Changing the World, One Child at a Time

Dear Friends of Casa Guatemala,

This is the month that we celebrate the love and friendship that we share here at Casa Guatemala, and also, to celebrate the love we have for all of our Casa Guatemala Family around the world! We are so grateful for everyone who allows us to continue our work in 2023, which is our 45th year of service! The kids have a full day of fun activities and delicious food planned thanks to our amazing staff who have been hard at work since the start of the year to create our loving environment for them to grow and learn in! 

This year, our school program started in mid January and so far we have 170 students in our school, four studying in Las Brisas and seven at the high school in Rio Dulce! The public school program doesn’t start until next week, so we are expecting to receive a few more students from families that are not able to come up with the funds needed to purchase the long list of school supplies and uniforms that are required at the free public schools. These costs create a barrier for thousands of children around Guatemala, but especially those from the rural areas where many families continue to be subsistence farmers and fishermen with little income. We also find that single mothers reach out to us as their only option to be able to work while providing an education and care for their children as there is a lack of affordable childcare available. 

One of the children we are able to help with their high school this year is Maria Alejandra! We found out that her family had brought her home after finishing her middle school so that she could work and help support the family. We didn’t want to see her unable to graduate so we decided to offer them the opportunity to have her return to where she started her educational journey! It is a big change from the city life, but she is happy to be back in the jungle with her old friends and teachers! 

We have a lot of work ahead of us this year but we know that we are finally getting back on track after a couple of really hard years! We are so fortunate for all of our supporters from around the world who have helped us through the hard moments and celebrated the good times too! Your continued support for our work makes it possible to carry on what we do. Every child that comes to Casa Guatemala, goes on to create change in their families and in their communities thanks to you. There is not a day that goes by when I do not see the long term impact of our work in the banks, shops, schools and boats passing by with our Casa Guatemala Alumni working hard as professional adults in our town. 

Last month, some of our grown up kids decided they wanted to bring their children to Casa Guatemala to show them where they had grown up. It was such a special day to have so many of my kids and grandkids together! To see our kids remember their time with us with pride and gratitude, as they shared their stories with their own children who played and laughed and got to know the home where their mothers had grown up, was a very special moment that reminded me of just how important our mission is.

Thank you for being a part of this magic and for sharing your love with us all! We love you very much and wish you the very best today and everyday! Let’s hope that together we will continue to change the lives of the children in our care, and that they will continue to go forward and change the world! 

With love and gratitude, 

Heather

Volunteers Wanted! 

Now that we are back to our full day schedule, we are looking to get our long term volunteer program up and running again! We especially need to fill the English Teacher position and the Volunteer Coordinator positions so that I can have some help to recruit new people to our project! As we are starting anew, we have made some changes are are now looking to fill specific roles to ensure that the children have the chance to learn unique and creative extra curricular activities! We are currently looking to fill the following positions:

• Volunteer Coordinator: 6 month Minimum; Intermediate Spanish. Experience in project management, HR, team leadership. Works to promote volunteer programs, interview and vet new volunteers, training and scheduling of volunteer teams.

• English Teacher: Feb-Oct, Monday through Friday. Must speak fluent Spanish and have a background in teaching English as a second language.

• Medical volunteer: 3 month minimum; intermediate spanish required. Nurse, Physician Assistant, Pharmacist or Doctors

• Agriculture Volunteers: 3 month minimum; basic Spanish required. Experience in farming and preferably permaculture.

• Artistic Activities Volunteers: 3 month minimum; intermediate spanish required. Experience in dance, theatre, music and/or visual arts required.

• Nutrition/Kitchen Volunteers: 3 month minimum; intermediate spanish required. Experience in nutrition and meal planning and preparation

• Sports and Activities Volunteers: 3 month minimum; intermediate spanish required. Experience in sports and outdoor activities for children required.

• Educational Volunteers: 3 month minimum; intermediate Spanish required. Experience working as a teacher. Volunteers will assist in the classrooms, library and after school.

• Social Media Coordinator: 3 Month Minimum; Basic Spanish required. Experience in photography, videography, graphic design and/or marketing preferred.

• Grant Writing and Fundraising Intern: 3 Month Minimum; Basic Spanish required. Experience in research, report writing, fundraising and/or grant writing preferred.

Get Social With Us!

If you don't already follow us on social media, you really should! We post so many pictures and videos so that you can see the true Casa Guatemala experience!  

Links:

• Check out our latest Video!

The Season of Giving is Here!

Dear Friends of Casa Guatemala,

It is once again that time of year when we are starting to make our plans for the holidays and the new year to come. Next week is our graduation where we will see our grade six students finish their studies with us as well as the kindergarten kids prepare for the first grade! It is always a very special day for our staff, parents and of course the children. For some families, they will be the first to have finished elementary school. They make such big sacrifices to achieve their goals and we are so proud of them all. 

This year, our vacation program will be focused on the students who don't live on site since they had to work from home for most of the last three years. Sadly, there is a marked difference in their levels of learning in comparison with the children who benefitted of living at Casa Guatemala while classes were cancelled earlier this year and throughout the pandemic. So for the next two months they will be given the one-on-one attention they all need to bring them up to speed for next year. 

As we wind down our classes, we are just getting started with our year end fundraising! With the rising costs of food and fuel, we know that we need to raise more funds than ever at a time when resources around the world are already being stretched thin. It can seem daunting, but we have so much faith in the hundreds of donors from around the world who always find a way to contribute to our programs and help us to carry on. 

The month of October always starts off with one of our happiest days of the year: Children's Day. In Guatemala it is truly a big deal! From dawn to dusk, the day was all about bringing joy and happiness to our kids! Special meals, fun games, delicious snacks, relays, piñatas and goodie bags!! Our amazing staff go above and beyond to personally collect all the donations to make the day special! It is such a memorable occasion for everyone and it is so nice to see the joy that it brings to their faces! Even the oldest kids lose themselves in the fun and act like little kids, running around and giggling in a rare escape from the universal throws of adolescent angst!

Our grade six class are only days away from completing one of their first major milestones: Graduating elementary school! May not seem out of the ordinary, but here in rural Guatemala, only 40% of children will finish middle school! In celebration of all their hard work to make it this far, our kids were invited to enjoy an afternoon at the beautiful La Granja Ecological Encantada in Morales thanks to our dear friend Seño Ligia! They got to enjoy the beautiful hobby farm where they visited with the animals, had pony rides, took a train around the property and had a delicious lunch. It was a great experience and one that will last in their memories forever. Next week is their graduation and we are excited to see them all continue on their educational journeys. We are looking forward to expanding our higher education program so that more kids can stay on site and go to the middle school in Las Brisas. This will mean increased costs for us, but we need to make it happen. With your help, we can ensure that all of our kids have the opportunity to continue their studies and have a chance to graduate high school in the future.

Our high school kids are also in the last days of their final exams. This year, Glendy will be graduating and we are so proud of her and all she has accomplished. Because the high school kids live at our Hotel Backpackers where I also live, we spend a lot of time together and I have the chance to see them become outstanding young adults throughout the years they are here working and learning. It is a special bond that inspires me every day and gives me the energy and strength to continue our work in the face of all the adversaries we seem to face more and more each year. 

None of these amazing things could happen without your support. We rely on so many small donations from our Casa Guatemala family around the world. Our monthly donors and those of you who give to our year end campaign. We appreciate all you do to make the dreams of our kids and their families become a reality! 

We are so grateful to all our supporters for always being there for us. Last month with the extreme storms, we were overwhelmed with the outpouring of support that allowed us to make the needed repairs quickly to return the grounds to safely. This month, we were once again hit more bad weather when Hurricane Julia passed through the region. Thankfully, there was only minimal flooding in Casa Guatemala and we were able to act fast to ensure there was no damage to our equipment but, here at our Hotel Backpackers, 10 days later, we are still dealing with flooding in our restaurant and property as the water levels have yet to fully drop.

I had to evacuate my little house over the river and move to the second floor of the hotel, and we brought all of the high school kids, and our older boys Leonel and Josue up too, just to be safe. The kids have returned to the staff housing as the water levels have dropped where they live, but I am staying upstairs until the water goes down further and we can ensure the safety of my house and office as the water may have caused some structural damage. 

Thankfully we are all safe, but it has been pretty stressful! I am so glad I have the kids and our staff to keep me going everyday! And we are all so grateful to have your support! We would never be able to do what we do if it wasn't for our donors. You really are family to us all and your impact is felt for generations. We really are changing the world, one child at a time, thanks to your support! 

With love and gratitude,

Heather

Links:

• Casa Guatemala Children's Village Tour!