Urgent News Alejandro has passed away. We're deeply saddened to report that Alejandro has passed away. After fighting for several days he is now at peace, but his family is obviously grieving his loss. Alejandro passed away in the public hospital in the capital. His body now has to be transported nearly 3 hours to Panajachel by a licensed car certified to carry deceased bodies. It's very expensive and the family doesn't know how they will afford it. Plus, they are planning the funeral and paying the medical bills that Alejandro incurred during his hospitalization. A Mayan Families employee visited Alejandro's family today and they had nothing to eat. The family is grieving the loss of a loved one and also faced with nearly impossible financial burdens. To pay for the certified transport, the funeral, and the medical bills, the family needs $300. For more information on how to help Alejandro's family, please visit:http://mayanfamilieselderlycare.blogspot.com/2012/02/alejandro-has-passed-away.htmlThank You!Flabio is 17 years old and has kidney problems. He has been to several doctors who tell him that one of his kidneys is failing. He has an appointment on February 20 with a nefrologist in the capital and he needs $109 to go to the capital and have his appointment.
Hi Everyone,
Flabio's parents, Maria and Jose, have three children. Jose works in a supermarket and Maria stays at home to care for the family. They try their best to provide for their children, but Jose's wages have not been enough to care for the family and pay for Flabio's medical expenses. Flabio's doctor visits have strained the family's budget and they are really struggling.
Amidst Flabio's medical troubles, he still earnestly wants to stay in school. However, given his medical bills he is afraid that he may have to drop out because his family can't afford both medical bills and school payments. Flabio needs a school sponsor for 10th grade, which costs $490 for the entire year.
For more information on how to help Flabio receive school sponsorship or the medical attention he needs, please visit:
http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2012/02/flabio-has-kidney-failure-and-needs.html
Thank you!
Hi Everyone,A very desperate situation was just posted on the Family Aid Blog today.Maria and Jose have 8 children. They've had a hard life, unable to find consistent jobs and having to move to the coast in order to try to find work. They live in a very poor, crumbling home several hours from Panajachel. They try to take care of their large family, but it is increasingly difficult to find ways to provide for them and feed them all. One of their children is so malnourished that she was unable to walk and had to be carried everywhere.On top of these financial difficulties, Maria and Jose have recently been hit very hard by physical illnesses. Maria has been feeling ill for months. She hardly leaves bed. She has gallstones and this causes her great pain. She is chronically malnourished and she also has an intestinal infection. But worst, and scariest, of all she has recently been diagnosed with a serious degenerative disease. She needs treatment and it will be very expensive.Jose has a tumor on the side of his neck. It has been getting larger and larger, and doctors tell him it needs to be removed immediately. However, due to the size and location of the tumor it is exremely risky to remove it. The surgery only has a 50% survive rate. If Jose does survive the surgery, there is a further risk that he may lose his voice and/or neck movements. Jose has to sign legal documentation saying that his family won't press charges against the surgeon in case of any problem. It's a scary place to be, but Jose has bravely told us he knows he needs to have the surgery in order to take care of his family.Jose and Maria are both in need of extensive operations and treatment. They could barely take care of their 8 children before, and now adding these health issues makes their troubles seem insurmountable. Jose and Maria are both facing life-threatening illnesses and they are, understandably, afraid. They have no one else to turn to and have come to us desperate for help. We are asking for an initial $300 to pay for their beginning consults, tests, treatments, and to prepare them for surgery. They will need ongoing help as they have and recover from their surgeries. We will also use part of this money to buy food for this malnourished family.For more information on how to help this family, please visit:http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/Thank you!
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Feeding Program | Nayeli is 5 yrs old. She was adopted from Guatemala and has grown up in the U.S. She has received good food and good medical attention since she was born.
The other little girl is from our pre-school/feeding program in Tierra Linda. She is also 5 yrs old.
You can see the difference in the height and weight....This little girl has not received good food or good medical attention ( or probably no medical attention would be more like it ) since she was born.
The reason that we do the pre-schools/feeding programs is because these children are in such need of food....thank you to the people who are able to sponsor children so that they can receive at least two nutritious meals at least five days a week.
| Group building a house in Guatemala | Today, Mayan Families has a group who has arrived to build a house for a family of three, an elderly grandmother, a single mother and a teenage daughter. This family has been struggling for so many years to be able to have a home to live in. They have been evicted several times because they do not have sufficient money to pay the rent. Unfortunately, the grandmother was hit by a truck in a very slow moving accident..... but has been injured. The driver who hit her on Friday , went with her to the local health center where the doctor said that she was o.k. just bruised.. but they had no ultra sound or x ray machines to do a more thorough investigation.
The driver paid the grand total of $12 for pain medicine and left.
The grandmother has taken a turn for the worse and is now in the hospital with hip pains. We do not have any more news of her right now but thank goodness that they will have a home to live in when the grandmother is released. The family will now be in worse situation because they do not have the money for the medical care needed for the grandmother.
We are so thankful to this group to come and construct a home for this family this week.
The grandmother is part of our Elderly Program and quite often the food that we have delivered to her home she has shared between the three of them.
We are trying something new with this group.
We are building the house in one week so that they will be able to turn the keys over to the family on Saturday.
We have had a small crew dig the foundations and build the walls up a to about knee high level but the group will be doing the rest of the work.
So it will be a lot of work to get it done in one week but this group is very motivated and I think that they will do it.
We have actually built this house strong enough so that we can put a second floor on it so that we will eventually be able to have another family live upstairs. We have so many single mothers in need ..and we already have a waiting list.
This house is being built on the property that Mayan Families owns. The houses are for families in distress or families that it is just impossible for them to pay the rent and survive.....we have three houses on this piece of very small property. We have been offered two small pieces that are adjoining for the sum of $7,000....we do not have the money to purchase this property but would love to be able to get it and build at least another four houses on it for families in need.
If anyone is interested in more information , please contact me.
Sharon
| Alejandro has passed away. | Alejandro has passed away.
We're deeply saddened to report that Alejandro has passed away. After fighting for several days he is now at peace, but his family is obviously grieving his loss. Alejandro passed away in the public hospital in the capital.
His body now has to be transported nearly 3 hours to Panajachel by a licensed car certified to carry deceased bodies.
It's very expensive and the family doesn't know how they will afford it. Plus, they are planning the funeral and paying the medical bills that Alejandro incurred during his hospitalization. A Mayan Families employee visited Alejandro's family today and they had nothing to eat.
The family is grieving the loss of a loved one and also faced with nearly impossible financial burdens. To pay for the certified transport, the funeral, and the medical bills, the family needs $300.
For more information on how to help Alejandro's family, please visit:
http://mayanfamilieselderlycare.blogspot.com/2012/02/alejandro-has-passed-away.html
Thank You!
| Grace of Guatemala Mission Trip. | We have had the pleasure of having Connie and her recent group of 20 people here. For some it is the first time to come to Guatemala ...for others, we are happy to welcome back old friends.
Connie has taken the little agricultural village of El Barranco under her wing....she focuses all her attention and groups on this village....and it has made a huge difference to the people who live here.
The groups that Connie has brought have now sponsored over 50 children. This present group has topped the record and for a group of 20 people, they have sponsored 17 children!
They brought wonderful donations and gave all the children shoes, clothing, goodie bags full of exciting things for the children...it was a great day for the them all.
Here is a link to Connies blog.....we have lots more photos but we will get them up soon.
http://consguat.blogspot.com/2012/02/first-trip-to-el-barranco.html?spref=fb
If anyone would like to join Connie's next service trip or would like to organize their own...we would be happy to see you here and help you with all the arrangements.
Please contact me at Sharon@mayanfamilies.org
| Flabio is 17 years old and has kidney problems | Flabio is 17 years old and has kidney problems. He has been to several doctors who tell him that one of his kidneys is failing. He has an appointment on February 20 with a nefrologist in the capital and he needs $109 to go to the capital and have his appointment.
Flabio's parents, Maria and Jose, have three children. Jose works in a supermarket and Maria stays at home to care for the family. They try their best to provide for their children, but Jose's wages have not been enough to care for the family and pay for Flabio's medical expenses. Flabio's doctor visits have strained the family's budget and they are really struggling.
Amidst Flabio's medical troubles, he still earnestly wants to stay in school. However, given his medical bills he is afraid that he may have to drop out because his family can't afford both medical bills and school payments. Flabio needs a school sponsor for 10th grade, which costs $490 for the entire year.
For more information on how to help Flabio receive school sponsorship or the medical attention he needs, please visit:
http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2012/02/flabio-has-kidney-failure-and-needs.html
Thank you!
| Valentines Day! | Our Valentines Day Newsletter can be found here! Please make this wonderful day extra special!
| Miguel and Elderly Care in Guatemala | Miguel is a sweet member of our elderly program.
He lives with his brother and it is always a delight to visit these two gentlemen because they are so friendly. Recently, however, Miguel has been having health problems with his prostate.
We took him to the doctor who prescribed various medications for him, which will hopefully help him greatly. However, Miguel also needs a prostate exam. The cost of his consult, his medications, and his future exam is $173. Please consider helping Miguel with his health problems.
for more information on how to help Miguel, please visit:
Thank You!
| Mayan Families Elderly Care program. | This thoughtful profile of one of the elderly in our Elder Care program highlights the need for help ...and how much just a little help goes a long way.
This story was written by a wonderful young woman, Ronny, who had done so much to help the Elderly here in Guatemala.
http://mayanfamilieselderlycare.blogspot.com/2012/01/ramon-lopez-cumes.html
| A very special birthday! | We were touched when a mother from the U.S. contacted us regarding her son's 1st birthday. In lieu of gifts for her 1-year old, the mother has asked party guests to help one of our orphan families. She contacted us and asked for ideas of a specific family who really needed help. We suggested Olga (FA194) and her siblings, as they are all orphaned. The mother sent out invitations explaining how to donate for these orphans through Mayan Families. We thought it was a very compassionate and generous idea, so we just wanted to share it with you!
This is not the first time we've had people use their birthdays as gift offerings for Mayan Families. We are touched by everyone who has shared their birthday wishes with families here in Guatemala! What a great way to begin teaching children the gift of giving at a young age!
| Visiting homes of sponsored students. | This is the face of poverty.
This is the reason we work so hard to help the students that we sponsor and their families.
These are very hard conditions to live with.
It takes such a little amount of money to be able to help lift people out of living in these conditions.
An onil stove costs $170 US.
A double bed with a mattress costs $170 US.
Cement floors can replace these dirt floors.
Roofs can be replaced so that the rain will not come in during the wet season and turn the dirt floors into mud.
Bring a group to volunteer, raise money to put in stoves...come alone, bring a friend, bring a lot of friends...we are happy to have you and the people who live in these conditions will be very, very happy to see you.
| Happy kids at the Mayan Families Panajachel Pre-school! | The children at the Mayan Families Pre-school, Caritas Sonadoras, received their school supplies this week.
There is going to be a lot of pasting, coloring and fun going on at the pre-school!
The children have two meals, learn to get into the habit of brushing their teeth, take a vitamin tablet, get health check ups and get a head start on their education before they go to school.
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