Fund a salary for a full time director

Hey everybody!

This is Michael checking in to let you all know just how appreciative I am of your generosity and to let you know some of the different ways that your support has already paid off. Most of you know me personally, but for those that don't I just want to reiterate just how uncomfortable I initially felt about the idea of asking others to support not just my organization, but me personally. While I will continue to chase down more sustainable funding for my position just as I do for the other aspects of our program, I have been moved so much by your support that I have warmed up to the idea of asking for help. While this edition of this micro-project fell short of our stipulated goal, I will continue to try to drum up support from others in the coming days. And regardless of the amount raised, your help has already paid off in more ways than one.

I can't begin to describe just how motivating it was to find out that a group of people stands behind me and believes in my ability to steer our little organization towards becoming a responsible agent of change. With no formal office and few employees within earshot of where I live, you can imagine that there are some mornings when I've found myself struggling grasping for motivation and struggling to get myself going. However, now those moments are few and far between, and when I do find myself feeling that way I just start thinking about the fact rhat I have an entire group of otherwise unconnected people standing behind me and expecting good things out of me. That's powerful motivator, believe me.

Your support has also brought greater peace of mind, as I previously felt guilty for pulling from our organization's very limited to funds to try to conjure up a salary that would help me make ends meet. What ended up happening as a result were four years of continually subsidizing my earnings with my very modest (and now depleted) personal savings in order to pursue the work that I believe in and felt that had to be done. You would be amazed to know how long I’ve been able to stretch out those modest savings over four years, but it’s all been made possible because of my insistence on living modestly and within my needs. While Antigua is a very attractive (and expensive) destination for expats, I have made the conscious decision to live outside of town in one bedroom apartment where I have young families and their crying infants living on all sides of me. By doing this, my rent is equivalent to half or even one-third of what others pay living in Antigua proper. While it would certainly be helpful, I do not have a car but rather use a small125 cc motorcycle to do all of my personal and work-related errands on. I have been fortunate enough to have come across many generous souls during my time living in Guatemala and have different people lend me miscellaneous furnishings and appliances to help equip my apartment. I prepare both breakfast and dinner and try to limit my lunch spending to 20 Q ($2.50/per day). That's a lot of personal finance minutiae, I know, but I want to assure you all that I have not viewed your support as a license to run wild partying in Guatemala. I just simply want to continue to work and eat now and then. I promise!

Again, I can’t thank you all enough for your kindness and support and invite you all to to share our organizational page on Global Giving to anyone that you feel may have an interest in preschool education in Guatemala. This is shaping up to be a breakout year for Magic Classroom, and I'm thrilled to be able to tag along for the ride. I owe that you guys.

Thank you sincerely,

Michael Estill

Links:

• Magic Classroom / Aula Magica Primary Donations Page