Day of the Dead or All Saints Day.

This is a very interesting article about the upcoming holiday..... Day of the Dead or All Saints day as it is more commonly known in this area.

Fiambre is made and sold here but it is really something that is eaten more in the city or Antigua than in the rural areas around Panajachel. I think the cost of making it would be difficult for most of the people that we work with.

But they do spend a lot of time going to the cemetary, painting the graves and headstones, going to the cemetary with bunches of flowers, bright colored paper decorations. Outside the cemetary it takes on a party atmosphere, lots of little booths are set up selling food, "cantina" tents are set up selling beer and alcohol, ice cream vendors and lots of music, even live bands.
http://www.nj. com/homegarden/ entertaining/ index.ssf/ 2009/10/day_ of_the_dead_ dishes_from_ pa.html

Help Save Lake Atitlan.

Anyone who has visited here will be very saddened and concerned to see this article.
I have been hearing for days that the lake has a brown "scum" around the shores but only yesterday did I see it myself . We were driving out of Panajachel to San Jorge la Laguna and I was shocked to see how far spread the brown algae was. In front of Hotel Atitlan there is no longer beautiful blue sparkling water, the whole bay is covered in a brown algae.
There have been Govt. helicopters flying over for the past few days assessing the situation and late yesterday afternoon , a line of goverment cars with blackened windows, obviously carrying some VIPS came into town.
I hope that something will be done before it is too late.
All the villages around the lake depend on tourism....it would be devastating for the local economy to lose that income....already the fisherman are without work. There is now a warning on eating fish from the lake. http://guatemala- times.com/ news/guatemala/ 1222-help- save-lake- atitlan-guatemal a.html

Happy Birthdays!

These are some of the lucky children who celebrated their birthdays with birthday cakes and gifts from their sponsors.

For most of the children who are sponsored with Mayan Families will never have celebrated their birthdays, they will never have had a birthday cake like this! Many of our sponsored children do not even know when their birthday is ....it is just another day that passes unnoticed.

These children were so excited and thrilled to have a birthday cake!

We purchase the cakes locally, they are huge and will be enough to go around for the extended family. The cakes cost $25 US.
We also purchased the toys locally and they were $15 US each.


If you have a sponsored student, we are happy to be able to deliver these gifts.

UPDATE......#1096 Lisbeth.told me this is the first doll that she has ever had. She was so excited!

Gifts of food!

These are some of the lucky families that received food from their sponsors this week.
Daily we have more and more people coming to us who do not have enough to eat.

This family came all the way from Chichicastenango to pick up beans and corn.














This family is from Tierra Linda. They would then carry this food basket back up the mountain on their backs...it is at least an hour walk up the mountain for them.

















This single mother is supporting her children alone. She doesn't make enough to be able to feed them sufficiently.....they were thrilled with this wonderful gift of food and a chicken.!

If you would like to send food to your sponsored family or if you would just like to send food to a needy family...any amount ....no matter how small will be appreciated!

We purchase all the food from the local market and this also helps the local economy.

Gladis gets new traditionall clothes!

Gladis , one of our sponsored students was so thrilled to receive new traditional clothing from her sponsors, Molly and Ana.

Giving the gift of traditional clothing not only keeps the Mayan traditions alive, it also provides work for the weavers. These clothes are usually made in small cottage industries. They are sold at markets.

The Mayan people have a lot of pride in their traditions, their weavings and embroideries.

Unfortunately, the cost of it now makes it very difficult for families to be able to afford to continue dressing their daughters in cortes and guipils.

Animal Spay and Neuter clinic.

If you are an animal lover and have visited Guatemala then I am sure that at some stage your heart has been very heavy watching the suffering of the animals here.

Please visit our blog ....Hope for the Animals .....to see what we are doing to help the animals.

http://mayanfamilieshopefortheanimals.blogspot.com/2009/10/september-spay-and-neuter-clinic-i.html

Water filters being distributed in Pena Blanca, Guatemala.

Last Saturday , we had the pleasure of working with the Rotary Club Metropolis from Guatemala City and Juan Carlos Cheves from Bomba Aqua Guatemala , who produce the filters.
We distributed approx. 350 filters in three small villages.

The crowds were waiting patiently for the water filters that would provide clean drinking water to their families.

This is the Mayor of Pena Blanca. He was waiting in full dress regalia to greet us and help unload the water filters.

There was also a reporter from Prensa Libre there to take photos and report the story.

While we were there I could not help but notice some of the children's shoes. We have recently received a wonderful donation of 800 pairs of shoes from Holly and Brad Clark. You can see why we need so many shoes when you see the conditon of these plastic shoes.

The women watching the Julio from Mayan Families instructing them how to assemble and care for the water filters.

We talked to the crowd and explained that these filters would not only give them cheap, clean , safe drinking water but it would help their children by not giving them sodas, that it would help their dental health, it would help stop the spread of diabetes and gastritis.

The Mayor of Pena Blanca being photographed by the Prensa Libre.

Having fun learning how to assemble the filters.

Some of the happy recipients.

More sad shoes.

Dwight, Sharon, Julio from Mayan Families with Richard Rivera from Club Metropolis.

The children in Guatemala can always amuse themselves!

The women signing that they have received the filters.

Some more happy women with water filters. Thank you George Lewis from Florence Rotary Club for making this all possible.

Julio from Mayan Families demonstrating the water filters in another small village, Buena Vista.