San Jorge Christmas Party.

There was lots of fun, dancing by the pre-school , Santa Claus , the clown and his helpers, bananas given to everyone and toys for the children.
Here Susie is Santa's helper and is giving out the bananas.

Some of the crowd outside waiting to come in to receive toys from Santa.













So many beautiful toys were given to so many delighted children! Thank you to everyone who sent toys for the children of Guatemala.

To see more photos please go to this link below.


http:/picasaweb.google.com/mayanfamilies/Diciembre12De2009NavidadSanJorge2#

Donations being distributed!

Anyone who has ever given out shoes in Guatemala knows that there is a great need and that people are very anxious to have a pair of shoes. Bobo from San Diego started giving out a few pairs of shoes and before he knew it he was swamped.

The Bomberos Voluntarios which are the first responders, had four of their team come and help out for several days. They helped control the crowds, helped distribute donations and revived a woman who fainted.

Some of the crowd choosing their clothing. Luki who is the teacher at the Mayan Families Panajachel Pre-school , ( wearing the baseball cap) came and volunteered her time to help out.

Toys, clothes, tamale baskets. Dec. 23rd Guatemala.

Part of the line outside waiting for Tamale Baskets.

It became quite a festive scene, with ice cream and cotton candy vendors!

The children were able to select the toy they wanted! This was not easy maintaining a line or the excitement! But it was a lot of fun.!

Many families received new clothing, especially clothing for babies.

Some of the Mayan Families staff manning the toy and clothing table. Here they are preparing for the next group of people to come in.

To see more photos please go to the link below. There are lots of smiling faces!

http:/picasaweb.google.com/mayanfamilies/Diciembre23De2009Navidad4#

Happy Tamale Basket families.

Here are photos of lots more families receiving tamale baskets for Christmas in Guatemala.

Many of the women are photographed without their children because the line was long to wait and get the basket, it was also either very rainy and cold or hot in the middle of the day so we encouraged people to leave their children at home.

These baskets are being given to these people thanks to the generosity of all our sponsors and donors.

Thank you for sharing the Christmas spirit by giving food and hope to families.

To see more photos please go to this link below.
http://http://picasaweb.google.com/mayanfamilies/Diciembre21De2009Navidad1#

Food and toys for Christmas.

This family received a tamale basket from their son's sponsor and toys from the many generous donations that were sent to us.
Thank you to everyone who sent toys and baskets of food! You brought so much happiness to so many!

Vilma turns 19 on Christmas Eve!

Vilma is one of the very early Mayan Families students.

We met Vilma more than 5 years ago. She was just finishing 6th grade and wanted to continue studying.

Her parents could not afford it. Her elder brothers were also studying and they were already struggling to keep them in school.

Vilma was lucky to find a sponsor who has helped her stay in school. Vilma is a good student who has tried very hard.

She originally wanted to continue studying to do nursing but she is now thinking of doing secretarial work.

Vilma will graduate high school next year.

She has worked at Mayan Families for the past five years, every week end and all through the school holidays. The money she earns pays for her transportation to and from school from San Jorge La Laguna, it also pays for her snack and all the costs that she has at school that are not covered by her sponsorship.

Vilma has been working in the office of Mayan Families during our very busy time and she has been a great help. We will be sorry to lose her when the school period starts in January but we are so happy that she has been able to go to school.

Without the sponsorship she has received she would have been staying at home for the past five years helping her mother make tortillas and doing errands. She has learned so much, has had many more experiences and now will be able to support herself.

Vilma was thrilled to receive this wonderful gift of traditional clothing from her sponsors for Christmas....it was a double celebration as it is also her birthday on Christmas Eve. Every girl dreams of having new clothing for Christmas in Guatemala....thank you to her sponsors for making this dream a reality for Vilma.

Thank you to everyone who chooses to sponsor a child to go to school. It makes a huge difference in their lives.

Tamale baskets and meat for Christmas in Guatemala.

After we distributed the tamale baskets in Panajachel, Guatemala, then on the 23rd we distributed the pork meat that would be used to make the tamales. We can't do the distribution at the same time because most people do not have any refrigeration.

These 6 elderly people are all in our Feeding Program for the Elderly and five days a week they receive a hot meal delivered to their homes or in the case of the two men, to the street where they are begging for money.

This woman was one of the many hundreds who Mayan Families gave a tamale basket and meat for her family.

To see lots more photos please go to this link.:

http:/picasaweb.google.com/mayanfamilies/Diciembre24De2009Navidad1#

Thank you Mayan Families Connection.!!!

The staff of Mayan Families was so thrilled to receive a gift of $625 to be divided amongst all the employees!!!

They were all so surprised and so happy with this wonderful gift!

They have all worked very long hours and had very few days off since December 1st.

Thank you so much to all the very kind people who sent this very much appreciated gift.

There were three employees missing from this photo....it is hard to get everyone together at the one time!

This was a great surprise and a very welcome gift!

We are very lucky to have a wonderful staff and a fantastic support group....Mayan Families Connection. Both these group of people make so many miracles happen!

From Guatemala...we send you a very big muchas gracias and wish you all a very, very Feliz Navidad!!!!