2nd floor classroom going up in San Jorge.

The second floor of the much needed classroom in San Jorge is going up!
Thanks to a wonderful donation we have been able to continue construction on the second floor.

This classroom is going to be so appreciated when school starts again. Presently, there is one classroom of children who are having their classes in a makeshift classroom of tin sheeting with no natural light and no electricity. It is really only a "lean to" against another classroom. It has a dirt floor which has been awful in the wet season.

There are two other grades that are being taught in a "temporary classrooms" that are not even on the school grounds. They are in horrible sheds that are owned by the municipalidad.
They have very little light, they are hot and when it rains it is impossible for them to hear the teacher.



We are so happy that thanks to this very generous donation that one of these classrooms will now be able to move to a decent classroom where they will have room to sit, have light, fresh air and space to move.

Work begins on a house in Panajachel.

We had a small piece of land donated to be able to build a house for a needy family.

With the arrival of the Hands of Healing construction group, we were able to start building one small room. This will be a very basic room but it will be a haven for a family that has no where to live.

Roberto, Carlos and Jonathon from Mayan Families worked alongside the Healing Hands volunteers. The volunteers were here for one week and also worked fixing the roof on a house for a single mother with 7 children, they built a book shelf for the pre-school and managed to fix a variety of things that were in need of a handyman.

Thank you so much, Healing Hands for the donation to build this little house. The group has left but Mayan Families is continuing to finish the construction.

Big Books!

These very large books were donated to the pre-school in Panajachel.

They are in Spanish and the children just loved them!

They were donated from a school in California and carried down by Sandi and her friend, Barbara.

We really appreciate these donations.

Mildred.

Mildred was fortunate to who receive Christmas gifts from her sponsor.
It was such a delight to watch her open these gifts. She was just bursting with excitement and when she saw the photo of her sponsor.....she just hugged the photo!

Thank you for sending gifts for the children but most of all thank you for giving them the gift of an education. That will last them a lifetime!

Shoes, glorious shoes!!!

There are so many happy faces here ....people who are receiving shoes ....from Brad and Holly Clark and all the wonderful people of Mayan Families Connection who collected and donated shoes to Mayan Families.

Today we had long lines out in the street who were hoping to receive a pair of shoes.
Mothers stood in line for hours , holding small babies and unhappy toddlers just to get a pair of shoes.

The hyper link doesn't seem to be working so you may have to copy and paste the address.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mayanfamilies/Noviembre10Del2009EntregaDeZapato#

Receiving Christmas gifts!

These are just some of the lucky students who have received gifts from their sponsors.
For some of them this is the first time they have ever received Christmas gifts.
This little girl in the pink was a delight to watch her open her presents, she just laughed and laughed with delight as every gift appeared. I wish I had it on video.

Thank you so much everyone who has gone to the trouble to get these gifts here to these children.
It won't change the fact that they still live in poverty but it will bring them so much joy! And a little joy is a very nice thing to have!

Please go to this link to see the rest of the photos ...we have many more to post.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mayanfamilies/Noviembre10De2009EntregaDeRegalos02#

End of year report card time!

All of our students are bringing in their report cards! It is the end of the school year in Guatemala.
School finishes mid October and starts again in mid- January.
It is a stressful time for us all. All the children want to know if they are sponsored to go to school next year. Some of them have to register this month for next year and they are anxious to know whether they will be able to continue in school.

If you are looking for a gift to give the person who has everything, please think about giving the gift of sponsoring a child to go to school.

These sponsored children are proudly showing their report cards!

It is only $150 US to sponsor a child to go to elementary school, $350 for junior high school and $450 US for high school. This is the cost to send a child to school for the whole year.


We have many children who are waiting and hoping to go to school next year......with the economic crisis in Guatemala , it is going to be even more difficult for families to have enough extra money to send their children to school.