Mayan Families Guatemala

Visiting homes of sponsored students.

2012-01-29T12:02:00.002-06:00

This is the face of poverty.
This is the reason we work so hard to help the students that we sponsor and their families.
These are very hard conditions to live with.
It takes such a little amount of money to be able to help lift people out of living in these conditions.
An onil stove costs $170 US.
A double bed with a mattress costs $170 US.
Cement floors can replace these dirt floors.
Roofs can be replaced so that the rain will not come in during the wet season and turn the dirt floors into mud.
Bring a group to volunteer, raise money to put in stoves...come alone, bring a friend, bring a lot of friends...we are happy to have you and the people who live in these conditions will be very, very happy to see you.

Happy kids at the Mayan Families Panajachel Pre-school!

2012-01-29T11:42:00.000-06:00

The children at the Mayan Families Pre-school, Caritas Sonadoras, received their school supplies this week.
There is going to be a lot of pasting, coloring and fun going on at the pre-school!
The children have two meals, learn to get into the habit of brushing their teeth, take a vitamin tablet, get health check ups and get a head start on their education before they go to school.

Mayan Families visit to the Tierra Linda Preschool

2012-01-29T11:17:00.001-06:00

We visited the Mayan Families pre-school in Tierra Linda this week.
It is the first week back for the students and the first week for many children to come for the very first time. So there are a few tears and anxiety for the children who have never been away from their parents before but all the wonderful toys and the good food make the adjustment a lot easier.

If you would like to sponsor a child to go to one of our preschools....please go to
http://www.mayanfamilies.org/SponsoraStudent
There are many children waiting to be sponsored!

Manuel and Santiago

2012-01-27T10:33:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone,
Manuel (A25) and Santiago (A75) are both in need of water filters. They cannot afford to buy purified water. A filter costs $63 and will give the family clean water for up to two years, when the filter will need to be replaced (for just $44). We have used these filters with many families and even our own Mayan Families staff and can attest to the clean, fresh water that these filters provide. Please consider giving a filter to these gentlemen today!
If you would like to make a one-time donation,please visit the Elderly Care Blog at:
http://mayanfamilieselderlycare.blogspot.com/2012/01/please-help-manuel-and-santiago-have.html

Thank you!

Chukmuk Guatemala Preschool students need sponsorship!

2012-01-27T09:40:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone,
New Chukmuk preschool/nutrition center Students needing Sponsorship are Listed.

These children are all from very poor families and many of them are malnourished.

You can see their photos and read their bios at the following 2 websites.

http://www.mayanfamilies.org/SponsoraStudent
or
http://mayanfamiliesconnectionguatemala.blogspot.com/2011/10/mayan-families-sponsor-student-program.html

Please continue to spread the word to help find sponsors for these children.

I am happy to let you know that all the previous preschool children that were listed earlier have now found sponsors!

There are still older students hoping for sponsorship and
#944 Rosa Lucia who lost her sponsor and needs sponsorship to continue 9th grade is still hoping to find a sponsor.
Here is her direct link for her sponsorship.
http://www.mayanfamilies.org/sponsorastudent?id=944

Thank you for spreading the word.

Maria Rosario in Guatemala

2012-01-27T09:15:00.002-06:00

Maria Rosario is a mother of 3 girls who are sponsored by Mayan Families. She lives in San Jorge La Laguna with her husband and daughters.

The family owns a house in San Jorge, however last year during the rainy season, part of the land in front of the house fell and now the room they use as a kitchen is on the edge of a cliff. They are afraid that the house won't survive the next rainy season that is coming in few months, so they want to build a retaining wall.

Our construction staff visited the house and confirmed that without the wall the house will probably fall off the cliff.

The family will provide the labor, however, they cannot afford to buy the material, so they came to us for help. The material to build the wall cost $840.

For more information on how to help Maria Rosario and her family to keep her house safe, please visit:

http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2012/01/house-at-risk-of-falling-down.html

Thank you!

First week of new administration

2012-01-26T16:18:00.000-06:00

We have been disappointed so far with basic things here such as the govt. has not authorized new teachers.

There are about 50 schools in the Solola district that do not have new teachers assigned because the new govt. has come in and these things have not been authorized yet. It is not to say that they are not going to do it ....just that they have not done it yet. School started nearly 2 weeks ago.......we have had this problem in Tierra Linda. The last govt. guaranteed to send us teachers for the Junior High school if we provided the equipment, tables, chairs, books, white boards, computers, everything...we have done that ..thanks to the Upper Arlington Rotary Club ( Ohio) and no teacher came. This is because they do not have the new people in place who are able to authorize this.

This left us in a very difficult situation.

After many, many calls and letters to the Dept. of Education they finally told us that they did not have the funds to pay for the teacher and had to wait for the new. administrator to take over.

No one can give us a time frame.

So we had a choice.....hire a teacher ourselves..which we were given advice by people with a lot of experience...would mean that the Dept. of Education would not send us a teacher because we had already provided one..... or if we did not send a teacher the children would have to leave the school and try to get into a school that did have teachers...which meant that the Dept. of Education would not send us teachers because we did not have enough children to meet the quota of students needed to keep the classes going.

So in the end we decided to send one of the Mayan Families staff members there, Rodolfo, who is a qualified Jnr. High teacher to help out until the govt. sends us a teacher.

But because it is also a computer school..we also have to send a computer teacher twice a week, so fortunately , we have two staff members who have their degree in Computer science and they are able to go and teach the required curriculum. But that leaves us shorthanded one staff member daily and another staff member 2 - 3 times a week.

Marco, another Mayan Families staff member is also teaching computer classes twice a week in San Jorge at our Women's /Education center. The Jnr. high school committee came to us yesterday from San Jorge as they are in a similar situation. They are not able to receive funds from the Education dept. and have had to privatize the Jnr. High school to be able to keep it open. This means that they are now scrambling for funds to try and pay the teachers wages. They need $12,000 US to be able to pay the teachers wages for one year. There are 7 teachers.

We have also received a request for help from the local hospital in Solola.

They have also not received funds and are in dire need of medicines.

They have asked us to help with funds to either buy the meds or have the meds donated.

They need basics like disposable gloves and other meds.

But we hope this is just problems with getting organized and that this new govt. will come through.

We have definitely noticed an increase in soldiers which is a throwback to the old days....but I am hoping that this is also just a precaution as the govt. changed over.

Zacapa medical news update

2012-01-24T10:31:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,

I haven't been able to get a real update. Just some news from Sergio who is looking after the patients and doing a great job at it.

The last woman who turned up unexpectedly and we sent off with the other three, had her ultrasound and xray and from what I can understand has gallstones but they do not have space to operate on her in their busy schedule....so she is waiting to come back and we will see what we can do to help her later.

I am told that Creencia had her operation but that they were not able to remove all the cancer. Now this is something that Sergio heard from the nurse and we don't know what this really means yet.

The other two women have had their operations and are in recovery and as far as I know, doing well.

Apparently someone is going to call me tomorrow with more information.

I am really anxious to know what the situation is for Creencia and I am hoping that it will be some good news.

As soon as I hear more, I will let you know.

Sergio says it is really, really hot there. Hard for a young man used to the mountains of the highlands.

Sharon

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES

a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity

Update on Zacapa

2012-01-23T10:52:00.000-06:00

Hi, I am pleased to let you all know that our patients arrived at the clinic on Friday evening ...they were well taken care of by the COTA team.
They had accommodation in a salon and Saturday morning were among the first to be seen.
We actually had an extra patient turn up at the last
minute....I am not sure if she is going to be operated on but they are doing an ultra sound on Monday to be able to see if it is necessary.

But the other three women are all scheduled to be operated on Monday morning first thing. One is scheduled for 6.30am. and the other two for 8.30am.

Sergio, the Mayan Families staff member who is accompanying the patients called to tell me the arrangements. He said the line was now very long
outside the hospital with people hoping to be seen. I am sure the team will be very busy.

The doctor also confirmed the diagnosis of cancer for Creencia ....lets hope that there will be some good news for her after this operation. As soon as I hear anything, I will let you know.

Thank you to everyone who has made this possible. We are so fortunate to have you all behind us to make these miracles happen! It really is a group effort!

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES
a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity
www.mayanfamilies.org

Tamale baskets for Christmas!

2012-01-13T11:12:00.001-06:00

These are just some of the families who were fortunate enough to
receive Tamale baskets this year.
We were thrilled to be able to give out over 1,300 baskets to needy
families who otherwise may not have been able to celebrate Christmas
by making their traditional tamales.
Each basket feeds a family of ten ....so thanks to you, we were able
to feed a possible 13,000 people for Christmas!
Feliz Navidad and Happy New Year!

An article about Mayan Families Canada!

2012-01-13T07:08:00.002-06:00

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/01/12/b-c-families-raise-up-mayan-families-in-guatemala/

Goings on at Mayan Families!

2012-01-12T21:44:00.002-06:00

Hi, we have been so busy with all the back to school excitement that I haven't had a chance to give you an update.

DON HECTOR AND AMERICA'S WEDDING.

On Saturday , Don Hector who often drives visitors here in his tuk tuk, and America , our Panajachel pre-school teacher were married in a very lovely ceremony.

First they had the civil ceremony in San Andres....Dwight and I were the Padrinos for that ceremony. I was very stressed being half an hour late for the ceremony ( I had spent the night in Antigua and there had been traffic on the road)...of course, I should have realized it would be o.k.....when Dwight and I arrived we were still the first people there! The civil ceremony was very nice, all of America's family were there and several of Don Hector's family had come from the coast, including his mother who was probably in her late 70's.

The legal representative who performed the civil ceremony ....( which is very important in Guatemala...you are not married unless you have this ceremony) brought his ceremonial walking stick and at the time of the vows both Don Hector and America had to put their hands on the walking stick and take their vows. I have never seen that done before and it was very interesting.

Then they served a delicious lunch ....Dwight and I left ...going back to the office where there were hundreds of people on the grounds...getting their school supplies, their photos taken, letters being written, it was a hive of activity.

The church wedding started at 4p.m. and all the staff were invited but they could not leave. They eventually left around 6p.m. ....in the meantime, Dwight, Zoe and I went back for the church ceremony. Our 7yr old daughter, Aleeya decided she did not want to go to another wedding ceremony and she stayed at home. We drove back to San Andres for the wedding ...which is about 15-20 mins from Pana.

The wedding was held in the little Catholic church on top of a hill. It is a beautiful setting and the church was festooned with white cloth, flowers, candles and they had a lovely, lighted Christmas tree in a corner. There was a marimba playing with men in traditional clothing and the priest had a beautiful embroidered cloth he was wearing that had been made in the village.

After the ceremony....the couple walked down the hill followed by all their guests to the wedding reception.

They looked very , very happy and I think that they will be very happy together. They will be living at America's home. America's mother sobbed through the civil ceremony, through the wedding ceremony and during the reception. That was a bit surprising because they are going to be living in the same house....I am glad that America wasn't moving away!

BACK TO SCHOOL.

We have been working 6 days a week, long hours, up till 8pm getting all the students their school supplies, their shoes, their backpacks.

There are long lines in our grounds all day.....the children are playing , we have the slide, the swings and thanks to you ride on toys , bicycles that the kids play with. Our daughter, Aleeya got a trampoline for Christmas and she has it here at the office grounds and the kids are loving that!

We have many people coming and asking for sponsorship for their children. But we explain to everyone that it is our obligation to first make sure that all the children from the previous year are sponsored and then we can try and find sponsors for others.

We are so happy and thankful to Shannon to have the Orphan blog up....now we can make sure that all the children who are orphaned are taken care of.

We have many children who are still waiting to be sponsored so if you have any body who has been thinking about sponsoring ....please ask them to think even harder about it right now...there is such a need!

We have two exciting pieces of news.

SANDRA'S BABY

One is that Sandra, our social worker, gave birth at a healthy baby boy yesterday! He weighs about 8lbs.

Sandra was here working till she could not sit any longer in the chair...she was becoming too uncomfortable and stayed at home the last few days waiting for the birth.

Unfortunately, she had a very difficult time...and after 24 hours in labor , she had to have a cesarian. This is her first child....she is married to Fredy who is in charge of Micro Loans for Mayan Families.

CHUKMUK PRE-SCHOOL/NUTRITIONAL CENTER.

The other exciting news is that we have received funding to open our 7th pre-school!!!

It is going to be in Chukmuk..where there is such a need for food for the children.

The Director of the school and the community has been asking us for over a year to please come and have a feeding program /pre-school for the children.

They have given us a room that is very large and rent free!

Thanks to a wonderful donation we received..we have had the teacher's wages covered for one year,

the gas for the stove and the electricity for one year, the stove , tables and chairs covered.

Thanks to your wonderful donations we have enough puzzles, educational toys, books to be able to equip the pre-school.

We will need to have the children sponsored and we will need to get the funds to pay the cook/assistant.

There is space for 50 children and the director would like us to have this amount of children.

But we only have funding for one teacher so we will try to limit it to 30 children....until we can afford a second teacher.

A teacher and an assistant are approx. $4,500 US per year each so if you know any individual, church or organization that would like to help, we would be thrilled to hear from them.

We hope to have the pre-school open in about two weeks. The children in Chukmuk ...which is near Santiago...are very malnourished and in need of food. This center which will provide food and an educational head start to these children will be a huge blessing for them.

SAN JORGE PRE-SCHOOL AND ELDERLY CARE PROGRAM.

Our program has been so successful in San Jorge...( this was our first pre-school/nutritional program that was started with the support of everyone in this group) that we have a list of children waiting to get in.

We are at the maximum of 37 children who can fit in the space that we have. So we have decided to move the Elderly Care program from the house we rented to the Community center (that we own) ...they will have the ground floor, the computer classes and the sewing classes will still be held on the 1st floor. The ground floor can still be used for meeting etc by the women in the afternoons.

So the children in the San Jorge pre-school will have the house that has two rooms...so we can now accept more children into the pre-school and they will have an outside area to play as there is a courtyard there for them.

The only problem is that the bathroom is really not good at the Elderly care program, it is just a latrine that is broken and is dangerous for the children to use. We are in need of putting in two toilets for the children....they will cost $517 for the two toilets to be built and installed. If anyone would like to donate a little towards this, we would be very, very grateful.

Once the bathroom is fixed , this will be a much better location for the children as there will be more room for them to play.

Some of the elderly people are reluctant to move over to the Community center because the pathway is a bit of a mess but we are hoping that we will be able to fix that and once that it is fixed then I am sure that they will be fine there.

PANAJACHEL PRE SCHOOL AND NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM.

Due to the amount of children in need we are opening another classroom in our pre-school in Panajachel.

So we are busy painting and decorating for the new pre-school.

We will now have 75 children in Panajachel who are eating two meals a day , five days a week and getting a head start with their education!

SAN ANDRES PRE SCHOOL.

The San Andres pre-school that we partner with Mission Guatemala is having a facelift.

We have decided to divide the very large space into two classrooms one for the 3-4yrs old and another for the 5-6yrs olds. Tom has had bookshelves built to divide the classrooms and I am sure it is going to be great for the kids.

PANAJACHEL TRADE SCHOOL.

This is something that we have been talking about and working towards for a long time now.

We are bringing our sewing class, carpentry class and computer classes to one location and we are working on opening a trade school in Panajachel. We have a lot of ideas and a lot of enthusiasm and we hope that we will be able to have this open in a few months.

We will keep you updated as we go along.

JAGUAR RESCUE!!

As many of you know , we have an Animal program for spaying and neutering and we are often called on to rescue animals.

But this week end we had a very different kind of call.

Above Tierra Linda in the mountains some children had caught what they thought was a baby mountain lion.

The family called us to come and take it.

Susie and Augustin went up on Sunday and found a very terrified baby cub.

It turned out that it wasn't a baby mountain lion but a baby jaguar.!! A jaguar Undi.

It was the cutest little thing....brown, big eyes, rounded ears and was making a hissing sound that it hoped would make us all go away. It also had a strong growl for such a little one.

We contacted a group in Guatemala City ....they were very involved in helping the circus lion get a new home in the U.S. last week. We were able to get the little cub to this group quickly and they are now caring for it. There is even a chance that they may be able to get it to a zoo in the U.S.

LIBRARY IN TIERRA LINDA IN MEMORY OF GABBY LEWIS.

We are working on the library that will be opened in memory of beautiful little Gabby Lewis who passed away last year. Gabby was just 8yrs old, adopted from Guatemala as a baby and the beloved daughter of Shane and Becky Lewis. Her family has decided that they would like to have a library in her memory and have directed donations in her honor to Mayan Families to make this a reality. We hope to have this open in the next few months.

Well, I think that you are up to date now on the goings on here.

Please remember that you are welcome to come and visit and /.or to volunteer.

We also need volunteers on a long term basis and also interns.

If you would like to come down as an individual or as part of a group, please let us know.

We love having you come to visit!

Sharon

Baby Jose and his siblings.

2012-01-12T15:47:00.001-06:00

Hi Everyone,

Many of you will remember the family FA114.

Their father passed away from throat cancer in July. Baby Jose was born with part of his bowel outside of his body last January and back then the local Dr. gave him little hope of living.

This family has had many medical bills for many months from the father and baby Jose.

Baby Jose's Siblings are #1930 Nasario, #1931 Marvin, and 1932 Juana.

Unfortunately all 3 of them have lost their sponsors for 2012 and are in desperate need of responsorship because of the family situation.

I received an update on their family from Laura today about Baby Jose.

Here is the update from Laura.

"Dina just talked to Dr. Peter and he said that baby Jose is now big and healthy enough to undergo surgery. The hospital is too busy to help them as of now, but they are calling everyday to try and get him an appointment for surgery. He also reported that he expects that Jose will only need one surgery to correct the condition."

It is such good news to know that little Jose is still alive, doing well, and now strong enough for surgery. This also means yet another major medical expense for this family who has already been through so much debt.

#1930 Nasario and #1931 Marvin desperately need sponsorship to continue with their 1st year of University School. They are both majoring in Mechanics. Their sister #1932 Juana will be in 10th grade in 2012 if she finds a new sponsor.

If anyone can help this family toward their medical expenses for baby Jose or knows of anyone who may be able to sponsor these students for school in 2012 please click on the links below to help them.

http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/search/label/FA114

#1930 Nasario Needs Sponsor for 1st year University, Family Aid Student FA114, Father passed away.

#1931 Marvin Needs Sponsor for 1st year University Family Aid Student FA114, Father passed away.

#1932 Juana Isabel Needs Sponsor for Junior High, Family Aid Student FA114, Father passed away.

Any help for this family is very appreciated.

Please spread the word.

Thank you to everyone who has helped this family in any way.

Three orphans struggling to survive. FA 202

2012-01-04T07:08:00.002-06:00

Julia, Walter, and Milton are three sweet kids from Panajachel who had the misfortune of losing their mother nine years ago, after facing a very difficult time watching their mother suffer from cancer.

After their mother's death, the father soon found a new wife and moved in with her and her family. After a while he stopped visiting the children and finally he left his mother in charge of the kids. Since then, they have been living with their grandmother that has always done her best to support and feed them.

Sadly, two months ago the grandmother passed away and the kids were left alone once again. Their aunt, the only family member they have left, decided she could not leave them alone and so she took them in, however, she has her own family to care for and having three more kids with her is becoming very difficult.
The aunt loves the children very much and she is very worried that she won't be able to feed them properly or send them to school next year.

The kids want to be with their aunt, but they fear that because of the lack of resources, she will ask them to leave and they have nowhere else to go.

If you want to help these orphans with any of the following items, please visit:

http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2012/01/three-orphans-struggling-to-survive.html

- One month of food - $150;
- A onil stove - $170;
- Traditional clothing for Julia, who has always worn second hand clothes - $150;
- New clothes for the boys - $45 each;
- Water Filter - $63
- Doors for the 2 bedrooms - $200 each door
- To re-wire the electricity - $535
- They also need help to build a small kitchen and a small bathroom

Thank you for any help you can give these orphans.

Students needing sponsorship in Guatemala with Mayan Families

2012-01-03T16:36:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone,
The 2012 school year will be starting very soon in January in Guatemala.
There are about 100 students needing sponsorship still listed in the Mayan Families Student Sponsorship and Family Aid programs with more students waiting to be added to the list.
These children are still very hopeful that they will find a sponsor to be able to go to school this month.

Please keep spreading the word so that we can make their wish come true for the upcoming school year.

For the complete public list of children still waiting, please visit:

http://mayanfamiliesconnectionguatemala.blogspot.com/2011/10/mayan-families-sponsor-student-program.html

Just click on the links of the students name to get to the students sponsorship page.

Please continue to spread the word by linking the above link on your websites, blogs, and email anyone you think who would be interested in giving these children the gift to be able to go to school to have a brighter future.

They are counting on us to help them. If we all spread the word, we can still find them sponsorship before school starts. Thanks a lot!

2011 reflections for Mayan Families in Guatemala

2011-12-31T14:48:00.000-06:00

We know that in this tough economic time, the demand for vital nonprofit services is greater than ever, and it's people like you who keep Mayan Families going. And on behalf of all of the children, mothers and elderly that we work with, thank you!

Thank you for helping Mayan Families build vibrant and sustainable communities, advocate for health and education, celebrate indigenous cultures through our sustainable programs, and protect this amazing culture for future generations.

And thank you for all of the work you do in your daily lives, whether it's through your charitable work for Mayan Families, fund raising, assisting with shipments, collecting school supplies etc in your personal or professional lives, the orphans, children, families and elderly all benefit from your efforts.

2012 looks to be a challenging year. To continue our vital work of providing education to thousands, we need your help. Please consider making a donation to Mayan Families today in the amount of $10, $25, $50, $100 or more. Help us to continue to make amazing dreams come true, better educated and more confident students following their dreams, making informed decisions. Help empower Mayan Families to become even more effective! Donate here now for the end of the year tax benefits: http://www.mayanfamilies.org/DonateOnline

Our work relies on the generosity of supporters like you, so please consider making a donation today. Let’s make 2012 a year of compassion and respect for impoverished indigenous families.

Please also sign up for our e-mail newsletters here: http://www.mayanfamilies.org/EmailSignup.aspx

You'll learn about our work in Guatemala, how you can be a part of it and about opportunities to help spread the word about Mayan Families.

PS: Please forward this on to 8 people you know who have a giving heart.

Family of Orphans get a bed for Christmas!

2011-12-29T10:27:00.001-06:00

This young family of children is being brought up by the elderly grandparents.
The mother died in childbirth with the youngest and the family died approx. 18 months later from diabetes that was left untreated as the father did not have the financial resources.

The elderly grandparents have done as much as they can to help the children.They are in the Mayan Families Orphan Program which provides support for orphans so that they can remain in the care of extended family.
Mayan Families has provided them with school sponsorship and milk for the youngest when she was a baby. We have provided them with medical and dental treatment and they are fortunate that one of their sponsors has bought them a new bed so now they will have two beds to share between them!

A volunteer's blog about working with Mayan Families and life in Guatemala.

2011-12-28T18:34:00.001-06:00

> I wrote a blog the other day about our recent volunteering at Mayan Families, and thought some folks on this list might be interested:
>
> http://bluepetroglyph.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/christmas-parties-for-4000-and-tamales-for-the-whole-neighborhood/
>
> I'm not sure if Yahoo! will strip that link out from my message, so in case they do, just go to my blog at:
>
> bluepetroglyph.wordpress.com
>
> ...and go to the blog titled: "Christmas parties for 4,000 and tamales for the whole neighborhood"

MARVIN and his family get a great gift in Guatemala with Mayan Families

2011-12-27T18:16:00.000-06:00

Marvin and his family live high in the steep mountain of San Antonio.
They had running water but no where to wash the dishes, wash their
clothes, wash themselves.
Marvin's sponsor gave the whole family this wonderful gift for
Christmas. It is a pila...a 2 sided sink, usually made of cement but
this one is fiberglass because it was just too high a climb to be able
to get a cement one there.
We were originally going to build one there but then we found we could
get the fiberglass one for almost the same price as it would cost to
construct one in the yard.
This pila...will enable the family to be able to store water in the
middle tub. The family will then have a plastic bowl that they will
scoop the water out .
The mother used to have to wash clothes over a rock....now she will
have a sink to be able to wash the clothes...a place to put the dishes
to dry on one side after she has washed them.
A pila is a multi useful item for a Guatemalan house and one that
every house needs. Marvin and his family are very, very grateful to
have received this Christmas gift.

Christmas spirit

2011-12-27T11:26:00.002-06:00

This is a family that we visited this week.
As you can see their home is very humble and they are in desperate need of stove to be able to cook over and have many other needs.
But what struck us most was the Christmas spirit they showed with this very sweet little Christmas tree in their home. There were no presents to put under the tree and not much food in the house but they had this little tree to be able to celebrate Christmas.
For those of us who were lucky enough to have all the comforts of a home, a refrigerator full of food, a tree laden with decorations and lots of presents underneath.......we should spare a moment to think about this family ( and so many like them ) and what it takes to still have the spirit of Christmas with so very little, at this time of year.

The San Jorge Pre-school Holiday Outing!

2011-12-27T10:40:00.004-06:00

The teachers and the mothers of the children at the Mayan Families San Jorge preschool organized a holiday outing for the children.

Even though they live very close to the Butterfly and Nature reserve many of them have never been there and did not what a great treasure it is to the local communities.

They were able to enjoy the talk about ecology and preserving nature around the area of the lake, they loved walking the tracks of the nature reserve, seeing the monkeys, the waterfall, the butterfly reserve and best of all playing on the free kiddie zip line and the other swings and rope activities.

They finished the day with a bbq , a gift exchange and a wonderful time was had by all!

Cristobalina's postcards!

2011-12-21T17:29:00.005-06:00

Hello all!!

I believe you remember Cristobalina, the 16 year old girl who was electrocuted a year ago and lost both of her arms.

She started painting with her mouth and we were astonished by her talent and ability! She gave us several of her paintings and we decided to try to make postcards of them. We will try to sell them and the profit will go to her medical treatment.

This is the first one we made and soon we will have more with new drawings!!!

If you are planning to come down to Panajachel, consider sending some postcards to your friends and help Cristobalina to get better.

The postcards cost less than $2 and they are really pretty!

Diabetes ...a huge problem in Guatemala.

2011-12-21T10:02:00.000-06:00

http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2011/12/diabetic-suffering-from-health-problems.html

This is a story about just one woman. We have many people who are suffering from diabetes. In response to the huge amount of people we see who are trying to live with this disease, we have started a Diabetes Club that meets once a month. It is not enough but it is what we can do at the moment. The people come and have their blood tested, which is the only time they have it during the whole month. We have a doctor who volunteers to come and treat the members of the club and we always have a health professional who gives them a talk about the different issues of diabetes. We have also had a pyschologist come along and give a talk because many people who are diagnosed with diabetes become very depressed thinking that this is a terminal disease. Quite often it is in Guatemala because there is a lack of knowledge and a lack of money to be able to buy the meds needed to control the disease and also the money and knowledge needed about the dietary issues.

Christmas party for the 54 children in the Mayan Families Orphan Program

2011-12-20T11:18:00.001-06:00

The Hotel Porta de Lago in Panajachel gave a wonderful Christmas party for the 54 children in the Mayan Families Orphan Program.
The children and their caretakers, some were a grandparent, an older
sibling or a relative came along and had a fantastic day.

The hotel did all they could to make this a most memorable day for the children.

They had a special area decorated with a tree and lots of gifts. They
had an entertainer who played games with the children which was a lot of fun.
But the most exciting thing for the children was that they were
encouraged to go into the pool and swim!!!!

There was a rush to grab bathing suits that we had brought with us and children squished themselves into all sizes of bathing suits!
After swimming, there was a huge Winne the Pooh pinata ....and then the hotel Manager, Anna Maria Herbruger....gave out beautiful Christmas gifts for each child and a cake for each caretaker.

Then a lunch of hamburgers and french fries, drinks and a cake with
cream was served to the families.

This was an exciting day for these children to be able to enjoy
themselves and be kids without a care!
Thank you so much Hotel Porta del Lago.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday! December with Mayan Families in Guatemala

2011-12-20T09:31:00.001-06:00

‎(This was from Dec-18-2011)
Hi, sorry there have been so few postings but we are working long hours here at this time.

Friday we celebrated Christmas with the families in El Barranco, Solola, Guatemala.

Connie Turvey who is a member of this group....( I am going to embarrass her here!!!)....Connie has been selling beaded jewelry from Guatemala and has managed to sell enough to be able to buy 61 Tamale baskets for the families in El Barranco!!!! The families were thrilled on Friday when we told them that each family would be getting a Tamale Basket.

Thank you Connie!!!!
The photos are posted on Picasa this morning.

We have a sign thanking Leila Treige for donating the money to pay for expenses of the Christmas party!

The children were all thrilled to be able to pick out their presents.

The kids just love those plastic bags full of all sorts of goodies! They were a big hit! Cars are the things that the boys want the most and girls want dolls....little dolls , big dolls...any kind ...just so that they have a doll. They also love the stuffed animals! All the toys that everyone sent were a big hit!!!!!

Yesterday, Saturday, Dec-17-2011 we did the big party here in Panajachel, Guatemala....we had families from all over come to the party.

We had over a 1,000 children!!!!!! The families laughed with the clown, were able to pick out their toys, get their photo with Santa and have a snack before they left. It was a long day but a good one....we started at 9.am. and stopped giving out toys at 3.30pm!

Sunday Dec-18-2011 we are starting the job of packing the Tamale Baskets. We have just over a 1,000 baskets now. I am not sure of the exact number but will let you know short. But I don't think it is too many over a 1,000.

There is still time to get your order in for a basket for your sponsored family, an elderly person or a family in need!

http://www.mayanfamilies.org/HolidayFoodBaskets

Please remember that we welcome volunteers to come down during this time and help.....it is a lot of work, but a lot of fun!

Thank you all for making this such a jolly Christmas for so many !

Sharon
MAYAN FAMILIES
a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity
Website: www.mayanfamilies.org

700+ Christmas Tamale Food Baskets distributed by Mayan Families in Guatemala!

2011-12-19T20:05:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been a long day. It is now 7.45pm and we are just closing up the office. Some of the staff started at 5.am. this morning. The line was already forming outside our office for people who had come to get a Tamale basket.

We have given out over 700 baskets today to families who were so happy to receive this wonderful gift of food.

At this time of night, we still have about a 100 people gathered outside our front gate hoping that they will be able to receive a basket. Lots of women holding babies, little ones pressed tight against their mother's legs, children who are tired from standing for hours...crying to go home.

We love giving out the baskets of food for families but this is the hardest part, the people who are waiting and hoping to get a basket and we just do not have enough for them.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and made it possible for these families to be able to celebrate Christmas.

If you would like to give a basket of food, it is not too late, please send a donation to www.mayanfamilies.org and go to our Holiday Basket link. It is just $35 for a big basket of food.

Families Receiving Tamale Baskets

2011-12-19T16:22:00.000-06:00

Thank you all for donating for families to receive Tamale Baskets! Families are filling the streets waiting to receive theirs, and it is a beautiful, joyful sight.

However, some families are coming around that have not had confirmation of receiving their donation. These families are crowding our gate, hoping to receive word:

Donate now to give the feeling of relief and gift of a Tamale Basket for Christmas www.mayanfamilies.org/DonateOnline

Guatemala Food Baskets being distributed, Christmas Tamale Baskets Video

2011-12-19T13:18:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
Here is a video link to watch today's distribution of Christmas Holiday Tamale Food Baskets at the Mayan Families rented office in Panajachel, Guatemala. http://youtu.be/0tXNOdi-mlA
It is still not to late to donate!
Click here to donate now!

More Holiday Christmas Tamale Food Baskets being given out!

2011-12-19T10:54:00.001-06:00

Today is the first day that we are giving out Tamale Baskets!
We have been up since 4.30am. getting ready.

The rope has been put outside the office to be able to keep the crowd in a line.

At 5.am. there are already half a dozen people lined up and we don't open till 7.am.

Several of our staff are at the office waiting for the chickens to be delivered. This year we are doing chicken rather than meat.

The road is being closed off to our office today, the transit police are going to stop traffic coming in or out unless they need to be there.

I hope that we don't upset the neighbors too much.
We have 500 baskets packed ready to be given out.

The group of sponsored students and their families from Chukmuk in Santiago are hiring a large public bus to be able to bring them all over. The boat is too expensive and won't fit enough people so they are making the four hour round trip by bus.

We still have basket orders coming in and we will be happy to keep filling them. There will be a lot of people outside the gate, hoping that they will get a basket of food. If you know of anyone who is thinking about giving a basket, this is the time to do it.

I have to tell you how fantastic I think the staff and volunteers at Mayan Families are. We started work yesterday morning at 8.am. and were still there at 7.30p.m. ....it was cold and windy but everyone was outside in the garden packing the baskets. Everyone had sore backs and sore hands but kept on going.

We had two students from the international school come to help us yesterday, the secretary from the school and also a former director of the school came along, as well as one of our board of directors, Susan. There are going to be a lot of happy faces today!

Sharon
Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES
a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity
Tel: 011-502-7-762-2490
Mobile: 011-502-4-511-0456
Website: www.mayanfamilies.org

The start of the Tamale Baskets!

2011-12-18T22:11:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we started unpacking the food for the 1,000 baskets that we have ordered so far.
These baskets will be given to families who otherwise will not have food to celebrate Christmas this year.
Every year we have had the amount of baskets grow. We started the first year with approx. 200 baskets, the next year went to 500 and so on until last year we had 1,600. Unfortunately, due to the poor economic climate ...this year the number of baskets we have had donated are down. We hope that we will get to 1,600 again but the days are going by quickly.
If you would like to give a basket to a family in need....please go to this link.
http://www.mayanfamilies.org/HolidayFoodBaskets

We already have people lining up at our gate hoping that they may get a basket of food.

Each basket can feed a an extended family of at least 10 people.

The basket costs $35 US. and is such a wonderful gift to give a family here in Guatemala.

Post on facebook and elsewhere! Help Mayan Families here in Guatemala!

2011-12-11T15:47:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
You can post this on your facebook page or an edited version of it to help us get food out to people this holiday season here in Guatemala!

Feeling the commercial pressure of the holidays? Relax. And remember this is about family and friends and giving (whether money, gifts or good spirit).

Some of you know that this year we began sponsoring 2 young kids in Guatemala through an organization called Mayan Families. It is teaching us all to be appreciative of our fortunes and how we can make things a little better for others, who have so little.

In 2005 Mayan Families began a program to distribute tamale food baskets to families as is their custom to celebrate Christmas. Each basket costs $35. Last year they distributed 1600 baskets to all kinds of families (including orphan siblings). This year, thus far, they have only raised enough to distribute 633.

When we wanted to send a little extra down to our sponsored family for Christmas, we asked what they wanted and their reply was simply "food". The basket IS food but it also a way of coming together, of celebrating.

Please join us in sending some smiles down to Guatemala this year...you can also see the photos of the families accepting their baskets, getting their food later in December. Donate now at www.mayanfamilies.org/donatenow
Enter in the "Extra Notes" field a description (ie "Tamale basket for general family")...give 1 basket or give 5 or even give $10 for general distribution. It is easy and it will make the season a bit brighter without the lights, and all the new gadgets.

Cheers!

Glendi and Joel's wedding

2011-12-11T14:19:00.000-06:00

It was a wondeful event last night.

Dwight and I were the Padrinos for the wedding. Joel , knowing that I am a little time challenged , called me at 4.15pm. to tell me that I had to be at the Muni...where they were having the civil ceremony first...at 5.pm. en punto!

( on the dot.)

So we got there almost on the dot...5.15pm....we then waited till 5.35 before the wedding party arrived.

Joel arrived with his family. He looked very handsome in his new suit...and more than a little nervous!

Then Glendy arrived in the Mayan Families car that had been hurriedly decorated with white balloons and streamers. Glendy was sitting in the front seat and it seemed like 20 of her family members were squished in the back seat.

Glendy looked very beautiful . I will have the photos later this morning to post to picassa.

She was escorted by her uncle and her grandmother.

Her eldest brother, Gerber who has worked at a bakery for a long time, made several of the wedding cakes . He had been up since 2.am. baking.

First they had the civil ceremony which was performed by the mayor of the town. He does a very good wedding ceremony. He talks about the rights and responsiblities of the wife and the husband. He talks about how the scoiety was /is very macho and how a husband should behave without being a machismo. How he should put his family ahead of his friends etc. He adds a lot of humor to his wedding ceremony and has the audience often laughing and the couple relaxing a little.

After that ceremony, we then walked next door to the Municipal Salon, which was festooned with white balloons and streamers. Joel has a very large family and they had all pitched in decorating. Then began the Evangelical ceremony except that the pastor seemed to be missing and after waiting some time, fortunately, another one was found who could quickly fill in. Even though he had little time to prepare, this pastor had a least 10 pages of notes and was able to preach for an hour....and then he performed the religious ceremony.

After that Dwight and I made a very, very brief speech. The couple then stood, we wrapped the veil around Joel's shoulder, thus binding them together. Dwight pulled the string on the large paper mache bell and confetti poured over Joel and Glendy.

This was the time that the well wishers formed a long line waiting to give their gifts to the couple and give them their congratulations, hugs and kisses.

The last person to hug Glendy was her big brother, Gerber. It was a very emotional hug for them. They were both crying. Glendy would be leaving the home that they shared and moving in with her new family. Together they have been through the trauma of caring for their mother, losing her and raising their little brothers.

Then lots of plates of delicious Pepian chicken was served. Joel's mother and his aunts had been cooking for days.

8.am. yesterday morning, I had a basket of tamales delivered to the door.....then the family had a lunch for the closest family and friends...at least 50 people ...before the wedding. Then the dinner that fed at least 200 people. Weddings are not small in Guatemala...you have to invite all the family....and this includes a lot of extended family. Everyone brings their children ....so it is a lot of people to feed.

Music played, everyone at dinner, then it was the time that the children look at all the balloons and try to find one to pull down, once one goes then everyone starts pulling at the decorations to get their balloon or keepsake to take home!

Lots of photos, cake and a very smiling , happy couple.

I hope their journey together will be a good one.

Thank you for giving Glendy the support that she needed. I wish you all could have been there!

Sharon

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES

a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity

Tel: 011-502-7-762-2490
Mobile: 011-502-4-511-0456
Email: sharon@mayanfamilies.org
Website: www.mayanfamilies.org

Christmas in Guatemala.

2011-12-11T11:52:00.002-06:00

Christmas in Guatemala 101 - A book about the Christmas customs and traditions in Guatemala!

"Christmas in Guatemala 101" is a great book about the customs and traditions in Guatemala during the Christmas season! The author of this book, Benjamin Barnett, has offered a percentage of sales to Mayan Families If you want to buy this book and allocate the percentage to Mayan Families.... It is easy ...If you look at the bottom of the sales page, you'll see that there's a spot for a coupon code under the buy/paypal button.
http://www.all-about-guatemala.com/christmas-in-guatemala-ebook.html

Then the way to raise funds for Mayan Families is to enter "mayanfamilies" (without the quotes) into the coupon box. Putting this code just tells the author that the purchase is to benefit Mayan Families. It would helpful if you would also write a note to that effect in the paypal "note to seller" feature when you check it.

Christmas in Guatemala 101 is available in print, ebook (pdf), and Kindle formats, and has lots of fun activities and recipes as bonuses, as well. This is a great gift for families and has lots of good information in it. If you like you can also send us an email so that we can keep a record of how many purchases are made for Mayan Families. Here's the link again:
http://www.all-about-guatemala.com/christmas-in-guatemala-ebook.html

Thanks for supporting Mayan Families

Amazing News! Cristobalina is Walking. Watch the Video!

2011-12-11T10:21:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,

Here is a video of Cristobalina walking!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrzv7k_JZ30&feature=youtu.be

This is such amazing news. She has come so far and is determined to
keep going.

Thank you to everyone who has helped her.
Without your help, she would have been wheelchair bound her whole life.

If you are a new member and would like to read Cristobalina's whole story please visit the following link.
http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/search/label/FA81

A happy and sad week in Guatemala for Mayan Families

2011-12-09T22:42:00.000-06:00

Well, this has been a wild week. Sad and happy.

Dilson's death was a hard, sad time for us all here. Through the generosity of Dilson's sponsor, the funeral was paid for and the family did not have the extra burden of going into more debt.

We took Cristobalina to the city again.....she is now walking and we have a video of this wonderful event on You tube I believe. I will get the link for it and post it later.

Another sad family of orphaned children joined our orphan program. These are five children, a girl 14, a boy 12, a girl 10 , a girl 8 and a boy 4....whose father died 2 yrs ago. The mother started drinking heavily a year ago and is physically abusive. She has taken to coming home drunk to their little wooden room and she throws the children out of the house. They spent two nights sleeping in the cornfields and the oldest girl knew she had to do something.

She worked and got the money together to be able to pay the bus fares for herself and her four siblings to go to San Jorge...where she knew her father had relatives. They traveled all day without eating, they took a bus, a pick up and then a truck...finally arriving in San Jorge at 10pm at night. They found their grandparents home, only to be met by cool reception....the grandparents said that they could come in, the unlces said that they were not welcome. But the children have been there a week. In an interesting twist ....the first wife of their father who had four children with him before he lleft her for the mother of these children...has shown great compassion for these children. She and her children, the eldest 23 ( and a single mother with a 2 yr old) decided that these children are their half siblings and they would help them. They now bring them to their home every day but they have a lack of space, the eldest daughter is already sleeping on the kitchen floor with her 2yr old because they have no room....so the children go home to the grandparents home every night to sleep. They are sleeping on the floor on just a piece of plastic.

The first wife has said that she is willing to have these children .....she knows that the grandparents and uncles will not make it easy for them to be at the house. One of the uncles has already put them to work, carrying heavy loads of firewood.

The first wife ( for lack of a better term) has a small room downstairs and her the room upstairs is ready to be finished. She has never been able to afford to complete the construction of the second floor ....but she said if she could have some wood planks or tin she could finish the room and the children could live there.

So we are going to look into this and see what we can do.

There has been much activity of unpacking toys and clothing....Christmas decorations going up.

The parties are all organized. I am nervous that we will not have enough toys but I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Yesterday we had one of our students brought here by her mother. She was very ill and unable to stand up. The mother thought that she had a urinary tract infection. We sent her to local clinic, they called us back very quickly and said that she had appendicitus and they were concerned that it might be perforated. So we quickly called the ambulance and rushed her to the local hospital. She was operated on very quickly after she arrived and is now doing well.

This afternoon, just as we were about to close a woman came from Santa Catarina . I was walking from one room to another when she asked me if I would help her baby. I asked her where the baby was and she said that she had left it at home because the baby has pnuemonia and she didn't want to bring it out in the wind. The baby is only 6 weeks old.

She had a prescription from the hospital for antibiotics. We are very careful how we spend the little money that we have for medicine. The doctors office was closed ....we decided to send the driver with her back to Santa Catarina to make sure that first, there was a baby and second that it was, indeed sick. ( People sometimes try to get meds to sell) .

Rodolfo and Juan Carlos the driver, drove the 15 mins out to the village, climbed up the steep hill to the woman's house. She lives in very bad conditions. The baby was indeed sick and in bed. So it is now nearly 7p.m. but these two staff members without any complaint turned around and came back to get the meds and take them out to the woman and her baby.

We lost our location in San Antonio for the pre-school....we have to move out and we have started doing that process. We have found somewhere else , it is not as good but it does have bathrooms closer and that makes a huge difference for little children.

Getting the Christmas parties funded was a really unexpected delight.....we had the first party today in Panajachel.

The kids loved it.

The Tamale baskets are coming in very slowly ....we hope that there will be more....we are keeping our fingers crossed tightly....we have 596 right now.

We are all working tomorrow ....getting all the toys organized for the Christmas parties and all the gifts out to the students.....

and then there is the big excitement of the Joel and Glendi's wedding tomorrow at 5p.m!
The clothes are bought, the suit has been picked up , the shoes purchased, the family is cooking frantically at Joel's house. It is a hive of activity.

We had cake and coffee for them yesterday afternoon after work. All the married people gave them good advice and Susie who is divorced, gave them options in case the marriage does not work!

We are all looking forward to the wedding and will get the photos to you asap.

Thank you for all you do to make everything possible!

Wishing you all a Happy Week end.

Sharon

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES

a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity

More Holiday Christmas Tamale Food Baskets needed!

2011-12-08T19:06:00.000-06:00

We now have 523 tamale baskets to distribute to the families here.

We are hoping that there will be lots more coming in but it certainly is a lot slower than last year.

If you would like to give a Tamale basket to your student, to an orphan or to a family in need please know that it will be greatly appreciated.

I had a tuk tuk driver ask me when we would be distributing the baskets. I told him the date and I was just about to tell him that we would not have any extra when he surprised me by saying "thats good...there will be lots of work for us".... and I realized that the Tamale baskets give a lot more than a much needed basket of food for the family, it provides income to the people that we buy the fruit, the vegs. and all the goods, it gives work to the tuk tuk drivers who give rides to the people who are lucky enough to receive a basket.....they are heavy to carry and people usually have to take a tuk tuk with them. They even give income to the people who set up stalls outside the house....we always have an ice cream vendor come, ringing his bell, we have two sponsored mothers who always bring little stalls of food to sell and then the local store always does a good business when the people in the line go past their door.

Please spread the word about the tamale baskets ....they are really needed by so many families.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1103559743325/archive/1107857431645.html

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES

a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity

Food

2011-12-08T18:56:00.001-06:00

This is still happening!
In September we gave out food to many families who were fortunate enough to receive food from their sponsors.
The amount of food the families receive depend on the amount sent.
We have no fixed amount. We figure that any amount, no matter how small is a huge help for a family.
We have some families that have to divide one egg between four children...so if a family like that receives $5 US worth of eggs they are so happy because there is enough eggs for them all to have an egg each!
If you would like to send food to a family, we have a long list of families who are in desperate need of help.
www.mayanfamilies.org or email sharon@mayanfamilies.org

Panajachel Pre -school

2011-12-08T14:02:00.000-06:00

All the little girls at the Mayan Families Panajachel pre-school were delighted to receive these pinafore dresses that had been made by one woman and sent down with the Crestwood Rotary Club.
The dresses are very cute and the children were delighted!
Thank you!

Dilson.

2011-12-07T20:45:00.000-06:00

It is with a very heavy heart that I have to tell you that 12yr old Dilson passed away this afternoon.

Some of you may remember that Dilson was having diaylisis and needed to have a kidney transplant but was not strong enough to have the procedure. We were hoping to build up his strength so that he could have the transplant.

He went to the city yesterday as he was not doing well. I believe that he was being released from the hospital when he had respiratory problems and was rushed into the emergency room. Dilson did not survive.

This young 12yr old has suffered a lot in his short life.

http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/search/label/Dilson

One of the things that has happened to Dilson in the past year is that he found a fabulous sponsor. Dave Patterson, ( Beth McFayden's brother....Beth is a member of the Mayan Families Connection group) took Dilson under his very generous and loving wing . Dilson's mother was in a desperate situation, she had borrowed all the money that she could for Dilson's treatment. She couldn't work because she couldn't leave him alone. She is a single mother, her family though a very close, loving extended family could not help her financially. Dave stepped into their lives and transformed it. He took over paying for the treatment for Dilson for his diaylsis. He paid for the transportation to go back and forth to the city. He helped reduce the amount of debt that was weighing Dilson's mother down. He gave them what they needed to be able to do all that could be done for Dilson. He also gave them peace of mind. Dilson's mother didn't have to worry about how she would get Dilson to the city....she didn't have to worry about not having the money to buy the medication Dilson needed.

Just a few months ago Dave came and met Dilson and his mother. Dilson decided he wanted to be an engineer just like Dave. Dilson didn't have a father to care for him but in Dilson's eyes Dave became the father that he had never had. Dilson liked to build things and he gave Dave one of the things that he had built when Dave came to visit him.

Today was a terrible shock for everyone. But Dilson's mother and grandmother called the office to make sure that we let Dave know that Dilson had passed away and to tell him thank you for having made Dilson's short life so much happier.

As I write this, Dilson's body is being transported back to Panajachel from the city. His family and friends will sit up all night with the coffin making sure that Dilson is not alone. Tomorrow morning, the Mayan Families staff will go to pay our respects.

Heaven has another angel tonight but we also have an angel, Dave Patterson, here on earth as well.

Buy Mayan Families T-shirt's, Coffee mugs, Base Ball Caps etc

2011-12-05T15:51:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
We have always wanted to have a place where anyone could buy Mayan Families T-shirt's, Coffee mugs, Base Ball Caps etc and now you can!!!
Here is the link: www.cafepress.com/mayanfamilies
Please check it out and tell us what you think. This is a great way for us to do some simple fundraising and build awareness for Mayan Families!
Thank you all so much!
We could not do this life changing work without you!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Best wishes,
Dwight Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES

Once again the Cafe Press link to our fundraising storefront for gifts is:
http://www.cafepress.com/mayanfamilies

Today 5-Dec-2011

2011-12-05T09:22:00.001-06:00

Today, we have David Pack from this group still here visiting his sponsored students. He will be going all day with Susie and another staff member who speaks Kakchiquel to visit his sponsored students.

We will be distributing all the wonderful gifts to students whose gifts we unpacked on the week end.

We also will be distributing the vitamins that we received.

We have sorted the clothes and shoes for the pre-schools and will be starting to distribute them this coming week so that all the children will have some new clothes for Christmas.

We are organizing all the Christmas parties this week that will start next week.

We are sorting toys for the parties....this is a big job.

Glendi is purchasing her shoes today ...for her wedding...thanks to all the support that she has received!

She will be picking up her veil today, getting her outfit fitted....the guipil needs to have the neck cut and the sides sewn up.

We are interviewing all the children who will start in the Pana pre-school this coming year.

We have an extra room and we have a long list of children who are waiting to come into the pre-school so we have decided that we will open a third classroom at the Panajachel pre-school.

We will be hiring a new teacher..another young woman who has graduated as a teacher and can not find work so the pre-school not only helps the children but also provides jobs.

We are working on a project to provide water to the village of Tierra Linda. This is being proposed by the Upper Arlington Rotary Club and we hope that it will work out ...the village is having a very difficult time having enough water for all the inhabitants.

We start work today on the wall and gate for the Tierra Linda Community/Education center ...this is being funded by the Upper Arlington Rotary Club.

We are interviewing mothers with babies from 6 months to 2yrs for the project that we are partnering with Dr. Peter Rohloff and his organization...Wuqu' Kawoq. This is a project funded by USAID and it will be providing Nutributter to infants to 2yrs old. Mayan Families will be working in Panajachel, El Barranco, San Jorge, Solola, Tierra Linda, San Antonio Palopo , San Andres and Santa Catarina. We are estimating that we will have 800 babies for this program.

We will be working through the Central Salud offices and today , Mayan Families staff member , Helen will be interviewing mothers in the San Andres area.

We have got the quotes on the building materials needed to start building shelves and book cases for the small library that we will be starting at the Tierra Linda Community/Education center. This little library is being opened in Memory of Gabby Lewis and is being funded by the money that was sent in for her memorial. Gabby was tragically killed in a car accident this year. Gabby was 8yrs old and had been adopted from Guatemala when she was a baby. Gabby's parents have decided that they would like to have Gabby remembered in a way that will benefit children here in Guatemala. We are honored that they have chosen Mayan Families to help them with this. We are interviewing a teacher today who loves art and music and would be able to give classes in both. We envision that he will run the library and be able to give computer lessons, art and music classes as well.

I really want this to be a memorial that Gabby's parents will be proud to have for Gabby. We will need books for this library so if anyone would like to donate books in Spanish ....that would be wonderful. We hope to have this library open in January.

We will be collecting three little puppies from the vet. clinic.today ...they have been there for the week end. They were in a terrible state of starvation and suffering from parasites. Please remember if anyone wants a puppy or a kitten, we have an abundance of the cutest Mayan terriers and Mayan kittens ...totally bi lingual and very affectionate. We can ship them to the U.S. for you!

We couldn't do any of this without you.....thank you for making it possible.

Sharon

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES

a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity

Archeology in Guatemala!

2011-12-04T05:03:00.002-06:00

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=52178

Happy news!

2011-12-03T17:00:00.000-06:00

Hi, we have some happy news.....Glendi who is part of our Orphan program is getting married next Saturday Dec. 10th.

Many of you will remember Glendi and her mother who passed away from cancer a little over three years ago now.

Glendi is now 19yrs old and she has raised her little brothers and kept house for her two older brothers. Glendi cared for her mother when she was dying of cancer....she would be up at nights with her helping her with the pain as much as possible.

Glendi has been through a lot for her young years. Her father abandoned the family and Glendi had to stop going to school and help her mother support the family when she was around 11 yrs old.

Her young brother died from a stomach ailment . The family did not have the money to pay for medical treatment.

Her older sister died a 18 months later from a stomach ailment, she was rushed to the hospital but died after surgery.

Then Glendi's mother got cancer and it was a long three year battle with Glendi doing all she could to help her mother, working full time and caring for her siblings...she also managed to go to school on the week ends.

Mayan Families sponsored Glendi to go back to school when she was approximately 15yrs old. I am proud to tell you that Glendi just graduated last week from jnr. High school.

Her older brother, Gerber who is also sponsored by Mayan Families just graduated from High School. The first in his family to ever graduate!

Glendi came to work at Mayan Families about three years ago.

When Glendi's mother was dying she called us in and asked us to please take care of her daughter and her sons. We have tried to do our best.

Glendi met Joel at Mayan Families. Joel is the young man who works keeping our computers up and running and organizes our photos. He is studying computers . He and Glendi fell in love and they both seem very happy.

Glendi is pregnant and expecting a baby in May.

Her new mother in law is happy to have Glendi joining the family and I think for Glendi it will be lovely for her to have a mother in law who seems to be very fond of her.

Her little brothers will now live with Glendi's older sister...who is married with three children....she has moved back to Panajachel and is happy to have the boys with her.

But they will be going back and forth to Glendi and are welcome at the new home.

I hope this marriage and the baby will bring a lot of joy to Glendi, she has had a lot of sorrow for someone so young.

If anyone would like to give a gift to Glendi....she still needs help to pay for some things for her wedding.

We have bought her a guipil and corte...and she has her veil....but she needs shoes, she needs to pay the hairdresser, she needs other accessories....she also needs an outfit for her little brother who will be a part of the wedding party.

Thanks,

Sharon

New Mayan Families goodies available!

2011-12-02T20:29:00.000-06:00

Beautiful gifts that will give twice!

2011-12-01T20:24:00.000-06:00

Almost seven years ago, my friend Lisa brought her beautiful son home from Guatemala. A few years later, she created a company called Many Hearts One Beat to offer adoption related gifts for all who travel the path of adoption - domestic, international, foster care, etc. Lisa has very generously offered to donate a portion of sales on three of her products to Mayan Families in the hopes of sponsoring children for school. Please visit her web site at http://www.manyheartsonebeat.com/ and take a look.

The three products for this fundraiser are the Family Blessings Ornament (20% of sales donated - perfect for the holidays), Blessing Bears ($5 per bear donated - these are the sweetest things!) and the Arrival Day Tree ($5 per tree donated - a very cool idea). Check out the website and these wonderful products and hopefully we can help send some children to school this year. On the home page is a 'quick search' button to help you find these products and I have also included direct links below. Be sure to check out everything else as well. Amazing, touching, heart-felt gifts for everyone blessed by adoption.

Ornament Link~> http://bit.ly/vBntQ5
Blessing Bears~> http://bit.ly/tmndZq
Arrival Day Tree~> http://bit.ly/uvP0sh

Please contact me as well with any questions or problems finding the products.
Kim.

Mayan Families Video channel.

2011-12-01T13:47:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone,
We have new Videos each day on our free YouTube channel.
We also have videos of all of the graduations!
Please remember that we are new at videos and we are still learning how to do them properly so please be patient.
We now have over 90+ Videos available to watch!
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/mayanfamiliesvideo
On the right hand side are links to the other videos we have posted.
You can also subscribe to our video channel on YouTube.
Thank you so much to Dave and his parents for this very generous donation of 4 small video cameras!
Happy viewing!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Best wishes,
Dwight Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES
www.mayanfamilies.org

VIDEO Mayan Families Videos of the Tierra Linda, Guatemala Graduation

2011-11-24T08:49:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
Our Mayan Families YouTube channel is: http://www.youtube.com/user/mayanfamiliesvideo

Here are the Tierra Linda Graduation Video Links.

Part 1: http://youtu.be/Dy7ESAxRN-E
Part 2: http://youtu.be/xlOQK86ofmA
Part 3: http://youtu.be/uQAxM1Ql8gc
Part 4: http://youtu.be/QMGiV4Ucfig
Part 5: http://youtu.be/d9CoWK0JS58

Enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Mayan Families!

Dwight
MAYAN FAMILIES

Mayan Families Videos, on the work we do here in Guatemala

2011-11-23T05:56:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
Thanks to a very generous donation from Dave Patterson, Beth's brother and their parents, we now have Videos because we now have 4 new little video cameras!
We had Susie shoot the first practice videos yesterday in El Barranco of the
graduation there.

Here are the links:
Part 1 http://youtu.be/WTMkFRkLzx0
Part 2 http://youtu.be/Ah6Y4Durork
Part 3 http://youtu.be/QTx2eIk5qdE
Part 4 http://youtu.be/--fF77yT-hI
Part 5 http://youtu.be/8p4U7Nw2zmE
Part 6 http://youtu.be/gLJRUSC_YIQ
Part 7 http://youtu.be/6iqac7ri7Ww
Part 8 http://youtu.be/blN6buC2hTI
Part 9 http://youtu.be/vg1zS3dTJ7w

And then we have today events, the Graduation in Tierra Linda:
Part 1 Tierra Linda:
http://youtu.be/Dy7ESAxRN-E

More to come.
Here is our Mayan Families You Tube Channel link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/mayanfamiliesvideo?feature=mhee

Thank you all,
Watch our YouTube Channel every evening for the latest Videos of that days
activities. This is still in the practice stages, so be patient and
understanding.

Dwight
MAYAN FAMILIES

Help...we need more votes urgently to help Guatemala!

2011-11-20T11:17:00.000-06:00

Hi, today we have dropped to 18th place....
Our wonderful volunteer, Michael who runs the carpentry workshop here, just messaged me and said how can a group called Save the Frogs...whose legs are eaten as a delicacy be just a few votes behind us..!!! He said people's priorities are certainly out of whack. He made me laugh.....but he also made me think.

I really think that if people saw how children live here, that they don't have clean drinking water, that they often don't have a bathroom, that some of them sleep on a straw mat on a dirt floor, they don't have enough blankets and are cold, that they wake up hungry, they go to bed hungry, they have terrible stomach cramps from parasites, that their little feet are cramped into shoes that are too tight or a falling apart and held together with string...just so that they have something to cover their feet.....that surely they would vote for us to enable us to help these children.
The reason that we so desperately need this $25,000 is that donations are flat due to the economic crisis that we are all feeling. We can understand that. But here is a chance at "free" money, it doesn't cost anything ....just a moment to vote and spread the word.
We need this donation to be able to keep the pre-school/after-school and feeding centers running to help the children of San Antonio.
We do not have any chance at the $100,000 unless there was some amazing miracle ...the United Sikhs seem to be true to their name and they are definitely united and have a lot of support and are in the 1st place. But we are falling daily and the race gets tougher every day, we have been told that it is really easy to fall off the list in the last two days, and now is crunch time because there are now less than two days to go.
Often on the last day , it is too hard to vote, the system overloads, so we can't wait till then.

Please ask everyone you know, who may be sympathetic, to take a few moments and vote for us. Here is the link. http://bit.ly/rFKYZE.
You get 10 votes, please use one for Mayan Families....you can only vote once and then please vote for our friends, Mission Guatemala and Amigos de Santa Cruz.
Here is another link:

1. Mayan Families - http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/208433997-mayan-families?src=charity_share

2. Mission Guatemala - http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/264500667-mission-guatemala?src=charity_share

3. Amigos de Santa Cruz - http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/912155843-amigos-de-santa-cruz?src=charity_share

thanks, Sharon.
p.s....I have nothing against frogs...I like them! with their legs intact!
Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES
a registered 501.(c).(3) Non Profit Charity

Adrian

2011-11-16T18:14:00.000-06:00

We recently posted on the Elderly Care Blog about a sweet man named Adrian who was sleeping on a wooden door. It was heartbreaking to see this frail 86 year old man sleeping on wood. To make the situation even worse, he didn't even own the door, it was borrowed from his neighbors. So the only thing he had to sleep on did not even belong to him. We would like to give Adrian a bed so he can at least have one safe, comfortable place to rest. We've received some donations from you, thank you so much, but we are still short $70. If anyone was thinking of giving a little something extra to someone who really needed it, please consider donating to Adrian and giving him a bed. He (and we) would really appreciate your concern and generosity. Thank you so, so much!

To donate for Adrian please go to our website and click on "Donate Now". Enter your donation in the "Other $" box. In the "Details" box, write "A79 Bed".

Thank you! Questions can be emailed to familyaid@mayanfamilies.org

Santiago is a dear member of our Elderly Care Program

2011-11-16T17:48:00.001-06:00

Santiago is a dear member of our Elderly Care Program. In September, he started becoming ill and we were worried about him. We sent him to a doctor where he was examined and given medication for an ulcer, severe inflammation, and stomach and leg pain. However, the doctor wanted Santiago to return the next morning at 7:00am for a blood test. The challenge is that Santiago lives quite far away and he can't walk. There is also a long path to his house that is very narrow and rocky, impossible to drive. Therefore, we had to have our staff carry Santiago down the mountanous terrain to the car. And then we would drive him to the hospital, which was still far away.

The doctor kept wanting Santiago to return for more exams and check-ups, but we really struggled finding enough staff to carry him and drive him so frequently. We tried to brainstorm some other options, including using firemen to carry him. Eventually, the family tired from the process and Santiago started to get better so they decided it would be best for Santiago to just recover at home and not return to the doctor anymore. The family said that they would contact us if he got worse.

For more information on how to help Santiago, please visit:

http://mayanfamilieselderlycare.blogspot.com/2011/11/santiago-needs-urgent-help.html
Thank you!
News Update!

We just found out that Santiago has been in the hospital in Solola for a week, due to pain and inflammation again. This morning the doctors told the family that they want to send Santiago to the hospital in the capital because his situation is deteriorating. We're still not 100% sure what is wrong with Santiago, but the doctors in Solola are confident that they can't do anything more to help him.

The cost of taking Santiago to the capital, admitting him to the hospital, and running several exams is $75. Hopefully we can soon discover what is wrong with Santiago and treat him in the capital, where they have more equipment and doctors. Any amount that you could give to help Santiago, would be greatly appreciated. We would like to send him to the capital as soon as possible, so please spread the word about Santiago's urgent need. Thank you so much!

A mother with suspected Tuberculosis and a child with Pneumonia.

2011-11-16T13:15:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, we had a mother with suspected Tuberculosis and a child with pneumonia.

We sent them both to the local health center to be diagnosed.

It was closed because the staff is on strike protesting that they have no medicines.

We also had a father come on Sunday from the coast. He brought his 8yr old daughter with him ....who looked to be the size of a very small 5yr old.

She could barely stand and could only walk a few steps without stumbling.

He had taken her to the hospital in Mazatenango but they had given him a prescription for medicines ...that would have taken a whole months wages....if he was lucky enough to be working.

He knew that he could not afford the meds.

So he borrowed the bus fare and came to Mayan Families.

We sent the little girl for medical care.

She has parasites, anemia and mostly malnutrition. The family has barely enough food to survive on.

The mother is ill ...she can't work, she is mostly bedridden.

The father cannot find work. He is lucky if he gets a day or two a week. This just keeps them alive.

I want to thank you all for making a difference in so many people's lives. These are just two families that we are able to send for medical treatment thanks to you.

We were able to give them some food to take home. Some clothes, a pair of shoes each....but we were able to give them the medicine that they needed.

The mother with tuberculosis is being treated to see if it is TB. We will know in a few days.

Sharon

Animals more important than children in Guatemala?

2011-11-16T07:53:00.002-06:00

Hi, as most of you know , there are three Guatemalan charities trying hard to win a place in the Chase Community Giving competition.
All three of these charities work hard to help the children in Guatemala with education, food and medical care. Services that the children here badly need.
So it disheartening to see that people are voting more for pitbull rescue than for feeding malnourished children.
I am a big animal lover...we have an animal program as part of Mayan Families but how is that so many animal organizations are doing so much better, getting so many more votes than the children of Guatemala ?
All three of our charities have been appealing to everyone we know or who will spread the word.
Please help us ....we hate to keep bugging you...but we really need your help to keep these three charities in the running to get $25,000 US which will make such a difference to how we can help the children.
We are not competing against each other. We are working together. All three of these charities can win the $25,000 US.
If you have already voted, please spread the word, please take a lap top to work, ask your friends to vote, take a laptop to church or a social gathering. It only takes a few minutes and will have long lasting benefits for the children here in Guatemala.
Here are the directions that Melissa Draper was kind enough to do.
Free, Easy and it Takes Less Than a Minute!

Chase Community Giving is giving money to 100 non-profits.
First place is $250,000.
2nd,3rd, 4th and 5th all receive $100,000.
...6th place through 100th place all will receive $25,000 each.

Each person gets 10 votes.

Step 1: Open Chase Community Giving on Facebook (http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/208433997-mayan-families?src=twitter) and "Like" the Chase Community Giving. (NOTE: please do not confuse "Like" Mayan Families as voting for Mayan Families. Being "Liked" is nice, but it does not count as a vote to win).

THEN: Click "Vote and Share" for these 3 non-profits that work in Guatemala:
1. Mayan Families - http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/208433997-mayan-families?src=charity_share
2. Amigos de Santa Cruz - http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/912155843-amigos-de-santa-cruz?src=charity_share
3. Mission Guatemala - http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/264500667-mission-guatemala?src=charity_share

PLEASE vote and have EVERYONE you know (friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, etc.) vote too! It only takes ONE (1) click ONE (1) time for these these 3 non-profits that work in Guatemala to win BIG bucks and do FABULOUS work in Guatemala!

Please also feel free to share this invite with as many people as possible to spread the word, as well.

** VOTING ENDS ON NOVEMBER 22 **

THANK YOU!
Sharon.
www.mayanfamilies.org

We need your Vote on facebook to help impoverished children in Guatemala!

2011-11-16T06:23:00.000-06:00

Ok everyone, it's time to take it to the streets. Get people to vote!! Set up your laptop, ask people to vote. Go to Starbucks or your favorite Coffee place & set up. Have a business? Ask people to take a minute on your laptop to vote. The easier it is the more likely people will be to vote. Make up flyer's and pass them out in the neighborhood. This money would save so many lives and it requires so little of anyone. Please, please help MAYAN FAMILIES and the two other charities here in Guatemala, Amigos de Santa Cruz and Mission Guatemala. Take an hour or two it could make a huge difference!! Vote now!

1. Click on link http://bit.ly/rFKYZE for Mayan Families

2. Click on the green "Vote & Share" button.

3. You may be prompted to like Chase Community Giving page. Please "like" Chase Giving page.

4. Make sure to click on "Vote & Share" button again .

When you click on the Vote & Share button, a new window may open that states: "Chase Community Giving" is request permission to do the following...". This window will have an "Allow" button that needs to be clicked.

Once you click the Allow button, a new message will appear with the "Vote & Share" button at the bottom.

Voting is not complete unless you click this "Vote & Share" button and see a message "Thanks for your Vote", and the vote count increases. The link to Vote will appear on your Facebook page as well after you Vote successfully. That is how you know that you have done it correctly, plus next to your photo on the upper center right of the page it will say: 9 VOTES LEFT.

World Diabetes Day

2011-11-14T17:30:00.000-06:00

Today is World's Dibetes Day. In honor of this day and in an effort to edcuate the local population, we held our monthly Diabetes Club today. Sixty-two people came to the club. The meeting began at 8:30 and we gave free blood exams, physical exams, and each person received a one-on-one consultation with a doctor and nutritionist. Medical staff led three discussions about neuropathy, diet, and exercise. At the end of the club, we handed out pamphlets explaining how to control your diabetes and the right foods to eat, and then we gave everyone a healhty lunch. People came from all over the lake-region, some came from far away, even across the lake.

When measuring blood sugar levels, we were shocked with what we saw. Keep in mind that a normal measurement is 100 and below. However, in our club today we had 21 people with measurements above 200, and 3 people had measurements above 400! We gave them shots of insulin right away, knowing that they were in great danger with such high blood sugar levels. This shows how dangerous diabetes is among Guatemalans and how desperate our Club is needed to help educate people.

Diabetes is a serious illness that effects many people all over the world. The poverty and lack of education that is so prevalent in Guatemala often makes diabetes invisible and deadly. Please consider making a donation to our Diabetes Club so we can continue our efforts in educating people and helping individuals live with diabetes in a healthy way.

Please go to Donate Now and scroll down. Enter your donation in the "Other $" box. In the "Details" box, write "Diabetes Club". Thank you so much!

Please vote on the Chase Community Giving on facebook.

2011-11-12T10:33:00.002-06:00

Please vote on the Chase Community Giving on facebook.
We are three NGO's that work with children who are in so much need of
food, medical attention and health care.
We have the chance to win $25,000 US for each organization.
We just have to stay in the top 100. Of course, we would love to be
in the top 4 which wins a lot more money but it seems hard enough just
to stay in the top 100.
This is an easy way for you to help the children here.
Each of these organizations will be using this prize money to help
children have something to eat, go to school and to have medical and
dental care. Simple things that we take for granted but which make a
huge difference in the lives of the children here.
Here are the directions.... it is for our organization Mayan Families
but it is the same directions to also vote for Mission Guatemala and
Amigos de Santa Cruz. Just
put in their names in the search slot and it will bring up their
pages. You have 10 votes, you can vote for each of us. We are not
competing against each other,
we are helping each other to stay in the top 100 so that we all win.

1. Click on link http://bit.ly/rFKYZE for Mayan Families
2. Click on the green "Vote & Share" button.
3. You may be prompted to like Chase Community Giving page. Please
"like" Chase Giving page.
4. Make sure to click on "Vote & Share" button again .
When you click on the Vote & Share button, a new window may open that
states: "Chase Community Giving" is request permission to do the
following...". This window will have an "Allow" button that needs to
be clicked.
Once you click the Allow button, a new message will appear with the
"Vote & Share" button at the bottom.
Voting is not complete unless you click this "Vote & Share" button and
see a message "Thanks for your Vote", and the vote count increases.
The link to Vote will appear on your Facebook page as well after you
Vote successfully.That is how you know that you have done it
correctly, plus next to your photo on the upper center right of the
page it will say: 9 VOTES LEFT...or any number if you have voted
previously. Please use two of your remaining votes to vote for our
friends, MISSION GUATEMALA and AMIGOS DE SANTA CRUZ. We are all
working hard to help the children of Guatemala.

Chase Community Giving. and Mayan Families

2011-11-10T21:53:00.002-06:00

These children in the photos are the reason we are asking for your help.
We have a morning pre-school and feeding program and an after school
program and feeding program.
The children of San Antonio Palopo really need this help.
But we do not have enough funds for next year.
If we can possibly stay in the first 100 of the Chase Community Giving
program, we will be able to continue the program.
If we could dare to dream that we could be in the top 4...then there
is so much more we could do.
Please take a moment and vote for Mayan Families. Please be careful
and make sure that you are voting and not just "liking" us. Liking is
great but at this moment we have lost about half our votes from well
meaning people who thought that they were voting but just clicked the
like button.

You have 10 votes.....please use one to vote for Mayan Families and
please use two others to vote for our friends, Mission Guatemala and
Amigos de Santa Cruz. We are all working hard for the children of
Guatemala.
Here is the way to vote....please take a moment to do so.

Mayan Families is in 16th place! Remember to Vote!

2011-11-10T11:09:00.000-06:00

Mayan Families is number 16 in the latest updated list - thank you! But keep voting and help
all of your friends and family vote correctly - there are 11 more days to go and it is
anyones race, though the leaders are way ahead. We can win this......here is a Note on how to vote. Please copy and paste this, then message all of your facebook friends, post it to your profile, blogs, e-mails going out in the next 11 days, yell it from the mountaintops etc Get creative!

1. Click on link http://bit.ly/rFKYZE for Mayan Families
2. Click on the green "Vote & Share" button.
3. You may be prompted to like Chase Community Giving page. Please "like" Chase Giving page.
4. Make sure to click on "Vote & Share" button again .

When you click on the Vote & Share button, a new window may open that states: "Chase Community Giving" is request permission to do the following...". This window will have an "Allow" button that needs to be clicked.
Once you click the Allow button, a new message will appear with the "Vote & Share" button at the bottom.
Voting is not complete unless you click this "Vote & Share" button and see a message "Thanks for your Vote", and the vote count increases. The link to Vote will appear on your Facebook page as well after you Vote successfully.That is how you know that you have done it correctly, plus next to your photo on the upper center right of the page it will say: 9 VOTES LEFT.

Please vote for Mayan Families Guatemala, we are now in 20th place!

2011-11-09T19:09:00.000-06:00

The leaderboard has been posted for the day. Mayan Families has jumped from #50 to #20!!! The results are real! Please keep sharing this contest with friends and families and we could win up to $250,000! This would be invaluable in our continued effort for the impoverished rural
poor in Guatemala. Be sure to go to http://bit.ly/rFKYZE to vote or to double check that you have already voted.

Help MAYAN FAMILIES win $25,000

2011-11-09T15:32:00.000-06:00

On the Facebook App called Chase Community Giving, MAYAN FAMILIES has an opportunity to win $25,000 or more if we receive enough votes to be within the top 100 nonprofits! Help us by making your vote now! Don't delay, voting ends on November 22nd. Click here to vote directly on the MAYAN FAMILIES campaign.

After you click "Vote and Share", it will prompt you to "Like" the Chase Community Giving page. After you "Like" it, then you will be granted 10 votes, so "Vote and Share" for MAYAN FAMILIES again to log your vote. Continue following any prompts, but once you see that your vote count decreases, you can be assured that your vote counted!

As of now, we have over 200 votes and are one of the top 100...but there is still 12 days left for other charities to grow their support! We must keep our momentum...thank you so much for taking the time to show your support. We could do so many great services with the winning money!!!

Vote for M.F. on the "Chase Community Giving" Contest

2011-11-08T16:47:00.000-06:00

Now is your chance to show support for Mayan Families and help us win $25,000 or more! That's right, we could receive a donation from the Chase Community Giving Facebook App, for free. Vote now...just follow these steps:

On the web, go to: http://bit.ly/rFKYZE

Click “Like” for the Chase Community Giving App, then you will be granted 10 votes.

Then find the search bar to type in a charity name (ie Mayan Families).

Once you’ve located your desired charity, click “Vote and Share”.

You will be prompted to “Allow” your personal information to be gathered by the Chase Community Giving App. You must “Allow”.

You can only vote for one charity one time, so it forces you to spread your votes out evenly.

Thank you for taking the time to follow these steps to move us one step closer to being a winner of the Chase donations…we could win $25,000-$250,000.

Sewing classes to start

2011-11-04T17:47:00.000-06:00

Dear Mayan Families' Friends and Supporters!

We have a new group of women ready to start the six-month long sewing course. Our goal for 2012 is to have 40 women trained with Sewing Skills, so that they can have better their employment opportunities. Having a useful skills, such as sewing, empowers the women to take a more active approach into the economics of their own home. We are looking to have four more women join the upcoming course which starts on Nov 8th, 2011. We are asking for your support to help us meet our 2012 goal. We have four spots available so if you're interested in having the mother of your sponsored child attend our classes, please e-mail Mayerlin@mayanfamilies.org. The cost of the six month course is $75.00 and you may pay for the classes by logging on to:www.mayanfamilies.org/DonateNow and entering the amount of $75 in the "other" box and entering "sewing classes for the mother of my sponsored student #" in the "details" box. For more information about the sewing project, please visit our page at: http://www.mayanfamilies.org/TheSewingProject

Thank You Volunteers

2011-10-24T15:07:00.000-06:00

Mayan Families staff and volunteers were able to go to the emergency shelters and deliver clothing and shoes to help the victims of the tropical storm that has devastated Guatemala these past ten days. Thanks to your donations we had enough clothes and shoes to be able to help most families.

Thank you to everyone who is able to send clothes, shoes and money for
food. All are very much needed!

Little Julio

2011-10-24T14:53:00.000-06:00

Little Julio turned 5 on the 15th of this month but due to the
torrential rains, flooding and mudslides...he and his mother could not
get to the office. The road from his village in San Jorge to
Panajachel has collapsed and there are big rockslides . It is very
dangerous to try and pass there. But he and his mother walked more
than a hour to come down a muddy mountain path and get to the Mayan
Families office.

Julio was very glad he did! His sponsor has sent him a birthday cake
and a ride on toy! This is the best birthday ever for Juliio. It is
probably the only birthday that he has ever received a present or a
cake.

As you can see from the photos....this is one very happy, little boy.
Thank you to his sponsor for making this such a special day for him!
If you would like to sponsor a child please go to our website here.

Family living dangerously close to the river

2011-10-24T14:50:00.008-06:00

Although the rains have finally subsided, the river remains a threatening presence in Panajachel. As much of the river banks were washed away, many families now find themselves living dangerously close to quick currents. The water is still very dirty and washes in a lot of garbage and debris, making nearby homes unsanitary and nearly impossible to keep clean. We visited a family last week who live in a very poorly built home that is now very close to the river. As you can see in the picture on the left, the "wall" (i.e. sheet of aluminum) of their home is only feet away from the quick currents of the river.

This is a very dangerous and unsanitary place to live. But if it is the only home you can afford, then you have very few options of leaving. That is where this precious family finds themselves. Dominga, basically a single mother because her husband spends most of his time with another woman, is desperately trying to care for her five children and her ill mother. Somehow, their home has not collapsed during the storms, but it is in very bad shape and poses many threats to this family. Paralyzed by poverty the family cannot afford to move anywhere else.

To make matters even more difficult Nirma, only 11 years old, has a terrible infection of blisters and lesions on her scalp. As a result, they have cut her hair very short and are trying to treat her with a special shampoo, which is helping, but very slowly.

This is just one of many heart-breaking stories of impoverished families trying to survive after severe storms and floods. Our doors are open for these families as they come to us desperate for food and other aid. We are so grateful for your support through these past several days as we have tried to help this family and so many others. Any donations that you could send right now will go to families like this one, and it will make a huge difference in their every day lives. Thank you for all you have done and given! And thank you for partnering with us as we serve these precious families!

Shoes & Clothes Donations

2011-10-24T14:47:00.000-06:00

Thank you to the people who are able to send us donations of shoes and
clothing. As you can see, these children are so happy to receive
these donations. They don't care if the shoes are second hand, they
are just so happy to have new shoes!

We always need shoes, especially now after it has been raining and so
muddy....most of the children's shoes will be wet and ruined.
If you would like to collect shoes and send them to us...please write
to us at Sharon@mayanfamilies.org

Eye-Glass Clinic

2011-10-24T12:03:00.000-06:00

Mayan Families volunteers, Joyce and Gladys were able to hold Glasses clinics and screenings this past week to help people who needed reading glasses.

Many of the women who make beaded jewelry or who do weaving, often do so in very dark or dim situations.....they do not have sufficient light and their eyes suffer a lot.

Thanks to this clinic, many men and women now have reading glasses to help them see. Thank you to Gladys and Joyce for collecting these glasses and for bringing them to help the people of Guatemala.

Donate Now to Relieve Families in Need from Storm Effects

2011-10-24T11:56:00.000-06:00

These are some of the families that have been living in the emergency shelters this week. The torrential rain and flooding has made many houses inhabitable and others are in danger. We have been supplying food, shoes and dry clothing to the people in the shelters.

There are many families in desperate need of food. Many have been unable to work, others have had their jobs suspended without pay as there is no tourism....we are getting pleas for help daily for food....if you would like to help please make a donation, no matter how small....it will help...Donate Now

Hernandez family

2011-10-21T14:53:00.001-06:00

Hi Everyone,
You may remember last January we posted about the Hernandez family and some of you helped them.
There is an update on their situation on the Family Aid Blog.

The Hernandez family has been through a lot. The father, Juan Pablo, has suffered greatly from physical ailments and medical malpractice, they have been robbed, and their house has been washed away by Storm Agatha (read their complete story here). But amidst so many devastating struggles, the family perseveres on and is doing everything they can to stay together. Two of their 3 daughters are sponsored through our school program, and they are so grateful for your help!

Today, this family is trying to live peacefully in Panajachel, but Juan Pablo and his wife, Nardy, are having trouble finding work. Because of Juan Pablo's health problems, he has to take medicine every day and is unable to work any strenuous jobs. So he tries to help his family by making candies that Nardy sells from a basket on the street. They do not make very much money doing this, and they are in desperate need of money to pay for their home (which they rent) and for food. The small home they have is run-down and the roof leaks. The owner of the house doesn't take care of it, and the yard and roof are infested with insects and animals (such as snakes). They pay Q500 ($67) each month for rent and electricity. Plus they have to pay for Juan Pablo's medicine which costs Q403 ($54) every 3 weeks. As a result, there isn't enough money for food or rent.
To read more of their story or to help them, please visit:
http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2011/09/hernandez-family-is-really-struggling.html
Thank you.

School Sponsorship news 2012

2011-10-21T08:47:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
The time of year for the 2012 School Sponsorship drive has arrived!
For Elementary school it will be $190
Junior High School will be $390
High School will be $490
University will be $1,250
We are sad to put the prices up and we have agonized about it but the reality is that we cut the sponsorship as close to the bone as possible...and with the costs rising we have to go up as well.
Our wish is to have as many kids have access to school as is possible but if we can't give them what they need to be able to stay in school then there is not much point in sending them. I have been checking around to see how other organizations cope with the costs of the school sponorship and another very well known org. here in Guatemala that charges $30 US a month is giving shoes that are donated...if they have the sizes...we give two pairs of brand new shoes....they do not give backpacks, they give a plastic basket with the school supplies...while plastic baskets come in very handy, I have never seen a kid carrying their school supplies in one....and they do not pay the subscription fees or the monthly fees for the children who are in jnr. high or high school. ..we pay those fees and we give everyone a backpack, plus when we can, we give them socks, underwear, gym clothes and as much as we can to help them ...often a ball for school, or a musical instrument....we cannot guarantee that we can do the ball and the instrument but if we can, we do. Also we do try, when we have medical and dental groups here to make sure that all our sponsored students have access to these facilities first. We advertise them at our office, we call students who we know have the problems that could be attended to. We really have tried to rack our brains how not to put the prices up...we have considered cutting out some things, but what to cut out that children will be able to go to school without that item?The shoes that we buy are really good quality...but even so with all the hard wearing on the roads here, they don't last a year, so the kids always receive extra shoes from the donations. I wish we didn't have to raise the prices ..I am really sorry. I know it is a really hard time for all of us right now.Sharon

Beth's Blog

2011-10-20T14:40:00.000-06:00

We are very fortunate to have a wonderful group of people here doing a trip.

They have been battling some pretty rainy weather and transportation has become increasingly difficult due to the poor conditions of the roads. Mudslides are everywhere and roads are falling apart.

But a dear friend of ours, Beth is blogging during this time and if you have a moment to read her blog, you will find it very interesting. Beth has a beautiful heart and she shares the experiences that touch her and her brother, Dave while they are here.

Here is the link .http://just--beth.blogspot.com/

Write a review!

2011-10-20T09:51:00.000-06:00

Help us spread the word about our commitment to impoverished children and families in Guatemala by writing a review about your experience with us on GuideStar:
http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/write4/mayan-families
Your feedback is critical to our continuing our good work and working on the obstacles that stand in the way of achieving success.

Shoe shines boys in Panajachel, Guatemala

2011-10-19T12:19:00.001-06:00

Saturday morning I saw these two little boys, 6 and 8 years
old....trying to get work shining shoes. They had on just thin
t.shirts and plastic shoes with no socks, the rest of their clothes
were in bad shape. But they were cold.
I asked them if they had eaten yet and they said no. So I bought them
a hot cup of oatmeal and then took them to the Mayan Families office
to get them some clothing.

They told me that they had come by themselves to shine shoes. A long
way from their village on the back of a pick up in the rain. They are
the same age as my daughter, who is not allowed to cross the road by
herself.

Thanks to the donations that we have received we were able to give
them new shoes....one pair had lights!!! and new clothes to keep them
warm. They were so happy.
The caretaker at Mayan Families got them to wash their feet before
putting on their new socks and shoes and then he carefully helped dry
their feet for them.

The shoes and clothes that these two boys received just thrilled them so much.
Thank you to everyone who sends us clothes and shoes...it means so
much to the people who receive it.

Inside a devastated home in Guatemala.

2011-10-16T12:52:00.002-06:00

This family had no time to save anything before a mud slide came
through their home.
Our Mayan Families staff had been checking on the Elderly in our
Elderly Care Program when they came across this sponsored student and
their family.
They stopped and helped dig out a lot of mud and rescue what
belongings were possible.
A heartbreaking sight.

Collecting firewood in Guatemala

2011-10-16T12:36:00.002-06:00

Returning from seeing the devastation at the river we saw this little boy.
He was with his father and they had been collecting branches and debri
from the river.
Lots of trees and branches get washed down the river and the people
take advantage of this disaster to at least, be able to get some free
wood to have for their fires.
It can be dangerous collecting firewood from the river...the current
is unbelievably strong.
This little boy is probably making one of many journeys back and forth
to bring home the firewood.

Emergency clothing distributed in Guatemala

2011-10-16T12:30:00.002-06:00

This family had to evacuate quickly and left all their clothing behind.
Thanks to the donations that you have given Mayan Families, we have been able to
provide families with clean, dry clothing.
Thank you to everyone who has been able to help by sending donations.
Mayan Families can be found at www.mayanfamilies.org

The wonderful gift of a Water Filter

2011-10-16T12:26:00.003-06:00

These sponsored families were so happy to get the gift of a water
filter that will give the family clean drinking water for the next 12
months!
What a terrific gift to give a family.
The people holding the green packets are receiving replacement filters
for their water filter.
The ceramic filters come from England, the buckets are made here in Guatemala.
After 12 months the filters need to be replaced so that the water will
remain sweet tasting. But we have had families who continue to use the
filter for up to three years. The water does not taste as good but it
is still clean.
A water filter for a family is $63 US
A replacement filter is $44 US.

Partial list of families in emergency shelter in Panajachel

2011-10-16T12:02:00.000-06:00

Hi , these are the folks who have had to evacuate and are in the emergency shelter in Panajachel, Guatemala.
A25

#1045

#1089

#1158

#1598

#L110

#1089

#1203.

There are two other families in San Andres but I don't have their numbers yet and there are more who have had to leave their houses but are staying with friends or relatives.

Sharon
Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES
Panajachel, Guatemala.
Web: www.mayanfamilies.org

After the first storm

2011-10-16T11:23:00.005-06:00

These are several of our sponsored families and Elderly people who had
to evacuate their homes to go to the emergency shelter area.

We brought up dry clothes, diapers for children and diapers for
adults. Food was provided and we went back to check on them again
today, taking more supplies.

Most of them will be able to return to their homes in the next few days.
Thank you to those of you who have been able to send donations to help
buy food for families in difficult situations. It is greatly
appreciated. If you would like to help with the disaster
relief....please send a donation to.www.mayanfamilies.org/donate
Thank you!

If you live in the Chicago area....an invitation....

2011-10-15T09:56:00.000-06:00

If you are in the Chicago area.......

Join Sharon and Dwight, founders of Mayan Families, in Chicago for an afternoon of stories, food and fun. Mayan Families Advisory Committee members Kimberly Bares and Pam Winthrop are hosting a reception on Saturday, October 29 from 1-4pm at 2929 W. Gregory Street, Chicago, IL. Learn more about Mayan Families and meet others who have a passion for Guatemala and/or have children who are adopted from Guatemela. Children welcome!

Ferris wheel at the Panajachel Festival

2011-10-13T16:38:00.000-06:00

I posted last week about the perils of the ferris wheel here at the local fair. It was on an angle with pieces of wood underneath it propped to make it balanced. It was also near high tension wires..and if it went over would take the wires with it.

It looked like a disaster waiting to happen.
Fortunately, nothing happend till they were packing it up.

A young man, 17yrs old who worked on the ferris wheel climbed to the top to start dismantling it. There is some dispute as to whether his fellow workers were not helping him as much as they should have. The young man fell, hit his head on one of the chairs going down and then hit the ground. He died at the hospital.

Somewhere on the coast, a mother would have received the news that her son was not coming home.
Sharon

Mayan Families Guatemala

Visiting homes of sponsored students.

Happy kids at the Mayan Families Panajachel Pre-school!

Mayan Families visit to the Tierra Linda Preschool

Manuel and Santiago

Chukmuk Guatemala Preschool students need sponsorship!

Maria Rosario in Guatemala

First week of new administration

Zacapa medical news update

Update on Zacapa

Tamale baskets for Christmas!

An article about Mayan Families Canada!

Goings on at Mayan Families!

Baby Jose and his siblings.

Three orphans struggling to survive. FA 202

Students needing sponsorship in Guatemala with Mayan Families

2011 reflections for Mayan Families in Guatemala

Family of Orphans get a bed for Christmas!

A volunteer's blog about working with Mayan Families and life in Guatemala.

MARVIN and his family get a great gift in Guatemala with Mayan Families

Christmas spirit

The San Jorge Pre-school Holiday Outing!

Cristobalina's postcards!

Diabetes ...a huge problem in Guatemala.

Christmas party for the 54 children in the Mayan Families Orphan Program

Friday, Saturday and Sunday! December with Mayan Families in Guatemala

700+ Christmas Tamale Food Baskets distributed by Mayan Families in Guatemala!

Families Receiving Tamale Baskets

Guatemala Food Baskets being distributed, Christmas Tamale Baskets Video

More Holiday Christmas Tamale Food Baskets being given out!

The start of the Tamale Baskets!

Post on facebook and elsewhere! Help Mayan Families here in Guatemala!

Glendi and Joel's wedding

Christmas in Guatemala.

Amazing News! Cristobalina is Walking. Watch the Video!

A happy and sad week in Guatemala for Mayan Families

More Holiday Christmas Tamale Food Baskets needed!

Food

Panajachel Pre -school

Dilson.

Buy Mayan Families T-shirt's, Coffee mugs, Base Ball Caps etc

Today 5-Dec-2011

Archeology in Guatemala!

Happy news!

New Mayan Families goodies available!

Beautiful gifts that will give twice!

Mayan Families Video channel.

VIDEO Mayan Families Videos of the Tierra Linda, Guatemala Graduation

Mayan Families Videos, on the work we do here in Guatemala

Help...we need more votes urgently to help Guatemala!

Adrian

Santiago is a dear member of our Elderly Care Program

A mother with suspected Tuberculosis and a child with Pneumonia.

Animals more important than children in Guatemala?

We need your Vote on facebook to help impoverished children in Guatemala!

World Diabetes Day

Please vote on the Chase Community Giving on facebook.

Chase Community Giving. and Mayan Families

Mayan Families is in 16th place! Remember to Vote!

Please vote for Mayan Families Guatemala, we are now in 20th place!

Help MAYAN FAMILIES win $25,000

Vote for M.F. on the "Chase Community Giving" Contest

Sewing classes to start

Thank You Volunteers

Little Julio

Family living dangerously close to the river

Shoes & Clothes Donations

Eye-Glass Clinic

Donate Now to Relieve Families in Need from Storm Effects

Hernandez family

School Sponsorship news 2012

Beth's Blog

Write a review!

Shoe shines boys in Panajachel, Guatemala

Inside a devastated home in Guatemala.

Collecting firewood in Guatemala

Emergency clothing distributed in Guatemala

The wonderful gift of a Water Filter

Partial list of families in emergency shelter in Panajachel​

Af​ter the first storm

Partial list of families in emergency shelter in Panajachel

After the first storm