A Library is coming together!

Hi everyone,

Just to clarify, we are not building a library....we are establishing one in one of the rooms at the Tierra Linda community center that we opened. 

We did not want to open the library for Gabby in a building we didn't own because then we would have had the situation that we may have had to move it.

So I talked to Becky and we decided to do it in a room in the Tierra Linda center....it is the second floor where the Tierra Linda Junior High is located. 

It is not a big room but it will be big enough for the time being.   We hope when we eventually finish the 2nd floor ( don't have funds for it right now so don't know when that will be )  ... the ground floor has the preschool, 1st floor the Junior High and now Gabby's library.   It is the 1st room at the top of the staircase.....the room is not big but thanks to Michael , our fantastic carpentry volunteer, there is now a little loft built in it so that kids can  climb up there with a book and spend time reading, there is an area below the loft that will be for smaller children, we have a very talented artist who is here right now who has painted a "magic garden theme" on the round table for the children and all the little chairs, about 6 of them are carved and painted with cartoon characters.  

We have a large verandah which will be used for the kids to arts and crafts and also they can take a book outside on the verandah to read.

There is absolutely nothing for the children to do in Tierra Linda so we know that this will become a highly sought after destination but we only have the funds for one teacher to be there ...who we hope will not only over see the library but also be able to help kids with their homework.....so we will have to limit it to 20 - 25 children per afternoon who will be able to come to the library....we are hoping we may have volunteers over the summer who could help out but the problem is with transportation.  It is the wet season and walking down the mountain on the wet, muddy paths in the rain is very dangerous and we do not always have a car we can send to pick someone up and we also have the same problem with the car, that in the rains, there are mudslides and rock slides and it can be dangerous to be on the road in the afternoon.  If we had a volunteer who would like to stay in Tierra Linda for a week at a time, then we could work that out. ...but in the meantime we will have to do the schedule on a roster for the children , so that the teacher is not overwhelmed.  

We are very excited about this and hope it should be open within the next few weeks.  We are still trying to find the right teacher and that is what is now the delay.  We have to have a man...because he will need to travel late in the afternoon...so he will need to have his own transportation like a motorcycle or not be afraid to walk the very long road alone.  It is not a situation, that a woman living here, would feel comfortable doing.

We are going to have a beautiful photo of Gabby on the wall and her story. 

We hope when we finish the second floor that the library will move upstairs and have a lot more space.   But I am not sure when that will be.

Thank you so much for the support with Gabby's library.....it will mean so much to Becky, Shane and Tucker ....and so much to the children of Tierra Linda!

Sharon

Mayan Families visit to the Tierra Linda Preschool

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!

Carmen's Trip to Tierra Linda.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

          Tierra Linda

We arrived in Panajachel on Saturday and soon it started to rain.  It rained all day Sunday and when we woke up on Monday we saw that it was cloudy once again.  It was an inconvenience for us, only because we would need to wear our raincoats and the kids were not going to be able to use the hotel pool.  What I did not imagine was the misery it really brings to some people here.

I met some employees from Mayan Families early on Monday morning and we left Panajachel to deliver food and supplies to the preschools that Mayan Families runs in San Jorge, El Barranco and Tierra Linda. On the way to San Jorge we saw that there had been a huge mudslide earlier in the day and huge boulders were blocking one lane.  Some municipals workers were trying to clear the road but it was obvious it would take a long time and  more equipment to move all those huge rocks.  Buses were not allowed on the road, only smaller vehicles.  I am sure that affected a lot of people that were counting on the buses to transport them.

When we arrived in Tierra Linda we delivered the supplies and then left to visit some families, guided by the preschool teacher.  She brought us to the most remote homes in the village.  The road was blocked by a fallen tree and we had to walk.  It was extremely muddy but it got worse once we took the small pathways and it started to rain.  We first visited the home of Rolando, a sponsored student by Mayan Families.  He was taking a bath next to a tank where they collect water.  It was cold and he was trying to do it quickly.  We visited his home and I was shocked to see the state of the walls.  They were made of mud bricks and there were cracks all over.  The floor was made of dirt and it was starting to get get.  I am sure it would soon turn to mud. It was a very small room. There were two small beds and only one had a thin mattress.  They showed us another room where the grandmother and the two smaller kids slept.  It was just wooden boards on top of some blocks and it did not have a mattress. They only had a couple of blankets.

We visited other homes nearby and they seemed to be even worse.  I have been to Guatemala 4 times but these were the worst living conditions I had ever seen.  The houses were made of mud brick that was falling apart.  The walls had pieces of mud missing in some places and the owners had put plastic to try to cover the holes but you could still see light coming through them. These homes seemed like they could fall down any minute.  Some of them were right on the edge of the clif and they were in danger of falling down all the way to the bottom of the mountain. There rooms were very dark and some homes did not have electricity connected so they would stay that way day and night. Some had Onil stoves donated by Mayan Families and their supporters and thankfully, there was no smoke in the rooms. There was mud everywhere and most of the kids were barefoot. I felt like crying and I was mad.  I could not believe those were their homes and they had to be there every day.

I thought I had seen the worst and then we got to the home of Rudy, Yesica and Josue, also sponsored to attend school. The mother was boiling some water and there was smoke all over the room they use as kitchen. They showed us the rest of the house, a room with space for a small cot and a small bed. The cot did not have a mattress and a very thin blanket of top. You could feel the wires and I could not imagine having to sleep on top of that. The other bed did not have a mattress either. The walls were covered with plastic in some places to cover the holes on the mud brick. It looked like it could fall any minute. The mother told us the husband had left 3 weeks before and she did not have any money to buy food for her children. She had only been able to get a couple of jobs cleaning onions but it was very difficult to find jobs. There was no food at the home and I mean nothing, not one potato or beans, or corn. I felt so powerless. I looked in my pockets and I only had 25 quetzals to give her. I had forgotten to exchange money and I had nothing else to give her. She was very grateful and said she would buy corn flour to make tortillas for her children. It was raining very heavy, the closest store was in the center of town which meant she either had to leave the kids home alone while she tried to walk in the mud and rain or one of children would have to make the trip to buy the flour.
We had to leave but promised to try to do something for her. She was crying saying she was desperate, that she wished she could take poison to end it all. It broke my heart to hear her say that because her children where right there. All the way down the mountain I was mad and I stayed mad all day. Life is so unfair to some people. I don't understand why and it makes me mad. I just hope I will stay mad long enough to do something for her and the other families.