Changing the World, One Child at a Time

Dear Friends,

It seems like my last few newsletters have just been urgent calls for support for the ongoing barrage of emergencies we have been facing! So I wanted to take the time today to really just give thanks to everyone who has been so incredible in coming to our support throughout these emergencies and who continue to support us with our day to day needs. When we discovered the damage to our posts at the clinic, I immediately jumped into action so that we could avert a tragedy and ensure the safety of our staff and children. But the response that we received was so overwhelming! There were so many of you who instantly donated and allowed us to act quickly to replace all the damaged posts.

We received major donations from the CIMI Foundation, Lennox McNeely and Friends, the Zimeri family, the Korhonen family, and various anonymous donors who allowed us to instantly have all the materials we needed to replace the posts for the clinic. We were also able to purchase PVC molds so that we could avoid future damage by encasing the existing posts with cement! This was a great investment because upon the discovery of the damage to the clinic our team set out to review the posts of our other buildings on the water and our Kindergarten building was also dealing with major damage to the posts as well!

As soon as the clinic was finished we moved our nurse and supplies back so that she had her space again and transferred the kinder and párvulos classes to the art room so that our guys could get to work on the posts of the kindergarten! And of course, during all this work, we had our major storm that took out the roof of our water purification center!

Our team of maintenance workers have been going nonstop for months on end and thanks to your donation, they have been able to complete all their projects safely and efficiently. ALL of the donations, big and small, allowed us to ensure they are able to do their work, run our boats and our generators and have the compensation for all their hard work! We could not have done this without all of you who have made it possible with your donations! Thank you to everyone who has helped us through this difficult time, including those of you who are always by our side, with your monthly donations! In total, we replaced 16 posts for the clinic and 11 posts for the kindergarten building where we also reinforced 20 additional posts with cement using the PVC molds that we purchased. Once the reinforcements are finished on the posts on the kindergarten, we will continue to use the molds and cement to reinforce the remaining posts below the clinic and any of our other platforms that we detect early signs of damage.

You can see in the video below how hard our team has worked to make all of these repairs and just how good the new cement posts look! Not only that, with the extra pieces of posts that were longer than our needs, we were able to repair the deck of the girls’ house and English class! Nothing is ever wasted at Casa Guatemala and we are so very resourceful with all of our materials! We were also able to fully replace the roof of the water purification plant, and replace the damaged area of the roof on our main office and storage building and the teachers’ house which were also damaged by falling trees. There is a never ending list of things to repair here at Casa Guatemala and our maintenance team does a great job of keeping us all safe and sound, but it would not be possible without all of our incredible donors from around the world!

Our kids and staff are so happy to have the clinic back up and running and this week we will finish the final cement reinforcements for the kindergarten classes and get them back to their classrooms too! Although they are really loving being in the art classroom and sharing the space with both classes! We thankfully never missed a day of our water purification and the kids are so happy to have clean and fresh water in the houses, kitchen and every classroom thanks to our friends at Agua Viva International! Everyone helps to bring the empty jugs to be disinfected and refilled throughout the week and then they carry them back to their classes! It is great to see the increase in the amount of water everyone on site drinks now!

In addition to all of our emergency campaigns, we have also been blessed with some very generous supporters who took it upon themselves to throw fundraising events on our behalf! We love it when people believe in us so much that they become our ambassadors! Having an event in your home or your community is a great way to show your support and get other people involved in our work! If you think that you would like to host something of your own, please reach out to me so that I can help you to do so! We have event planning features on our online platforms for both our Canadian and US registered charities that make throwing an event easy and efficient! And I am happy to come and join you whenever it's possible so that I can speak directly about the importance of what we do and the impact that your support can have!

As we head into fall, I am getting ready for our year end fundraising campaign and the end of our school year at the end of October! Before you know it, we will be planning Christmas and prepping for the new year! There will be lots of emails asking for donations and matching grants that will give everyone a chance to double their impact. Right now the kids are so busy with their Independence Day preparations and celebrations, that I am running out of room on my phone from all the incredible pictures and videos! Be sure to check out our social media accounts to follow along over the next few weeks!

But I really did want to focus today’s message solely on the gratitude I have for your support and all you do to make our work possible. I need you to know that I am so grateful for each of our donors and that every single one of you makes a difference in the lives of our children and their families. Please know how much your support means to me and how much I appreciate all you do for us! Sometimes it can be hard for me to reach out to each and every one of you to tell you personally how much we appreciate you, but I am always here if you ever want to chat or have any questions about what we do and how you can be more involved in the future! I get to spend my time with many families that have benefited from our services and I am often stopped in the street and reminded of our long term impact by former students, staff members and parents. Our kids who have grown and are now parents navigating all the challenges of adulthood come back regularly for love and support and to ensure that their children feel the love of our Casa Guatemala family. All of these amazing moments remind me of why I am here and give me the energy to continue this work! You make that possible and I would not be here if it wasn’t for you believing in me and believing in Casa Guatemala.

So thank you so much.

Together we really are changing the world, one child at a time.

Links:

• Thanks for Helping us make our Repairs!