An Update on This Past Week

We have been very busy this week and I thought you may like to know some of the goings on.

We went to the coast to pick up 25 onil stoves that will start to be installed this week! These stoves are so wonderful and we have such waiting list of people who want them.

We have had a 7 month old baby with convulsions that we have been trying to get help for. Jody from COTA told me today that they will cover the cost of the MRI for the baby and be able to supply meds for this little one.- thank you so much Jody! Mayan Families will arrange the transportation and cover the costs for the family to get to the city.

Alex – the baby who is with Kim (MFC member) and COTA in the U.S. – will be having his cleft palate operation on June 4th.

COTA is also looking into the possibility of helping us with two other children. A young teen age boy who had a kidney transplant and needs ongoing meds.

Also an infant girl who has a leg deformity and may need bracing. Mayan Families will be covering the costs of the xrays and transporation. We will be sending the xrays in this week to the city to send them to COTA.

We took two new babies into the Infant Feeding Project.

We have two social work students from the U.S. who are volunteering with us for a 5 weeks. They are doing a great job at present sorting out donations and helping people find shoes that fit. They will start to do homevisits with the staff soon.

We delivered two wheelchairs, one to Ernesto who was in need of a new chair and one to a 9yr old cancer patient, Marlon whose family really needs help.

The community /learning center in Tierra Linda has been enhanced. The group funding it have now given us the money to be able to put a verandah on the front of the building. This will provide protection during the very hot days and during the wet season. The building materials were purchased and delivered for this.

Mayan Families Healthy Pets – Selaine and Eze discovered a horrific scene of dogs being abused, in various stages of illness and dying. The ropes that they were tied with were so short that the dogs were unable to straighten their heads. Several of the dogs were too ill to treat and had to be put down. The others were taken to the clinic for treatment.

The mother of the family who had the dogs was also very ill. We arranged medical treatment for her and we discussed with the family that animals need to be treated in a much more humane way.

But on a positive note – several dogs who had been waiting for homes – were able to be placed with new families.

We have a young boy, 6yrs old who has a bad problem with his legs, his muscles are tight and huge in the calves, he cannot walk very well and he cannot walk up hill without crawling, we have sent him for medical tests and are looking for help as to what is diagnosis is and what treatment he can receive.

One of our sponsored students has been found to be living in a very dangerous situation. Her mother is not mentally stable and is physically violent with the little 8yr old. We discovered horrific photos at the Family Court offices of the girl when she was 3yrs old. Her mother had tied her up and bitten her all over. The mother was sentenced to 3yrs in jail. She then attacked the judge and the secretary at the time of sentencing. Somehow she was released two weeks after going to jail. There is a lot of concern that the child is being sexually abused by men that the mother brings home. We are working with a social worker and the Family Court to see if the child can be removed from the mother’s custody and placed somewhere safe.

Thanks to recent visitors many letters from students have been sent back to the US. and will be soon being delivered.

We supplied medical treatment and medicine to several people who were in urgent need of medical treatment and could not afford it.-including a 22yr old deaf and mute boy who had to be rushed to the hospital because he was vomiting blood. We found out that he had an ulcer that had burst. We have now arranged his treatment for the ulcer.

Another is a man who is paralysed in one arm and two legs , we had to pay his transportation and rush him to the hospital, he was passing blood in large amounts . He is still receiving treatment.

Also a family that had a car accident, asked for help. The mother and two children were injured.

They were released from the hospital but had not received much treatment, or medication, the mother was in a lot of pain with her stomach and could not walk. The two children had injuries that needed to be attended to.

The father had spent all his money on xrays and meds at the hospital did not have any money for food for the family. We provided them with food and have sent them to the clinic for a check up.

We also supplied medications to 5 other people.

We were able to tell the woman who lost her home in a fire last week , that a donation had come in to help her buy building materials for her new home. They will be purchased this coming Tuesday.

These students #55, 56, 200, 201 and #608 received gifts of food from their sponsors.

We were able to place Sara , a single mother and her physically and mentally disabled adult daughter in a new home. They had been given notice to move out of the one room that they lived in or pay a much higher rent that it was impossible for them to afford. We were able to recommend them for another house that Mayan Families has used before – it is half the price and they now have two rooms and an onil stove that we provided. Sara is so happy to have two rooms and her own bathroom.

Apart from this we have been interviewing many people who come for help, either seeking student sponsorship, medical help, help with housing etc.

This is a group effort by all of us and I thank you for all your help..

Sharon