Changing the World, One Child at a Time

Mother’s Day and Other Good News from May!

It can be easy to hyper focus on all the horrendous things happening around the world and stress out, but it is important to remember to stop and remember all of the good we are blessed with each day too. As hard as things have been, we continue to go above and beyond to create a safe and loving environment for the children where they are able to learn, laugh and love freely every day with full bellies and minds. May was filled with lots of fun events including our yearly Mothers Day celebration where our moms were invited to play fun games and win prizes, watch presentations of songs and poems from each grade and share in a special lunch. We also had a visit from some local sailors from theAlternative Sailing Community and theMagic Sea’rcus who put on a show with clowns, magic and lots of musicwhich you can see by clicking here.

And even though we have been dealing with the excessive heat and drought, our mango trees have been producing hundreds of mangos which we have had to pick while they are still green or else the monkeys eat them all! The kids love to have green mango with a bit of salt so they don’t mind at all. Our cashew, jackfruit, caimanito, rose apple and jocotes have all been in season and add a valuable source of vitamin loaded fruit for the kids to enjoy. We are still looking for someone to lead our volunteer agriculture program, so if you know anyone who may be interested in helping us to produce even more fruits and vegetables for our kids, be sure to send them our way!

This month also marked the end of the second semester for the kids which meant exams and report card day! As a registered private school, we have to fulfil all of the requirements of the Ministry of Education in our curriculum and testing of the students. But in actuality, we go above and beyond their standards. Did you know that most schools in Guatemala are only half day programs of five hours? Our full day program allows for us to: have an extended curriculum which includes learning life skills like cooking and farming practices; spend more one on one time with each child; and include more recess and lunch breaks for free play and healthy snacks and meals. The feedback we get from the supervisors at the Ministry of Education is always positive and our students are leaders in the regional levels of reading, comprehension and math skills. Post pandemic, it hasn’t been easy to bring the students back from all that they lost out on for the two years that they were not able to attend regular classes, but thankfully by working with them and their parents, we have been able to increase our retention rates, and the number of students who pass each grade every year. None of this would be possible if it weren’t for our incredible team of teachers and house parents who work around the clock to ensure that our children are getting the very best education possible. Your donations are so important for us to be able to retain our staff and ensure we can compensate them for all their hard work and effort! Thank you for helping us to give these kids the best opportunities possible to succeed and break the cycles of poverty and illiteracy from which they come to us from. 

Our Champion Runners!

Our kids were invited to participate in the 8th Annual Municipal Run for Water so our gym teacher Profesor Saqew trained our elite team of runners for weeks beforehand. And let me tell you, all their hard work truly paid off! Delmi won 1st place and Lilian 2nd in the girls category; Victor placed 1st, Roen 2nd and Esvin 3rd in the boys category! And in the older girls, we took home 2nd place for Orfa and 3rd for Mirna! They all won prizes including cash and bicycles awarded by the Mayor! All of the kids who went ran the full distances of 2km and 5 km! And we donated dry goods to a good cause! 

Thank You Señor Flo!

We are grateful for all of our donors, big and small, but today I want to give a special thanks to our dear friend Edgar Flores who not only is one of our monthly donors, he is also the sponsor of many of our yearly celebrations! A tradition that has carried on from when he was a volunteer here with us, Señor Flo as he is famously known by the children, staff and families donated the funds for our Mothers Day celebration so that the children could share a special meal with their Moms! There are plenty of celebrations throughout the year so let us know if you would like to sponsor one too! 

Emergency Repairs Urgently Needed to Save our Clinic!

As you may have seen on our social media, we have sent out an urgent appeal to repair the posts of our clinic so that it does not collapse! Thankfully no one was hurt when a portion of the dock in front of the Casa Guatemala Clinic collapsed on Sunday May 26th, when a group of girls were resting in the shade and enjoying the afternoon breeze. The girls fell into the water but everyone was okay when the floor fell out from under them. Upon further review, it was discovered that 16 of the wooden posts holding the clinic up above the river were damaged by a small crustacean that had caused them to completely rot through. We are so happy that we caught this damage before a tragedy hit, but it means that we cannot safely use our clinic until the repairs are completed. It will take about a month to replace all the needed posts and beams and cost a minimum of $7500 including the materials, labour and transpiration of materials. Thankfully we have had a huge outpouring of support to help us not only meet our goal but surpass it. If the building was to collapse into the water, we would lose so much. We have evacuated what we need the most from the pharmacy and transferred the examination room equipment to our arts and crafts room which will serve as a makeshift clinic until the repairs are made.

This has come at a time when we are already struggling to make ends meet. I try to keep these newsletters focused on the outcomes we create thanks to the donations you provide rather than the constant cries for help, but this month, I have to be honest when I tell you that we are struggling to continue this important work. We are behind on paying the staff and we are already dealing with two of our motors for our boats needing repair as well as having our bus in the shop for service. Now with the clinic literally falling apart, I am feeling incredibly overwhelmed by all the funds we need in addition to our regular expenses of salaries, fuel and food costs.I am sure that you too have felt the financial strain of the rising inflation and insecurity that we are feeling around the world. It has caused an increase in costs, as well as in the need for our services here in Guatemala. But, it has also caused a decrease in our large and small donations as people struggle to cover their own expenses. Our staff are so giving and patient, but they too have families to feed and when we are late in paying them it just kills me. I am stressed and I can’t sleep as I search for ways to bring in the money we need to get by month after month. I feel like I am just barely keeping my head above water and frankly it is so hard to stay positive but I have to try because I can’t give up. The need is just too great. 

Just yesterday one of the young boys whose family we help with food hampers came to tell me that his mom had to take him out of school so that he could work and help pay for their expenses because she had lost her job. He is in grade seven. He told me that he was embarrassed because the other kids were teasing him that he couldn’t afford to go to school. It was heartbreaking. I wish I could open our doors and take him in and pay for his school but all I could do was to give him a hug, a big bag of food and tell him that he should never be embarrassed of being poor. I told him that it means that he has to work harder and fight stronger and believe in himself more than other people who have the money to not have to worry about those things. I told him that even though he had to stop school this year, he will be able to go back again, even if it is only on the weekends. That he should never give up. He wanted to know if I could give him a job but I legally can’t because he is only 14. He will be able to get odd jobs where the pay is poor because of his age. We have been helping his family for years. He actually attended school with us when he was in kindergarten and his mom worked at one of the private chalets along the river. I know that she wants the best for him and I can only imagine how much it breaks her heart to not be able to send him to school. I feel her pain as I also struggle to provide for my Casa Guatemala family. So, I come to you asking for your help so that I can keep Casa Guatemala going and ensure that we can continue to keep our kids in school and provide emergency support for the many families who rely on us. I really can’t do this without you.

With love and gratitude,

Heather

Links:

• Clinic Repairs Needed!