Angelica Maria ....

This week has been a difficult week for us at Mayan Families. We have had a lot of people needing urgent medical care and people in need of food. This happens every week but some weeks are harder than others and this is one of them.

This afternoon, at the end of this long week, Angelica Maria made her way up from the coast. She has borrowed the money to get to Mayan Families.
She is in a desperate situation and is hoping to get help.
Angelica is a single mother to 6 children.

Her eldest, Iris is 22 years old and is herself a single mother. She has a 5 month old baby girl. The father of the baby abandoned Iris when he found out she was pregnant.  Iris has not been able to find work since the baby was born but is looking for work and hoping to have a job soon.

Maria   Amaryllis  is 15 years old. She is in 8th grade in school.   She is sponsored

Maria Antonio is 13 years old.   She is in 6th grade in 2016. She is sponsored.

Ericka is 10 years old.  She is in 5th grade in 2016.  She is sponsored.

Pedro Alexander. He is 8 years old.   Pedro does not have a sponsor. He is in 1st grade.

Daniela is 3 years old.  She is a special.needs child . She is unable to walk and she is unable to grasp with her hands. Her mother cannot remember what the diagnosis is for her . But the mother says that Daniela understands  everything that is said to her but she is unable to speak.  She also has trouble trying to chew her food.  She also has to use diapers.   She does not have a sponsor.

The only ones working in the family are Iris who gets casual work cleaning houses and Angelica who washes clothes by hand in private homes. 

Angelica's father lives with them.  He is 69 years old.   He works doing casual labor. . He is very ill with diabetes and it is difficult for him to work. He cannot afford medical care and has only been able to go to the local health center which rarely has the medications to be able to help him.  But he insists to keep on working to help the family to have something to eat.

Angelica has not been able to pay the house they rent for the past two months. They now owe $250 US for the past two months....they also owe for the electricity.    The owner of the house is threatening to evict them very soon if they do not pay at least one month's rent and then catch up quickly with the other.

Today we sent Angelica to the doctor to be able to get help for her own diabetes. We were able to give her medicine for her diabetes.
But what the doctor said that she needs is help. He said that she is very depressed and stressed with her situation.  He said that she does not know what to do because she is so stressed and has no relief in sight.  He has given her some medicine to help her sleep at night.

Angelica had tried going to the court to get her husband to pay child support for the children last week. . When she came out of the court and walked down the corner, her husband was waiting for her. He threw her against the wall and started choking her.  He warned her not to take any legal action against her or she would regret it.    She has a scar on her leg where he kicked her with his boots on.  She is scared of him and spent years being physically abused by him. 

The family is in desperate need of help to pay the rent.  They need a mínimum of $125 to be able to stay in their home this week .   They need help with food.   Angelica told us some days they have food and other days they do not eat.   It is sad to see this woman who has obviously worked very hard and loves her family, looking so defeated.  She is depressed, stressed and very worried about what will happen to her children if they cannot pay their rent.

If you are able to help this family, their family aid number is FA #187. and you could send a donation for them at https://www.mayanfamilies.org/donate/simple

If you are able to help this family it would be such a huge relief for this mother.

Today at Mayan Families....Thursday, February, 4th. 2016

8.am. Dr. Will, our wonderful volunteer Orthopedic doctor will be examing the children in Tierra Linda for any problems with their legs or feet.  He will be accompanied by Rosa and Tatiana. 

9.am. Construction meeting to discuss projects that are underway.  We are presently finishing construction of the El Barranco pre school, starting construction on the San Antonio Palopo pre school, and building several houses as well.

9-1p.m. Dr. Lyle, our other wonderful volunteer doctor will be working in the clinic at the Mayan Families compound.  He will have the Pediatrician, Dr. Lisa working with him. ...Dr. Deb , the ER doctor will be working in the adjoining clinic.   Dr. Deb will be working 9 - 5p.m.  Sadly, it is the last day for both Dr. Lisa and Dr. Deb. 

 

2.p.m.  The Women's Artisan group from San Jorge will be bringing their completed beaded jewelry orders to the office to be received. 

2.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.  The Women's group from El Barranco will be having their Micro loans meeting.

From 2p.m.  families came to receive the food that has been donated to them by their sponsors.

These are most of the families coming but there may be one or two who are coming but are not on the list yet. 

 

#3505 Pana 

FA-623 Peña Blanca 

#105  Pana 

#2848 San Jorge 

FA-13  Pana   

#3278  San Jorge 

2376  El Barranco, Sololá

#2040  El Barranco, Sololá

#441  Pana 

#3089 Barranco

FA-385 Santa Catarina Palopó 

FA-189  El Tablón 

#2804 San Jorge 

FA-322 Santa Catarina Palopó 

FA-31 San Andres Semetabaj 

#3358  Pana    

#1686 San Jorge 

#187  Pana 

#1975  San Andrés Semetabaj

#1541 San Jorge La Laguna 

#821  Pana   

#3235  Pana

#3502  Pana

#3210  Pana 

#2156  El Tablón, Sololá

#2435  San Jorge La Laguna

#3058  Peña Blanca, Sololá

 

 

 

 

Today we had the family with the two children with special needs come to the office. This family is going through a very difficult time. http://mayanfamilies-sharon.blogspot.com/2016/01/family-with-special-needs-childrenin.html     The children all saw the doctor for the special needs this morning and then the whole family saw the Pediatrician in the afternoon.   The parents want to send the two girls to school who are 6 years and 9 years old.  None of the children have ever been to the doctor.   They are scared to send the special needs children to the school, even the special needs school as they are scared they may be hurt. 

The girl on the left hand side of this photo is 11 years old. Her 9 year old sister is standing next to her. Both children on each end are special needs and have never had any treatment.  The two taller girls are 9 years old and 6 years old. All the children are malnourished.  We hope to have the 9 year old and the 6 year old enrolled in school tomorrow. They have never been to school.  We need sponsors for them. If anyone would like to sponsor one of them, or both, please write to Sharon@mayanfamilies.org. .  Their family aid number is FA #644 . Thank you to the very kind people who donated money for food for the family. They were able to receive food, medical care, shoes and clothing today.

 

 

 

Family with special needs children..........in need of help.

This is a family that  is in dire need of help.  They were brought to our attention by a local school teacher who heard of their phlight .

The father, Juan,  40 years old works in the fields. He only went to school till 2nd grade.  He has been ill with severe gastritis and ameobas. It has been very difficult for him to work . The father speaks Kakchiquel and Spanish.

The mother, Juliana, 40 years old  never had the chance to go to school. She does not know how to read , write nor does she speak much Spanish. She speaks the Mayan dialect of Kakchiquel.


They have six children.   
They are:
Monica...is 11 years old .  She was born with a birth defect that has stopped her from growing at a normal rate. She is the size of small 4-5 year old.    She has never gone to school.  She has never had any medical attention for her problems.  She speaks Kakchiquel and does not speak Spanish.

Angelica is 9 years old.  She has never been to school. She does not speak Spanish. She is small but growing at a normal for a malnourished child.  She looks about 7 years old.

Maria is 8 years old. She has never gone to school.  She does not speak Spanish .  She is very small but average for a malnourished child.

Elena Juliana is 4 years old.  She has a badly formed spine and has never been able to receive medical care.

Angelina is 2 years old. She is the size of an 18 month old.  

Baby Mario who was born on Dec. 2nd . The mother is breastfeeding him and he so far, does not have any medical issues that we are aware of.

The family has been renting and can no longer afford to pay rent and are being evicted.  This is due to the fact that the father has been so ill he has not been able to work.
They have a piece of land to move onto but they cannot afford to build on it.
They are in desperate need of having a dwelling built that they can live in.
The family can barely afford to eat and there is no way that they can afford to build, they also cannot afford to pay rent...so building their own home is the only way that will help them to be able to keep a roof over their heads.

The family is in desperate need of food.

The family has not been able to afford to send the children to school.  The family wants their children to go to school but have not been able to afford to send them. We are hoping that we will be able to sponsor the three older girls to go to school.  If you are interested in sponsoring one of these girls to go to school, please contact me. Sharon@mayanfamilies.org or make a donation on https://www.mayanfamilies.org/donate/simple  You can use the Family Aid number FA#644.

They have one bed for 4 of them and 3 children sleep on the dirt floor on a woven straw mat.

They have electricity.

They have a Wood burning stove that brings a lot of smoke into the house.
They have one small closet.
They have three chairs and they have one small table.
They do not have enough clothes or shoes.

Any help, any small amount would be greatly appreciated and make such a difference to this family.

Lucia....an Elderly woman in need.

Lucia  is 77 years old.  She comes every day from her village of Santa Catarina  to be able to eat lunch in our Elderly Care Program. This is at least a 20 min. trip in the back of a pick up or several hours walk for her.

She used to have only a stick to help her walk but we were able to give her a walking stick which helps her a lot.   She is very happy to have  enough to eat every lunch time. 

Lucia always has a smile and a greeting when I see her.   This week she stopped and asked if I could help her.
Her bed has broken into pieces and she is now sleeping on just three pieces of cloth.

I started to talk to Lucia about her life. She had five children but only three are alive. She lives near two of them but they are very poor and cannot afford to help her.

Lucia''s husband died 4 years ago.  She said he had lots of illnesses and she is not really sure what illness he died from. They could not afford medical care for him.

Lucia used to sell traditional items on the road.  Ten years ago she was involved in an accident. Her left knee and her left hand were badly injured. She was hospitalized but her knee and hand never really recovered. Now it hurts her a lot to walk and she gets tired easily.

Lucia lives alone without electricity.  She has to buy candles which is expensive and dangerous.
She does not have a kitchen. She cooks on an open fire. 
Now she does not have a bed.  She is sleeping on the floor on three pieces of fabric.
She does not have a table or chairs.
Lucia does not have enough blankets .
She does not have a water filter.

Lucia does not have a sponsor for the Elderly Care program.  It is just $35  a month to be able to ensure that Lucia will be able to continue having her lunch every day at the Elderly care center.  Lucia's I.D. number is A#135
 If you would like to sponsor Lucia for a bed , it is just $170 US.  To give Lucia a blanket, it is just $35.

If you would like to  help Lucia to have her electricity connected we will have to get a quote on how much that would cost.

If you are able to help Lucia at all, her greatest desire is to have a bed!  Can you imagine being 77 years old and sleeping on three pieces of cloth on a dirt floor every night ?

 Here is the link to donate...if you are able to help Lucia.
https://www.mayanfamilies.org/donate/simple


For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, Sharon@mayanfamilies.org

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Petrona and her family.

Petrona and her family.

Just as we were getting ready to close on the 23rd, one more family came in that needed help.
We were very rushed but I was glad that we took the time to talk to them.

Petrona, the mother is just 22 years old.   She and her 23year old husband, have four children.
None of the children or Petrona had eaten and it was already midday when we saw them.
Irma is 5 years old, Estela is 4 years old, Carlos is 3 years old and baby Estuardo is 10 months old.

They are very malnourished and very hungry.

They live in a rented house in Pena Blanca.
They pay $50 US per month rent.
The father works in the fields and he can barely cover the rent. There is very little money left over for food....or other necessities.

They do not have beds.
They all sleep on the floor on pieces of cardboard carton. 
They have only one blanket for all of them.
They do not have a closet, they do not have tables and chairs.
You may ask what they do have....the answer is almost nothing.
They do have  a large wood burning stove that comes with the house.
They do have electricity and that costs them $20 US per month.

There are days when they do not have enough to eat...and there is only tortillas and salt to eat ..but there are days when there is not even that...like the day the mother came into our office.   She was desperate. She had heard that we were giving out baskets of food for Christmas and she was hoping to get one. 

Little Irma wants to go to school this year but there is no way that the family can afford to send her.
We have given Irma a student number and we hope that someone will want to sponsor her.  Her student number is #3734 . It is $360 US per year to enable her to attend school.   ( or $30 US per month.)
Her number is not registered on the website yet so to sponsor her you would have to
go to this link ...https://www.mayanfamilies.org/donate/simple and put in her student number on the payment.

We have also given the family a FA number  it is FA #623...if anyone would like to help this family ...with a bed or two ...this would make such a difference to the family. The children will be so much healthier not to have to sleep on the floor.

Mayan Families ..thanks to your donations.....were able to give them a Christmas Tamale basket, several blankets to help to keep them warm and we gave the children Christmas presents. They were so excited to get these presents!  Thank you to all of you who make these general donations possible so that we can use them for families like this.

I asked Petrona whether the extended families were helping them but she told me that sadly the families could not help them. Her own father has passed away and her mother is struggling to survive herself.   Her husbands parents both have problems with alcohol and are not able to help.

If you would like to sponsor Irma to give her a chance to go to school, her student ID. number is .#3734   ...the Family Aid FA#623 if you would like to help the family.  Please go to Mayan Families to send a donation for this family. Here is the link. https://www.mayanfamilies.org/donate/simple

If you have any questions about this family, please do not hesitate to contact me, Sharon@mayanfamilies.org

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Medical help urgently needed for 4 year old boy!

Medical help urgently needed for 4 year old boy!

Mario is 4 years old. Today he was rushed to the hospital in Solola when a pot of boiling water was pushed onto him.

Mario's father left him and his 4 siblings and went to live with another woman. His mother also left him and his siblings and went to live with another man.

Mario and his two other young brothers are being raised by an aunt.  The two older children are adults now and have moved on with their lives.

Mario's aunt has to work to be able to feed the children. She has a 16 year old girl looking after the children while she is at work. There was a big pot of boiling water on the fire......Mario and his brothers were playing inside...and there was an accident, one of them shoved Mario and the pot fell on top of him burning him severely. 

He is now in Solola hospital and the aunt needs medication to be able to help him.

She does not have the money to purchase these medicines.  Also now she has to stay at the hospital caring for Mario and she cannot work to feed the family.

If you would like to  help Mario get the medication he needs and also his aunt have money to feed the other children, please send a donation to www.mayanfamilies.org ...and note on it ...MARIO. ...thank you so much!