PLEASE SPONSOR
STUDENT #250 Doris Leticia who is 12 years old.
$ SPONSORED in Honor of
Ken, Ruth and Janelle Koenig, Thanks!
Doris Leticia is 12yrs old. She is in 2nd grade. She goes to school in Panajachel. She lives with her mother, father four brothers and two sisters. Mynor is 19yrs old, he is in studying agriculture. Ingrid, 17yrs old she is in 6th grade and is studying at night, she is working during the day as a domestic worker in a private house. She earns $54 US a month. Walter 13yrs old, is in 3rd grade, he is studying at night but is not working during the day, Lusbi 10yrs old, she is in 2nd grade, Mildred 5yrs old, she is in kindergarten. Benji is 6 months old.
The father Celso, 38yrs old and works as a builder's assistant. He earns $100 US a month. The mother, Santos, 37yrs old works washing clothes by hand in various houses. She earns $27 US a month for this work. This money is not enough to cover all their costs. They are renting a house, they pay $67 US a month for the house, sometimes they are left without much money for food. For this reason they have not been able to keep their children in school, they just cannot afford the costs, for uniforms, supplies etc.
The house that they are renting is made of mud brick with a tin roof and a cement floor, it is only one room and an outside kitchen that is made of tin sheets. They cook over an open fire with wood. They have four beds that they all sleep in. They have a pila that they share with all the other people who are renting. They do not have any closets. They have water and electricity connected. For the elec. they pay $14US. a month.
Doris would really like to be able to continue in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #249 Sefora who is 15 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the Tharp
family, Thanks!
Sefora is 15yrs old. She is in 7th grade. She lives in Panajachel with her family. Oneyda is 5 years old. She is entering pre-school this year. She is one of 7 children. They live in Panajachel with their mother and father. They are Omar 7yrs old in 2nd grade, Juan 10yrs old in third grade, Ovidio 11yrs old in 6th grade, Sefora 15yrs old in 7th grade and Ortensia 17yrs old in 8th grade and Otoniel 16yrs old in High school.
Her family lost their home last year in the Hurricane that devastated this area. Oneyda's father works taking sand out of the river. This sand is then sold for construction purposes. It is very hard, low paid work. He makes $27 a week and this is just enough to feed the family. They do not have any money left over for extra's such as school supplies etc. They have returned to the land that they own where there house was swept away. Their house now is made of tin sheeting and they are all sleeping on the ground. They have 5 beds but they are ones that they found that the river had taken during the storm, so they are not in good condition, and very little furniture. They do not have a water filter. They do have an Onil stove. They keep all their clothes in cardboard boxes, they do not have any closets.
They have a pila also but it was heavily damaged during the storm. The house has a dirt floor. Three rooms and one kitchen, only one floor has cement the others are dirt. Sefora works half a day before school, she washes clothes by hand , cleans and irons clothing in a private house. She earns $33US a month for this work. She also works all day Saturday and Sundays. She does not have one day off a week.
She is working hard so that she can stay at school but she needs help. She is not making enough to cover all her costs. She also has to help her mother with money for food etc. Any help that you can give Sefora would be greatly appreciated.
PLEASE SPONSOR
STUDENT #248 Luis Miguel who is 13 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the Chadwick Family, Thanks!
Luis Miguel is 13 yrs old. He lives in Panajachel with his father, stepmother. He has two sisters, one brother and one twin brother. He is in 5th grade. Raul is 17yrs old. Last year he studied 8th grade but there was not enough money for him to go to school this year. He is driving a tuk tuk. Miguel Angel is Luis Miguel's twin brother, he is in 5th grade. Lusi Marisol is 10yrs old and is in 3rd grade. Maria Magdalena is 2yrs old. Luis Miguel mother abandoned the family many years ago. The father, Raul 37yrs old has supported them and they have a very good relationship with their stepmother, Benita 30yrs old.
Raul works as a builders assistant. He makes $6.50 US. a day. 18 months ago they lost their home and their possessions in Hurricane Stan. They have since been living in a one room wooden house that Mayan Families built for them. It is a very rustic house. They cook over an open fire. They do not have an Onil stove. They do not have a water filter. They have all their clothes in sugar bags. They do not have electricity. The land that the house is on is rented and the owner has told them that they have to look for some where new to live.
Benita, the stepmother had a terrible accident two months ago when she was hurled off a hanging hammock bridge by a huge wind. She, Lusi and the baby Maria were all injured. They were very lucky to survive the fall. Lusi and the baby both have scars on their foreheads and still have pain from the accident. Benito suffered a very bad broken shoulder bone. It went untreated until we took her to the clinic about 6 weeks ago. She has since receive medical treatment and is now doing well. She still cannot work or pick up weights.
Raul has also damaged his back lifting at his job and is suffering from a lot of sciatica pain which is keeping him from working as much as he can.
This family has certainly suffered their share of bad luck and they really need help to keep their children in school
PLEASE SPONSOR
STUDENT #247 Miguel Angel who is 13 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the Chadwick Family, Thanks!
Miguel Angel is 13 yrs
old. He lives in Panajachel with his father, stepmother. He has two sisters,
one brother and one twin brother. He is in 5th grade. Raul is 17yrs old. Last
year he studied 8th grade but there was not enough money for him to go to school
this year. He is driving a tuk tuk. Luis Miguel is Miguel Angel's twin brother,
he is in 5th grade. Lusi Marisol is 10yrs old and is in 3rd grade. Maria
Magdalena is 2yrs old. Miguel Angel's mother abandoned the family many years
ago. The father, Raul 37yrs old has supported them and they have a very good
relationship with their stepmother, Benita 30yrs old.
Raul works as a builders assistant. He makes $6.50 US. a day. 18 months ago
they lost their home and their possessions in Hurricane Stan. They have since
been living in a one room wooden house that Mayan Families built for them. It is
a very rustic house. They cook over an open fire. They do not have an Onil
stove. They do not have a water filter. They have all their clothes in sugar
bags. They do not have electricity.
The land that the house is on is rented and the owner has told them that they
have to look for some where new to live.
Benita, the stepmother had a terrible accident two months ago when she was hurled off a hanging hammock bridge by a huge wind. She, Lusi and the baby Maria were all injured. They were very lucky to survive the fall. Lusi and the baby both have scars on their foreheads and still have pain from the accident. Benito suffered a very bad broken shoulder bone. It went untreated until we took her to the clinic about 6 weeks ago. She has since receive medical treatment and is now doing well. She still cannot work or pick up weights. Raul has also damaged his back lifting at his job and is suffering from a lot of sciatica pain which is keeping him from working as much as he can. This family has certainly suffered their share of bad luck and they really need help to keep their children in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR
STUDENT #246 Juan Francisco who is 15 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the Rox Family, Parkville B.C. Canada
Juan Francisco is 15yrs old. He was born on 20th February, 1993. He lives in Panajachel . He is in 4th grade in school in Panajachel. He is way behind in school years because his father did not want to put him in school. He lives with his mother, Nicholasa 40yrs old, and his father Diego, 50yrs old.
He has five siblings. Mateo 30yrs old, he is married with three children, he only studied until 3rd grade, Micaela 25yrs old, she is married and has three children, she never went to school and does not know how to read or write, Candelaria 18yrs old, she is married with one child and she only studied until second grade, Arturo 20yrs old, he only studied until 3rd grade, he works as a builders assistant and makes $24 US a month, Emilio is 11yrs old and he has only studied until 2nd grade and is now not studying. Juan Francisco left school for three years and worked as a builder's assistant so that he could save enough money to go back to school.
When he does not have work as a builders assistant he sells Icee's at the lakeside. Juan Francisco has a great desire to be able to study and make a better life for himself. He is the only one in 6 children who has the desire and hope to be able to keep studying. His father does not help him with any of his costs. The mother sells avocados in the market in the morning, in the afternoons, she takes cooked corn to the lakeside to sell. She makes approx. $4 US a day.
When she has money she helps her son as much as she can. The house that they live in is their own. It is made of mud bricks. The floor is dirt. They have two rooms and a kitchen. They have an Onil stove. They do not have a water filter.
They have five beds but they have Micaela and her family and Candelaria and her family live with the parents. They have two closets. They have water connected. They pay $4 US. a year and have electricity connected . They pay $24.00 a month.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #245 Marda Shakira who is 5 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Molly and GG, Thanks!
Marda Shakira is 5yrs old. She was born 17th Sept. 2002. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. Her mother, Hilda Ireni, 22yrs old is a single mother. Hilda works in a restaurant in Panajachel as a kitchen assistant. She earns $47 US a month. Hilda separated from her husband when Marda was 7 months old. The husband suffered some mental problems and now wanders the streets, he does not recognize his wife or child. Marda lives with her mother at her grandparent's home. The house is made of block, the floor is cement. They have two rooms and a kitchen.
They have an a large wood stove, they do not have an onil stove. They do not have a water filter. They have two beds, Hilda sleeps with her mother. They have water connected, they pay $4US. per year and they have electricity connected, they pay $14 US per month. They have a pila that they have borrowed. The house does not belong to them it belongs to a parent of the grandparents. They do not have to pay rent. Hilda has to give her parents money for the food for Marda and herself and pay her share of utilities, pay her bus fares back and forth to work, it is difficult for her to do this on her meagre pay check, and keep Marda in school with her school supplies and all that it entails.
Marda is photographed here with her grandmother.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #244 Juan Francisco who is 10 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Jennifer H. Thanks!
These are the shoes that Juan Francisco has to wear to school.
Juan Francisco is 10 years old. He was born on Oct 4th, 1997. He lives in San Jorge la Laguna. He lives with his mother, Maria 40yrs old, and the father, Magdaleno 50yrs old. He has 8 siblings. Rodolfo 23yrs old and is married. He only attended school to 2nd grade. Marcotulio 20yrs old, he did not go to school, he does not know how to read or write, he works as a builder's assistant, He makes $27 US. a month., Edin, he is 17yrs old. He studied until 6th grade. He is not presently working. Celestina 15yrs old, she did not go to school, she does not know how to read or write, she works at home helping the mother, Norma, 13yrs old and she did not go to school, she does not know how to read or write, Benjamin 7yrs old he is in first grade, Magdaleno is 5yrs old and is not in school. Byron is 1yr and 8 months old.
The father works as a builders assistant and earns $107 US. a month. Unfortunately, he drinks a lot and this is one of the main reasons that the children could not study. Marcotulio, the 20yr old is the one who is helping his younger siblings to go to school but what he makes does not cover enough for food and school supplies. The house is made of mud brick and the floor is cement. They own the land that the house is built on. They have three rooms. One is used for a kitchen. They have an Onil stove. They have a water filter.
They have four beds that they all share. They have a pila. They do not have any closets, they keep all their clothes in cardboard boxes. They have water connected that they pay $4 U.S. per year and they have electricity connected that they pay $13 U.S. per month. This boy really needs help if he is to continue in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR
STUDENT #243 Angelica Paola who is 9 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Nanoose Bay
Elementary, Thanks!
Angelica Paola is 9 years old. She was born on 10 th Dec, 1998. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna, a village on Lake Atitlan in the Solola area. She lives with her mother, Caterina 30yrs old and her father, Fransisco, 30yrs old. She has three sisters. Elvia 11yrs old who is in 4th grade. Blanca Marisol 3yrs old and Myra Lorena 1yr old. Angelica goes to school in San Jorge, she is in 2nd grade. They live in a house made of concrete blocks. The floor is made of cement, they have two rooms and a kitchen. They have an Onil stove, they do not have a water filter. They have two beds. They have a pila and one closet that they all share. They have water connected to the house and pay $4 US per year. They have electricity connected and pay $13 US a month. They own the land that their house is built on. The father is a day labourer and does not have a fixed job. He gets work as it is available. Helps on building sites, carrying heavy loads, working in fields, digging ditches, etc.
He makes $107 US per month. The mother sells fruit from her house. She makes approx. $20 US a month selling these fruits. The try as hard as they can to be able to give an education for their children but they are finding it very difficult to give them all the supplies that they need.
The children still do not have all the supplies that they need for school nor do they have shoes to wear to school.
PLEASE SPONSOR
STUDENT #242 Romaria who is 12 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Brenda
Nichols,
Qualicum Beach, B.C. Canada. Thanks!
Romaria is 12yrs old. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. She is in 6th grade at San Jorge school. She lives with her mother, Maria, 33yrs old and her father, Cirilo 32yrs old . She has four siblings. Maria 14yrs old is in 5th grade, Ronaldo 9yrs old in 3rd grade and Josue 7yrs old and is in first grade, Henry is 7 months old. Romaria was born on 13th Dec. 1995. Cirilo, her father is a day laborer, he earns $107 U.S. per month. The mother does not work outside the house.
They live in a mud brick house, the roof is made of rusty tin that is leaking in the rain. They have a lot of water coming into their house during the rainy season. They have only one room that doubles as a kitchen and bedroom. They have two beds that they all share. They have an Onil stove. They do not have a water filter. They do not have a pila. They have one closet that they all share for their clothing and possessions. They have water connected that they pay $4 U.S. per year and they have electricity connected that they pay $8 US per month.
They own the land that their house is built on. The amount of money that the father earns is just enough for food. It does not give them enough money to be able to keep their children in school with all the supplies and things that they need. It also does not give him enough money to be able to fix his roof.
Romaria will not be able to continue onto 7th grade without help.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #241 Maria Angelica who is 5 years old.
Maria Angelica is five years old. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. She is in kindergarten at San Jorge school.
She lives in San Jorge with her mother, Maria 47yrs, and her father, Rigoberto, 50yrs old, and 5 siblings. The eldest is Estela 24yrs old, who is married. Irma 18yrs old, she is in 10th grade, she works to pay the costs of her studies, Julio Cesar, 16yrs old, he is in 10th grade in Solola, Edgar Roberto , 13yrs old is in 7th grade in Panajachel.
Maria is the youngest and she was born on June 12th , 2001. Maria was horribly burned when she was three months old. She was burnt on the face and the arms. This happened when a truck caught on fire and a piece of burning rubber landed on the baby while she was being carried on her sister's back. She almost died but has received treatment from a group in the U.S. Once a year she is flown to the U.S. to receive new treatment. This year should be her last trip to the U.S. The house that they live in is mud brick, the roof is tin, the floor is cement, they have two rooms and one kitchen. They have an onil stove, they do not have a water filter. They have two beds that they all sleep in. They have a pila, they have a closet. They have water connected, they pay $4.US. a year for the water and $10 US. a month for the electricity. They live on their own land. Maria's father is a day laborer, he takes whatever work is available.
He earns $106. a month. That is barely enough to keep food on the table for this family. The mother does not work outside the home.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #240 Miriam Josefina who is 8 years old.
$ SPONSORED in honor of Sandy Shooman, Thanks!
This is Miriam Josefina, she is 8yrs old. She lives in the village of San Jorge la Laguna. Miriam was born January 24, 1999. She is in first grade in San Jorge school.
She lives with her mother, Miriam 25yrs old and father, Damian 35yrs old. She has four siblings, Fredy 10yrs old, he is in first grade, Claudia 6yrs old, she is in kindergarten, Iris 3yrs old and Noe , 1yr old. Her father is a day laborer, he does not have a fixed job. He takes whatever work is available, sometimes it is digging ditches, working in fields or carrying heavy loads on his back on market days. He earns $107 US a month. They are living with family members. The husband has a small piece of land but they cannot possibly afford to build anything.
The house they are living in now is made of mud brick. The floor is cement. They all live in one room and have a small kitchen. They do not have an onil stove, they are cooking over a wood burning stove. They have only one bed, the parents and the small children sleep in the bed, Miriam and the older children sleep on the floor on a woven straw mat. They do not have a pila, they pay $4US per year for water, they pay $8 US a month for electricity.
It is with great difficulty this family have put their children in the school. The eldest boy did not go into school until this year. The family realizes that education is important but they just have not had the money to be able to help their children.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #239 Miriam Angelica who is 9 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Jackie and Jon G. Thanks!
Miriam Angelica is 9yrs old. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. She is in second grade at San Jorge School. She lives with her mother, Lucia 42yrs old and her father Julio, 42yrs old. She has three sisters, Aura Graciela , 14yrs she is in 7th grade in Solola, Meydi Anali 11yrs old, she is in 4th grade in San Jorge, Glendy Lucia 6yrs, she is in first grade. Miriam was born on January 27th, 1998. The father is a day laborer, he does not make a fixed wage. Sometimes he only makes $17 US a week. Lucia, makes beaded jewelry in the house, she makes 66cents US. a day.
This is barely enough to keep the family in food. They are really trying hard to keep their children in school. Lucia has a problem with her arms, she has a very bad skin problem on her arms and cannot go in the sun. She needs injections every month that cost $33 US a month. They cannot always afford these injections. Her arms cause her a lot of discomfort. The house they live in is mud brick, the floor is cement. They have two rooms and one kitchen. They do not have an onil stove but cook over a small wood burning stove. They do not have a water filter. They have two beds, one small pila, and one closet that all the family uses. They have water connected, they pay $4US. a year and have electricity connected and pay $10 US a month. They own the land the house is built on.
Miriam is photographed with her mother, there is also a photo of the mothers skin problems. This family tries very hard to keep their children in school and they really need help.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #238 Luis Alfonso who is 8 years old.
$ SPONSORED in honor of Ted Shooman, Thanks!
Luis Alfonso is 8yrs old. He is in first grade in San Jorge la Laguna. He lives with his mother, Matilde 37yrs old and his father, Alfonso, 39yrs old and five siblings. Hector 20yrs old, he went to 6th grade, he is working as a builder's assistant, Alicia 19yrs old, she is married, she also went only to 6th grade, she is pregnant and is in hospital because she is in danger of losing the baby, Angelina 17yrs old, she went only to 4th grade, she is not working but staying at home helping her mother, Aura Marina 13yrs old, she is in 6th grade, Carlos Enrique, 5yrs old. He is not in school yet.
Luis Alfonso was born on July 9th, 1999. The father is a builder's assistant. He makes $34 US a month. The mother makes 53 cents a day making beaded jewelry. Alfonso does not have a fixed job so there is often long periods of time between jobs. For this reason he finds it very difficult to be able to financially support the children to go to school. The money that the father makes is just enough to feed the family, sometimes there is enough to buy clothes.
They own their own home, the house is made of mud brick, the floor is cement, they have two rooms and a kitchen. They do not have an Onil stove but have a stove that burns large amounts of wood. They do not have a pila. The husband made them a closet out of rough wooden planks. They have water connected that they pay $4US per year and electricity connected that they pay $12 US per month. They have three beds, the parents have one bed and the children sleep in the other two.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #237 Samuel who is 18 years old.
Samuel is 18yrs old. He lives in Panajachel. He is in 12th grade at High School. He is studying to be a physical education teacher. He lives with his mother. Candelaria 56yrs old and his father, Arturo 64yrs old. He has two older siblings, one sister, Regina 24yrs old, who is married with one child and a brother, Arturo 22yrs who is also married with one child. Samuel is the only one who has studied in the family. He studies Monday - Friday in Solola. During the week ends he works on the boats that take people across the lakes. For the two days work he receives $6.66 U.S.
The father does not make enough money to be able to help his son, it is just enough for the family to eat. Sometimes they can help him with bus fares but that is only occasionally. The father is a driver and makes $4.60 a day when he has work. The mother does not work, she has rheumatoid arthritis. The father also suffers from arthritis. Samuel worked all year during 2005 so that he could have enough money to study in 2006. But it has not been enough to carry him through 2007. He works during all the vacations. The money he has made from that he has used for his registration and school fees and his school supplies. It costs him $2.60 US. daily for his bus fare and his snack. He pays $8 a month for his school for ten months. He also has a lot of costs, he has to travel a lot with the school to go to other towns for sports events. He has to make two big trips per year, they cost $27.00 US. per trip, he has to make a lot of photocopies , sometimes it costs him $10.60 in one week. ( this is because the books are not available ) He also has to make payments to the school for other costs that come up.
The house he lives in is made of mud brick. The floor is cement. They have two rooms, they cook over an large wood stove, they do not have an Onil stove, they pay $8 per year for water costs, they have water and elec. connected, the family pays $13 a month for elec. Without help it will be very difficult for this young man to stay in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #236 Jakelin who is 6 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the LoBuglio-Jordan Family, Thanks!
Jakelin is 6yrs old. She is in kindergarten. She lives with her family in San Jorge la Laguna. Her father, Ezequiel and her mother, Lidia have 5 other children. They are Angelica 14yrs, she has never been to school, Micaela 12yrs old, in first grade, Pedro 8yrs old, he is in first grade. Israel is 4yrs old and Sandra is 1yrs old. They live in a very small house that they own in San Jorge. Part of it is cement block and part of it is mud brick.
The father works as a laborer in the market carrying heavy goods for people on his back. He does not have consistent work. He makes approx. $ 54 U.S a month. The mother stays at home with the children. What the father makes is just enough to keep the family in food. It does not leave enough to be able to send the children to school or buy clothes for them.
Without help these children will not be able to continue in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #235 Pedro who is 8 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the LoBuglio-Jordan Family, Thanks!
Pedro is 8yrs old. He lives with his family in San Jorge la Laguna. Her father, Ezequiel and her mother, Lidia have 5 other children. They are Angelica 14yrs, she has never been to school, Micaela 12yrs old, first grade, Jakelin 6yrs old, she is in kindergarten. Israel is 4yrs old, Sandra is 1yr old. They live in a very small house that they own in San Jorge. Part of it is cement block and part of it is mud brick.
The father works as a laborer in the market carrying heavy goods for people on his back. He does not have consistent work. He makes approx. $ 54 U.S. a month. The mother stays at home with the children. What the father makes is just enough to keep the family in food. It does not leave enough to be able to send the children to school or buy clothes for them.
Without help these children will not be able to continue in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #234 Isabella who is 11 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Judy and Greg E. Thanks!
Isabella is 11yrs old. She is in 4th grade. She lives in an area called El Tablon above the town of Solola. Six months ago her father died leaving her mother with a great deal of debt. The mother owns the house that she lives in but she is battling the bank to keep the house. She is trying very hard to make the payments.
It was a terrible shock to lose her husband suddenly, he died from the results of alcoholism and it was another awful shock to find that he had borrowed against the house without telling her.
For this reason she is finding it very hard to be able to keep Isabella in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #233 Melisa who is 9 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the Santman Family, Thanks!
Melisa is 9yrs old. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. A small village on Lake Atitlan. She is in 3rd grade. She lives with her mother, Estella 30yrs and father, Basilio 35yrs old and has three brothers and 2 sisters. They are Henri 11yrs old, he is in 5th grade, Elida Noemi 7yrs and is in 1st grade, Carmellina 4yrs old and Joni 3yrs old and Milton 5months old.
Basilio is a builder's assistant and earns $26 US a week. Estella takes in clothing to wash. She makes $2.50 a day when she has clothes to wash. The money that they are earning just is enough to pay the house that they rent and covers most of their food needs. It does not give them enough money to be able to buy all the school supplies and keep their children in school. Last year Henri and Melisa worked during the school holidays to make enough money to pay for their school supplies. They were selling beaded jewelry on the street. The house that they are renting is made of mud brick. The floor is dirt.
They only have one room and that is where they all sleep and they also cook in this room. They do not have an onil stove, they cook over an open fire on the floor. They have two beds for all of them. The parents and the baby sleep in one bed and the rest of the children in the other.
They do not have water connected to the house, they have to walk a long way to carry their water in buckets. They do not have a water filter. They pay $14.00 US. a month for the rent on their house. They have electricity connected to the house.
Without help it is very difficult for these children to remain in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #232 Maria Josefina who is 11 years old.
Marta Josefina is 11yrs old. She lives in San Jorge with her mother and father. She has three siblings, Elena 24yrs , who is a single mother,her daughter is 8yrs old and they both live at the family house, Juan Carlos, 17yrs old, he did not have the opportunity to go to school, he does not know how to read or write and he is working as a builder's assistant. He makes $20 US. per week. Maria Isabel is 14yrs old and has never been to school. She does not know how to read or write. She makes beaded jewelry at home.
Marta Josefina is photographed with her sister, Elena, her mother , Petronilla 45 yrs old, was unable to come to our house. Her knee is very swollen and she is unable to work. Marta's father, Pedro, 54yrs , he works as a builder's assistant. He makes $80 U.S a month. Petronilla, is unable to work because of the problems with her knee and she seems to have a lot of pains with her bones. They have not been able to afford medical care for her.
They live in a a mud brick house. It has a dirt floor. They have two rooms and a small kitchen. They cook over a wood stove, they do not have a onil energy efficient stove. They have two beds, one in each room. The ones that don't fit in the bed, sleep on the dirt floor on woven straw mats. They do not have a closet for their clothes, they keep them in a cardboard box. They do not have a pila which is an essential for every house. This is a big double sided cement sink where they bath, wash dishes, clothes etc. They pay $10 U.S each month for electricity. They do not have a water filter.
Without help it will be difficult for Marta to be able to attend school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #231 Micaela who is 12 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the LoBuglio-Jordan Family, Thanks!
Micaela is 12yrs old. She lives with her family in San Jorge la Laguna. Her father, Ezequiel and her mother, Lidia have 5 other children. They are Angelica 14yrs, she has never been to school, Pedro 8yrs old, he is in first grade, Jakelin 6yrs old, she is in kindergarten. Israel is 4yrs old, Sandra is 1yr old.
They live in a very small house that they own in San Jorge. Part of it is cement block and part of it is mud brick. The father works as a laborer in the market carrying heavy goods for people on his back. He does not have consistent work. He makes approx. $ 54 U.S. a month. The mother stays at home with the children. What the father makes is just enough to keep the family in food. It does not leave enough to be able to send the children to school or buy clothes for them.
Without help these children will not be able to continue in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #230 Marvin who is 10 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the Chadwick Family, Thanks!
Marvin is 10yrs old. He is in third grade in San Jorge La Laguna. He lives with his mother and father and three sisters. His father is an alcoholic and is unable to support the family. His mother, Josefina, 38 yrs old is the sole support for the family. His three sisters are Flora 15yrs old, she has never been to school but she goes to school at night now. It is a small class in San Jorge.
She works during the day in a restaurant in a nearby village. Juanita 13yrs old, she has never gone to school, she does not know how to read or write, she is working in a restaurant where she works 7.am. until 7p.m. and often later . She sleeps at the restaurant and only goes home once a week. The work is very hard and she is very miserable there. She earns $27 a month for working 6 days a week.
Lydia is 7yrs old and she is in first grade. Josefina, the mother works as a domestic in a private house. She earns $54 a month. She has been very ill for the past three weeks. We have sought medical attention for her, she is suffering from severe vertigo, a bacterial blood infection and gastritis. She is unable to work because of her illness and probably will not be able to work for another month.
The house they live in is made of mud brick. It is a very tiny house, it has only two rooms which are used for kitchen and bedrooms. They have a wood stove they cook over but it is Not an energy efficient Onil stove. They have only two beds. The parents have one bed and the children sleep in the other. The beds do not have mattresses, they are bare boards. They pay $10 US a month for their electricity bills, they own the house that they live in. It has a cement floor. They pay $4 US. a year for their water supply. The fathers alcoholism makes it very difficult for this family to get ahead. The mother has tried her best to keep her children in school, but without help it is impossible for them to stay in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #229 Lidia
$ SPONSORED by Maura, Tom
and Georgia.
Thanks!
Bio to follow.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #228 Yesmi who is 4 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the Koenig Family, Thanks!
Yesmi is 4yrs old. She is in kindergarten. She lives in Panajachel with her mother, Estella. 33yrs old. The father left the family to live with another woman 1yr ago. Estella was pregnant with the fifth child when he left. He does not pay any support for the children and is not responsible for them in anyway. The children are Baker 13yrs, he is in 7th grade, Boris 12yrs he is in 6th grade, Yesmi 4yrs old in kindergarten and Analidy 1yr old.
Estella makes money washing clothes by hand in various houses. She makes approx. $2.60 US per day. They live with their grandparents. Estella's parents have given her a room to live in but cannot help her with any expenses she has. She is very fortunate not to have to pay rent. The house is made of wooden planks. They have a concrete floor. They only have one room for all of them to sleep in and Estella also cooks in that room. They have only 2 beds for them all to sleep in.
But with five children $2.60 a day does not cover the food for all of them. At the beginning of the year, she bought the school supplies on credit. She now owes the store $120 U.S. for the goods that she bought and is finding it very difficult to pay.
Estella has made a big effort to get her children an education but without help it will be very difficult for her to keep these children in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #227 Laysa who is 6 years old.
$ SPONSORED by the Snyder Family. Thanks!
Laysa is 6yrs old. She is in kindergarten. She lives in Panajachel with her mother, Estella. 33yrs old. The father left the family to live with another woman 1yr ago. Estella was pregnant with the fifth child when he left. He does not pay any support for the children and is not responsible for them in anyway. The children are Baker 13yrs, he is in 7th grade, Boris 12yrs he is in 6th grade, Yesmi 4yrs old in kindergarten and Analidy 1yr old. Estella makes money washing clothes by hand in various houses.
She makes approx. $2.60 US per day. They live with their grandparents. Estella's parents have given her a room to live in but cannot help her with any expenses she has. She is very fortunate not to have to pay rent. The house is made of wooden planks. They have a concrete floor. They only have one room for all of them to sleep in and Estella also cooks in that room. They have only 2 beds for them all to sleep in.
But with five children $2.60 a day does not cover the food for all of them. At the beginning of the year, she bought the school supplies on credit. She now owes the store $120 U.S. for the goods that she bought and is finding it very difficult to pay.
Estella has made a big effort to get her children an education but without help it will be very difficult for her to keep these children in school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #226 Thaylee who is 4 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Lori F. Thanks!
Thaylee (pron. Tailee) is 4yrs old. She is in kindergarten. Limni is 6yrs old. She is in kindergarten. She lives with her mother, Lubia and her two sisters, Limni 6yrs old and Kenssy 2yrs old. The father abandoned the family when they lived in Guatemala City. Lubia moved her children to Panajachel, where she had spent many years growing up. She wanted to get away from her husband's family who had tried to take Thayli away from her.
Lubia came to seek help from us after she had arrived penniless in Panajachel. She had been robbed on the bus and had only the clothes that they were standing in and a baby stroller. The family had been taken in by a kind person who saw them sleeping on the street. She had let them stay in a room on the second floor in a half constructed building . There was no bathroom and no electricity. The family was sleeping on the concrete floor with just a thin sheet.
This place was very dangerous for all the family so we moved them out and put them into a house that we rented for them. Lubia is also 6 months pregnant. A few days after moving into the house, she experienced a lot of pain and we had to rush her to a clinic. Her water had broken and she lost about half the amniotic fluid . She was in danger of losing the baby . She had to stay at the clinic for a several days. We then arranged for her mother to move to Panajachel and take care of Lubia. She needs complete bed rest and is not capabale of working right now. We have furnished the house that she is living in with generous donations and are providing the family with food and all their needs at present.
The father has not tried to contact them nor do they know where he is.
He was not supporting them before he left. It will be difficult for Lubia to get back on her feet and without
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #225 Limni who is 6 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Carol, Thanks!
Limni is 6yrs old. She is in kindergarten. She lives with her mother, Lubia and her two sisters, Thayli 4yrs old and Kenssy 2yrs old. The father abandoned the family when they lived in Guatemala City. Lubia moved her children to Panajachel, where she had spent many years growing up. She wanted to get away from her husband's family who had tried to take Thayli away from her.
Lubia came to seek help from us after she had arrived penniless in Panajachel. She had been robbed on the bus and had only the clothes that they were standing in and a baby stroller. The family had been taken in by a kind person who saw them sleeping on the street. She had let them stay in a room on the second floor in a half constructed building . There was no bathroom and no electricity. The family was sleeping on the concrete floor with just a thin sheet. This place was very dangerous for all the family so we moved them out and put them into a house that we rented for them. Lubia is also 6 months pregnant.
A few days after moving into the house, she experienced a lot of pain and we had to rush her to a clinic. Her water had broken and she lost about half the amniotic fluid . She was in danger of losing the baby . She had to stay at the clinic for a several days. We then arranged for her mother to move to Panajachel and take care of Lubia. She needs complete bed rest and is not capabale of working right now. We have furnished the house that she is living in with generous donations and are providing the family with food and all their needs at present.
The father has not tried to contact them nor do they know where he is. He was not supporting them before he left.
It will be difficult for Lubia to get back on her feet and without sponsorship her children will not be able to go to school.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #224 Caterin who is 8 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Julia and Pete C. Thanks!
Caterin is 8yrs old.. She lives in Panajachel with her mother and two old sisters.
Her two sisters are Astrid, 12 yrs and in 4th grade, and Yolanda is
6 yrs old in kindergarten.
Caterin's father died two years ago. Her mother, Odillia, works as a domestic in a private house. She recently lost her job because she has been very unwell.
We have sent her for medical treatment and found that she has a severe ulcer that is causing her esophagus to spasm, chronic gastritis and has a cyst.. She has not been able to eat solid food for sometime and feels very weak. We hope with treatment that she is now receiving that she will be able to resume work in the next few months.
They live in one rented room. They have one bed that they all sleep on. They have water and elec. connected to the house. We just paid Odilla's elec. bill , she was two months behind and it was about to be disconnected. They pay $37 U.S. a month to rent this one room.
Caterin will not be able to continue in school this year without help.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #223 Estella who is 19 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Julia and Pete C. Thanks!
Estella is 19yrs old. She is in 5th year of High School. She is studying in Solola. She lives alone with her mother. She has a brother but the brother went to live with the father. The brother, Carlos was 2yrs old when they separated and the father took him to live with him. They have been separated for 19 years. The father has never given any money to support his daughter.
Estella's father has another family now and is not interested in helping Estella.
Estella really wants to study. Her mother wants to help her but she never went to school herself and she does not know how to read or write. Juana, the mother, works in agricultural fields, picking or cleaning. She makes between $2 - $3.50 a day. This is just barely enough to feed them.
The house that they live in is made of mud brick . It is only one room and a little outside kitchen. The house is owned by the mother.
They live in an area that is very agricultural outside of Solola. It is called El Tablon.
They have one bed that they both sleep in. They have water and electricity connected.
The fees for Estella to attend college are $17 U.S. a month. This is paid for 10 months. Estella also has to pay .0.66cents us. a day for her bus trip to and from the college.
Without help Estella will not be able to go to school this year.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #222 Astrid who is 12 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Julia and Pete C. Thanks!
Astrid is 12 yrs old. She lives in Panajachel with her mother and two old sisters.
Her two sisters are Caterin, 8yrs old and in 3rd grade, and Yolanda is
6 yrs old in kindgergarten.
Yolanda's father died two years ago. Her mother, Odillia, works as a domestic in a private house. She recently lost her job because she has been very unwell.
We have sent her for medical treatment and found that she has a severe ulcer that is causing her oesphegous to spasm, chronic gastritis and has a cyst.. She has not been able to eat solid food for sometime and feels very weak. We hope with treatment that she is now receiving that she will be able to resume work in the next few months.
They live in one rented room. They have one bed that they all sleep on. They have water and elec. connected to the house. We just paid Odilla's elec. bill , she was two months behind and it was about to be disconnected. They pay $37 U.S a month to rent this one room.
Astrid will not be able to continue in school this year without help.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #221 Yolanda who is 6 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Karen, Thanks!
Yolanda is 6yrs old. She lives in Panajachel with her mother and two old sisters. Her two sisters are Astrid 12yrs old, she is in 4th grade and Caterin, 8yrs old, is in 3rd grade. Yolanda's father died two years ago. Her mother, Odillia, works as a domestic in a private house. She recently lost her job because she has been very unwell. We have sent her for medical treatment and found that she has a severe ulcer that is causing her esophagus to spasm, chronic gastritis and has a cyst. She has not been able to eat solid food for sometime and feels very weak. We hope with treatment that she is now receiving that she will be able to resume work in the next few months.
They live in one rented room. They have one bed that they all sleep on. They have water and elec. connected to the house. We just paid Odilla's elec. bill , she was two months behind and it was about to be disconnected. They pay $37 U.S. a month to rent this one room.
Yolanda will not be able to continue in school this year without help.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #220 Hector Francisco who is 19 years old.
Hector is 19yrs old. He is studying in his last year of High School. He is completing his studies so that he can be an electrician. He works in the mornings and studies in the afternoon. He is working as a laborer, at the moment he is working on road construction until it finishes. He also works as a builders assistant. The last year of school is very expensive and he is finding it very hard to be able to pay all of his school costs. He has to have all his school fees paid by the end of the year or else he will not be able to graduate.
Hector in Patanatic, a small village above Panajachel. He has three sisters and one half brother. His siblings are his half brother, Luis, 20yrs old. Luis's father was a victim of the civil war here. Enma 16yrs is in 4th yr of High school, Judit is 11yrs old and is in 7th grade and Sucena is 9yrs old and is in 4th grade.
His father cannot help him with any of his expenses because he has to pay the other children's school fees and supplies. They live in a house made of cement block. It is not their own house, it belongs to an unmarried uncle. They all live together. It has four rooms and one outside kitchen. It has one bed in each room. The uncle has one room and the family has the other three. The father Santos works as a road laborer. The mother's Esperanza, makes Chocó-bananas to sell at the school. She makes approx. $3 a day and she also cooks the snack for the school daily, for this she makes another $3 a day. Hector pays $40 US a month for his college fees. This is for ten months. He also has to pay $13.50 US. a month in his bus fares back and forth to the college in Panajachel. He studies from 5pm till 9pm. He also has a lot of expenses for his equipment to learn how to be an electrician, he also has to buy books, pay photocopying etc. He would like to be able to continue his education studying electric technology in the University.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #219 Ernesta who is 13 years old.
Ernesta is 13yrs old. She is in 4th grade. She lives in Nahuala with her mother and father and six other siblings. They are Samuel 17yrs old, he finished school in 7th grade, Fransisca is 15yrs and is in 8th grade,, Moises 10yrs old, in 4th grade, Manuela 7yrs old, she is in first grade, Daniel is 4yrs old and Joel is 1yr old. The mother, Isabella, 36yrs old , stays at home looking after the children. The father, Juan, 38yrs old, works making stone grinders. This is a bowl and a pounder made out of stone which is used to pound chillies etc for cooking. It can take Juan 2 months to finish a large stone grinder. For this he earns $66 .US. He spends a lot of time finding the right rocks. This is a very time consuming job that he has. He really only makes enough to barely feed the family.
They own their own land, the built their house out of block - he received help from a project to be able to do this. The floor is cement. He has two rooms and a kitchen. They have three beds for all the family. Two in one room and one in the other. They have a pila and one closet for all their clothes. They have electricity and water connected. They have to pay $9.06 for the electricity each month.
It is extremely difficult for this family to be able to afford to keep their children in school
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #218 Fransisca who is 15 years old.
Fransisca is 15yrs old. She is in 8th grade. She lives in Nahuala with her mother and father and six other siblings. They are Samuel 17yrs old, he finished school in 7th grade, Ernesta 13yrs old, she is in 4th grade, Moises 10yrs old, in 4th grade, Manuela 7yrs old, she is in first grade, Daniel is 4yrs old and Joel is 1yr old. The mother, Isabella, 36yrs old , stays at home looking after the children. The father, Juan, 38yrs old, works making stone grinders. This is a bowl and a pounder made out of stone which is used to pound chilies etc for cooking. It can take Juan 2 months to finish a large stone grinder. For this he earns $66 .US. He spends a lot of time finding the right rocks. This is a very time consuming job that he has. He really only makes enough to barely feed the family.
They own their own land, the built their house out of block - he received help from a project to be able to do this. The floor is cement. He has two rooms and a kitchen. They have three beds for all the family. Two in one room and one in the other. They have a pila and one closet for all their clothes. They have electricity and water connected. They have to pay $9.06 for the electricity each month.
It is extremely difficult for this family to be able to afford to keep their children in school
PLEASE SPONSOR
STUDENT #217 Caterina who is 18 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Armando's
Restaurant Girls, Thanks!
Caterina is 18yrs old. She lives in Nahuala with her mother, father, and 8 other siblings.
The other children are: Domingol 28yrs old, he is married and living with his own family, Manuel is 25yrs old and also married and is living with his own family, Samuel 20yrs old, he is studying in Xela (Quetzaltenango)at the University, he is studying to be an engineer, the family is finding it a great struggle to keep their son in Univ. and may not be able to continue.
His costs are $110 US. a month., Samuel works agriculture to help with his school fees, Franscisca 15yrs old, she was married at 14yrs old, she did not finish 6th grade, Eliseo 13yrs old, he is in 6th grade, Benjamin 11yrs old, he is in 4th grade, Antonio 7yrs old, is in 1st grade, Israel is 5yrs old and is not in school this year.
The father, Cristobal, 44yrs old, he is a pastor in a church and works in agriculture and he also weaves on a large loom, the traditional skirts (Cortes) for women. He earns $67 US. a month. The mother, Isabella, looks after the children at home and helps her husband, work in the fields. They live in a mud brick house with a cement floor, they have five rooms and a kitchen. They cook over an open fire. They have one bed in each room. 3 people sleep in each bed. They have a pila, they have two closets for the whole family. They have water and electricity connected. They own their own land.
Caterina left school because there was not enough money for her to continue. She really wants to be able to do something with her life and she realizes that she needs an education to be able to get ahead.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #216 Maria who is 6 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Marge and Bob. Thanks!
Maria is 6yrs old. She lives in Nahuala with her mother, Maria, 33yrs old and 5 other siblings. The other children are: Miguel is 13yrs old, he finished school in 3rd grade, he only knows how to read and write a little, she also only can read and write a little Juana is 11yrs old and finished in 2nd grade. Manuela is 9yrs old and is in 3rd grade, Pascual is 7yrs old is in first grade, Isabella is 2yrs old.
Two years ago Maria's 3yr old daughter died after a week of vomiting and diarrhea. The family had no money to take her to the doctor and could not afford to buy medicines. The father abandoned the family two years ago and went to live with another woman. Maria weaves to make money to support her children. She makes traditional blouses for other women. She and her children also sell drinks and snacks to buses that pass on the highway. This is only temporary work while the roads are being repaired after the Hurricane. When the roads are finished they will not be able to sell there.
Together, the whole family makes $2.00 U.S. a day. One traditional blouse will take her approx. 3 months to make. For that work she will earn approx. $26.00 US. This family does not make enough to live on. Often they do not have food. When they do not have anything to eat, they will go into the mountains and search for herbs. They cook these with water and salt.
Maria does not have enough money to keep her children in school. This year she tried very hard to get the money together to be able to put two of them in school. Juana did not get enrolled this year but she can still go now. Maria scraped together just enough money to pay the registration fee for two of them. She did not have enough money for school supplies. She went to the dump to find books that other children had thrown out at the end of the last school year, she took pages out of those notebooks that had not been used and put them together to make a book for her two children. The children do not go to school on the day that they do gym classes.
They are too ashamed that they do not have tennis shoes or gym clothes to participate.
The family lives in one mud brick room, they have a small mud brick kitchen outside. Before the husband left he was constructing another room made out of block. But that room has been left half constructed and the family do not have enough money to finish it. To cook Maria, has an open fire set on top of adobe bricks. They all sleep in one bed sideways so that they can all fit. They have a small pila. They have one small closet. They have water connected. They have electricity connected and for that she has to pay $9.00 U.S a month.
The land that they have their house belongs to the husband, he has tried to make them leave but Maria refuses to go because she has nowhere to live. The Guatemalan law will protect her in this case but she will have to take steps in the court to do this. By herself, she will never go to court, she will need help to be able to do this.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #215 Juana who is 11 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Marge and Bob. Thanks!
Juana is 11yrs old. She lives in Nahuala with her mother, Maria, 33yrs old and 5 other siblings.
The other children are: Miguel is 13yrs old, he finished school in 3rd grade, he only knows how to read and write a little, she also only can read and write a little. Manuela is 9yrs old and is in 3rd grade, Pascual is 7yrs old is in first grade, Maria is 6yrs old, Isabella is 2yrs old.
Two years ago Maria's 3yr old daughter died after a week of vomiting and diarrhea. The family had no money to take her to the doctor and could not afford to buy medicines. The father abandoned the family two years ago and went to live with another woman. Maria weaves to make money to support her children. She makes traditional blouses for other women. She and her children also sell drinks and snacks to buses that pass on the highway. This is only temporary work while the roads are being repaired after the Hurricane. When the roads are finished they will not be able to sell there.
Together, the whole family makes $2.00 U.S. a day. One traditional blouse will take her approx. 3 months to make. For that work she will earn approx. $26.00 US. This family does not make enough to live on. Often they do not have food. When they do not have anything to eat, they will go into the mountains and search for herbs. They cook these with water and salt.
Maria does not have enough money to keep her children in school. This year she tried very hard to get the money together to be able to put two of them in school. Juana did not get enrolled this year but she can still go now. Maria scraped together just enough money to pay the registration fee for two of them. She did not have enough money for school supplies. She went to the dump to find books that other children had thrown out at the end of the last school year, she took pages out of those notebooks that had not been used and put them together to make a book for her two children. The children do not go to school on the day that they do gym classes. They are too ashamed that they do not have tennis shoes or gym clothes to participate.
The family lives in one mud brick room, they have a small mud brick kitchen outside. Before the husband left he was constructing another room made out of block. But that room has been left half constructed and the family do not have enough money to finish it. To cook Maria, has an open fire set on top of adobe bricks. They all sleep in one bed sideways so that they can all fit. They have a small pila. They have one small closet. They have water connected.
They have electricity connected and for that she has to pay $9.00 U.S. a month. The land that they have their house belongs to the husband, he has tried to make them leave but Maria refuses to go because she has nowhere to live. The Guatemalan law will protect her in this case but she will have to take steps in the court to do this. By herself, she will never go to court, she will need help to be able to do this.
Maria cannot speak Spanish, she speaks Quiche.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #214
$ SPONSORED by Paula L. Thanks!
Deborah is 4yrs old. She is in kindergarten in Panajachel. She lives with her mother, father and five other brothers and sisters. Joel 16yrs in Junior High, Cindy 13yrs old is in 7th grade, Berly 11yrs old is in 4th grade, Lizeth 7yrs old in first grade, Isaias 1yr old. Her mother, Ramona, 35yrs old, they sell handicrafts on the street in Panajachel that all the children help work, and her father, Antonia 38yrs is a driver. He works for his church when they need someone to drive, other wise he works selling at the family stall.
Deborah had a problem at birth, we think it was Spina bifida. The Dr. told the family that they had to make a choice to either have Deborah's head grow to a very large proportions or to cut her spine and she would have a normal size head but not be able to walk. With this agonizing decision, the family decided that their daughter would have a more normal life if they cut her spinal chord. They take her to the Govt. run physical therapy classes twice a week. This is only for 30 minutes a session. This costs them $6.00 US. per week.
Every four months they have to take her to the city to be examined at the hospital. This costs them $66.00 U.S. every trip. The Dr.'s at the hospital need some equipment to be able to help her but they do not have it available. The family lives in 2 wooden rooms. They have a cement floor, they have a kitchen outside the house. Ramona cooks over wood fire on the ground. They have three beds altogether for the whole family. They have water and electricity connected. They do not have a water filter. They pay $80 U.S. a year for water connected to their house. They own their own land. Antonio earns $134 U.S. a month. The parents originally come from the village of Santa Catarina but have lived in Panajachel for many years now.
With all the children that they have the expenses for Deborah are a real financial burden on the family.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #213
$ SPONSORED by Kelly's Family, Thanks!
$ SPONSORED by Kelly's Family, Thanks!
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #211 Etna Lorena
$ SPONSORED by COFLAC. THANKS!
Etna Lorena is 10yrs old. She lives in San Jorge La Laguna. A small village on Lake Atitlan. She is in third grade. She lives with her parents, Cesar Roland, 32yrs old and Caterina 28yrs old. There are four other children in the family. Etna is the oldest. Estuardo is 8yrs, he is in 1st grade, Dina Elisabet 5yrs old, Evelyn Graciela 3yrs old, Glendy 2 months old. Cesar works as a day laborer in Los Encuentros, this work is mainly packing and carrying. He pays a $1.00 us. a day in bus fares. He earns $47 a week when he gets a full weeks work. The mother stays at home looking after the children. The house is made of mud brick. The floor is dirt. They have one room and the have one small kitchen outside. She has an energy efficient Onil stove from our projects.
There are two beds in the room that they all sleep in. They do not have a closet, they keep all their clothes in a cardboard box. They do not have a pila which is essential for the everyday washing that a family needs. They have water and elec. connected. They pay $10 U.S. a month for electricity.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #210 Lusi who is 10 years old.
$ SPONSORED by COFLAC. THANKS!
Lusi is 10yrs old. She is in 4th grade. She lives in Panajachel with her father, Raul and her step-mother, Benita. Lusi has 3 other siblings, brothers who are twins, 13yrs old and another brother 12 yrs, she also has a half-sister who is 2yrs old. Her mother left the family when Lusi was 5yrs old. She has since re-married and is very rarely in contact. Lusi has a very good relationship with her stepmother as do all the other children. They live in one small room that is made of wooden planks. 2-3 children sleep on the floor every night. The room is too small to have more than one double bed and we made them 2-3 sleeping spaces. This family lost all their possessions and their land during the hurricane Stan in Oct. 2005. Mayan Families built them this house to live in.
We built it on land that they have been paying rent and now the landlord has given them notice that they have to leave. They do not know where they are going to live as they cannot afford to pay much rent. The stepmother, Lusi and her little sister that she is photographed carrying fell from a swing bridge nearly three weeks ago. It was during a very high wind and the swing bridge flipped over, throwing 8 people who were crossing the bridge about 12 feet onto the rocks below. One 3yr old child was killed from another family and all of the others injured. Benita was badly injured, and was told that she had broken her arm. Recently, I took a medical team to see her and they are very concerned that her arm will stiffen up and she will be unable to use it. The hospital told her that she needs an operation but the family was unable to pay the $700 US. The medical team that was here is asking that we seek further treatment for her and we hope that we may be able to do so. Lusi also was injured during the fall, she has a big scar on her forehead. The little one also fell on her head and also has a scar on her forehead. This family has really struggled and now with this bad luck that has befallen them they are unable to buy school supplies or help Lusi with her needs to go to school.
All the possessions that they now use have been donated to them after the Hurricane.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #209 Juanita
$ SPONSORED by COFLAC. THANKS!
Juanita is 7yrs old. She is in kindergarten. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna with her mother, father and sisters and brothers. Her father, Oscar 45yrs old, is a builder and makes approx. $60 US a week. He is a very hard worker but he has four children in school and the costs are very high. Juana, her mother is 45yrs old. She makes beaded jewelry at home to help support her children. They live in a house that is mud brick in parts and cement block in other parts. They have four rooms. Juana is the president of the Women's group in San Jorge and she gives a lot of her time to help the Women's group and the community.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #208 Yeymi who is 7 years old.
$ SPONSORED by COFLAC. THANKS!
Yeymi is 7 yrs old. She is in first grade. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. lives with her mother and four sisters and brothers. The father abandoned the family a year ago. They have not heard or seen from him since. Federico 14yrs, he is in 6th grade. Estella Selena 12yrs old in 5th grade, Alex 10yrs old in 3rd grade, and Yeyson 4yrs old. The mother, Ines Felipe, 32yrs old, works making beaded jewelry at home. She often works till 1a.m. making necklaces so that she can put her children through school and make enough for them to be able to eat. The house is made of cement block with a tin roof, they have three rooms. They have a Onil energy efficient stove from our project. They have two beds that they all share.
They have a pila, they have a closet, they have electricity and water connected. The eldest daughter, Estella, works with her till late at night making beaded jewelry so that the family can have food to eat. Even so this family has many needs. They do not have enough clothes or food and cannot afford the school supplies.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #207 Alex Orlando who is 10 years old.
$ SPONSORED by Charles, Lisa , Daylan and Aleah. Thanks!.
Alex Orlando is 10yrs old. Estella is 12yr old. He lives in San Jorge la Laguna. He lives with his mother and four sisters and brothers. The father abandoned the family a year ago. They have not heard or seen from him since. Federico 14yrs, he is in 6th grade. Estella Selena is 12yrs in 5th grade, Yeymi 7yrs old and is in third grade. and Yeyson 4yrs old.
The mother, Ines Felipe, 32yrs old, works making beaded jewelry at home. She often works till 1a.m. making necklaces so that she can put her children through school and make enough for them to be able to eat. The house is made of cement block with a tin roof, they have three rooms. They have a Onil energy efficient stove from our project. They have two beds that they all share.
They have a pila, they have a closet, they have electricity and water connected. The eldest daughter works with her till late at night making beaded jewelry so that the family can have food to eat. Even so this family has many needs. They do not have enough clothes or food and cannot afford the school supplies.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #206 Iris Lucinda who is 7 years old.
$ SPONSORED by COFLAC. THANKS!
Iris is 7yrs old. Eyda is 9yrs old. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. She lives with her mother, father, and two sisters, Eyda 9yrs old, and Anni 5yrs old. Iris's father, Augustin, 33yrs old is a day laborer. He does not have fixed work. When he does work he makes $5.30 a day. Maria, 30yrs old is Iris'ss mother. She makes beaded jewellry at home and makes a $1.00 US. a day for a dozen necklaces. Augustin has been ill for the past two years. He had a stroke and lost the sight in one eye. For this disability he does not always find it easy to find work.
The house is made of mud brick, they live in one room. They have two beds, the children share one bed between them. Maria cooks outside with a wood fire. They do not have their own pila to wash in. They have one small closet but it is not enough for their possessions, the rest they store in a cardboard box. They have water and electricity connected
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #205 Estella Selena who is 12 years old.
$ SPONSORED by COFLAC. THANKS!
Estella is 12yr old. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. Estella lives with her mother and four sisters and brothers. The father abandoned the family a year ago. They have not heard or seen from him since. Federico 14yrs, he is in 6th grade. Alex 10yrs old in 3rd grade, Yeymi 7yrs old and Yeyson 4yrs old. The mother, Ines Felipe, 32yrs old, works making beaded jewellry at home. She often works till 1a.m. making necklaces so that she can put her children through school and make enough for them to be able to eat. The house is made of cement block with a tin roof, they have three rooms. They have a onil energy efficient stove from our project. They have two beds that they all share.
They have a pila, they have a closet, they have electricity and water connected. The eldest daughter works with her till late at night making beaded jewellry so that the family can have food to eat. Even so this family has many needs. They do not have enough clothes or food and cannot afford the school supplies.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #204 Julisa
$ SPONSORED by COFLAC. THANKS!
Julisa is 12yrs old. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. She is in 5th grade. She has four other siblings, Enma (sister) 19yrs, she never went to school and does not know how to read or write, she stays at home and helps the mother at home. Nelvin 10yrs old, he is in 3rd grade, Alba 5yrs old, she was not able to go to school this year for lack of finances, Jorge is 3yrs old. Julisa's father, Rodrigo 43yrs old, he works as a builder. Unfortunately, Rodrigo has had a drinking problem, he is now suffering from what looks to be cirrhosis, he is unable to work very much. When he is working he makes $46US. a week. Rosa, the mother is 37yrs old. She is also in bad health, she makes beaded jewelry at home. This is very low paid work, she makes $1.00 US. per dozen. She also works occasionally taking in washing. The parents do not make enough money to keep this family in food, they are often eating only tortillas and salt. The children do not have shoes, their clothes are in very ragged condition. Their house is made of mud brick, the floor is dirt. They have two rooms, the kitchen is a tin shack, Rosa cooks over a wood fire on the ground. They have two beds that they all sleep in. They do not have a pila which is a two sided sink that is essential for daily life here. They own their own land but it is very small.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #203 Eyda Araseli who is 9 years old.
$ SPONSORED, THANKS!
Eyda is 9yrs old. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna. She lives with her mother, father, and two sisters, Iris Lucinda 7yrs, and Anni 5yrs old. Eyda's father, Augustin, 33yrs old is a day laborer. He does not have fixed work. When he does work he makes $5.30 a day. Maria, 30yrs old is Eyda's mother. She makes beaded jewelry at home and makes a $1.00 US. a day for a dozen necklaces.
Augustin has been ill for the past two years. He had a stroke and lost the sight in one eye. For this disability he does not always find it easy to find work. The house is made of mud brick, they live in one room. They have two beds, the children share one bed between them. Maria cooks outside with a wood fire. They do not have their own pila to wash in. They have one small closet but it is not enough for their possessions, the rest they store in a cardboard box. They have water and electricity connected.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #202 Natalie who is 7 years old
$ SPONSORED, THANKS!
Natalia is 7yrs old. She lives in San Jorge la Laguna with her mother and her sister, Marta 9yrs old. The father abandoned the family when Natalia's mother, Elena was pregnant with Natalia. They have never seen him since or received any money in support for the children. The family lives with Natalia's grandparents. It is a mud brick house with dirt floors. They live in one room, the mother cooks outside with wood fire on the floor. They have one bed that they all share.
They have one closet the grandfather made out of rough planks. They have electricity and water connected to the house. Elena works making beaded jewellry. She makes $1.00 US. a day. It is very difficult for her to be able to afford enough food for her children. Putting them both in school is way beyond her capacities. She has taken out a loan of $50US and she will be paying 10%interest on this loan per month to be able to pay for her children's school supplies. We would really love for Natalia to have a sponsor so that this debt can be cancelled and Natalia can have the rest of the supplies that she needs.
PLEASE SPONSOR STUDENT #201 Sandra
$ SPONSORED, THANKS!
Sandra is 7yrs old. She is in 1st grade in Panajachel. She lives in Tierra Linda but his mother, Maria works in Panajachel so every day they make the trip to Panajachel. She lives with her mother and brother in Tierra Linda. They have been living in a horrible house that his mother built by hand. It is on borrowed land and they have to leave this land now because the owner wants it back. They do not have electricity or a bed to sleep in. Maria, the mother, as a domestic worker in a private house. She earns $40 US. a month. She works six days a week.
The father abandoned the family seven years ago. He has never given money to support the family. Maria has no family, her parents are dead and she was an only child. She has no help from anyone. Many times this family has nothing to eat, just tortillas and salt.
The money that the mother makes is not enough to be able to feed and clothe her children. She does not have enough money to buy school supplies or send her children to school.