Wayne's World in Guatemala!

We have been so fortunate to have Wayne , from the Be One to Give , Foundation of Alberta here in Panajachel volunteering with Mayan Families since late December.

Wayne has done so many wonderful things and has been such an inspiration to all of us...that it is hard to believe that one person can do so much and have such an impact on all of us the way that he has.

Wayne's time in Guatemala is drawing to a close, he will be driving back up to Canada on Sunday. He is going to leave a huge hole behind him here. We will miss his optimism, his down to earth .."lets do it now and get it done " attitude, we will miss his great sense of humor, his incredibly generous and kind heart.

Wayne and three of his sons drove an ambulance and a 20 foot trailer down from Canada.
It was packed with wonderful donations. Wayne and his wife, Judy , took over 8 months collecting the donations and planning this trip. Judy could not come with him this time but she was always here in spirit. We look forward to when she will come , hopefully, on the next trip.

Wayne is photographed from left to right with Ely, ( Mayan Families Staff ), Wayne, Susie ( Mayan Families Staff) and Dwight ( Mayan Families Founder).

We wish we could bottle Wayne's energy ....he has worked every morning , arriving before the staff, he has been training two boys in carpentry and building skills, he is leaving behind an amazing wealth of tools so that they will be able to continue on with this trade.

He organized a trip for all the Mayan Families staff to climb the volcano last week on Lake Atitlan. Out of the 26 who started the climb, only 16 got to the top, including Wayne, Ely and Susie. They left on this great adventure at 6.am. and by late afternoon , everyone returned exhausted and barely able to walk. Not Wayne, at 60 yrs old, and more than twice the age of most of his companion hikers, he jumped in the hot tub and then went out dancing till 1.am.! Next morning he was ready for work at 8.am.!

Wayne and Michael, another wonderful volunteer from Florida who is also a fantastic builder and has been Wayne's companion in building adventures for the past month, have fallen in love with the children at the orphanage in San Andres. They wanted to take the children out for the day. We organized this Sunday to have the children come to Mayan Families at 9.am. where Wayne, Michael, Stephanie , and Susie took the children on a fantastic day of fun.
They first went to the Nature Reserve, the children got to feed the monkeys, go on the swing bridges, play on the small zip line for children, run , play soccer, ball and climb trees. Wayne and Michael played soccer, frisbee with the kids and had as much fun as the kids.

Then it was onto lunch at a local restaurant overlooking the lake. The children had a great lunch of chicken, mashed potatos, vegs, and enjoyed the novelty of going out to a restaurant.
We joined them for lunch and then after lunch.....more fun. Down to the lakeside, where Wayne gave the children all squeaky balls that they had a lot of fun with, more games, soccer, frisbee, exploring the waters edge, throwing stones into the lake. Michael then brought the ice cream man and his little push cart full of ice creams and the children and staff all had ice creams. A happy end to a great day!
http://www.youtube.com/user/mayanfamiliesvideo#p/a/u/2/3YMBIxQlEQo

We are all going to miss Wayne !