Improving health of 500 Guatemalan school children

Hello from Mayanza!

In the US, we celebrate Thanksgiving this week.  It is a time to show our gratitude and celebrate our families with good food to nourish our bodies and our souls.  We wanted to let you know how much we appreciate YOU and your support of Mayanza.  Your support allows us to provide programming that directly affects the people of Santiago Atitlan.  Through monthly and individual donations we have been able to continue programs and plan for new initiatives.  Here a a few highlights of the past few months:

• COVID Food Insecurity: Mayanza continue to partner with a grassroots community organization, Olla Comunitaria, who provided hot meals and bags of healthy food to people in need.  Foods like eggs, corn, beans, oil, oatmeal, and fresh vegetables were given to families with children who have not had work since the pandemic began.

• Community Gardens and Chickens Program: Mayanza supports two initiatives in the neighborhoods of Chacaya and Tzanchaj to enable women to learn new skills to become more self-sufficient, increase access to healthy food and provide a source of income.  Our team met with the women to determine if a home garden or a community plot would best serve their needs.  Then, they were given education around maintaining a garden and chickens.  Already radishes are ready to harvest and this is just the beginning. The excess food created can be traded or sold. We know that empowering women benefits the whole community!

• Coming Soon- Partnering with Artisans to raise awareness and funds: We are hosting a Guatemalan Handmade Goods Auction at the beginning of December, just in time for holiday gift shopping and in the new year, a webinar series focused on aspects of life in Guatemala.  Please look for more information about these initiatives that will be coming soon!

We are grateful for you - our supporters and hope that you will continue our support as we move into 2021!  Please consider a donation to Mayanza this Giving Tuesday, December 1st to help us to continue working in Santiago.

Thank you! 

The Mayanza Team