3 Orphans need help to stay together in Guatemala.

Edy, Marvin and Angelica

16-year-old Marvin, 14-year-old Edy, and 12-year-old Angelica Acetun Tuy have been sponsored through Mayan Families since their father died several years ago--Marvin will start carerra (like high school, but it prepares students for a specific trade) next year, and Edy will begin his second year in basico (Jr. High), while Angelica will be in 5^th grade. They are all looking forward to continuing their education.  Marvin would like to study accounting, and Edy thinks he wants to do the same, while Angelica says shyly that she needs a little more time to decide.

Unfortunately, their mother passed away just over 2 weeks ago, and the family is faced with a serious problem: without an adult to take charge of the household, social workers may force the Acetun Tuy children to split up, and send Edy and Angelica to live in orphanages.  Luckily, the children are not completely alone: Sipriana Tun, their close neighbor and longtime family friend, whom they call “Tia” (Aunt), hopes that she can keep the family together.   Sipriana has offered to take charge of the children, and thereby ensure that they can stay together in the house their parents left them.  But she and her husband—who already have 8 children of their own—can’t take on this extra expense without some support. 

The three kids with their neighbor, Sipriana

Edy and Marvin have been working for their uncle, a mechanic, since their mother died, but they aren’t experienced, and there isn’t enough work for both brothers to work every day, so combined they earn only about Q100 per week ($12.50).  Marvin, who brings in 80% of this small salary by working long days, isn’t sure if his uncle will let him work around his school schedule next year or not, so it is possible that the kids will be surviving on even less once the academic year begins in January. 

Sipriana, Marvin, Edy and Angelica want to stay together, but to stay afloat, they will need a few different kinds of help:

1)    The most basic need, and the most important, is food.  They’ll need a monthly food sponsorship to ensure they don’t go hungry.  To set up a monthly food sponsorship, go to Donate Monthly.  Enter FA68 under "Family Name," and the amount of your donation in the $ box, then click "Submit Form"--after you hit submit, you will have a chance to specify that the donation is for food.

2)    The small 3-room house the children live in has electricity and water, which cost a total of Q175-Q225 ($22-28) per month.  Some help towards paying these bills would go a long way in alleviating the pressure on Marvin and keeping the siblings together.  To set up a sponsorship to help with these bills, go to Donate Monthly.  Enter FA68 under "Family Name," and the amount of your donation in the $ box, then click "Submit Form"--after you hit submit, you will have a chance to specify that the donation is for bills.

3)    The family doesn’t have stove or a water filter, and Angelina doesn’t have a decent bed.  One time donations for any of these items would make their daily lives a little safer and easier.  To donate a bed ($170), water filter ($50), or stove ($160), go to Donate Now.  Enter the amount of your donation in the box marked "other," and specify that it is for FA68 in the box marked family name.  In "Extra Notes," you can specify what your donation is for--stove, filter, bed, etc.

4)  Sipriana has put several of her older children through school, and she's just as determined to see Marvin, Edy, and Angelica finish too.  But the extra expense of helping her neighbor's children will strain her own finances.  She has four children still in school, but she believes that she can continue to pay for the three oldest (whose tuitions are the highest tuitions), if we can find a sponsor for 10 year old Aura Lorena, who will be in 4th grade next year.  Sponsoring Aura for 4th grade would cost $15/month, or $180.  To sponsor Aura, go to Donate Monthly, and enter "sponsorship student #1584" under "Other Programs".  Enter the monthly amount as $15.

Thank you!