JULY 17, 2007 Survivors of Panabaj:
           

It is nearly 2 years ago that Hurricane Stan delivered a terrifying and tragic mudslide to the village of Panabaj. This happened in the early hours of the morning, many, many people died.  It is rumored to be as many as 800 and may be more.

The shell shocked survivors are still trying to put their lives together. They now face another wet season living in structures that are little more than tents with dirt floors.  You can imagine how miserable that is in the wet season when the floor turns to mud.

We have many, many of these people asking for help to buy a little cement to be able to put down on the floor or to buy some wood to stop the wind whistling in through the heavy duty plastic.  

These people seem to have been forgotten now, some of them apart from losing their homes and possessions, had the horrible tragedy of losing their husbands, wives, children, mothers, fathers and family members.  

If you can help with even the smallest donation towards helping some of these people get back on their feet or at least be more comfortable to pass the wet season, they would be so thankful.
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UPDATE: Diabetic woman with infected foot on blog/Rosa 12yrs old.

Hi, yes - we realize that she needs the foot amputated.  She has already been to the local hospital and she said they said there was nothing that they could do for her. I then spoke to  Dr. Juan Pablo who runs the clinic that we use here in Panajachel and he seems to think that the doctors would surely have suggested amputation and she does not want to hear that. She is now under the impression that her own sister has put a curse on her.  Belief in witchcraft or brujeria as it is called here is very strong.   What we need to do is bring her from the coast and take her to Juan Pablo's clinic. He can amputate the foot once he explains to her what her situation is.  Sometimes in the hospitals they do not explain it very well or thoroughly....this is not a criticism of the medical staff - they are overwhelmed, they have not enough staff or medicines to be able to treat people correctly. So we need the funds to bring her from the coast - approx. $100 and probably about $300 for the amputation.  We have a wheelchair we can give her.  But first we have to get her to agree but we can't do that from the coast.  We need to get her here so that she can receive the medical attention she needs, we can make sure that she understands her situation completely and then if she chooses not to amputate -  then we have done all we can for her. 

I hope that she will make the right decision.    It is an awful situation.  But on the bright side we received $900 today from an anonymous donor to help 12yr old Rosa.  I am so grateful to this person, it brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it.  Sharon
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Luis #193 and Carlos #192 receive their gifts.
       

These children were over the moon to receive these gifts. This is an extremly poor family and these children never receive anything. This was a huge thrill for them!

JULY 16, 2007
 

Rosa is 12 yrs old. She lives in Panajachel with her mother, 3 brothers and 3 sisters. Only one is married and lives outside.

Rosa's father died ten years ago.   Rosa is just about the only one in her family who has been studying. She has one brother who studied until 3rd grade but then left. Rosa is in 5th grade and is a bright student.  Two months ago, Rosa was at school and got a very bad headache.

She then suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at this very young age.  She was found to have a malformed artery. She was at the Roosevelt Hospital for treatment and they have released her. She needs ongoing treatment but the family has spent all the money that they could raise on her treatment so far. They have no more money to be able to help her.  

She has been home now a few days and has no strength to get out of bed, she has a problem with one eye.  

Rosa's mother washes clothes by hand in different houses.  She makes $3.33 a day.  Rosa needs to be able to eat nutritious food and it is impossible for them to be able to buy this kind of food. The family is now in $600US. debt - this is money that they borrowed to pay for Rosa's medical treatment.  

The two sons are day laborers and find work when it is available. They earn approx. $2.60 US  a day.  This is not fixed work, they get it when they can.

They live in a very tiny mud brick house that they have put a second floor on so that they could all fit.   Rosa's bed is on the floor, she does not have a bed.

The house is really only one room down and one room up, the downstairs room doubles as the kitchen.

 The father died in a road accident and the children were never able to study. They have all put together to be able to pay Rosa's studies.

This family is in a very difficult situation and any help that can be given to them would be greatly appreciated.
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UPDATE: FAMILY IN SANTA CATARINA
 

We visited this family again this Friday and took them a good food supply. I am happy to say that the whole family is doing better after having had regular food for the past few weeks.  The little 2yr old still has a distended stomach but it is about half the size that it was, he is now running around and not just lying listlessly on the

bed.   The mother also seems to be doing much better, her spirits are

much brighter and she seems to have more energy.

 

We would still like to be able to bring them to the Doctors for medical attention but the grandmother will not permit it.  We are hopeful that when the father comes home that he will allow the mother to come for medical attention.  She is now willing to come herself but she won't do it without the families permission.

 

Thank you to the people who have made this food supply possible for this family- it is making a huge difference in their lives.
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TWO STUDENTS RECEIVING GIFTS FROM THEIR SPONSORS!

These two students were thrilled to receive gifts from their school sponsors. Thank you so much sponsors for thinking of them, it certainly was a big thrill for them!

JULY 15, 2007 MEDICAL CARE BEING SOUGHT:
   

When we delivered the pots and pans to Rodolfo's family on the coast, the minister from a local church asked Julio and Gloria if they would look at this woman and see if we could help her.

As you can see from the photos her foot is in terrible shape.  The day before we got there, she had taken a worm out of her foot.  This woman

is diabetic and needs urgent medical attention for this foot.   She is

a very poor woman, a photo of her home can be seen here.

We need to be able to transport her to a hospital and find out what care can be given for her and pay for it.  If anyone can possibly help with a donation - it would be very much appreciated.
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WHEELCHAIR DELIVERED!
 

While we were on the coast visiting Rodolfo's family, the local minister also asked for help with this man.  He has had a stroke but had no access to a wheelchair and would have to sit where ever the

family were able to move him to.   We were able to supply him with a

wheelchair and a bathroom commode which hopefully will make it easier for his wife to be able to care for him.
ANOTHER WHEELCHAIR, MINOR MIRACLE, GIVEN OUT FROM YOUR DONATIONS!

UPDATE on Don Felipe Chopen: 

We recently asked for help with the medical care of Don Felipe Chopen, his photo is posted here on an earlier blog.   We did  give him medication and he was no longer screaming in pain at night. We also provided him with food and sent Olga, the social worker to check up on him. The family had bathed him and changed his sheets and his condition was a considerably more comfortable than before. Earlier this week Don Felipe passed away.   Thank you for everyone who sent donations and good wishes for him.

OLGA GETS HER BED!
 

These students are sponsored by The Gamble family and Christy Estes. Christy recently purchased this bed for the family.  They were thrilled to receive it. Olga is a social worker and works part time with us. Her husband sells cheese door to door. They lost their house nearly two years ago in the flood caused by Hurricane Stan. They have rebuilt the house but it is in a very dangerous position near the river and they are very nervous about this wet season. Olga cares for her parents who live with her.  Her mother is on dialysis treatment for her kidney problems.  They are slowly rebuilding their lives after the disaster of Hurricane Stan. They were extremely grateful to receive this bed.

 

BUCKS FOR CLUCKS:

Thanks to a wonderful fundraising campaign "Bucks for Clucks" another 20 families received ten chickens each, plus a big bag of concentrate to start them off.  The families were thrilled to receive these chickens, it means that they will definitely be having an increase in their prosperity in the near future.
 

Another happy chicken recipient.

 

JULY 14, 2007 Water Filters delivered to Tzala School in Panajachel, Guatemala.

Water filters delivered to Tzala school in Panajachel. This week, thanks to Rotary , we were able to donate 6 water filters
to the Tzala school in Panajachel.    They were very happy to receive them and we hopefully will be able to supply the rest of the
classrooms in the school. In the meantime they will be sharing the filters and the children will have clean water to drink.  Thank you Rotary!
JULY 13, 2007:  

Late this afternoon, the big Medrano truck pulled up and dropped off 20 beautiful big boxes and a walker wrapped in plastic!!!!  It was so exciting to have them all delivered to the door.

Friday the 13th has been a very good day!!!  Tomorrow - we start unpacking!!!!  Photos will be flowing!!!!  Thank you all for sending such wonderful boxes full of love and joy!   Sharon

A LITTLE HISTORY OF MAYAN FAMILIES.
Hi,  Welcome to the group, we are very happy to have you here. How we got started with Mayan Families has been a long process. I am Australian and my background was as a community worker there. I left Australia to go travelling and got a job with a Canadian store as a buyer. They sent me all over the place buying and manufacturing for them, Bolivia, India, Hong Kong, Peru, Thailand and then eventually they sent me to Guatemala in 1985 to start manufacturing here. We opened a small workshop , I was here for a year, fell in love with Guatemala and especially Lake Atitlan so I decided to stay. I opened my own workshop and started exporting to Australia, U.S. and Europe. With a partner I eventually opened a store in Australia.  I love the textiles from Guatemala and was very involved in the weaving and manufacturing process. My husband, Dwight, is from San Diego, California but we met here in  1989. We married in 1992 and adopted our first daughter, Zoe in 1994.  Both Dwight and my backgrounds were in the helping fields, so it was only natural that we became involved in the people's lives here. We started sponsoring children to go to school but on a much smaller scale, we helped people when they needed medical attention etc.   Patti, who looks after the accounts( - along with Harold's great help now) was also doing similar things and so it wasn't long before we started helping each other. We are all great animal lovers and Dwight would pack the pick up with dogs to be spayed and take them to Antigua to have their operations.  We were always rescuing animals. When we left Guatemala in 1995 to go back to Australia and then onto San Diego.  I would raise small amounts of money to send back to Patti and we would do the best we could. We were inspired by a friend our ours Jill, who started a Canadian group called Poco a Poco. She started out doing Veterinarian work and then went onto bringing medical missions and medical equipment by the container to Guatemala.  We became involved with her group and helped out as much as we could. In 2004, we came back on one of our many visits to Guatemala and decided to adopt another child. Zoe had always wanted a sister and we decided that it was meant to be and so we adopted our second daughter, Aleeya. We moved back here in October, 2004 and Aleeya was born three days later. During that time Patti and I started working full time with Poco a Poco but soon realized that because we lived here we had a very different and more personal idea of what the people needed. We responded to what their immediate needs were.  We survived  Hurricane Stan here and were enmeshed in helping people, the suffering was enormous, people had lost their homes, they had nothing but the clothes they stood in, and we decided to formalize what we had been doing and so we started Mayan Families. We did not know how we were going to do it, but we just knew that we needed to do it, that there was an enormous amount of need and that we had to do something.   We have been very fortunate that we have had great people come along who also want to be involved in doing something to help. We have a terrific crew of people who work with Mayan Families - we now have five full time employees.  Juan - who oversees the construction.  Julio - who does Micro Loans and wears many other hats, Gloria who runs the school sponsorship, Olga - a social worker who checks up on all the families that we sponsor- and Sandra our secretary who is also studying to be a social worker. Now we are very lucky that Harold and Selaine moved to Panajachel.  Selaine has taken over the animal section of Mayan Families. She used to work with a large animal refuge in Utah, Best Friends and she has lots of experience to put towards helping  with the plight of the animals here. Her husband, Harold, is a whizz with computers and he is helping Patti with the accounts. He has set up some very good systems for us. Bonnie started MFC last November and that has been fantastic to have that support. We are very lucky to have support from so many wonderful people.   Sharon
JULY 6, 2007  Help for Rodolfo's Family!
   

Elodia and her children, lost their husband and father, Rodolfo last month. Thanks to some very generous and kind hearts they have received a large donation that will enable Elodia to start her own business. Elodia is going to start making tamales to sell.  She has experience at this and thinks that she will do well.

Her big problem was that she did not have any pots to cook in nor did she have any money to buy the ingredients to start her new business.  

Gloria and Julio went yesterday to Champerrico, they bought the pots that she would need and gave her the money to start her business. They also took the family shopping for shoes. The son, Jayro 14yrs old,  had cut his foot deeply two days earlier. He did not have shoes to wear and was walking barefoot, he cut his foot on a piece of corrugated aluminum.  

Jaqueline 12yrs old and Maria 9yrs old , were thrilled to be able to go to the shoe store and buy a pair of shoes. We also sent them a large supply of food to tide them over for the next few weeks.  

Thank you so much to the people who donated this money. This means a huge amount to this family. These children have been through a very hard time and the food and the shoes have certainly helped put a smile on their faces.
FAMILY OF RODOLFO PART TWO:

We were very happy to see that Elodia had received an onil stove. But they do not have a kitchen to put it in.This kitchen they are using at present, belongs to the mother in law and Elodia needs her own kitchen

where she can cook for her business to support her children.     We

are hoping to be able to build a kitchen for her, it would cost $1,000

US.   It is nothing fancy but the costs are high because of the

transportation costs of where she lives.  They live in a very remote area.  If anyone is interested in helping make a donation towards this kitchen this would greatly help this family.

Rodolfo's Family

This is Elodia and her children, they are doing as well as they can after the recent loss of their father and husband.  Your donations have made life much easier for them and this very difficult time has been made smoother for them. Thank you so much.

 

JULY 5, 2007
You probably know that nearly two years ago Hurricane Stan caused a huge amount of damage here. One of the disasters here was to wash out the bridge that connects the two sides of Panajachel.  This bridge was rebuilt, the re-opening was held recently.   Two days ago, after a heavy rain, a huge hole appeared at the end of the bridge, the bricks fell away and there was quite a drop and then there was an even further drop into the river. One of our sponsored students, Gladis, was on her way to the market to buy food for her mother. She was on her bicycle and there was absolutely no warning for her, she could not see the hole that had just appeared from her angle of approach, she went down the hole, over the handlebars of her bicycle. She was knocked unconscious and taken by ambulance to the hospital.  

Yesterday her mother came to the house crying. Her daughter had woken up, did not remember anything and was in a lot of pain.  She had been 24 hours in the hospital and no doctor had attended her after her initial entry. She was crying with the pain in her stomach and chest.  

We had her removed from the hospital and brought to the clinic that we use in Panajachel. This clinic has x-rays, ultra sound, a lab and is equipped with about five hospital rooms. They immediately found that her kidneys were swollen and put her on a drip of fluids and pain killers. Her family was so grateful.  

We don't know what her medical diagnosis is yet but she will be in clinic/hospital for a few days now.     If anyone would like to help with a donation towards her medical expenses it would be very appreciated.

JULY 4, 2007
 

Cindy, our strong volunteer, carries food to Candelaria's family. Pascaline is also here volunteering and helped distribute the food once at the house. Candelaria was thrilled to receive this food. This food was donated by Sarah H. and her partner who are fostering in Antigua. Thank you so much! Unfortunately, yesterday, the day after the food had been delivered I had a very disturbing phone call from Candelaria's 17yr old son. Candelaria and the family share the house with her extended family.They have to pay their share of the rent and do not receive much help from the extended family.  The son told me in the phone call that Candelaria's brother has taken to hitting Candelaria.  He came home the day that the family received this donation and smacked her several times, he is also beating the youngest girl, Johanna, who is 5yrs old.  The son feels that the family is very jealous that Candelaria is receiving aid.  He asked me if there was any chance that we could help them to find a place of their own. The trouble is that the money that the son makes will not be able to stretch far enough to pay the rent and buy food for the family, not to mention paying electricity, firewood , gas and clothing.  We are looking for a sponsor for this family who will be able to help them with approx. $100 US. a month to cover the rent.  Or two sponsors for $50 a month.  It would have to be a long term commitment. It anyone is interested in helping them , please contact us as soon as possible!Thank you, Sharon.
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SENOR FELIPE CHOPEN:

Felipe Chopen is 78 yrs old. He lives with his two daughters. The two daughters are both single mothers and they are very irresponsible with the care of their father.  He has been screaming at night in pain, all the neighbors have heard him and told us about him. Sometimes the daughters have gagged him to stop screaming. He is screaming in pain. The daughters said that he had diabetes but we got the paramedics to take him to the clinic and he does not have diabetes but he does have cellulites and he is in a lot of pain. He has not had any medication for this pain. He says that his bones and his feet hurt him a lot and he cannot help but cry out in pain. He only has this mattress to lay on and the daughters put newspaper under him for when he has to go to the bathroom.

 

The father was really filthy, they do not bathe him, he has scabies from the bed.   The doctor found him to be suffering from

malnutrition.  He says that he is cold a lot at night because his daughters do not want to give him more blankets.  

We need to buy him a new bed, give him sheets and supply him with his medication. When we went to visit him a few days after he had been to the doctor, he was feeling a lot better, the swelling in his feet and ankles was reduced.

 

We hope that he will soon be able to get up and use the bathroom. The room smells terribly right now because he is unbathed and he has a bucket under the bed to urinate in.  They don't empty it often and it has spilt on the floor and not been cleaned up. I talked to the daughters and tried to convince them to take better care of the father.   I said that we would help them with cleaning supplies and give the father some food.  They say that they do not have enough food for their children.  They have five children between. One of the women had custody of her niece's child.  They left this child abandoned in the street, they did not fee him and the courts eventually took him away from them.  So their record is not good and this poor old man will not receive the help that he needs from them.  

If anyone can help him with his medical care and his food it would be greatly appreciated.

JULY 3, 2007

Isabel is a young single mother of 19yrs old. She has a heart problem and we arranged for her to have open heart surgery at the heart hospital INCAR in the city. She did very well after the operation and was released.

 

 8 days after being home she had a cerebral hemorrhage and was rushed back to the hospital.

This was several weeks ago.

 

Her father called me last night to tell me that she has been home for awhile now and that she is well on the road to recovery and feels much better.

Thank you everyone who donated to help pay for her medical care, who sent good wishes and/or kept her in your prayers.  Her father wanted to tell you all how extremely grateful he is for the help that has been given to his daughter.
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The Mayan Families support store is now open! Please visit

www.mayanfamiliessupportstore.com

Thank you once again for all of your continued support!
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Water filters delivered to Tzala school in Panajchel.

This week, thanks to Rotary , we were able to donate 6 water filters

to the Tzala school in Panajachel.    They were very happy to receive

them and we hopefully will be able to supply the rest of the classrooms in the school. In the meantime they will be sharing the filters and the children will have clean water to drink.  Thank you Rotary!

JULY 1, 2007
     

Thank you to a very generous donation we were able to supply 35 new desks to the 6th grade students at Tierra Linda School. The desks that they had been using were borrowed from another school and they have to return them at the end of October. The 6th grade students were excited to have brand new desks.

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  ONIL STOVES
It is estimated by Helps that a Guatemalan woman carries 18,000lbs of firewood on her back in one year.  These stoves reduce that amount by 70%.   With 20,000 Onil stoves they save 240,000 trees each year. We have 25 Onil stoves ordered. The usual minimum amount is 50 stoves but we have not been able to raise that amount but Helps is giving us a break on the minimum order. These stoves are so life changing.  There are so many families waiting who want a stove. The cost of these stoves is $125 US.  Please if you can afford to buy a stove for a family, please consider buying one now.  We have placed an order for onil stoves and they should be delivered in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, we have many, many people waiting who want a stove and we do not have one for them. These stoves cost $125 US. These stoves also help with:respiratory illnesses. - the principal cause of death among children under 5yrs old. Burns - the sides of these stoves do not heat up and they have a protective shield around the stove pipe. Eye problems - caused by smoke. Time saved from collecting all of the needed firewood. Please consider buying one for a family. They are life changing for the family. Sharon

 

JUNE 29, 2007           JUNE VET CLINIC AT SHARON'S HOUSE:


Selaine weighing dogs.

 

Two of the waiting "patients".

 

We held a very successful veterinary clinic at the house on Wednesday and Thursday. 33 dogs and cats were spayed and neutered, given vaccines, received a collar and a bag of dog food to take home.

People and dogs were lined up on the patio all day and waited all day for their pets to come out of recovery. They were brought in bags and boxes, tied up with rope waiting their turn.

We had two vets and a helper from the city.  Selaine, Zoe and volunteer, Marilena, weighed dogs, fitted them with collars, kept them warm after surgery and made sure that they were o.k. to go home.

Selaine organized the vet to make a home visit to one dog that has long hair and had become so matted that it was unable to walk very well.

We were very tired but very happy at the end of these two days. This clinic will help prevent a lot more puppies coming who suffer terribly on the streets here.

The vets. at work in the very rudimentary clinic.

 

JUNE 27, 2006

Thanks to the people who sent this wheelchair down this woman, Candelaria, suffering from M.S. was able to receive a new wheelchair.

JUNE 26, 2007
  

 

Cutting the ribbon on the new classroom.

We had the pleasure last week of going to Tierra Linda school and attending the inauguration of 2 of the new classrooms. The school was festooned with balloons and flowers, the children were very excited. We were lucky that visiting volunteers Cindy and Carmen, Donald and their two children were able to go with us. There was lots of dancing and singing from the children, the school presented me with a very beautiful traditional cape in appreciation of what we have been able to accomplish for them. I cut the ribbon on the new classroom, it does not have the windows in yet but they were so anxious to move in, they did not want to wait for the windows to be finished. Carmen and Donald had brought lots of school materials which she gave out to the director and the teachers. They were very impressed with all the books and it is now the start of their library. We also brought lots of old National Geographic that the children all grabbed for and were just fascinated by the photos. While we were there we realized that the stairs did not have a very important part of the railing that was necessary to stop the children falling. on the inside of the stairs. Donald and Carmen generously offered to put this small part of the railing in and it is now known as the "Donald Railing"!
 

The boys in their costumes ready to do the traditional dancing to celebrate the new classrooms.

Carmen and Donald giving out school supplies.

Carmen explaining to the teachers how to use  the school supplies she brought.
     

The children fascinated by the old National Geographic magazines and the books.  Now we have a start of a library......we just need a bookshelf for the school!

Donald and Carmen's son, Carlos enjoyed showing the children some of their new school supplies.

The girls singing a song to celebrate the opening of two new classrooms.
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WATER FILTER PROJECT IN SAN JORGE

 

Rotary very kindly donated 26 water filters to us so that we could distribute them to schools and people in need.  We were able to donate

17 to the school in San Jorge, one for each classroom and one for the kitchen. The teachers had to learn how to assemble them and how to clean them. Everyone was very excited about this.

Thank You Rotary !!!

While we were at San Jorge school they showed us the problem that they are having in one classroom.  Water is coming in from the water tower and it is drenching the walls, the room has a moldy smell and the wall is weakening. The teacher points to a hole in the wall caused by this water.  We would really like to be able to help the school with this problem . It is dangerous and very unhealthy for the children to be in such a damp classroom.

We estimate that we probably need approx. $1,000 to repair this classroom. If anyone would like to contribute towards this repair, it would be greatly appreciated.

While we were at the school in San Jorge, the Director of the school asked for help with three whiteboards. There are 3 classrooms that do not have blackboards for the teachers to be able to write on.  If anyone would like to donate a blackboard/whiteboard to one of these classrooms ...they cost $50 each.

 

JUNE 24, 2007
Clucks for Bucks Project:

Yesterday 20 more families received 10 vaccinated chickens each and a supply of chicken concentrate to start them off.

The Bucks for Clucks Easter project was very successful and we have many happy families receiving chickens thanks to your kind donations.

We especially want to thank the students, staff and parents of the Christ the Kings School who made such a generous donation to this project.

We love this project because it gives families a hand up rather than a hand out. Thank you all who made this project so successful.
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ODILLIA AND HER FAMILY:
         
    

Odillia and her family have received a week's food supply this week.

Odillia is continuing to improve but her health is still very delicate.
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SAN JORGE SCHOOL PROJECT:
        

Cindy who is volunteering with us for the summer has fun with the children at San Jorge school.

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DONA MERCEDES:
 

Dona Mercedes received beds for her two sons and a table and chairs for the whole family.  She was so happy to receive these gifts from her sponsor.
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LUBIA AND  HER BABY:
 

Lubia gave birth Friday to a healthy, 7lb baby boy. His name is Dexwell. She gave birth by cesarean and also chose to have a tubal ligation at the same time.   If you have read our blog earlier, Lubia is the single mother of then 3 (now 4) children. We found her and her three children sleeping in a half constructed building. Her husband has abandoned her and she had come to Panajachel hoping to get herself settled. She was robbed on the bus and lost all her money.  She was then 6 months pregnant, had fallen down the stairs twice in the building site that they were living in. We moved her into a comfortable house to live in. She almost miscarried twice but thanks to the care that she has received and the donations from the generous people who made that care possible, she and Dexwell have both survived.

She is going home today from the hospital.  The future for her is still very difficult. She will eventually have to be able to support herself and her four children.  We are going to try and seek family sponsorship for them in the meantime.  

Lubia needs help to pay the rent - and with food.   We have her three children sponsored to go to school.

If anyone would like to help Lubia ,it would be greatly appreciated.
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FOOD FOR CANDELARIA:

Carmen and Donald, along with their two children, Carlos and Alissa are volunteering with us for a few weeks.

They bought and delivered food to Candelaria, a single mother ,

wheelchair bound with M.S.   She has five children, her eldest son 17,

earns.$4.oo US  a day which is not enough to be able to pay the rent and feed the six of them.

He works driving a tuk tuk, ( small 3 wheel taxi) from 7.am. till 11.p.m at night.

This family is often without food.

The 9 yr old Elisabeth is now the cook in the family. She is the one who makes the meals. Her mother cannot lift her arms up to cook anymore.  Her grandmother is out working so there is no one else to cook in the family except for young Elisabeth.

Carmen and Donald also brought shoes and clothes for the family.

JUNE 23, 2007
NEW PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FOR MAYAN FAMILIES - Thank you Heidi! This will take you to another web site.
http://my.videoegg.com/video/dnxRTN
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SANTA CATARINA FAMILY #1 UPDATE:

Unfortunately, we have bad news, we sent the paramedics there this morning with Olga the social worker, to bring the mother and the babies down for medical treatment. The grandmother refused to let them come, she was weeping and saying that her grandchild would die if he went to the Dr.'s .  The paramedics tried to explain to her that the child will die without medical treatment but they could not get her to agree. We have since informed the Director of the school.  She is the person who brought this family to our attention.  We are going to give her photos of the 2yr old and she is going to take Olga's report to the Human Rights Court in Solola and hopefully, they will step in and make the family give the child medical attention.

JUNE 22, 2007: A FAMILY (from Santa Catarina) IN NEED OF SPONSORSHIP:

This is the 2 year old boy.
This is the 5 year old.

JUNE 17, 2007

 

This house was built in Panajachel for this family. The money was generously donated by Connexiones, a wonderful group of people from Canada.  The house had many volunteers work on it and it is a real labor of love.

This family had been living in one rented room. They now have room for their family to grow.  The mother is a diabetic and has been struggling with her illness, the father is  a baker and recently lost his job, he is now selling ice creams from a cart.  They borrowed the money to be able to buy the land and are still making payments on it.

It would have been impossible for them to build this house for many, many years without the help that they have received.

Thank you so much to all the people who helped build this home for this family. It is a gift that they will never forget.
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These are the photos of the new roof that the Gamble family supplied to the family of the child that they are sponsoring.  This family is very grateful. Water was leaking badly into the house. With the wet season upon us that made life very miserable.

Thank you so much to the Gamble family for making this dream come true for this family.

 

The Mayor's office in San Jorge la Laguna asked if we could help paint the community washing centers. They are peeling and look awful. We were happy to be able to supply them with the brooms to be able to

clean the washing areas, the supplies and the paint.   We now would like to have electricity connected as it is often dark when the women are trying to wash there.

The women graduated their sewing class and we presented them with certificates, they made us a wonderful lunch and we supplied the cake to celebrate this great occasion. Most of these women cannot read or write, they have never been to school. To be able to graduate from something and receive a diploma is a very big deal for them.  It was a very joyous occasion and they presented me with a beautiful weaving in appreciation of the classes.

 JUNE 15, 2007

I just want to thank you all for the hard work that goes into organizing and packing these shipments. I know it is huge.

I also want you to know how very much appreciated every single thing that you send is.  We are already out of girls and boys clothing, shoes, blankets, many vitamins all gone, we still have a few sheets and some baby clothes.  The rain capes have been incredible. Yesterday we sent two women to the Dr. with their babies., the babies were both coughing, they turned out to have bronchia - pneumonia  ( they call it here), they got their medicines and then were going to walk an hour up the mountain to Tierra Linda in the pouring rain. I was so glad that we were able to whip out three rain capes, they completely covered the babies and the women were covered up to their knees ( these were the child ones!) also we gave another one to the elder brother of one of the babies.   It was so great to have these babies going covered from the rain.

Three days in a row the hospital in Solola has called us. Once for an elderly man who really needed his medications and had no money to buy them,  we bought them for him, cost $50 US. , then the next day they called for a wheel chair for another elderly man who had his leg amputated, he was 80yrs old and struggling to walk on crutches, thanks to the wheelchairs that came we were able to lend one to him for as long as he needs it, yesterday they called again for a walker for a patient who needs one to go home. They are coming for it today, thanks to you, we were able to supply these goods.  You may wonder why the hospital doesn't have these resources, they just don't. We have had to give the hospital towels and sheets when they had none. I am so pleased to see another walker is coming in the next shipment! Thank you. I am also so thankful for the people who are selling jewelry to raise money for the emergency funds. Our doctors bills these past few weeks are very high, we have had so many sick people and our bill is through the roof.  Even with the discount that he gives us. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for all this help, it is wonderful, Sharon

JUNE 11, 2007
           

Thanks to a very successful fundraiser "Bucks for Clucks"  that was organized by the Mayanfamiliesconnection@yahoogroups.com we will be able to distribute lots of chickens in the coming weeks.  This past Sunday we distributed the first 200 chickens to 20 very happy people. Next Saturday we will be distributing another 200 . We will be doing this every week until all the chickens are delivered. Each family received ten chickens and 20lbs of chicken food concentrate to get them started. They had already built their chicken sheds and are looking forward to raising these chicks. We wish them the greatest success.

Thank you so much for all the people who contributed to this wonderful project.

JUNE 10, 2007

This young student Dilma Noami was so happy to receive a new traditional outfit of a Guipil and a Corte from her sponsor. She only has one outfit and uses it only on special occasions, the rest of the time she wears second hand western clothes. So she was thrilled to get a new outfit.
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We sent pots and pans to the family that recently lost their home in a propane tank related fire. They were left with just the clothes on their backs.  They have rented a little room to live in now but spend most of the day at the mother-in - laws house because they do not have a stove, pots, pans , plates etc.  Little by little we are helping them rebuild their lives.

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We supplied this man with a clavicle support and medicine this week. He had fractured his clavicle and could not afford to buy the "cast" for his arm or the medicine that he needed.
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This past week with a donation from a very generous person and  two great volunteers, Jeff and Ross we were able to build a kitchen for Odilla. This also covers the pila for her and she is now able to wash her clothes, face , dishes etc while under cover. She is also able to cook on her "stove". Cooking outside in the wet season is almost impossible.   She is very happy that she now has a covered space to cook and wash.  Thank you to everyone who helped her get this basic need met. She is also photographed with the food that we were able to supply her with this week.
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For the past few weeks the sponsored students have all been bringing their report cards. While they are here, they write a letter or a drawing for their sponsors.  The kids are really enjoying this!

Sponsors should receive their letters within six to twelve weeks.
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This little girl, 3yrs old needs an eye operation.  The family needed to have it done a lot earlier but the hospital was asking for the amount of $670. US and they could not afford it so they have just let it go.  I am hoping that the next medical group specializing in eyes, that will be coming down will be able to help her.

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Julianna is 55yrs old and she is diabetic. She is a widow and does not have any children. When she was 4 months pregnant her husband beat her and she lost the baby and could never conceive again. She is too ill with diabetes to work, she has had her toe amputated and finds it difficult to walk yet. Her eyesight is also giving her a lot of trouble. She is very weak and cannot walk long distances or do much of any kind of work. She lost the room she used to rent because she could not pay the rent. She then went to live with a family member, a brother in law and his adult daughter with three children.  The adult daughter is very physically abusive to the children, she has been warned that she will have them taken away from her if she continues her behavior. When Julianna tried to intervene to stop her hitting the 8 month old baby, the daughter threw her out of the house. 

 She is photographed in the room that we have rented for her, she has no money and this bag holds  all her possessions.   She needs to continue her treatment for diabetes and for the infection where her toe was amputated. We have been giving her treatment for her diabetes and treating her infected stump where he toe was amputated. Since she was thrown out of the horrible environment where she was living, we have paid for her accommodation  and have paid for all her meals. She needs help to be able to get a little place to live and to be able to continue her treatment. If anyone can make a donation towards helping Julianna it would be greatly appreciated.

JUNE 9, 2007

Mayan Families - Ernesto's Fundraiser

Friday, May 4, 2007

A House for Ernesto

 

Side view of Ernesto's house. Ernesto and his family receiving donated clothes

 

Mayan Families, a small volunteer organization in Panajachel, Guatemala, is raising funds to buy land and build a house for Ernesto, a 25-year-old man who is a paraplegic. He lives in a remote area near Lake Atitlan, Guatemala with his 23-year-old wife Sylvia and their two beautiful little girls. Ernesto had a car accident three years ago and hasn’t walked since then.

They had to move in with the wife's family. This family is already extremely large with 13 children, all mostly living in one large room - including one mentally disabled and deaf adult son. There was no room for Ernesto, Sylvia and their daughters except to enclose part of the corner of their verandah. This room is basically made of tin sheeting. It does not reach the roof. The room is very small- just enough room for two beds and a chest of drawers. The tin sheeting keeps the room hot during the day and cold during the night. The fact that it does not reach the roof allows lots of wind and dust to enter. It also has no windows. It is very depressing. There is no access for Ernesto to be able to leave the house.

His care is left entirely to his wife because the rest of the family is horrified about becoming involved in the care that he needs. He has terrible bed sores. His life is miserable with no escape from the pain.

Added to this misery, the wife's father just left the mother, who still has about 8 small children. He is not giving her any money for food.

The only financial support is the two adult daughters, one being Ernesto's wife. She earns approximately $2.00 U.S. a day taking in washing by hand and making tortillas in a shop in the afternoons. Her sister, who also lives at home, is a single mother with 3 children and does the same work. When she works she also makes $2.00 U.S. a day. This is not enough money to feed even four of them, never mind the whole 18 of them. This family always needs food. Ernesto is very thin.

In January, Mayan Families took a group of doctors and nurses from the Canadian medical team “Medicos en Accion” to visit Ernesto. They brought a hospital mattress and equipment for him to use to help stop the horrendous bed sores. They taught Sylvia, Ernesto's wife, how to care for his bed sores and how to prevent them in the future but it is extremely difficult for Sylvia to care for Ernesto. She leaves at 5 a.m. to work washing clothes and doesn’t come back for hours. Most days Ernesto just lies in bed, in his soiled linens, without food or medicine for the pain. They do not own a television.

As bad as this situation is, it is going to get worse soon. The whole family needs to vacate this house by the end of May. The owner of half of the lot where the house is located, is scheduled to tear down the kitchen, bathroom and stair access to the current house. The extended family has found a place to live but Ernesto and his family cannot come with them. They will stay behind and will have to live by themselves in the room without access to a kitchen or bathroom.

Mayan Families is hoping to raise the money needed to buy the land and then build a house before the end of May. Once they are in a safe place, Ernesto and Sylvia can learn new skills to help them earn a better living.

Please consider making a donation to help build this desperate family a safe place to live. Together we can make a difference in their lives. Thank you.

If you would like a tax-deductible receipt please visit http://www.worldlinkpartners.org/donate.html to donate via Paypal

Or send a check to:

World Link Partners c/o Helen Hogan
411 East 3350 North
North Ogden, UT 84414

Please let them know it is for MAYAN FAMILIES.

If you do not need a tax-deductible receipt, you may donate via Paypal on our website http://www.mayanfamilies.org/

Please specify it is for Ernesto’s fund.

Or make check payable to Mayan Families and mail to:

Mayan Families c/o Dwight Poage

2609 Hartford St.

San Diego, CA 92110-2315

 

For more information on this and our other programs, please visit us at www.mayanfamilies.org

 or contact us at mayanfamilies@yahoo.com

BUY-A-BRICK FUNDRAISER

We have started a fundraiser program to raise funds to buy land and build a family for Ernesto and his family. The approximate cost will be $5,000 dollars, we have raised over half that but we still need $2,000. more. Your donation of $10 will buy one brick and will help this desperate family improve their living conditions. Thank you for your donations!

Please visit www.mayanfamilies.org for information on other worthwhile projects.

 

 

 

DONATIONS

Donations

*Please make checks payable to Mayan Families and mail to: 2609 Hartford St., San Diego, CA 92110-2315

JUNE 8, 2007 
        
This is the time of Los Negritos. Celebrating Corpus Christ and Santisimo  the men and boys take to the streets masked, dressed in women's clothing and other wild outfits.  They dance wildly on the streets and chase the children and young women.  This is a fun celebration that takes place in most towns and villages in Guatemala.
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I am thrilled to tell you all that yesterday the land for the community center in San Jorge was paid for in full!!!!!!

Congratulations to all of us!!   You all did such an amazing job on this fundraiser.  Thank you so much!

The women's group committee was here yesterday afternoon and they were so excited about having this community center, they asked if they could have cooking lessons there as well.  There are so many possibilites with this project, it is very exciting!!

Thank you all for all the hard work, prayers and good wishes that went into this,  Muchismo gracias, Sharon
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501.(c).(3) Update:
This is Dwight, Sharon's husband,

First of all I want to thank Chris, Bonnie's daughter for all of her help and assistance, Mark for his help, plus everyone for their encouragement and support. We finally received the legal advice we needed and we are proceeding at full speed.
We have submitted to the State of California our Articles of Incorporation! As soon as we get that back from the State, approximately two weeks from today, we will file our Federal and State IRS Forms. We are on our way! YA! I will let everyone know the progress as it happens. We are not yet official, however we are on our way and everything we can do to fast track this, believe me, we are doing.
PayPal update:
We are working with PayPal to get their issues resolved, it has been a bit frustrating, however I expect to hear back from them Monday and hopefully they will get it working again. I'll keep everyone updated as much as I can. Best wishes, Dwight

JUNE 7, 2007 Lubia update: Sharon writes,
Lubia is doing well, the grandmother is still there and she wants to open a tiny little restaurant, a Comedor . She thinks that after the baby is born that she and Lubia will be able to run it together.  They have asked for a loan to do that so we are looking into it for them.  It would be great for them to have something that they can make an income with.  But I think it will take time for Lubia to be self sufficient. 

Their needs right now are more for food . We had to get some dental work done for Limni this week, she got an abscess in one of her back teeth.  She is now on antibiotics and as soon as the swelling goes down it will be taken out . Her two back teeth are black with holes.  Kensi , the little one, fell over and broke a front tooth, it cracked off halfway.  Lubia is asking if we can get a cap for it , but I am very concerned about the dwindling amount of money we have left for them and think that we need to keep that money for their food and medical bills.  Kensi's tooth does not look great but it is not uncomfortable or causing her pain so I think it will have to wait until we see where we are.

We will not be able to support them indefinitely so they will need to be able to earn their own living and pay rent somewhere eventually. It is not going to be easy for Lubia. I am hoping that we may find a family sponsor for her to get her through the first year. She will be having the operation on June 23rd.

Thanks to all the great donations we have received we have given her a lot of baby clothes and blankets, ( in fact we have been able to give three newborn babies enough clothes this past week). She has a stroller for Kensi.  She will probably have the baby in bed with her but I will ask her if she plans on doing that or if she would rather have a bassinet.  Cribs are very expensive but we can get a bassinet made out of straw.  I have a crib that I lend out but it is already with a family and I don't know if they are ready to give it up or not yet.   We have bottles for her if she cannot breast feed.
As I am writing this Lubia just called me and Kensi, the little one came down with chicken pox last night. She had convulsions from a high fever  and they rushed her to the Doctor in the middle of the night.  Tailee , the middle one has not had chicken pox so she will probably come down with them next.   She asked me for calamine lotion and I realize I am down to my last bottle so if anyone has calamine for the next shipment that would be great! Sharon
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Chicken Project Update:

We ordered the chickens last week. We ordered 200 because we have to stagger the deliveries.  We do not want to flood the market. It is a small place and a lot of extra chickens at once can cause a problem at the market. ( Been there - done that!!)  The chickens should be delivered tomorrow!!  Will get you lots of photos!  The chickens come in cages and then we transfer them to the women waiting - who usually have a basket with a net over it or put a cloth around it.  Once in a while a chicken makes a run for it but it is not too chaotic ( fingers crossed!!)   As soon as the chickens go out, I will send the photos!  Sharon

JUNE 6, 2007 More out of the Boxes - Medrano shipment #3

     
Please go to the NEW SHOES, NEW CLOTHES, MEDRANO SHIPMENT, PHOTOS OF DONATIONS BEING RECEIVED

to view all of the fresh photos!

JUNE 5, 2007

Donations being given to the school El Capulin in Panajachel.
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I love the Christmas in July Toy Drive and the "Santa Project"!!! This group is so creative! We already have toys that we are storing and we stored toys last year with less space than we have now. Sept. till Dec. is not such a long time to store them. We will just be very happy to have them. The other thing that we need for Christmas is towels, hand towels, blankets for the elder women, widows, single mothers in the groups. Thanks so much for all that you are doing, Sharon

JUNE 3, 2007
 After the damage of Hurricane Stan here everyone is very nervous when the wet season begins.  We had steady rain Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Just when we expecting the Hurricane to hit up north, near the Border of Guatemala and Mexico, the sun came out and we have not had rain since.    The ponchos have been such a great hit.  Monday, Julio is taking 552 to the school in San Jorge and every child will be receiving one, I can't wait to see the photo of that!   The rest we are giving out to the people who come to the house.  Everyone who has come here since we opened the box has received one and they arrived exactly when we needed them! 

More photos on coming...!  Thank you so much for all the hard work that you did on this shipment. Did you pack it all yourself?  I hope not. We have unpacked everything now and it has been sorted into, men's clothes, women's clothes, boys and girls clothes and then baby girls and baby boys, shoes, school supplies and everything else in its own bags. All this underwear is fabulous.  Everyone who unpacked could not believe the quality of everything that came.  The blankets were beautiful- are these the ones that the girls made?  The warm jackets and rain jackets are just fantastic.  We have given many of them out and everyone just loved them.  I cannot thank you enough for all these beautiful donations...you have made so many people happy here and we have only just begun distributing t goodies.

 Thank you so much to everyone who was able to donate for this operation, for everyone for their good wishes and prayers for her!   This is really wonderful.   What a miracle for this family!   Mil gracias, Sharon

JUNE 2, 2007

This family lost their house on Saturday night. Their gas tank exploded, the mother got the children out of the house and grabbed a few clothes and ran. The house  was a very small one room wooden building that they were living in. It was on a piece of property that they were caretaking. Unfortunately, the husband is an alcoholic and he was not at home to help when the house burnt down.  He has also not been active in trying to get the family help. The poor woman is doing everything she can by herself. She went to the radio and tried to get community support. She received a few clothes for herself and few clothes for the children. 

We were able to give her clothes for herself and the children, backpacks ,school supplies and shoes  Fortunately, the Medrano shipment arrived sent by the Mayanfamiliesconnection@yahoogroups.com and we were able to give her sheets,  blankets, towels, shampoo, soap, rain capes and more clothing. They are now renting a room and they only have a bed that they have borrowed from the mother in law.  This family desperately needs help with a table and chairs, a stove, a bed, a closet, kitchen pots and pans, plates, cups etc.  If anyone would like to make a donation  to help buy any of these items for this family it would be greatly appreciated.

JUNE 1, 2007 Rain, Rain and more Rain: Zoe's photos of the wet season.
          
 

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 Patti Mort with rescued puppy.

Two of  the puppies that were rescued off the street this past week. We are lucky that they had space for them at the Animal Shelter, AWARE in Sumpango, Guatemala. Sheni who is the coordinator of the AWARE shelter is hopeful that they may be heading to the U.S. to a no- kill shelter there and next stop a good home.