Lucia....an Elderly woman in need.

Lucia  is 77 years old.  She comes every day from her village of Santa Catarina  to be able to eat lunch in our Elderly Care Program. This is at least a 20 min. trip in the back of a pick up or several hours walk for her.

She used to have only a stick to help her walk but we were able to give her a walking stick which helps her a lot.   She is very happy to have  enough to eat every lunch time. 

Lucia always has a smile and a greeting when I see her.   This week she stopped and asked if I could help her.
Her bed has broken into pieces and she is now sleeping on just three pieces of cloth.

I started to talk to Lucia about her life. She had five children but only three are alive. She lives near two of them but they are very poor and cannot afford to help her.

Lucia''s husband died 4 years ago.  She said he had lots of illnesses and she is not really sure what illness he died from. They could not afford medical care for him.

Lucia used to sell traditional items on the road.  Ten years ago she was involved in an accident. Her left knee and her left hand were badly injured. She was hospitalized but her knee and hand never really recovered. Now it hurts her a lot to walk and she gets tired easily.

Lucia lives alone without electricity.  She has to buy candles which is expensive and dangerous.
She does not have a kitchen. She cooks on an open fire. 
Now she does not have a bed.  She is sleeping on the floor on three pieces of fabric.
She does not have a table or chairs.
Lucia does not have enough blankets .
She does not have a water filter.

Lucia does not have a sponsor for the Elderly Care program.  It is just $35  a month to be able to ensure that Lucia will be able to continue having her lunch every day at the Elderly care center.  Lucia's I.D. number is A#135
 If you would like to sponsor Lucia for a bed , it is just $170 US.  To give Lucia a blanket, it is just $35.

If you would like to  help Lucia to have her electricity connected we will have to get a quote on how much that would cost.

If you are able to help Lucia at all, her greatest desire is to have a bed!  Can you imagine being 77 years old and sleeping on three pieces of cloth on a dirt floor every night ?

 Here is the link to donate...if you are able to help Lucia.
https://www.mayanfamilies.org/donate/simple


For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, Sharon@mayanfamilies.org

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Petrona and her family.

Petrona and her family.

Just as we were getting ready to close on the 23rd, one more family came in that needed help.
We were very rushed but I was glad that we took the time to talk to them.

Petrona, the mother is just 22 years old.   She and her 23year old husband, have four children.
None of the children or Petrona had eaten and it was already midday when we saw them.
Irma is 5 years old, Estela is 4 years old, Carlos is 3 years old and baby Estuardo is 10 months old.

They are very malnourished and very hungry.

They live in a rented house in Pena Blanca.
They pay $50 US per month rent.
The father works in the fields and he can barely cover the rent. There is very little money left over for food....or other necessities.

They do not have beds.
They all sleep on the floor on pieces of cardboard carton. 
They have only one blanket for all of them.
They do not have a closet, they do not have tables and chairs.
You may ask what they do have....the answer is almost nothing.
They do have  a large wood burning stove that comes with the house.
They do have electricity and that costs them $20 US per month.

There are days when they do not have enough to eat...and there is only tortillas and salt to eat ..but there are days when there is not even that...like the day the mother came into our office.   She was desperate. She had heard that we were giving out baskets of food for Christmas and she was hoping to get one. 

Little Irma wants to go to school this year but there is no way that the family can afford to send her.
We have given Irma a student number and we hope that someone will want to sponsor her.  Her student number is #3734 . It is $360 US per year to enable her to attend school.   ( or $30 US per month.)
Her number is not registered on the website yet so to sponsor her you would have to
go to this link ...https://www.mayanfamilies.org/donate/simple and put in her student number on the payment.

We have also given the family a FA number  it is FA #623...if anyone would like to help this family ...with a bed or two ...this would make such a difference to the family. The children will be so much healthier not to have to sleep on the floor.

Mayan Families ..thanks to your donations.....were able to give them a Christmas Tamale basket, several blankets to help to keep them warm and we gave the children Christmas presents. They were so excited to get these presents!  Thank you to all of you who make these general donations possible so that we can use them for families like this.

I asked Petrona whether the extended families were helping them but she told me that sadly the families could not help them. Her own father has passed away and her mother is struggling to survive herself.   Her husbands parents both have problems with alcohol and are not able to help.

If you would like to sponsor Irma to give her a chance to go to school, her student ID. number is .#3734   ...the Family Aid FA#623 if you would like to help the family.  Please go to Mayan Families to send a donation for this family. Here is the link. https://www.mayanfamilies.org/donate/simple

If you have any questions about this family, please do not hesitate to contact me, Sharon@mayanfamilies.org

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