As we all know, food costs have risen dramatically in Guatemala (and everywhere else). In the past it had been estimated that nearly 50% suffered from malnutrition there, today I hate to even think about how high that percentage may go with these prices still on the rise and the scarcity of corn in recent months.

Along with education, good health is a necessary tool to help fight the cycle of poverty. Please consider the gift of vitamins as this shipment will surely arrive to MF in time for the holidays.

We now have a packing date for our Boston mini shipment in October so I’d like to throw a reminder out to anyone that would like to donate vitamins to their students & their families or for general distribution that now is the time to order.

This will be the last vitamin shipment for 2008. I will need to go out of town at the end of September so I probably should say that the 20th is the deadline. To donate a bottle of 1000 tablets costs $25.00 which covers all shipping too.

To donate for general distribution, donations in any amount are always welcomed.

What I will need:

$25.00 per bottle (1000 tabs). You can pay via paypal to dogpatchgreens@ hotmail.com or contact me for my address to send payment.

Student NAME and NUMBER

Please remember that you should expect all members living in the house to share these. You can find those living together listed on your student’s page and divide 1000 by that number to know how long they should last (children under 4yrs. 1/2 tab daily). MF will instruct the families about safety and dosage.

Thank you again to all that have participated in the past vitamin shipments, together we really can make a difference!

Sue

Dear Jody,

Kim has just left to go back to the city. She is a beautiful person and it has been quite the emotional rollercoaster.

I think that she handled it very well.

Alex has adjusted very well to be being back with his family and he looks wonderful. He is quite the celebrity in his village.

The mother and father met Kim at the airport. Alex apparently did not want to go to them and kept wanting to go back to Kim. He fussed a little but sat with his parents for most of the trip.

When they arrived back in Pana we put them up in the same apartments as Kim, they stayed next door. We went out for dinner. The parents said that Alex did well that night. The next morning we all travelled to Tierra Linda together, the extended family was there to meet Alex.

We were ushered into their large mud brick room. They had a table with a pretty cloth and chairs for us to sit in. One by one each of the family gave an emotional speech about what it had meant to them to have treatment for Alex. That they had tried to find medical help for them but they were quoted $7,000US for the operation and it was not possible for them to be able to afford that amount.

They each spoke about how happy they were that they had received this help and that Kim had looked after baby Alex like her own son. They said that they had no way to repay the people that had helped Alex go to the U.S. or to repay Kim for all that she and her family had done for Alex. They said that God would reward Kim one day and that they hoped that there would be many blessings for her and her family. Both the parents were in tears when they spoke. They thanked Kim for putting photos and videos of their son on the computer for them to see.

They presented Kim and I with a beautiful shawl. I believe they also gave one to Aida in the city as well.

They then gave Kim a present for her husband and one for her son, Alex. These were only small gifts they said but that they had no other way to thank Kim.

Kim did beautifully during the whole ceremony until they brought out the gift for her son Alex and then she was overcome with emotion. We all were. I get a lump in my throat just writing this!

Kim made a speech and I translated it for her. The family hung on her every word and wanted her to continue. They really wanted to honor Kim for all that she had done.

After that they served us a lovely, colorful fruit salad that they had gone to a lot of work to prepare. They brought out cream and honey. This is from a family that often does not have enough to eat themselves.

We visited the room that Alex would live in with his parents. It was a very humble . A mudbrick room, with a dirt floor and a tin roof. But it was very clean and well kept. There was bed in the room that is a home made with boards and blocks. It does not have a mattress. They do not have many blankets.

They have one wooden box that they store their clothes.

Alex certainly has a lot of love around him. All his family was hugging him and kissing him. The children were playing with him.

He seemed to settle in very well.

Kim said in her speech that it was obvious when Alex arrived that he was a much loved child. It was certainly very obvious by the way that the family embraced him on his return.

They also totally embraced Kim.

When Kim left this afternoon, I told her ” now you have a family in Guatemala as well”.

Thank you for all that you did Jody. COTA is a magnificent organization and we are proud to be able to work with you.

Kim and her husband, Jay, are just amazing people. They have given so much to Alex and given it freely with great love.

It was such a pleasure to meet Kim and I am proud to know a person like her.

abrazos,

Sharon

The people of Panabaj were thrilled to see Louise in their village all this week, giving out mattresses, tables and chairs, water filters and bags of food. She also delivered gifts from Canada to many sponsored children. Louise also arranged for several girls to have new traditional outfits.

Louise’s husband Jim and their sons have also been very busy building a house for a family in Cerra de Oro.

Thank you to the Sosa family for all that they have done. They have certainly brightened many families lives with their visit.

Hi Kim,

I am so excited to tell you that we started to build a house for Tomas #707 and his family yesterday!!! !!!!!!!!

Louise from Canada came down with her family, she has raised money and asked me where it should go and thanks to your constant reminders about Tomas – that family immediately came to mind.

We went over there on Monday, they met the family , saw the conditions and agreed to build the house.

Tuesday they carried over lots of building supplies.

Today they have started building!!!! !!!

I am so thrilled that the family will have a house and I am so happy for you because I know this was very dear to your heart and you have tried so hard to get help for them.

I will send you photos asap.

Big congratulation hugs,

Sharon

The Mayan Families Canada team finished their last day on their trip. They are photographed with some of the Mayan Families staff. They put in lots of stoves, learned how to make tortillas, put on traditional clothing, saw two houses that they are funding under construction, bought traditional clothing for several of their sponsored students, put in a cement floor and a new roof for another student and they had a lot of fun and laughs! Thank you Mayan Families Canada!

This group of teenagers from Berkley California, along with their parents have given up a few weeks of their summer vacation to install stoves in the village of El Barranco in Solola.

They fundraised to buy these stoves by holding a garage sale, a BBQ, held a brunch and were thrilled with the results.

They have been working very hard loading the stoves, unloading the stoves and installing the stoves in peoples homes. They have made lots of friends and have experiences that they will not easily forget.

At the end of the week the women in the community presented them with a weaving that expressed their appreciation for all that they had done.

Margarita and her daughter brought Gloria and I two baskets of fruit with a beautiful woven cloth.

They brought this in thanks for the house that was donated to them.

They had bought a piece of land but could not afford to build on it. Sybille and Beat and their family very generously donated a house to them.

This happy group from Mayan Families Canada carried down this huge mound of bags. There were gifts for their sponsored students and lots of other goodies for many, many people!

This group is installing stoves in Panajachel, San Jorge and the surrounding areas.

Click here to see some of the results of this group’s contributions.

The experience has been a real eye opener for Amelia.  She has never been around other people that have HIV or AIDS before.  There is not a lot of news about it here. Also remember that Amelia does not know how to read or write so a lot of material she does not have access to.

The ward she was in had people die every day that she was there.  Many of them very young people.   This has obviously terrified Amelia and she has told me that she will not miss a day of her medication, no matter how badly she feels.

The doctor agreed to release her from hospital if she agreed to take the medication.  She says that she will definitely take it and that she wants to do everything that she can to protect her health.  She needs bedrest for the next few weeks.  We have the woman who will be doing her washing ( remember this is washing for five children by hand)  and cleaning the house for her and shopping.     Amelia should be able to get the rest that she needs.

We will have to wait and see what happens after that but I know that she should not return to the gruelling schedule that she had beforehand.

Julio and Gloria took Angel to the airport yesterday, they took advantage of the trip to the city to take their children and Amelia’s children to the zoo, none of them had ever been there before , Angel’s parents went as well, then after the zoo much to the surprise and delight of Amelia’s children, they were able to pick up their mother and take her home.

It really has been a great blessing to have this house for Amelia and her family.  Without having her live so close to Gloria we would never have known exactly what was going on in the family and how bad the situation was for Amelia.   Thank you for everyone who has made this wonderful miracle happen for Amelia – it may just be saving her life and as Shannon said – it is much better to donate now to keeping her in a healthy situation than later when we are trying to work out how to support her  orphaned children.

She went to bed, three hours later she started vomiting blood. Her mother rushed her to the hospital and they pumped her stomach. The next morning, the sponsored student came to the house in tears, her mother was blaming her because she had not told her mother what was happening, she was scared that her sister would die and it would be her fault. Gloria called the mother at the hospital, the daughter was in a lot of pain and not being attended to.

We took her out of the hospital, sent her to the clinic where they treated her and later sent her home.

This family is a single mother with five children. We had only a sponsor for the 13yr old girl. The 14yr old girl, who is the eldest, was feeling very desperate because the family did not have enough food. They had just been evicted from where they were living because they could not pay the rent, they had moved into another room but they also did not have the rent, we had helped them with the cost of the move and the first month’s rent, the girl was also feeling very depressed because she did not have the school materials that she needed to be able to do a project., her mother could not afford to be able to buy them for her. She had come to me the week before seeking work – unfortunately we did not have any for her. If she had told me that she wanted the money for school needs we would have helped her with whatever she needed but she did not tell me.

I did not realize that this famiy was in such a difficult situation. The 13yr old girl volunteers at Mayan Families in the morning, she was very sullen when she first started but she has really blossomed since then, she smiles and enjoys being part of what is going on. I have come to realize in the weeks that she has been coming here, that she seems to have only two outfits. I think that she also the fact that she gets to eat lunch here and have oatmeal in the morning is a big bonus for her.

Her sister is now doing much better. Since we found out what is happening with the family we have taken the other four children to sponsor. The 14yr old will be going into Jnr. High next year – she was very worried that without handing in her school projects that she would not pass her grade in October. She was also very worried about how she would be able to continue going to Jnr. High because her mother just could not afford it.

We hope that we will find sponsorship for her.

I want to thank all of you who sponsor students to go to school. It means so much to the family and to the student.

Sharon

Yesterday volunteers arrived who will be putting stoves for the next few weeks and working on other projects. Their first experience was watching and learning how to put the stoves together. After that they had the fun of learning how to make tortillas!
This group, four teenagers and 3 adults led by Florence has worked really hard fund raising to earn the money to pay for their stoves. They raised nearly $5,000 from many efforts including a brunch, garage sale etc. They will be installing stoves, possibly putting in a wheel chair ramp for a disabled young woman, cement floors and have  plans to paint a mural at a school.

We are very happy to have their help and hope they have a wonderful, enriching summer vacation.

We are in the process of caring for a 9yr old boy who has cancer of his leg. He was sent home from the hospital in the city after they gave him a recent check up by checking out his ears, nose and throat and sending him home without medication.

I have sent his photos to Jody and she feels that the cancer may have spread because he is now having stomach and chest pains. We have to pay for his transportation to and from his village, he lives about an hour from Panajachel. Then there will be the cost of his medications.

We are continuing to provide pain medication for Glendy’s mother, Dona Marta. Marta is a single mother with five children and advanced cancer .

We have a young man 28yrs old. He was electrocuted at work, he fell from the building, he is paralysed by right now his spine is starting to curve, he it is hindering his breathing and eating, his family said that without an operation the doctor told them that he will continue to bend over and eventually it will cause his death. The operation is approx. $8,000 US. I will be seeking out medical help for him and see what we can do to help this young man. He is married with a very young son. We have been providing this family with regular food as well. The wife cannot work as she has to look after her husband and son. We have been providing the husband with medical care here for respiratory problems .

Amelia, who is HIV positive , a single mother with 5 children, has been unable to take her anti-viral medications because they made her so ill she could not work – is today on her way to Guatemala City to stay at the hospital for up to a month while her body adjusts to the meds. We are providing her transportation, food and whatever other medical care she will need. We are very fortunate that this group has taken Amelia under their loving wing and are providing the support that she will need to be able to do this.

Yesterday, a woman from San Jorge came and thanked me for giving her medical care for her gastritis, she says that she can now eat and is out of pain because of the medical care she is receiving. She is one of several people that we are providing treatment for severe gastritis.

We continue to provide medical care for two men who are parapalegics. Lucas and Ernesto. They both need regular medical attention for urinary tract infections and respiratory problems. Lucas has two horrible metal pieces in his spine that are causing him a lot of pain, we need to be able to give him medical attention for this.

We are organizing an operation for a woman in her 50′s who has a prolapsed uterus. You can actually see it outside of her body. She is very malnourished and needs to be built up before she can be operated.

A young man was just sent to the city to have a cyst removed from inside his mouth. It was causing him a great deal of pain. The family was very poor and had no way to be able to help him.

Yesterday we sent a 9yr old girl from Tierra Linda to the doctor to see a hard painful lump that had appeared in her chest..

We are providing medical treatment for a 10yr old boy with an enlarged heart. His mother is desperate to seek help for the boy.

We provided medicine for a woman this week that has been diagnosed with leukemia.

We are also providing ongoing support for two children with asthma.

These are just some of the people that we are helping. Every day we send people to the doctor for some kind of treatment. We work with two doctors here, one is a medical clinic that has a ultra sound, x ray and a lab. Of course, that is more expensive. He really tries to keep his charges down as low as possible for us. The second is a general doctor here that we send cases that are not too complicated. This doctor helps by giving patients meds. for free when he has them. We also provide him with some medications that we receive as donations.

We never turn babies or children away who need medical attention but sometimes we do have to turn adults away because we just cannot afford it.

We have people knocking on our door every day in need of medical attention or in need of the medicine that they just cannot afford to buy.
We really, really appreciate your support for the medical program.

Sharon

— On Wed, 6/25/08, jakenblue <brister@us.ibm.com> wrote:

From: jakenblue <brister@us.ibm.com>
Subject: [MayanFamiliesConnection] end of the month push for the focus of the month
To: MayanFamiliesConnection@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 1:13 AM

We are in our last week of June and only 3 donations are in the focus
of the month DB.. it is only sitting at 150.. lets try and get it
up to at least 500 by months end..

Pam

Earlier, three minors aged 2, 8 and 13 died in a separate but similar
incident. A seven-year-old girl survived and was rescued from under
tonnes of mud and debris.

Mudslides are frequent in the Central American country after persistent
heavy rain. They threaten thousands of mostly poor families who have
built precarious homes on unstable hillsides.

Click here to read the full article.

Sharon

We held a clinic for pap smears for approx. 240 women. We arranged for the wonderful people of WINGS from Antigua to come to Panajachel. We held a half day clinic in San Jorge where they gave pap smears to 52 women. Then the rest of the time was in Panajachel with women coming from several different villages. One woman was found to have a prolapsed uterus and we are arranging an operation for her. Another woman was found to have a lesion that needed taking care of urgently and Wings arranged treatment for her. For many women it was the first time that they have ever had a pap smear.

We distributed a lot of clothes and shoes this week. Most people were having terrible problems getting their clothes dry and they were very happy to have new clothes for their babies and children. People came with shoes that were already rotting from the wet weather.

Stoves were very happily received by the following students and their families :
#254 Gladis, #447 Juana and #448 Manuel, #768 Yessica, #264 Jorge and #269 Edgar, #509 Carmen. Seven stoves were delivered to other families that are not sponsored but were in great need of help.

Infant Feeding Project. Seven babies and young infants received formula this week.

Food was very gratefully received by the following families:
#142 Sandra /143 Antonio, #275 Lisandro/#276 Gerardo, #518 Yoselin/#524Lucia, #762 Pedro/#763Luisa/#764 Rony, #765 Evelyn and #766 Suly.

Traditional Traje was given to several young girls and women who cannot afford to buy new clothing.
#535 Rebecca, #536 Cecilia, #538 Petronilla and their mother, #315 Irma, #222 Astrid,
#763 Luisa, #765 Evelyn, #766 Suly and their little sister. Gloria who works with Mayan Families also donated an traditional outfit to a woman who comes often here and only has one outfit.

Construction : Materials were delivered to Tierra Linda to continue work on the Community /Learning center.

A “new” pediatric wheel chair was given to a young girl. A pair of crutches was given to a young man who had an accident.

Medical Aid: Was provided to many, many people. After the heavy rains and cold weather there were many children with respiratory problems.

Grant : We are thrilled to say that we were awarded a $10,000 US grant to be able to run a nutritious feeding program at the San Jorge Community/Learning Center for the Early Learning Program!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carla Cooey and her friends from the Westminster Presbyterian Church left on Monday after a great visit. They were able to visit their sponsored students, her group sponsored 7 more children to go to school. Five of them are new to our program. They are a family of 6 young orphans. Their father died last year , the mother died two weeks ago, they are now being raised by elderly grandparents. Carla’s group took them to their heart, sponsored them to go to school, provided them with food and bought them new traditional clothing. They also brought lots of donations for Mayan Families to distribute.

Karen and Brett Tower and their children were here visiting their sponsored family. The family was so thrilled to meet them after all the help that they have received from Karen and Brett. Karen, Brett and their family rode off in the back of a pick up with their sponsored family and had to climb a very long hike to get to their home. The Tower family also brought down a ton of donations for us to distribute. These were very much appreciated.

Thank you for all your support. It means so much to us,
Sharon

IN HONOR OF ALL FATHERS ON YOUR SPECIAL DAY.

Fifty seven baskets of food were donated for Fathers Day. Among these baskets donated the following were donated either in Honor of or in Loving Memory.

1. 4 BASKETS DONATED BY PAM BRISTER;
“In Loving Memory of my father, father-in-law and In Honor of my husbands first Fathers Day with his Guatemalan Prince.

2. 3 BASKETS DONATED BY PATTI KATTER;

” In Loving Memory of Grandpa Harold Harrington”

” In Loving Memory of Grandpa Charles Jenson”

” In Honor of Grandma Harrington”

3. 1 BASKET DONATED BY MATT WILHELMSON :

“From one father to another”.

4. 1 BASKET DONATED BY ELAINE OLEKSA.

” In Honor of my father, Norbert Oleksa”.

5. 3 BASKETS DONATED BY KIM Mc COMISH.

” In Honor of Tim Mc Comish”.

” In Honor of Leslie Andrews”.

“In Loving Memory of Tom Mc Comish”.

6. DONATED BY LYN H.
” I donate to honor my wonderful Dad (a doting Grandpa to my girl),
and to salute the single
parents (like me) who are doing the job of 2 parents and know what
it’s like when it is always,
always your turn. I also want to honor my daughter’s young single
birth mother and loving
single foster mother in Guatemala. May God bless and protect them
all.

I am so grateful for all my blessings, especially my daughter, and
I want Marisella and
another parent or caregiver to have a good, healthy meal with their
family on Father’s Day.”

7. 1 Basket DONATED BY ZOE AND ALEEYA SMART POAGE.

” In honor of the best Daddy in the world. I want to thank you for being there for us, Also for being the best friend & Dad ever, we LOVE you so much”!!!!!

8. In Loving Memory of Jacky. John Edward Smart.
We miss you. Colleen, Sharon and Wendy.

The following families received food – #324/#646,#33,#514,#503,#534, #535,#536,#537.#538,#485,#486,#487, #262,#394, #142, #143, #39, #40, #263,#330,#348,#300,#433,#281,#283,#285, #241,#430, The Xiap family.

The following families received stoves: #494,#493and #580

The following students received vitamins : #314, #645, #485,#486,#487,#251,and #645

The following students received a bed. #299, #311,#758, #759 #760, #761, #485,#486 and #487

The following students received gifts.: #299, #311,#758, #759,#760 #761,#485,#486 and #487

The following students received water filters : #250,#251 and #252.

The following students received tables and chairs.: #485,#486 and #487.

We facilitated a medical clinic in Panabaj - with three doctors and two dentists.

Lots of people came in the rain and waited to be seen at the clinic.

We gave out tons of shoes in San Jorge on Thursday, including baby clothes, baby bonnets and toys that Carla and her group brought with them to distribute.

Carla and her group were greeted by the womens group of San Jorge and had a chance to look at the Community Learning/ Center and the construction that they have funded.

Peg, Corlene and Cameron, Representatives of Airline Ambassadors brought us wheelchairs and school donations . They also accompanied Carla and her group to the Orphanage in San Andres on Saturday where the children were treated to cake, gifts and games. It was a fun morning for all of us!

We visited two elderly, invalid couples who do not have anyone to look after them and are relying on begging and neighbors to care for them.

Thank you for all your help this week!

Sharon

We had a busy afternoon giving out chickens, sewing machines and Mother’s Day baskets, they spent time putting rain capes on lots of children, playing with the children, helpng with the chickens and even puppy sitting!

The Airline Ambassadors group gave out lots of goodies that they had brought, they made lots of friends, and for some, they met the families that they want to sponsor.

• From Hunter, Terry and Taylor Barber, “in memory of our mothers and in honor of our son’s birthmother”.

• From Kim Wilhelmson, “in honor of Angi Grace Wilhelmson.”

• From Heather Stuart, “in honor of Kristin Krienbring, CarolJean Stuart, and Tracie Stier-Johnson”.

• From Michael Lach, “in honor of Joan Lach”.

• Susan Nieser, “In honor of my wonderful mother, my two special grandmothers, and the mother I hope to be soon to the little girl I am adopting from Guatemala…..”

• Molly,“in honor of my wonderful mother!”

• Handyman Cakes,“in honor of Mary Callahan”

• Jan Bryan, “in honor of Mardelle Relf who died two years ago”

• IN HONOR OF MARY ANN PETRILLO

I saw an interesting report on one of the major news networks this morning concerning water and toxicity in babies. Doctors are asking people not to give water to babies under six months of age, as their Kidneys are unable to flush it out properly. A build up of water can cause toxicity, swelling of the brain and possible death.
So, what do women do in Guatemala that are unable to breast feed or can’t afford formula for their babies? Are they giving their children water? I thought about this as I was reading the post on baby Wiltman Nehemias.
I am not a doctor nor am I saying this is why baby Wiltman Nehemias is having convulsions. I just wanted to pass along this information as I am sure many people, including myself, are unaware of the dangers with giving water to small babies.
Cindy

———————–

Cindy, if women cannot breastfeed and are limited by poverty – the usual thing that people do is give babies either, a water and sugar mix, or a very weak coffee with sugar, sometimes they give them a mix of incaparina or mosh – which is an oatmeal type of cereal but the babies often do not like the texture. As you can see none of these things are very good alternatives. Women also stop breastfeeding as soon as they are pregnant, then the baby that was doing quite well then starts to become sickly and malnourished.
This is the reason that the Infant Feeding Project of the Food and Milk Program is so important.

Sharon

Ruth Pauley, her husband, four children and her niece visited today. They went to Tierra Linda where they handed out school supplies to all the teachers. After wards they went to San Jorge and gave out more school supplies at the school.

They also had the pleasure of visiting their sponsored students. Their students had been waiting anxiously to meet Ruth and her family!

Mayan Families

Natural Investment News

Spring 2008

Hal’s View

It was a typical day at the Mayan Families compound, known to most of the locals as Casa de Sharon. A dozen or more rescued street dogs were penned in one section, barking their greetings every time the buzzer rang to announce the next visitor from outside the walls. The staff, a cheery combination of local Mayans and gringo volunteers, scurried to organize a wave of contributions of clothing, school and medical supplies. Sharon herself, the matriarch of this “little charity that could” glided between her own two adopted Mayan children and a large but patient family of Mayans from the nearby village who arrived unannounced (as they all do) seeking help for some sort of emergency.

As we began to outfit the visiting children with some donated shoes to replace their tattered ones, I noticed that the most recent buzzer had brought some of my new friends who were part of the group that Allison and I were staying with on the shore of Lake Atitlan. We had come to Guatemala to participate in a “Dances of Universal Peace” retreat, to see a bit of this beautiful country, and to participate in service projects with Mayan Families, a nonprofit that was started by Sharon Smart-Poage and Dwight Poage, an old friend of my family from San Diego whom I hadn’t seen in 25 years. Although we didn’t know it when we left snowy Colorado, it was the connection with the Mayan people that Sharon and Dwight made possible that would leave the most indelible imprints on our hearts.

The four new arrivals from our group set their suitcases of donations down on the sorting table and quickly pitched into the work. Suddenly, Eleanor, a short energetic woman, exclaimed that she had left her bag in the tuk-tuk! For the uninitiated, tuk-tuks are an ingenious tiny 3-wheeled taxi from Asia that are used to shuttle people (and supplies, animals, etc.) relatively short distances. In the town of Panajachel where we were based, they made getting around effortless. For $1 or so you could easily flag one down and be taken wherever you like. The drivers were often poor teenagers, earning a little cash for their family. Eleanor dashed out the compound door to flag down another tuk-tuk to see if she could somehow find it among the hundreds that ply Panajachel’s chaotic streets.

About 5 minutes later, yet another buzzer ring brought a young man in who started speaking to the staff. With my spotty Spanish I was able to understand that he was Eleanor’s tuk-tuk driver, and he had discovered her bag in the back of his cab. He had come to return it. I was moved by his honesty and said gracias repeatedly as it was the only word I knew to say. I pulled a small denomination bill to give him as a reward, but he waved it aside and simply said “No Senor”. In his eyes he communicated the simple message that even though he was poor, he would not stoop to accept a gift for doing what any human would do for another.

Moments like these, of coming face-to-face with the abstract knowledge of the world’s abject poverty for billions of people, can really blast you out of your own self-absorption. I’ve always been attracted to big-picture solutions, of creating new economic structures that deal with the root causes of poverty and environmental destruction. Giving to “charity” felt like a band-aid approach that would just perpetuate the cycle. But the fact is that there are so many people in need, and each of us has the ability to make a difference in somebody’s life in a direct way. Living in the luxury of our society, absorbed in our own particular drama, it is easy to harden to the realities of survival on a dollar or two a day. But when you are welcomed in to the abodes of families that don’t know what they will eat for dinner, and you see the grace, humility and humor that they carry through their struggles, well, it puts your own worries and desires into perspective.

The next day we returned to Mayan Families to meet the children that Sharon had chosen for us to “sponsor” so they could attend school. Although school is free in Guatemala, there are many children who cannot afford to go, as there are requirements for certain shoes, uniforms, backpacks and other items. Mayan Families has a program that, for $120 a year, enables a child to attend school. Our group was introduced to an extended family, three sisters in their twenties with a flock of bright-eyed girls. We fell in love with them instantly and paired off. Allison and I chose the oldest girl, Graciela, and using a combination of pidgin Spanish and hugs we made some sort of bond. Sharon told us that the reason they were wearing old K-mart style clothes was that they could not afford the woven huipils that Mayan woman wear in this region. We decided to contribute extra so that they could have traditional clothing.

The next day we met once again at Mayan Families. Our group’s sponsored girls were presented with their new clothes, and they all beamed when they tried them on and modeled for our cameras. Then the whole gang piled into a few tuk-tuks and went to visit their house. The good news is that the family lived in a new cement row-house that was built by the government for some of the families who lost their homes in 2005 Hurricane Stan. Unlike some other homes we visited, it had solid walls and doors to keep the elements out. But the poverty was obvious – there were only 2 beds for the 14 that lived there, so some slept directly on the cement floor without any padding. Graciela’s aunt and her daughters share the house because she had been beaten by her husband and kicked out. And she is pregnant. I could go on, but the tear-jerking moment came when the grandmother (probably younger than me) said a prayer of gratitude in her Mayan dialect for our group, thanking God and asking for our protection.

It was time to go, and after saying good bye we were left to reconcile our brief immersion into the lives of a poor Guatemalan family with our material abundance. We headed to a restaurant by the lake to enjoy a seafood dinner and cerveza, but it was hard to concentrate on the food knowing that we didn’t see any food in the “kitchen” – a sink and firewood guzzling stack of cinder blocks that served as a stove. Some days the family can only afford plain corn tortillas. Eleanor said that she was going to buy the pregnant aunt a bed, and we are also buying a fuel efficient stove for them. But we know that while we can ease their suffering a bit, the needs of this family and so many like them quickly overwhelm our ability to give.

I know this article is different than the usual topics we cover in Natural Investment News, yet I think it gets at the core of what motivates us to invest our money consciously and work to create a sustainable future. We know that the long history of conquest by the West over native cultures and globalization has created a world with a few winners and many stuck on the “bottom of the pyramid”. Deep inside, we know that we are all connected, and that none of us can be truly free of suffering until we address the inequalities on our planet. But I freely confess that when I’m immersed in my day-to-day world of busy-ness it is easy to forget all this. Thankfully, I now have the selflessness of a tuk-tuk driver, the glee of a young girl wearing new traditional clothes, and the prayer of a Mayan grandmother to help me remember that no matter how different our lives look like on the outside, our common humanity unites us all.

Mayan Families

]]> http://mfsharon.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/newsletter-by-hal/feed/ 0 Ayuda http://mfsharon.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/experiencing-the-guatemala-highlands/ http://mfsharon.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/experiencing-the-guatemala-highlands/#comments Fri, 16 May 2008 14:35:38 +0000 Ayuda http://mfsharon.wordpress.com/?p=52 Continue reading →]]>

Daphne, Patti and Candace walking the mountain paths to visit Patti’s sponsored child, Marcos. It was quite the hike and especially with a very steep cliff drop just off to the side of the dirt path. We were all very tired after the steep, hot walk and we contemplated how Marco’s mother must do this walk daily carrying a baby on her back and groceries or firewood on her head.

Mayan Families

Mayan Families

Candace not only went from being a stranger to being a very good friend in a short time – also had the great asset of being a fluent Spanish speaker!

Candace decided that she wanted to sponsor 6 families for food while she was here. We arranged for her to meet the families to whom she would give this very appreciated and much needed gift.

Candace gave the gift of food to several single mothers who really needed the help, a young wife whose husband is a recent parapalegic, an 85yr old great grandmother, her 55yr old daughter who is blind and to a widow in her late 50′s who has just gone blind and cannot work. They were all so happy to get this unexpected gift of kindness.

Mayan Families

The bags included hand towels, combs, toothpaste, toothbrushes, small soaps and shampoos, and baby clothes.

Mayan Families Home

Yesterday they were packed with lots of helping hands! Today we are distributing them. We are giving the roast chickens out in a separate bag. Every mother will receive a basket and a chicken.

Click here to see your baskets being received.

Constance and her sponsored students

Mayan Families

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A group of Amber’s friend’s from Gateway Fellowship made these dresses
they call ” pillowslip dresses” for the children. They are really
pretty and Aleeya is modelling one of the many dresses that arrived.
Behind her is the latest little puppy rescued off the street. This
little puppy was one of the most pathetic that we have rescued.
Starving and dehydrated she was barely able to walk. She is now doing
much, much better and has worked her way into all our hearts.

]]> http://mfsharon.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/a-special-thank-you/feed/ 1 Ayuda http://mfsharon.wordpress.com/2008/04/12/new-website-finally-available/ http://mfsharon.wordpress.com/2008/04/12/new-website-finally-available/#comments Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:59:07 +0000 Ayuda http://mfsharon.wordpress.com/?p=7 Continue reading →]]> Hello everyone,

I am pleased to announce that our new website is finally available.

With our new website we have taken advantage of publishing technology available through blogs. Each of our 14 programs now has its own blog, in addition to a new blog which will report the latest news in special fund raising projects. And I am writing to you from my own personal blog, which is called Sharon’s MFC Newsletter.

Because our home page shows the latest headlines from 16 different blogs, you may find that you will experience minor delays in fully loading the home page- we are currently working on improving this situation.

We have made the new site easier to find basic information about our programs and answer many frequently asked questions. The blogs will be updated regularly with news from Mayan Families and the latest activities.

Please take note that the Contribute buttons which you will find around the site have been individually programmed. They are programmed to allow you to make a donation payment to what you are viewing when you select a button.

Thank you for visiting our new website and we look forward to your continued support.

Kindest regards

Sharon & The Mayan Families Team

Click here to return to our Home Page