Elderly Support in Latin America

We really hope to resume our program for the elderly in Guatemala in September. Due to the unfortunate lack of funds this great program has had to be put on hold. However, as soon as more funds become available to us we will be able to continue supplying the elderly with rice, beans, salt, oils, soaps, sugar and medicinal plants to the grandparents of the children we teach in school. As always, the children whose attendance is high earn this food parcel for their families, with food in such shortage, it is a great way for them to learn to be responsible for their elder relatives.

We have had some very generous donations in the past, and we can all see the amazing difference such donations can make to the lives of these elderly in Guatemala, we just hope that the project can be restarted as soon as possible, so that we can provide the help needed.

We thank you.

Our next round of food parcels for Guatemala is due at the end of June, and we want to make it an extra special parcel this time around, as almost all food saved from last year has run out. The elderly of Guatemala we help are at present on the bare minimum until the next harvest, around November time.

We plan, thanks to very kind donations, to add in so many pounds of sugar, rice, pasta, porridge, beans as well as medicinal plants to help them through this hard time and the winter. We are still educating families on age related issues and in the future the young people of these communities can keep indigenous culture alive. 

As March draws to an end, we will be dispersing our first food packages to the elder relatives of our children in school. This scheme, started many years ago, has seen so many benefits, not least seeing more food in the family home, though the children's attendance in school (good attendance is rewarded by the food package for their grandparents) has improved. This installment will be especially important, as food is extremely scarce after 3 years of consistently failing crops.

cheers

We would like to share the most recent trustee report from the GVI Charitable Trust. This report covers the six month period from July to December 2011.

We are delighted to share that this has been by far our most successful period, raising in six months nearly as much as we did the whole of the previous year. This increase in funding has brought a corresponding increase in the impact we have been able to create on our programs around the world.

During this period we have invested in sustainable education across Latin America including support for the elderly in Guatemala and income generation schemes to support education in Honduras and Ecuador. In Mexico we have worked with a community to establish a recycling centre and in Kenya our partners in Mombasa will now realise their goal of seeing impoverished students through to completion of the primary education earning recognised qualifications for the first time. 

These are just a few highlights of an amazing, productive and rewarding six months. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and played a crucial role in these achievements.

• July - December 2011 Trustee Report (PDF)
  

The last support day for the elderly generation in Guatemala this year has taken place in preparation for Christmas. A time when it will mean that much more to the families to see some extra support and food staples in their homes.  

Here project Director Dom Williams shares some thoughts from the field in Guatemala:

"Before Christmas this year, we handed out 5 pounds of sugar, 5 pounds of rice, 4 packs of pasta, 4 pounds of enriched-porridge, soup packets and Maizena to 165 grandmothers of our kids in Itzapa. It was a special time, especially with Christmas just around the corner and these packages should last between 1 and 2 months. What makes this special, and the grandmothers know this, is that it is their grandchildren that earn this for them, by attending school regularly"

Many thanks to everyone who has supported this project and we hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Years.