Update on FA 90 - Mario and Marta Still Need Medicine!

Hi Everyone,
In March we posted about FA90 Mario and Marta Can't treat their diabetes alone.
They still need assistance with medicine.

Here is an update:
This lovely couple is still struggling to buy their medicine.
All the money they earn goes towards feeding their family and paying off all the medical expenses that have piled up over the past couple of years.

If you would like to this family, Mario is in great need of medicine for his diabetes and Marta needs a new pair of glasses. She has been without a proper pair of glasses for a couple of months. The cost of Mario's medications and treatment each month is $180. The cost of a new pair of glasses for Marta is U$100.

Any donation, large or small, would make a wonderful difference to this lovely family who constantly have to choose between buying food and buying medication.

To read their complete story or for more information on how to help them, please visit:

http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2011/06/update-mario-and-marta-need-medicine.html

or

http://mayanfamiliesconnectionguatemala.blogspot.com/2011/03/mario-and-marta-cant-treat-their.html

Thank you!

Marta's 4 Children Going Hungry FA122

Hi Everyone,

We posted about Marta and her family back in March, 2010 when Marta had a baseball-sized growth just below her knee that had become unbearable.
Thankfully it was removed and was not cancer.

Thankfully, the generosity of Mayan Families donors has worked again, and Marta's school-aged children all have sponsors!! Though the kids now have the means to stay in class, unfortunately the family's situation has gotten worse. With no work available in their rural village, their father, Jose, has grown depressed, and begun drinking--a common escape here for those who see no way out of poverty. Unfortunately, his habit has left Marta and her four children, who had little enough before, with nothing to eat. She recently called Mayan Families, desperate for help--the children hadn't eaten in three days. Any gift of food that you can send would help ensure that these children don't have to go hungry any longer than they already have.

Marta would like to move to Panajachel, where the chances of finding a job are better than in Chimaltenango. Unfortunately, they don't have the capital for a move. They have no money saved up to begin renting, or buy food, while they look for work. Though she hates to ask for such a large help, Marta doesn't know what else to do, so she is hoping that maybe someone will find it in their hearts to help them, by offering a few month's of rent to allow them to move to Pana. A single room in Pana usually costs $83 per month..

If you would like to help Marta and her children or read their complete story, please visit:

http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2011/05/marta-who-can-walk-now-with-crutches.html

or

http://mayanfamiliesconnectionguatemala.blogspot.com/2011/03/family-of-6-need-help-overcoming.html

Thank you!

Pixabaj and Maria Tecun in Guatemala.

This is the school , it has been terribly damaged in Maria Tecun by the mudslides from Tropical Storm Agatha. So far no help has been promised to them to rebuild the school.
Today Mayan Families crew along with volunteers from Canada, Zoe and her mother, Laurie with three members of Rotaract USA were there to help install 40 Shelter Boxes . These boxes include tents and survival utensils for a family to at least have a decent, safe and dry living space. It was really a difficult day for everyone involved in this delivery. Pouring rain and mud kept the staff and volunteers wet and cold.


This is a view of part of hill with several mudslides that have taken out houses and fields.
To see more photos , please click here.

High School Students Doing Public Service #1

ICI Seminar Project #1 "Winsy's Group"

Seven graduating high school students from the Information Computer Institute (ICI) came to us asking for help with their seminar project. These students (Juan Carlos, Estela, Eder, Lucrecia, Claudia, Winsy, and Cesar) are going to graduate this year with a degree in business administration, and they have chosen to build a little school store for a neighboring public school, out of recycled materials, namely “ecoblocks.”

The elementary and junior high students of the school will work to collect thousands of plastic bottles and cram them full of washed and recycled plastic trash, such as chips bags and water bags. These blocks have been proven to be structurally sound, and are a great visual reminder of the students of the value of recycling.

But to do so they still need help of some building materials, and they came to us for help. If any of you would like to donate even a part, we will buy the building materials these students need. They will have to have the building completed by August when they graduate, and we’ll send you a photo. They need tin sheeting, wood beams, wire mesh, nails, wire, wood for the doors, cement, and sand, totaling $404.81, all described in their carefully planned budget. The high school students are providing the labor, and the elementary students are in charge of collecting, stuffing, and assembling the “ecoblocks.”
In the end the neighborhood school will benefit from a neat school store for generations. The students will benefit from this lesson in their own creative capacity to use recycled materials. And we all benefit from over a thousand bottles and tons less trash in Lake Atitlan.












Please donate anything you can to Seminar Project "Winsy's Group." Every single bit of wire mesh, or extra nail, helps them bring their plan to fruition.

Another abandoned puppy.

This little puppy, probably around 2 months old was found down by the river. She has an old machete wound going from the top of her head all along her back. Someone slashed her with a machete. A machete is a large knife that men use for a variety of reasons, usually chopping firewood, work around the house. Unfortuantely, it is not uncommon for us to find dogs with machete wounds.

This poor little girl was starving and thirsty, she also has a problem with an infection in her fur.

We will be having our monthly spay and neuter clinics today. We will probably have around 30 - 35 dogs/ cats to spay and neuter.

One of the reasons we are so dedicated to doing these clinics is to limit the number of animals that are left to wander the streets suffering, abused, injured, starving and terrified.

If you are an animal lover, please consider sponsoring a dog or cat to be spayed or neutered. It only costs $20 US and it saves so much future suffering.