People in urgent need of medical care.

This woman is in her early 40's. She has been experiencing a great deal of pain in her stomach, has been unable to eat and feels to weak to get out of bed.
We have sent her to the clinic and the doctor has found that she has a tumor in her stomach. He suspects it is cancerous but he feels that they may still be able to operate.
But she needs an MRI and an endescopy first. The cost of this is $300 US. This family does not have the money to be able to do this.
If anyone could help with , even a small donation, it could be life saving for this woman.
This is the bed that she is lying on. It is bare boards, she does not have a mattress.

cysts on foot.

This poor woman developed these cysts during her pregnancy 6 months ago.

She can barely hobble around. She came to Mayan Families today seeking help for her foot. It is very painful just to watch her trying to walk.

We can send her to the clinic for help but we do not have the funds to pay for her.
If you would like to help her, please send a donation of $20 US to the medical fund and we will be able to get her the attention she needs.

July Spay and Neuter Clinic for Hope for the Animals.

This past Saturday we held our monthly free and low cost Spay and Neuter clinc for the local animal population.
This is Rosa. Rosa has been volunteering with Mayan Families for several years. She has been a friend of mine for more than 20years. She has always been a great animal lover.
She has 7 dogs at home and Mayan Families helps her with dried dog food when we receive donations of this much needed item.

Rosa found this little puppy starving and terrified in the streets. She called me and I told her to bring it to the clinic the next day. This poor little puppy had been dumped on the street with another puppy from the same litter. Unfortunately, Rosa said a boy came along, while she was there, picked up a piece of wood and hit the other puppy on the head twice, it screamed and died. Rosa was horrified and asked the boy , why he did this, he just laughed and walked off. Rosa grabbed this little one before she suffered the same fate.

This is one of the reasons that we feel that Humane Education is so important. It has to start with the children. We are in the process of arranging the new classes to be taught in school and will be starting in August.
This little puppy has now gone to a very loving foster home with our volunteer, Julia and we hope that we will be able to find a home for her eventually.


We brought 10 dogs from San Andres to be spayed and neutered. They were terribly thin and we sent them home with some food.
This dog in the cage was one of them.


We were so grateful to the people who brought their dogs along to spay and neuter. They lined up, they waited and they all came back to pick up their animals and showed a lot of love and concern for them.

We were able to spay and neuter 35 dogs and cats. That will make a big dent in the amount of animals that will not be reproduced.

We are in desperate need to be able to continue this program. Please consider sponsoring a dog or cat to be spayed or neutered. It is only $20 US.

7 year old Mayra .

 
 
 
 

Mayra is 7 years old. She comes from the village of Panimatzalam.
She cannot speak . She does not have control over her bladder or bowels. The mother does not use diapers on her because she cannot afford them.

Her left foot doesn't function very well. It trembles a lot.

Mayra has been having a lot more convulsions. Today we sent her to the clinic.
The doctor said she has a "cerebral paralysis" , she needs to start treatment with a specialist.
The doctor feels that with treatment she will be able to live a much more normal life.

The family cannot afford to seek this treatment for her.
The father Juan, 27 years old works as a day laborer. He earns $20 US per week.
The mother, Tomasa 25yrs old, she stays at home looking after the children.
They have three other children. Jandi is 6yrs old and is in kindergarten.
Daoner, a boy is 3yrs old.
Ana Maria is 2yrs old. She is very malnourished. She is unable to walk alone.

Mayra is also very malnourished.

The money that the family earns is not enough to cover their costs. They have not been able to seek medical treatment for either child because of lack of money.

When little Mayra runs she falls over and cannot get herself up. The mother thinks her bones are too weak.

The doctor also says that Mayra needs physical therapy.

This family owns their own home. They have only one room. It is made of half cement block and half wood planks. They have a very small outside kitchen shack.
They do not have an onil stove.
They have a pila.
They do not have a water filter.
They have electricity connected and pay $8 US per month.
They have water connected and pay $3 US per month.
They have one table and four chairs.
They have two beds for all of them.
They do not have a closet, they keep all their clothes in cardboard box.

If anyone could possibly help this little girl receive the medical treatment that she so desperately needs ...it would be a real miracle for her. We probably need just $200 US to be able to get her to see a specialist and start her on the medication that she needs.

Lost Grandmother.

 
 


This elderly lady turned up at our door on Friday afternoon. She had spent two days at the Mayor's office in Panajachel trying to find somewhere to live and eat.

Finally, the Mayor's office put her in a tuk tuk and sent her to us....collect!

Tona Cua is 80yrs old. She comes from a small village between Panajachel and Nahaula. She said that her children only give her two tortillas a day. She said that her daughters in law put her out on the street.

We arranged accomodation and food for her for the week end. Monday morning we decided to try and track down her family. Mayan Families employees drove her to the village and talked to the mayor of that village. He said that he knew the family and that he would call a meeting with them to discuss this problem and to make sure that they are feeding her.

Tona Cua did not want to stay , she was crying and pleading not to be left there but we are in contact with the Mayor's office. He says that she has two other children in another village and that they are going to call them . He says that they have no idea that their mother is being badly treated.

If there is no solution for this poor old lady with her family, the mayor is going to call us and we are going to try and arrange accomodation in an elder hostel. Unfortunately, these are few and far between.

Family Planning

 
This week we held a Family Planning talk for about 80 women here at Mayan Families.
A speaker came from WINGS in Antigua and explained all the possibilites to the women.
WINGS will be holding clinics here in the upcoming weeks.

Adorable pair!

 
These two cuties were saying goodbye to us when we left El Tablon this week.!

A daugher tries to find help for her mother.

 
 

This week , while we were in El Tablon, a young woman approached us about helping her mother who she said was very ill.
We went to visit the mother. She is only 53yrs old and has been bedridden for the past year. She had as stroke. She can walk with assistance to the bathroom.

She spends her days in bed, the bed does not have a mattress. She is lying on bare boards with a straw mat.
My heart went out to this woman when I heard what her life has been like. 8 years ago her husband died. Then her son was killed in an accident. Then her married daughter died suddenly in her sleep. The daughter's husband left after the daughter died, leaving the grandmother to raise a 3yr old and a 4 yr old. The two children, a boy and a girl are now 11yrs old and 13yrs old.

Last year after the grandmother had the stroke, her married daughter brought her and the two children to live with her and her family. Her husband and she have four children and very, very little money but they have opened their home and their hearts to them.

It is a huge financial strain for the family. When we visited the 13yr old boy had taken the day off school to go and work in the fields. The daughter explained that they needed the money to be able to pay for food.

We are trying to get these two children sponsored to go to school to help relieve the burden on the family.

We are going to give the mother a wheelchair so that she will be able to sit up and a walker to help her get around.

Unfortunately, the stroke has affected her ability to be able to talk coherently and this leaves her very isolated.

We need help to be able to provide this woman with food and a mattress. A mattress for her single bed is $40 US.

Sponsored students receiving gifts!

 
 
 
 
These are some of the lucky families of sponsored students who received gifts in the recent shipments.

traditonal clothing for men.

 
 
 
 

Infant feeding program.

 

This little girl is one of the malnourished children who is able to receive milk through the Infant feeding program.
I had a friend call today who told me about the baby in his village that has a cleft palate. We have been supplying the baby with milk and the friend said that the baby is now getting very chubby and has been able to put on weight.

Claudia Jona

 
 

Today a wonderful thing happened to Claudia Jona. She received a set of brand new traditional clothing. Claudia Jona has never had brand new clothes. She lives with her elderly grandmother. Her father abandoned the mother when she was pregnant with another child. The mother killed herself by drinking poison. Claudia has been raised by her grandmother since she was little. They live in a very tiny one room crumbling mud brick room. They had no electricity till Claudia's sponsor made it possible. Claudia and her grandmother live on very little money, most days they don't have enough to eat.

Claudia Jona was 10yrs old before she went to school. Last year was her first year. She loves it!! She loves having a sponsor and she loves the feeling that someone cares for her. Having a sponsor to go to school has changed her life.

Lubia. update

You may remember Lubia, a single mother with four children who we found living in an half constructed building , sleeping on the concrete floor. She was 8 months pregnant with complications.

For awhile life was much better for Lubia, she had a house to live in, she could pay the rent, she had a full time job. But now, her workplace closed, she has not been able to find another job, like everywhere jobs are hard to find here, she is not a skilled worker nor does she have an education so it is not easy for her to find something. Because she lost her job, she couldn't pay the rent. We were fortunate enough , thanks to a kind donor , to be able to pay the rent for her for one month. She was hoping to find another job but she then became ill, she has been having menstural problems and bleeding continually for a month now. We have sent her for medical care, she has medication but the doctor has told her she needs to rest as much as possible.

Being a single mother with four children, one a toddler, being worried about being evicted, not having money to pay rent for this coming month and not having any money for food and feeling the urgency to find work, as you can imagine , it is not easy to rest. We had to send her back to the clinic yesterday because she is still bleeding heavily, she feels weak, which is probably also due to not having enough to eat.

Taylee, her daughter has been identified as being malnourished and we have her on the Milk Program.

If anyone would like to help Lubia with rent for one month, it is $60 US , if you would like to help her with food for her four children, any amount , no matter how small , would be very gratefully received.

Special needs school.

Mayan Families was very happy to be able to deliver building supplies and a new motor for the plumbing system to the Capulin school.

The school is building classrooms for children with special needs. Presently, there is no school for children with disabilities. There is already a waiting list of children who are looking forward to attending.

This gift for the school was made possible by Airline Angels.

The school still needs lots of help to be able to finish these classrooms. If anyone would like to help , please don't hesitate to contact us.