By Olivia Lawson | Project Leader
Dear Mil Milagros Amigos -
Thank you for helping us to exceed our goal in 2012 and for your continued support into the New Year! We are thrilled to join the GlobalGiving network after participating in the Winter Open Challenge last year and are in awe of all the amazing connections we made for our children with donors through our project page.
This New Year has already been an exciting one for Mil Milagros! The new school year in Guatemala began on January 14th and we welcomed 830 excited children, 43 teachers, and 400 mother and grandmother volunteers back to school. Mil Milagros now partners with six schools and communities to work to improve education, literacy, nutrition, health and hygiene, and to prevent chronic malnutrition in the babies and young children. In 2013, we welcomed our sixth partner school, Nuevo Progreso ('New Progress'). The children at this school are very excited -- when asked about what Mil Milagros' mission is, they replied: "To help us kids and make sure we graduate!” We love to know that the children are enthusiastic about having Mil Milagros at their school and that is why we continue to partner with schools and actively seek opportunities for expansion of the MM program.
Over 200 mother and grandmother volunteers from another community, Pahaj, have been enjoying their newly renovated school kitchen, made possible by generous MM donors. The renovations were completed during the school vacation period -- the roof has been lifted and walls have been heightened to help better ventilate the wood burning stoves, the kitchen workspace was expanded, and concrete floors were poured to improve cleanliness and sanitation (see attached photos).
During the back-to-school 'inaugurations' this year, MM staff gathered with the children, teachers, mother and grandmother volunteers and other family members to celebrate the beginning of another fun year of learning. The children always write cards and letters to MM staff and Board members when they visit each partner school. A student named Myron wrote: "Thank you, Mil Milagros, for the food you have given us, and for allowing us to fulfill our dreams and study". Another student, Ofni, wrote: "A thousand thank yous to Mil Milagros for lunch every day. We are growing healthy and strong. God bless you for everything you have done for us".
It is because of your support that these special children are able to enjoy a nutritious meal each school day, grow stronger, learn more, and continue their education. On behalf of Ofni, Myron and every other child served by Mil Milagros, mil gracias for helping them to grow into healthy, well-educated children with dreams for better lives.
Please continue to follow the children's progress by viewing photos on Tumblr, following us on Facebook, and staying connected as a Mil Milagros supporter and amigo.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
