The Agaclon Colo family is in desperate need of some assistance on many fronts.

The Agaclon Colo family is in desperate need of some assistance on many fronts.

Last year, the father of the family, Fermin, went to visit the doctor after suffering some pain in his stomach. He was prescribed medication which he continued to take for several months despite the fact that the pain was getting worse and worse. Finally, when the pain became almost unbearable, he went to hospital where they discovered that in fact none of the pills he had been taking had dissolved and had formed a massive ulcer in his stomach. 

He was forced to have a colostomy, now has a colostomy bag and has been unable to work since. In order to get back-up and working he needs to have a large number of tests done to see if the colostomy bag can be removed, however these are prohibitively expensive ($500 US dollars). His wife washes clothes for a living earning less than $3/day and has no hope to be able to pay for these fees while still keeping the family afloat. 

However the family’s problems do not stop there. Last year their 12 year old son Brian Jose was diagnosed with Leukemia. With his father not working the family is struggling to pay for his transport expenses to the city to attend his chemotherapy sessions ($30/month). This is life saving treatment that is not available anywhere locally. 

On top of this, the family lost their home in the 2010 floods. They have been in sheltered accommodation ever-since waiting for permanent housing to be available to them. By a stroke of luck they have just been told that a house has been allocated to them however in order to claim it they need to pay $300 in legal fees – if they do not process the paperwork by the end of the month the house will be forfeited to another family. With their combined medical situations it is extremely unlikely they will be able to do this on their own. 

If you can support this family in any way please donate online at http://www.mayanfamilies.org/DonateNow and quote FA-312.

Ponciana's funeral

We see so many people pass away here but Ponciana has affected everyone who knew her.

5 days ago, a group of Mayan Families staff members went to the house to visit , taking flowers, coffee, sugar, bread and corn. 

Some of us, will be joining the funeral procession.

Eric, our driver, who lost his first wife to cancer..about 5 years ago was very close to Ponciana...he drove her to each of her appointments in the city and picked her back up.  He said that his heart hurts most for the youngest child...who is about 5 years old...he would always come and wave goodbye to his mother when she left and he was always waiting in the fields when she got back and he would jump up and applaud because he was so happy she was back.

Eric said he wanted to take a photo of this little boy but because it tore at his heart so much, he couldn't do it...

Sharon

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES

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

www.mayanfamilies.org

General Medical Fund helps severly Ill Children

If you are a parent you may know the terrible anxiety of having your child ill ......and worse ...in hospital.  But imagine if your child is ill, they are in hospital...and the hospital does not have the medicines you need..and you don't have the money to buy the medicines.  This was the awful situation for these  two mothers this week.  

Thanks to your donations Mayan Families was able to help them. 

Next week , we will have other mothers who will be in this situation.   

Imagine if this was your child.  No money.....no medicines. 

Please help us to help them with a donation to our General Medical Fund

http://www.mayanfamilies.org/DonateNow

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES

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

Website: www.mayanfamilies.org

Very sad news this morning at 4:30 am

Dear friends, 

This morning , at 4.30a.m. we were awoken to the very sad news that one of our sponsored students had passed away.

She is Irma #591 ...a  little girl from Tierra Linda who is the sister of Mario who works for Mayan Families.

 Some of you may have met him.  He is a lovely young man with a huge smile that shows teeth so white and straight that they should be in a magazine. 

He works in the carpentry work shop and is the caretaker for the River House ...as it is known...this is our house that we had to evacuate from during the last heavy storms and is now being used for the carpentry work shop and for storage. 

Mario called me sobbing that his sister had died. 

She was just 11 years old and there had been nothing wrong with her.

She had come home from school yesterday afternoon, excited that she would be in a parade today in Solola....It is the annual fair in Solola...which is the capital of this departmento ( like a state) .

She was to be dancing in the parade. 

Her mother said that she saw her eat some radishes,  ( the family grows radishes ) and that she was fine till 4p.m. when she started vomiting .   

Tierra Linda has no ambulance, they have no medical care.  

Mario's house is a long way out of town. 

It is also not the custom here to rush to the doctor. 

By 6p.m. when Mario got home his little sister ...he told me...was unable to speak.  I am not sure whether he means she was already unconscious or that she was so weak from vomiting.

They got her to the hospital around 8.p.m.   and she passed away just before midnight.

The family asked us to come to the hospital this morning when they would receive the body.

We went there to help them.  The hospital was closed for visiting hours and all the hallways were very empty.  We were taken to the morgue where the family was waiting, they opened the door to the morgue and asked us to come in. There was the body of little Irma lying on the table ....an elder from Tierra Linda was preparing her body to go into the coffin.  She was so tiny for 11 years old. 

I was not expecting to go into the morgue and it was a real shock to see her little body lying there.

It was also a shock to realize that the little parcel wrapped in a costale ( corn bag) lying on the next  table, was that of a baby. I read the tag and it was a 1 month, 10 day old girl . 

The father told me that the doctor had said that a vein burst in her head and that is what caused her death .  

So many questions around that.

Irma was one of 10 children and she was elder of the  two girls in the family.   This is going to be very hard for the little sister.

After leaving the hospital, we took the father to buy sweet bread that he would need for the viewing today. Sweet bread and coffee is offered to guests who come and support the family in their vigil by the coffin...all day today , all night members of the family will sit next to the coffin and she will be buried tomorrow.

It was poignant to see all the happy children in their parade outfits who had finished doing the parade in Solola  and realize that Irma should have been one of them.

Instead her body was being transported back from Solola to the village of Tierra Linda.

Sharon

Sharon Smart-Poage

MAYAN FAMILIES

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

Diabetic Club meeting!

Mayan Families holds a once a month Diabetic club meeting where we give out information, take blood tests and try to give as much care as we can.
Our club is in desperate need of medications and food for the patients suffering from diabetes. If you would like to sponsor a person to be able to attend the club and receive the life saving medications and attention. Please write to us at Sharon@mayanfamilies.org

Monday in Guatemala

Monday we are facilitating a medical/dental and vision clinic in El Barranco!

So far this medical team saw over 250 people in Panajachel, 157 in San Jorge.  They have been doing a great job.

Monday we also have our new Volunteer Coordinator Erin taking over from Susie.  Susie will continue to work at Mayan Families but will be focusing on other areas.

We also have a new intern, Daniella starting for five weeks.

Volunteers, Bethany and her son Seth,   Kerry, her parents and her two daughters, Medina and Ruby are visiting. Cindy and her friend arrived late Sunday afternoon and if Cindy is not too tired she will be coming to El Barranco to help  the medical clinic. 

We have an early morning trip leaving Panajachel at 3.30a.m. to get to the hospital at 7:00 A.M....we are taking the young girl from San Antonio to see the specialist. She was there last week but needs to go back for more tests.  She is bleeding continually from her mouth, in large clots .   So far, thank goodness, they have ruled out Leukemia...Jody from COTA has suggested that we give her vitamin K which one of her doctors suggest will stop the problem but the bleeding is increasing and the mother is very anxious.   We are trying the Vitamin K as well. 

We will still have a few Father's Day Baskets to give out. The folks from across the lake could not come over as it was heavy rain over there making boat travel difficult and dangerous.

We also will be giving out more gifts from Denise's shipment. Many students received their gifts on Sunday but more still to go out.

Plus it was Gloria's ( our manager) birthday on Sunday....and the mothers at the Panajachel preschool have a surprise for her, so we will be stopping there around 11:00 A.M. for tamales and birthday cake! 

Sharon

Sharon Smart-Poage
MAYAN FAMILIES

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

www.mayanfamilies.org

Dominga has hope with help!

Sometimes, as a fund-raising volunteer, there are stories that are an easy to sell.  Young kids, parents struggling to raise young families, and even wise, frail, wise ancianos can pull at the heartstrings of strangers, even from thousands of miles away.  And then there are the tougher cases.  Single adults, or parents, not yet frail and helpless, whose children are grown.  Many older indigenous men and women tend to be stoic in front of a camera, and the donations come slower when they, rather than their children or their parents, are in danger.  These cases are always the hardest as a volunteer, because from a few feet away it is always easy to feel real, wrenching tragedy, even when you know it will be near impossible to communicate.
Dominga is one such case.  She is just 50 years old, and a mother seven times.  She has a cancerous tumor in her stomach, and though it is slow-growing and curable, she cannot live if it is not removed.  A wonderful medical NGO, Wuqu' Kawoq, has been working along with Mayan Families to care for Dominga, but the surgery she needs will still cost $1670.  The tumor has made her very ill, and she has been admitted to the hospital on an emergency basis, but things are at an impasse until she--or we--can raise the money for her surgery. 
After struggling through poverty all their lives, Dominga and her husband, Juan, have managed to keep their youngest children, Rodrigo, 13, and Ana Patricia, 11, in school with the help of Mayan Families.  They are the first in their families to learn to read and write, and Dominga has worked hard for many years in hopes that they would have this chance.  This Mother's Day, I hope that you will consider making a donation, big or small, to make sure that Dominga is here to see her children graduate.  I can't offer a beautiful, sad picture of an innocent face, but I hope that you will see in Dominga a difficult but dignified life--a life worth saving.
If you would like to Donate to Dominga's care, please go to Donate Now and scroll down.  Enter your donation in the Other $ box.  In the Details box, write #41 Dominga Medical.  Even a small donation will bring us one step closer to preventing this tragedy.

http://mayanfamilies.org/DonateOnline

Flabio is 17 years old and has kidney problems

Flabio is 17 years old and has kidney problems. He has been to several doctors who tell him that one of his kidneys is failing. He has an appointment on February 20 with a nefrologist in the capital and he needs $109 to go to the capital and have his appointment.


Flabio's parents, Maria and Jose, have three children. Jose works in a supermarket and Maria stays at home to care for the family. They try their best to provide for their children, but Jose's wages have not been enough to care for the family and pay for Flabio's medical expenses. Flabio's doctor visits have strained the family's budget and they are really struggling.


Amidst Flabio's medical troubles, he still earnestly wants to stay in school. However, given his medical bills he is afraid that he may have to drop out because his family can't afford both medical bills and school payments. Flabio needs a school sponsor for 10th grade, which costs $490 for the entire year.


For more information on how to help Flabio receive school sponsorship or the medical attention he needs, please visit:


http://familyaidprogram.blogspot.com/2012/02/flabio-has-kidney-failure-and-needs.html


Thank you!

Update on Zacapa

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

Blessings from Loida

Loida is recovering well and sends all of us blessings! Thanks for coming together for this lovely woman!

Here is a letter from Loida with a personal message to all of you:

Dear Miss Ely:

I hope everything is well in your work and material life, and especially in your spiritual life. Above all else that you take care of, take care of your heart, because it is the mana of life. Prov. 4-23 (Prov. 4:5-9)

Well, I have to tell you that thanks to God, the day of the operation came and went, as always I was a little nervous, then during the operation as well a little, because the doctor told me that he suspected a small tumor in the nerve and it was exactly as he thought. Fortunately it was a benign tumor, but the doctor had to cut the nerve, which means that two of my toes are completely insensitive. The surgery was small but deep because the damage was under my toes.

The day that they took out the stitches, a friend took me, and it was supposedly a whole day trip, but we were stuck in the road for the whole night because a big mudslide fell and we had to go back to look for somewhere to sleep in Chimaltenango. And we left early the next day, but there was still no way to get through the road. We finally arrived in Panajachel, exhausted, but thanks to God, we were safe.

Now comes the difficult part because I have to get accustomed to the bother I feel now that my toes have lost all sensation, and until now, I have just now begun to feel the bother, but I will get used to it. Well I have spent my energy now, I just wanted to give thanks to you for taking me into account. Thanks for making my world a little less difficult. I want to tell you that the 5 operations I have endured, mostly all this alone. Now it is so different because I have so quickly found so many special people in my life like you, and others. Those that I have known for so long a time, years past, and some that I don’t even know. Nevertheless, they are special to me, and I ask God to bless all of them. Can you imagine it, now someone has volunteered to give me food massages. I feel so appreciated and thankful for this attention. I am thankful for everything from God, because there are so many blessings I don’t even feel like I deserve them. Only by his grace, it doesn’t matter the circumstances, all things help for good and when we understand that EVERYTHING has a purpose for our life, we should feel happy, even in pain. Thanks Miss Ely, people like you have shown the love of God, through service to your neighbor and that reflects always in your smiling face.

God bless you, give you much health, and may all your goals be fulfuilled.

Regards,

Loida Elena Muñoz and children

One of our sponsored families.

This family is typical of some of the families that we work with in Guatemala. There are five children in the family. The father, Victoriano works taking sand out of the river. It is one of the lowest paid jobs. He earns $20 US per week when he can sell his sand. The sand is used for construction. Some weeks he cannot sell the sand and there is no money for the family. Other weeks if it is raining he cannot work.

The family rents the house that they live in. It is $20 US per month. They pay $7 US per month for electricity and $2 US per month for water. This tin shed is their kitchen.

Their toilet and washing area has no walls, it is just plastic sheets for privacy.

The mother washes clothes by hand in private houses. She earns $2 - $3 US per day when she can get work. It can be difficult for her to find work because she has the young children and people do not want her to bring the children to their houses.

This is a pila, a 2 sided cement sink. This is where the family washes the dishes, washes their hair, washes their clothes and washed themselves. The big blue plastic can is used for storing extra water.

This is the kitchen . They are cooking over an open fire in a tin can.

They also cook over these bricks on the dirt floor.

The beds do not have mattresses. The floor is dirt and you can see where rain is coming inside the house and making the floor wet.

They have one closet without doors and they keep their clothes in this closet. Extra clothes they keep in cardboard boxes. They have one wooden table and two wooden chairs.

The baby was recently hospitalized with pnuemonia. Thanks to the sponsors of one of the children, medical care was made available to the baby and we were able to get the medication needed. But the family did not have any food. The children are malnourished. We were able to get some food for the family but they need on going help if the children are to have enough to eat.

This is one of the families that is being hit very hard by the increase in food costs.