Trip to Panajachel

San Jorge Preschool

2009-05-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

I've updated some photos of the preschool at the San Jorge Community Center. The preschool is going strong. The children are learning Spanish, which will help them when they begin school. Most of the children in San Jorge speak their native Mayan language at home and then struggle when they begin school, since school is taught in Spanish. The children have filled out, since they are receiving a regular meal and snack at school. They are learning to brush their teeth and are receiving a vitamin. The children love playing with all of the toys at the preschool. It is wonderful to see all of these happy faces!

2009-05-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

2009-05-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

2009-03-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

2009-03-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

Bella, Aliya and Jaxon played nicely while we packed.

Ronna Slette, Becky & Aliya Hilfer, Bella, Carla & Sam Cooey, Jaxon & Jackie Wunder (Jeffrey in front.)

2009-03-22T15:11:00.001-07:00

During the month of February, 2009, the Kiwanis Diversity Club of Sioux Falls held our annual shoe drive for Guatemala. We got a great response to the shoe drive this year. The Kiwanis Club sorted, stuffed and packed shoes on Sunday Mar. 8, packing six of Medrano's largest boxes. Becky Hilfer from ND and Jackie Wunder from Michigan drove down the following weekend with a truckload of more items to pack in the shipment. We spent Saturday March 14 packing an additional four boxes. The final tally for the mini SD shipment is:

SHOES 1525 PAIRS!!!!!!!
SHIRTS 385
PANTS 54
SHORTS 53
SOCKS 52 - Plus many more stuffed inside of shoes
TOYS 141 - Plus many more stuffed inside of shoes
UNDIES 12 - Plus many more stuffed inside of shoes
BLANKETS 6
JACKETS/SWEATERS 187
SHEETS 11
PILLOWCASES 15
CURTAINS 4
OUTFITS 4
SKIRTS 3
SWIMSUITS 1
BACKPACKS 20
PAJAMAS 7
TOILETRY ITEMS
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
GIFTS FOR SPONSORED STUDENTS 10 BAGS

Great News!

2008-06-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

The grant was approved for the food program at the San Jorge Community Center -- a $10,000 grant! This will provide a nutritious meal to all the children enrolled in the early learning program at the community center, children age 2 to 5 years old. Woo Hoo! The early learning program, or preschool, is going to help this community so much. Many of the children come from homes where they speak their local Mayan language and do not learn Spanish until they attend school. With this preschool program, the children can begin learning Spanish in preschool and then they will not be so behind when they start school.
Carla

2008-06-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

Our group with some of the Mayan Families staff.

The family of orphans sponsored by Susan, Alissa, Louisa, Scott & Ronna.

Susan with her sponsored child, Louisa.

2008-06-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

Aleeya (Sharon's daughter) modeling her traditional outfit.

Ronna modeling the traditional outfit Carla purchased for Bella next to Margerita, the lovely woman from San Jorge who made it.

Carla with sponsored student Dilma.

Some of the beautiful scenery near Panajachel

2008-06-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

MORE INFO ABOUT THE COMMUNITY CENTER

2008-06-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

I know many of you want to know more information about the community center. Construction on the center has obviously been slowed due to the rainy season. Mayan Families has applied for a grant for a food program to provide meals for the preschool. Let's all pray that that grant gets approved. Sharon would like to use the roof of the center for gardening in pots. We would love to find someone with gardening experience who could teach people at the center how to plant vegetables in pots, care for the plants and when to pick them. This could help provide some food for the center. We'd like to obtain some used desktop or laptop computers for the center so that children can come to the center to work on homework. We'd also like to get a library started at the center where children can come to read books.

THANK YOU

2008-06-11T12:47:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to thank everyone who made this trip possible, especially the congregation of Westminster Church. It was an amazing trip. Our group has so much to share with everyone about our trip. We really had a wonderful group along on this trip. Each individual brought different talents and gifts to the group. We all got along really well and grew very close on this trip. Each of them has a huge heart and I will miss spending time with them. Hopefully we'll all get to go back again sometime.

WE MADE IT HOME

2008-06-10T20:02:00.000-07:00

Everyone has been helping write the posts up until now, but now that we're home I'm going to finish them on my own. I'll fill you in on what happened on Day Five (Monday). We started our day by heading to Sharon's. I met another student that I sponsor there (Dilma). It was so nice to finally meet her. She is a lovely girl and I was able to meet her mother as well. A family of orphans arrived at Sharon's. Their father passed away last year and their mother recently passed away. They are currently living with their grandparents but the grandparents cannot afford to feed the six children. The children are: Pedro - 13, Louisa - 12, Ronny - 10, Susanna - 8, Suly - 6 and Lila - 5. Our group was able to meet these children and fit them with shoes and give them each a toy. Our group decided to take on sponsorship of this family together. Susan will be sponsoring Louisa; Alissa will be sponsoring Susanna; Louisa will be sponsoring Suly; and Scott & Ronna will be sponsoring Pedro and Ronny to go to school. Lila will not be starting school yet. They're also going to be supplying food to this family to assist them. Scott, Ronna, Louisa, Alissa and Susan can then work together to assist this family. It is so exciting. I will post a picture tomorrow. We then handed out more clothes, shoes and toys to other needy families. We said our goodbyes to many of the MF staff, including Sharon, and headed back to San Jorge.

In San Jorge we observed the sewing class that will be moving to the community center once the center is finished. Each sewing class lasts three months and meets several days a week. Currently there are seven different classes. The classes are taught by MF employee Alberto. Alberto teaches the women to use sewing machines and to do the various detailed stitches. When the women graduate, they receive a certificate of graduation and also receive a sewing machine. Many of them then can apply for micro loans to obtain wholesale supplies and can become independent business women. MF has given out 53 micro credit loans.

We then went to meet a family that Scott and Ronna will be sponsoring who live in San Jorge. The mother and father currently rent but will be losing their home in December. Scott and Ronna will be assisting this family but I'll let them tell you how much. They will be sponsoring both girls in the family to go to school.

Next, we left for Antigua...or so we thought. The plan was to drive to Antigua, have lunch and do some sightseeing and then head back to Guatemala City. On the way to Antigua we ran into a traffic accident on the road. A truck had driven off the road and had gone down the mountain about 100 feet or more (I'm not a great judge of distance but I think that's about right) until it hit a tree. Traffic was stopped in both directions as another truck tried to pull the truck back up the mountain. The men had tied a rope from the fallen truck to another truck on the highway and others were pulling another rope from the fallen truck with their hands. This wasn't working so eventually they tried having two trucks pull the rope and then switched to chains and then some sort of tow truck got involved. It was wonderful to see so many people cooperating in trying to assist the situation but at the same time it seemed very inefficient to stop traffic in both directions for two hours and 15 minutes to get this truck up the mountain. We were not in a big hurry and just skipped our planned trip to Antigua, but I am sure there were people stuck on the road that had a plane to catch. There was a lot of honking! There was a truck in front of us that had eight or so large pigs crammed in the back. They were so tight they could not move and so hot that they were foaming at the mouth. It was very difficult to see them suffering and horrible to hear their squeals. There were three very malnourished cows grazing right outside our stuck van. It was a very strange experience. We also had picked the wrong day to skip breakfast and did not eat until we finally arrived in Guatemala City around 6pm. We were all very hungry and crabby.

DAY SIX

Our flights were uneventful and we made it home safely. I'll post a lot of photos tomorrow. I've been up since 3:30am though and need to get to bed.

DAY FOUR

2008-06-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

Carla went off on her own and visited Isabella's birth family. It was an amazing experience but a bit personal to share on a blog. Overall it was a very positive experience and she is so glad she went. Sharon and staff were so wonderful assisting with this visit.

Scott, Ronna, Susan, Louisa, Alissa, Danny and Mary got to play "tourists" and took a boat ride around Lake Atitlan with Samuel as their guide. They visited three different villages and were able to watch women making the beautiful weavings that are so popular here. They saw some historical churches and visited the local markets. Be sure to ask Danny about the "giant" lion fish he encountered while swimming in the hot springs. Wow, can he move fast! The daily rain held off until we made it back from the lake, which was nice but we had to forego the zip-line.

We enjoyed sharing our experiences over pizza tonight at Circus Bar. Tomorrow we will be visiting some students that we will be sponsoring, visiting the sewing classes at San Jorge which will be moved to the community center once it is completed and then touring Antigua on our way back to Guatemala City. It's been an amazing experience but we're ready to come home.

2008-06-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

2008-06-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

This man was so devoted to his ill wife.

2008-06-08T22:23:00.000-07:00

Photos below:
Photo 1 - Installation of an onil stove
Photo 2 - Scott delivering food
Photo 3 - People are constantly approaching Sharon with their needs
Photo 4 - 85-year-old woman who was praying to God to take her

2008-06-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

2008-06-08T22:16:00.000-07:00

Below: Photos from our visit to Casa Hogar Feliz orphanage

2008-06-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

2008-06-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

2008-06-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

It's late. We'll upload pictures tomorrow. Carla took 268 photos today. We have a lot to go through!

DAY THREE

2008-06-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

We started our day with a wonderful breakfast at The Deli. We traveled to the Casa Hogar Feliz orphanage. Joining us were three representatives from American Airline Ambassadors, Corlene, Cameron and Pam. We were introduced to all of the children. They were very excited to have us there. We brought toys for the children. One by one each child came up to the table and carefully chose the gift they wanted. Each child was able to go to the table four times and each visit to the table they took a great deal of time examining each gift to find their favorite. The children were very happy and had big smiles and big eyes as they received the gifts. For us it was like Christmas in the summer. We then enjoyed a delicious slice of cake supplied by the Airline Ambassadors and got to play with all of the kids and toys. It was so much fun! At times we couldn't tell who was having more fun, the adults or the children (see photos of Danny!). Hopscotch drawn on the cement with chalk was a favorite game. The orphange seems very well run and the children seem happy. Out of the 20 children there, four are orphans and the other 16 were removed from their homes permanently due to abuse or neglect. The children at this orphanage are not adoptable because there is no family member to sign the necessary paperwork to allow them to be adopted and no parent to do DNA testing, which is required for adoption. The children will remain at this orphanage until they reach about 16 and then are transitioned into society with the orphanage's assistance. All of us hated to leave and wanted to continue playing with the children. It was SO much fun!

Our group next went to deliver onil stoves to two families and watch the installation. The first stove was delivered to Candelaria, who is a widow and has two children sponsored for school. I, unfortunately, did not get the student numbers. This woman's only income is her 12-year-old daughter selling tortillas on the street. Candelaria said some days her daughter is able to sell some and some days she is not. Her home definitely needs repair to the roof. Water is leaking in and has ruined the mattresses. They are in desperate need of new mattresses for their beds, which have been ruined by rain water. Scott bought the widow some cornmeal at a nearby store.

Near this home we were able to photograph and visit with the mother of Sponsored Student #580. I will send this sponsor the photos. This family really needs an onil stove! We also met Sponsored Student 307 who came up to us hoping that one of us was his Madrina/Padrina. Carla told him that she was not his Madrina but would take a photograph of him and try to email it to his sponsor.

The next home we visited was Sponsored Students #147, 148 & 210 - Marisol and delivered an onil stove. Marisol and her mother were on the bridge that tipped over a while ago that many of us heard about. Marisol was injured when she fell and her friend was killed. They lost their home in Hurricane Stan and are living in a temporary shelter. They could definitely use more room. Carla got a lot of photographs of this family and can send it to their sponsor(s).

We next visited Sponsored Students #690 & 691, Miriam & Ana. Their father abandoned the family for another woman. They have no bathroom or toilet and really need one built. Carla took photos of this family for their sponsor(s). Their mother is helping to care for the old couple that has been mentioned on MF's site, the blind woman with the deaf husband. Even though this mother has so little herself, she is still helping others.

We walked to the river from the above homes to see the extensive damage done by Hurricane Stan. So many people lost their homes. People are still living next to the river because land is so scarce and they cannot afford to move. They are very scared of future floods. We saw the home where two babies were killed in the flood following Hurricane Stan.

We enjoyed our time with the American Airlines Ambassadors. Cameron is an amazing person who is involved in many different missions throughout the world. He has adopted six children from other countries that have severe burns so that he could bring them to the U.S. for treatment of their burns. He runs a hoome for burn victims and has been featured in Time Magazine. (Google Cameron Gray)

We next visited the 85-year-old blind woman who has the deaf husband. Their daughter looked after them until she died two months ago. They are now on their own living in a home the size of a walk-in closet. When we arrived, the husband was out trying to make some money and the wife was laying in bed. She had not eaten all day and was praying that God would take her. Her son-in-law lives next door but after his wife died he has not been willing to assist this family in any way and does not care for them. It is so infuriating! Sharon says that elder abuse is very common here. Cameron bought her some food and juice and she ate it.

We next visited another old couple that Yolanda said needed help. Yolanda is a kind woman in the neighborhood that looks after the needy. This couple was so adorable and sweet. The wife is 79 years old. She has anemia and severe swelling in her feet. She recently received a half pint of blood and has been doing better. This family needs food. They have no children to care for them. The husband sat by his wife and held her hand and seemed to have so much affection for his ill wife.

Many of us road around town in the back of a pick-up truck and got a wonderful view of the city. The others followed in a van. We met Harold on the side of the road. From there we went to lunch at the Deli and then supported the local merchants, aka shopping! We all had fun seeing what bargains we could find and needed the break from all the sadness we saw earlier in the day. You will want to see the fashion photos!

We ended our night with a light dinner at the Bistro. Tomorrow Carla will be driving to visit her daughter's birth family on the coast with Sharon, Juan and Julio and will be delivering furniture and a stove to them. The rest of the gang will be touring the lake and surrounding areas with Samuel. We wish Carla the best as we know this will be an emotional day for her. Good night! It has been another amazing and very long day. How does the MF staff do this every day?

2008-06-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

Photos Below:
Photo 1: Mary (center) could not help but pass out Pot-tarts to the children and every malnourished dog she found.
Photo 2: (l to r) Ronna, Susan & Alissa enjoying the pizza at the Circus Bar
Photo 3: Danny & Scott dancing to the live music at the Circus Bar
Photo 4: Samuel, an employee of Mayan Families, joined us for the evening. He is such a great recent addition to the MF staff. He is a wonderful person.
Photo 5: We got around Pana in tuk-tuks, the local taxis.

2008-06-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

2008-06-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

Photos below:
Photo 1: Our group in front of the San Jorge elementary school
Photo 2: Our group in a classroom at the San Jorge school
Photo 3: Alissa (center) with Lydia and Lubida, two girls who followed us around San Jorge
Photo 4: The line awaiting shoe distribution. Notice all of the girls in their beautiful traditional dress
Photo 5: Louisa donated her entire Beanie Baby collection to pass out to the children

2008-06-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

2008-06-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

Photos below:
Photo 1: This little girl, Lubida, followed us around San Jorge. She was beautiful.
Photo 2: The city of San Jorge
Photo 3: Sharon's daughter Aleeya and two of her friends in San Jorge
Photo 4: These boys followed us around San Jorge

2008-06-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

2008-06-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Photos below:
Photo 1: Our group in front of the San Jorge community center
Photo 2: Balloon decorations in the courtyard
Photo 3: Carla accepting the weaving given to Westminster by the San Jorge women
Photo 4: The weaving given by the women of San Jorge

2008-06-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

DAY TWO

2008-06-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

We started our day with a nice breakfast at Hotel Kakchiquel. Sharon and crew picked us up in a van and we started our journey to San Jorge la Laguna where the community center is located. San Jorge is a 20-minute drive from Panajachel, where we are staying. San Jorge is a community of 5000 people and the town is literally on the side of a mountain. Flat land is a scarcity.

We were greeted at the community center with balloons decorating the courtyard and some firework bangs. We toured the construction of the community center to date. We will be unable to work on the center while we are here due to the heavy rains. The community center construction has a long ways to go but has a good start. The community has been working together on the construction to date.

We met the leaders of the women's group, who presented our group with a heartwarming speech thanking our church and a beautiful weaving which we would like to display at Westminster. The women were very appreciative for this center and wanted to provide us lunch but we already had lunch plans. Children were already starting to line up at the community center in hopes of receiving some zappatos/shoes. Sharon walked us up the mountain to view the newly remodeled San Jorge school and the recently donated playground equipment. We had several children that followed along with us as we walked. We saw many homes and families that were in dire need of assistance. Many kids were wearing shoes that were broken, too small or too big.

Back down at the courtyard, we set up our donation headquarters in an adjacent building to the community center. Lines were formed for both girls and boys to be measured for shoes, first-come, first-serve. If we could not find a pair of shoes to fit a child, we provided the child with a toy. The children who received a toy were disappointed and tried to exchange their toys for shoes. Save your shoes! Shoes wear out so quickly here with all of the mud. It was so sad to turn away children who wanted shoes. We left the village with another bang of fireworks as children and women lined up an waved to our van.

We went back to Mayan Families headquarters, aka Sharon's house, for lunch. We enjoyed a delicious meal to celebrate two Mayan Families employees. Juan, who is in charge of the construction of the community center, was celebrating a birthday; and Pascaline, a summer volunteer at Mayan Families, was being appreciated for her time and work. Today was her last day volunteering at MF. She will be joining us on our return trip to Guatemala City. Pascaline is a med student in Canada. Matilda, a staff member at MF, prepared both yesterday's lunch and today's lunch. Both meals were phenomenal. Matilda is a trained chef from Australia. Juan was presented with a birthyday cake and we sang "Happy Birthday" in both English and Spanish.

Sharon then took Carla to see Dr. Juan Pablo because she has a bad sinus infection while everyone else sorted through donations and handed out donations to the multitude of families that appear at Mayan Families' door. Dr. Juan loaded Carla up with meds and she's doing better now. A doctor visit and three different medications for a grand total of 30 U.S. dollars...amazing!

The leaders of the women's group in San Jorge were asked to bring down the weavings and jewelry that they make so that our group could "shop". We bought many items, which made the women very happy. We provided the women with clothing for their children and toiletry items.

We're now back at our hotel and will be venturing out for dinner at Circus Bar, which is a pizza place. Theresa, one of the employees of MF also works nights at Circus Bar. We'll upload pictures when we get back. It's been another amazing day and we are all exhausted.

2008-06-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

UNBELIEVABLE FIRST DAY

2008-06-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

We left Guatemala City at 10am this morning, as planned, and drove three and a half hours to Panajachel. It was an interesting, breathtaking drive. We saw absolutely beautiful scenery. The drive went very smoothly. Not one of us got ill from all the switchbacks heading up and down the mountains.

Once in Pana we dropped off some bags of donated items at Sharon's. Sharon runs Mayan Families and her home serves as the headquarters for MF. We then traveled to Patti's apartments where we will be staying while in Pana. The apartments are lovely and we are very comfortable. Patti is an excellent host.

After that we went back to Sharon's where we were served a fabulous three-course meal which began with minestroni soup, shepherd's pie with fresh, seasoned tomatoes, and last, but certainly not least, two kinds of ice creams with a biscuit cookie, real cream and chocolate sauce. Sharon is a woman who, to us and the families who need her, seems like Mother Theresa. It is unbelievable how many people are in and out of her home daily and how many people Mayan Families helps. We met many of the MF staff along with Sharon's two lovely daughters and Juan, who is in charge of organizing the construction of the San Jorge la Laguna community center. All made us feel very welcomed.

As we were finishing up our amazing meal, two of the families that Carla sponsors arrived at Sharon's door to meet her. Words cannot describe how Carla felt meeting them and the impact it had on everyone else watching this visit. All of the children had strong emotions of tears and smiles. Carla did as well. Carla was able to give the families gifts that she had brought down.

People were coming constantly to Sharon's door and our group was able to fit many children with shoes and gave out a number of the donations that we brought down, including toys, toothbrushes/paste, soap and cornmeal that we had picked up in Guatemala City. All of the families greatly appreciated the donations and it was emotional for all of us involved.

In between handing out donations, we all had a great time playing with all of the puppies at Sharon's which have been rescued and are up for adoption. One puppy may actually be coming home with us. (Don't worry, Bruce, it won't be Carla bringing the puppy home.)

Our day did not end there. We took tuk-tuks to visit three different families in need, including one family that Carla sponsors. For those of you MFC members, we visited Amelia's family, the family of four children that recently lost their mother to a heart attack and are living with their 75-year-old grandma and the mother with the adult daughter who is handicapped. It was an eye-opening, heartwarming experience. The family of four children desperately need a larger place to live. They do not currently have a bathroom or even an outhouse. The mother with the disabled daughter desperately needs a bathroom built as well. Amelia, a single mother, must be away from her children from 8am to 11pm every day while she works. Her 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter are in charge of preparing all meals and caring for their 8-year-old and 3-year-old sisters. What responsibility for such young children.

We said goodnight to Sharon, who puts in such a long day, and went out to dinner as a group. We relived the day's events and all agreed we need to do much more.

Due to heavy rain for the past week, we will not be able to do much construction work on the community center while we are here. The cement needs to dry and that is not happening right now. We will be kept busy with other projects. We will be heading to San Jorge tomorrow to see the construction to date and hand out more donations to the local community. We have many things we want to do, such as sorting through shipments that have arrived and have no doubt that Sharon will keep us busy throughout our stay, if today is any indication. We're amazed by the dedication and hard work done by the MF staff every day. Tomorrow will be another adventure. We'll attempt to post some pictures.

One of our group, Susan, received word that her father, who recently had a heart attack, was hospitalized tonight with a blood clot. Please keep him in your prayers. She is very worried about him.

Good Night!

WE'RE HERE

2008-06-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a very long day but all eight of us and all 16 of our bags made it to Guatemala. We are checked into our hotel and we are all very tired. The van is picking us up tomorrow morning at 10am and we will head to Pana. I'll attempt to post a photo. All instructions on this site are in Spanish and the keyboard is quite different, so I'm struggling to post. I should have brought down my Spanish dictionary!
Carla

PACKING AWAY

2008-06-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

Our group got together tonight and we now have the majority of our bags packed...stuffed to the limit of 50 lbs, two bags each plus a carry-on. Thank you so much to everyone who donated items for us to carry down. We have a lot of school supplies, medicine, perfume, toiletry items, clothing, miscellaneous items and a TON of toys that we will be able to pass out while we are there. We appreciate all of your support.

2008-05-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

A LITTLE HISTORY

2008-05-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

This blog has been created to track the mission trip to Guatemala that my group is taking. We will be in Guatemala June 4-10, primarily in Panajachel and San Jorge la Laguna working with the charity Mayan Families. A little history...I've been a fan and supporter of Mayan Families for a few years now, ever since we brought our daughter home from Guatemala in 2005. You can check out the work that Mayan Families does at http://www.mayanfamilies.org. I became aware that Mayan Families had been able to purchase some land in the community of San Jorge la Laguna. They desired to build a community center on the land to benefit the community. I made a presentation at my church asking for financial support for this project. Through the support of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sioux Falls, SD, the matching funds offer of an amazing couple in my church, a lot of fund-raising, and the substantial donations from some very special people in my church, we were able to raise the entire $30,000 to get this community center built. Eight members of my church, including myself, will be traveling to Guatemala to help with the construction of the center. We cannot wait to go and we are all very busy right now planning for our trip. We leave in one week. Yikes!