. We have separated school supplies for three different schools.
We sent several books in English to one of the schools that teachers
children English.....
Thank you everyone for making this possible, it makes such a huge difference here. Sharon
Also for the
Mother's Day celebration, we gave out a lot of baby clothes, we could not
get photos of those because my camera ran out of battery.
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I just want to let you know that today is Mother's Day here in
Guatemala.
I have already
received a beautiful hand made card from Lubia, a card from the school in
Panajachel plus an invitation to attend their Mother's Day Celebration
......which I cannot .....I will be going to my daughter, Zoe's school for a
Mother's Day lunch, a bottle of coca cola from Yolanda, a big bag of
vegetables from Anacleta who brought me the first of the vegetables that she
was harvesting, flowers from a woman who had walked all the way down the
mountain to bring them to me, the women's group from San Jorge brought down
a huge cake that they had bought , and an invitation from the school in
Tierra Linda to attend their celebration this evening...(.
These things are not given just to me, they are gifts for all of us, for the generosity and the kindness that you have all shown.
Feliz Dia de las
Madres! Sharon
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RODOLFO UPDATE:
Hi there, I just want to let everyone know that Kelly is very generously buying Rodolfo a TV!!!! Can you imagine how thrilled this family will be ? They have never had a TV, they don't even own a radio! This is going to really help Rodolfo take his mind off his illness. Kelly is also supplying them with food which will probably last them a month. This combined with the donations that Paula and Carmen also sent is such a blessing for this family. Thank you all so much for your donations, prayers and thoughts about this family and their awful situation, Sharon
P.S.
Dear Shannon, Rodolfo is very concerned about his family and what will happen to them. He is also worried about his family going into debt to bury him.
I am very lucky that I have a great group of people here to help, Patti, Gloria, Julio , Juan, Sandra, Mark, Dave, without them , it would be very difficult and too much for any one person. We are also very lucky to have MayanFamiliesConnection , your support is amazing. This group is accomplishing so much.
It would be overwhelming if we did not get help for anyone, then it would be just downright depressing but we are so blessed that there are so many good things happening and that we have been able to help so many people.
Just having the children sponsored to go to school is an enormous help for these families, getting shoes for their children. This may seem a small thing to you but for a child to get a new pair of shoes is a wonderful thing and something that the family cannot afford. To have all their school supplies to go to school is another miracle.
For Rodolfo this is a miracle that he and his family will have food this month and to be getting a t.v. is just so huge, I cannot tell you!
We can only do what we can do - we can't help everybody - but we certainly have been helping a lot of people. That is a huge blessing for us and for them, don't give up, I am counting on you taking over in 15 years!!! love, Sharon
Odilla has had a relapse with her ulcer, it has become infected again. The Dr. thinks that one of the reasons is that she ran out of food and either wasn't eating or she was given some type of food that she should not have eaten. ie: spices etc. We supplied her with a weeks worth of food and told her that she is not allowed to let the food run out, that she has to come back and tell us when she has nothing left. She had come to my house the night before, the children had not eaten since breakfast and there was no food in the house, she also did not have any firewood to cook over. We fed the family, gave them some food for breakfast and told them to come back the next day and get their food supply.
The Doctor has
given her more medication and we hope that this will be able to help her.
She is unable to pay her electricity bill. She is working a little, washing
clothes by hand and collecting cans for recycling, she is managing to pay
her rent. Her eldest daughter is also working on the weekends and that is
helping to pay the rent as well. If anybody would like to help Odilla it
would be greatly appreciated.
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Another Family
with Clean Drinking Water - Filter!
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This man is suffering from diabetes. He did not have any medication. His wife came to us for help. We arranged to send him to Dr. Juan Pablo's clinic, where he received the medication that he needs. He has lost a lot of weight and is unable to work. He is one of the people that was treated by the very small Emergency Medical Fund that we have.
We constantly have
people coming to us who are in need of medical attention and cannot afford
it. We have a very small fund that we use to help these people .
Unfortunately, it is not enough and there are a never ending stream of
people needing help.
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RODOLFO UPDATE:
Hi, actually Rodolfo does speak Spanish. They live a long way from
here. Tomorrow, Julio is going down by chicken bus , a 6 hour one way trip
,taking two wheelchairs, one a bath chair and a regular wheelchair so that
Rodolfo can get out of the house and sit outside. He is also going to take
the wife to open a bank account, (sorry to refer to her as" the wife "but I
don't remember her name) , the bank is at least an hour by bus from their
home but it is the only way that we can send them money, Julio is also going
to check up as to whether they tried to enroll the children in the school
and if the school refused, Julio will go to the school and see if he can
convince them to let the children attend. We may be able to bribe them with
school supplies!
We knew that the tumor on his leg was not gangrene but the Dr.'s told him that it had become gangerous and that it was spreading in his leg. There is a lot of misinformation sometimes from the hospitals. The thing on his leg is just horrendous, but I am hoping that the antibiotics will have taken out some of the infection.
It is horrible to see this kind of suffering. But at least, thanks to the kindness of Trish, a woman who took it upon herself to raise a sizeable donation for him on her blog, then we are able to help him. I would be overwhelmed if we could not do anything for him. But I know that at least what we are offering the family is a huge help for them. So while I feel very sad for Rodolfo , I feel glad that we are able to give the family food, medical care, hopefully schooling for the children.
I cannot imagine the suffering this poor man has been undergoing and what lies ahead for him. Thank Goodness ( and it really is thanking the goodness of so many people) that this family has some help.
This is a view of the kitchen and their pila, washing area.
The children outside the home.
You may remember Rodolfo Ramirez. He was the young man who has a tumor on his knee. We had hoped to be able to amputate his leg and that he would be able to live a normal life. He lives on the coast in a remote area, we had sent him to the city when he took a turn for the worse. They told him that they would amputate his leg. He was four days in the hospital without seeing a doctor. In the end, worried about the costs, he decided to return home. He was only home a day when he took another bad turn. We decided to bring him to Panajachel to the clinic and they would amputate his leg here. He was driven in the back of a pick up for five hours to get here.
Unfortunately, his story does not have a happy ending, the Dr.'s found that he did not have gangrene as he was told in the hospital , but that he had cancer and that it had spread through out his system. The Dr.'s told him that they could amputate his leg and that would take off this horrible tumor and that he would have many more months of life without it but that they could not cure him. Rodolfo and his wife decided that if amputating his leg would not cure him then they would just go home and see what "God's will " would be. Due to a very generous donation that a supporter named Trish had collected to pay for his operation, we were able to pay for his medical care, pay for his transportation, we also arranged with his wife that we would give her a monthly supplement to help her with food and medicine. She is most concerned how she is going to be able to pay for Rodolfo's funeral. We told her that we hoped that we would be able to help her with this.
We sent Julio, who works with Mayan Families, back to the house that Rodolfo, his wife and his three children live in. He said it was a very sad sight, he said that there was no food at all at the house. The three children did not have shoes. They have not been able to attend school this year because there is no money. The eldest son takes a photo of his father and goes out begging each afternoon. The wife is washing clothes by hand but she earns less than $2.00 US. a day when she can get work. This is a very poor area that they live in.
They were very
lucky that Trish also donated them a water filter so that they now have
access to clean drinking water. The situation for this family is very grim,
the house they are living in is a rented house owned by a family member.
The bed that Rodolfo is sleeping in is borrowed from a family member. This
family really has nothing. Any help that could be given to them would be
greatly appreciated. They will need continued help for the medication and
pain killers for Rodolfo, the children need to go to school, the family
needs food, plus they will eventually, need help with Rodolfo's funeral.
Then the mother and children will need somewhere to live.
This is the bed
where Rodolfo passes his time. It is very hot, they have no TV or radio,
very little food. The smell from the tumor on his leg is very nauseating
and overwhelming. His wife puts disposable diapers on it or cloths to keep
the smell contained and keep the flies off it.
Inside their kitchen.
The kitchen table.
The stove that they are cooking on.
The toilet that the family uses.
The three children and Rodolfo's wife. We sent the children backpacks,
school supplies and hopefully, they will be able to start school, it is
doubtful because it is late in the year but we are going to try and get them
in. We also sent them clothes and blankets.
Julio gave the
wife Mayan Families Emergency Fund money to be able to buy groceries for the
next few weeks and he also took her shopping to buy immediate groceries.
It is a fairly desolate area where they live.
MAY 5, 2007
We took the group
Connexiones from Canada to visit the school in Tierra Linda, along with
Kevin from Colorado. The school was amazingly empty because they had heard
that today was the day that the Govt. was coming to give measles and mumps
vaccinations to the children. Nearly all the children stayed home. There
was only about 20 children there. Most of them refused to have the
vaccinations anyway, so I am not sure if anyone actually got vaccinated in
Tierra Linda.
There was a rumor going around among the indigenous population that the Govt. was giving these vaccinations to girls and women so that they would not be able to have children.
In Panajachel and San Jorge nearly all the children had their vaccinations. But in the more remote villages suspicions run high. The children who stayed at the school were very lucky, the visitors brought all sorts of fun activities for them, balloon making, face painting, flashing light pendants. The main purpose of the trip was to give the 7 water filters that Connexiones had donated to each classroom. Juan, who works with Mayan Families, showed the teachers how to assemble and how to clean the filters. They were very excited and pleased to receive these water filters. Now, each classroom will have clean drinking water. Thank you so much to this very generous group!! Stan and his angels!!
We also visited the old lady that we had taken out of Tierra Linda two weeks ago, she had been very, very ill and when we had taken her to the clinic in Panajachel, the Dr. Juan Pablo had been very doubtful that she would survive. She had pneumonia and could barely breathe. She also has a heart twice its normal size. When she saw us coming in Tierra Linda she walked towards us with a giant smile! It was a lovely moment for all of us who had thought that she would not be able to do this. She is cured of the pneumonia but her heart problems will continue and she will have to be monitored. But for the moment, she is so happy, she can breathe again, she is not in pain and she is smiling such a big smile as she walks in her garden, looking after her little grandchildren.
On the road to Tierra Linda, I saw Chabeli and her two daughters, one is 3yrs old Angelica and the older daughter is 11yrs old. When we stopped to talk to her she showed me that her youngest daughter was having an awful problem. She had been suffering from very bad diarrhea for a week and early in the morning part of her colon had fallen out. It was absolutely awful to see. I had never seen anything like that. We took her back to the clinic in Panajachel. The Pediatrician told me that this sometimes happens if a child has bad parasites and diarrhea. Fortunately, we had brought her to the clinic. Chabeli was on her way to see the natural healer who probably would have pushed it back in with her fingers. This could have caused an awful infection.
At the clinic, they
gave Angelica a general anesthetic, pushed her colon back in and kept her
overnight. In the morning she was just fine. By 10a.m., the family was
at my house having breakfast. We gave Angelica a stuffed toy for all the
trauma she had been through. This certainly makes the water filter project
seem even a more worthwhile project and shows just how important clean water
is.
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MAYAN
FAMILIES FOOD BANK PROJECT
Yesterday we gave out food to Chabeli, who is doing so much better now . It is three months since she was operated. Her little girl spent the night in hospital with a prolapsed rectum - due to diarrhea caused by parasites. They will definitely get a water filter when they come in!
This old lady is a grandmother. She lives alone and does not receive much help from her family. Her family cannot afford to supply her with enough food, they have their own problems about keeping enough food on the table for their children. She used to work as a midwife, delivering babies at home, but she broke her wrist, she could not afford to go to a Doctor to have it set, so she did it herself, it did not heal well and her hand is now flapping and quite useless. Since then she has not been able to work. We supplied her with some food that will keep her going for a few weeks.
Ernesto's wife also received food that will keep their family going for another few weeks. Ernesto is a quadriplegic and the family is in dire need of help with housing and food.
MAY 4, 2007
We have had a situation come up very quickly, as things often do here, the place in San Jorge where we have always held our women's meetings, Christmas Parties, etc was sold several years ago to an Evangelical church. They will be taking it over soon. Also the President of our Women's Group, Juana, who has kindly lent us a room in her house for the sewing classes, now needs to use the room for the family, she is giving us notice that in a few months she will need it back. She has been very kind letting us occupy her brand new room for this long.
For those of you who have been to San Jorge, you know that it is a very small town, really a village. Land is at a premium in this town. There are very few flat spaces, everything is either up or down.
Right across from where we have always held our meetings a piece of land has become available. This land is big enough for us to build a house that will be used for many things.
This has been a dream of ours for awhile now. We would like to be able to have a permanent house for the women's group. We would like to be able to set up a co-op store there, so that their goods can be put on display.
We would like to have a pre-school space there during the day where children can come and learn, and mindful of the malnutrition there, receive two meals a day, they can also learn to draw, play with educational toys and receive some stimulation. There are many single mothers who work who have to leave their children unattended. We would like to have a permanent space for the Sewing class.
We would like it to be a space where medical and dental clinics can use the space and it would be clean. Have a decent toilet and running water. (Things that these groups like to have!) We would like to have classes there for teenagers and adults to be able to learn to read and write. If people do not know how to read or write, there is no place for them to go and learn. We would like to have cooking classes and other classes as they become available.
We can also use it for emergency housing, for women who need to get away from an abusive situation, for natural emergencies. Land space, especially, in the centre like this piece is highly sought after. We are very fortunate that the man who is selling it would like us to have it, he likes what we are doing in San Jorge. There are other people who are asking him for this land. It will go very quickly. So we have taken a great leap of faith.
The land is $10,000. U.S. We have put a deposit on the land of $1,350. U.S. We have signed a contract to come up with the rest of the money in two months. This is a huge risk we have taken but this center is very important. It will be a wonderful thing to have. There is so little land there that this opportunity to have a piece right where we need it may never come again. If it wasn't for this fact that land is so tight there we would not have taken this risk. It is really a Miracle already that this man is willing to wait two months for us to pay when he has people willing to pay it in full today.
We envision a two
storey building. But in the meantime we have to pay for this land. We are
asking for your help in any form that you can give it, donations, prayers,
suggestions and ideas. You all have such great ideas - I am counting on
you to come up with some now!!! Fingers and toes crossed, Sharon
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MOTHERS DAY BLOG 2007
There was face painting and arm painting for the children.
We had a joyous celebration for Mother's Day with the Women's Group of San Jorge. We were fortunate to be joined by the group Connexiones from Canada who have been building a house with us in Panajachel.
They are a great bunch of people who sing beautifully, they entertained the mothers with some very happy songs.
There was a watermelon eating competition!!
A balloon bursting competition!!
Kevin from Colorado, a MFC member and Stan from Connexiones handed out tennis balls to all the kids. These balls had been donated through Miracles in Action.
Stan and Grace from the Canadian group Connexiones, photographed with the sewing machines that they brought down for the graduates of the sewing class.
These very happy, very lucky women all received brand new sewing machines. They have all done a four month class, twice a week for three hours a session. After that they go to the Graduates class in the afternoons. When we receive sewing machines then they each receive a machine to take home and be able to work from home.
At our Mother's Day celebration all the mothers received gifts. The mothers who had little babies received baby clothes and blankets, clothes for older children, blankets and pillows for older women, we also had a raffle, some people were lucky to win stuffed animals. All the women who went into the competitions received a stuffed animal, runners up got a small gift.
All these gifts were made possible by the donations that people bring down to us or send us. We thank you all for making it possible for this group of women to have a very happy Mother's Day Celebration. They served us piping hot chuchitos which is like a very soft tortilla with tasty chicken and sauce inside. They are delicious.
MAY 3, 2007
Yesterday, had a little girl, Chabeli's daughter with a prolapsed rectum.
That was not a pretty thing to see. This apparently is caused by parasites,
she had very bad diarrhea for a week. We got her into the new clinic and
they were giving her a general to fix the situation and keeping her
overnight. Poor little thing is only 3yrs old.
MAY 2, 2007:
Yesterday, Pat and Kevin with their little daughter, Alexa from Boulder, Colorado, came to visit one of the two children that they sponsor. They meet Marta Lydia and her twin sisters, mother, father and baby brother. The kids were very happy to receive these beautiful stuffed animals along with many other gifts the "Padrinas" brought with them.
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We had two huge boxes of toys donated by educator Karen Johnson. The children are enjoying these toys enormously.