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.