Twenty-five years ago, Manuela and her husband moved from San Antonio Palopo to the village of Chipop, a town located farther up the side of one of the mountains bordering Lake Atitlan.  They had a small piece of property there, and her husband built a small, one-room house, the walls of which were constructed from a mud-covered, bamboo frame, the bamboo providing the structure and strength, and the mud filling the gaps and sealing out the wind and elements.  Though built simply, and with rudimentary elements, this style of construction was common in such rural communities because of its low cost, and could, with the proper upkeep and repair, last for long periods of time.  However, just over two years after they moved to Chipop, Manuela’s husband died, leaving her alone.   And though two of her children still lived close by, over the years they contributed little to caring or supporting their mother.

So, in February, as Mission Guatemala was looking for needy families or individuals who would be candidates for our stove program, we met Doña Manuela, an eighty-year-old woman, living alone in a one-room, mud and bamboo hut that was now on the verge of falling over.  The mud covering the bamboo was gone from two of the walls, leaving large gaps that had she had attempted to cover with an assortment of scraps of wood and trash.  During the rainy season, we were told, the water runoff from an adjoining hill washed across her floor, and the rain itself blew through the walls.

While living in these types of conditions is not entirely uncommon in the rural and poor communities in this area, Manuela’s situation stuck with us, and as we began to plan projects for the team of volunteers from Broadway United Methodist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, we decided that this was a situation that we should change.  So, after making arrangements with Manuela and other leaders in the community, on Thursday, March 29^th, the old, crumbling shack was torn down, and the following Monday, with the excited and energetic help of our friends from Broadway, the construction of the new living quarters began.

Manuela’s new house is simple, just one room, with tongue-and-groove wood siding, a tin roof, and a concrete floor.  But, as the rainy season begins this year, she can rest secure that her walls will not leak, and that rainwater will not wash across the floor.  And, as we completed the finishing touches and officially presented Manuela with the finished house on Tuesday, April 10, we hoped that it will be a reminder to her that, even as the years pass and as she grows older, she is not forgotten by the world, and that she is still loved.

We first met 5-year-old Juana Silvia back in the spring of last year, when Mission Guatemala first began to work in Nueva Esperanza.  Juana was a quiet, thoughtful, and affectionate child, but she suffered with eyes that were misaligned, her left eye veering off to the outside when she looked straight ahead.  Her mother told us that Juana’s eyes had been that way from birth, and though Juana played and interacted with the other children, and was enrolled in preschool, the issues with her eyes were very limiting for her.

Because of this, when Salud y Paz, a NGO that operates medical and dental clinics in rural areas about an hour from San Andres, announced that they had a team of volunteer eye surgeons coming from the United States to do corrective eye surgeries, we spoke to Juana’s mother–who then called Juana’s father who is currently working in the United States–and they were both enthusiastic about her having the surgery to correct her eye.  (Juana’s mother later told us that, in contrast, some other members of the community had cautioned her against having the surgery, saying that it would be subverting the will of God, since He had made Juana’s eyes that way.)

So, this past Sunday, we took Juana and her mother to Salud y Paz’s clinic for their primary consulation with the doctors, and then Wednedsay Juana underwent the surgey.  When we picked her up the next morning, the doctors said that the surgery had gone smoothly, and that there was a total expectation that she would have a full recovery and a normal field of vision from here on.

And though Juana was a little overwhelmed by the strange surroundings and all the lights and the gringos, and wasn’t saying much, her mother told me that Juana said that now she could see much better.  ¡Que alegre!

Even in the United States, we’re accustomed to constantly dealing with funding issues in the public school systems, as it seems that every year budget constraints force restrictions in available classes or activities.  And while these issues in the US education system are a definite cause for concern, as Mission Guatemala has begun to work more closely with various schools and communities here in the San Andres area, we’ve discovered just how much worse some funding problems can get.

Last month, as Mission Guatemala was purchasing school supplies for the school children of Nueva Esperanza, Cesar, the director of the school, approached us and asked if it would be possible for us to help purchase textbooks for the school.  All the school was requesting, he explained, was one set of textbooks for each grade, for the teachers to use in teaching the students.  He told us that currently, the teachers only had an assortment of very old textbooks to teach from, many of which were falling apart, and that for some of the subjects there were no textbooks at all.

We agreed to proved the textbooks, and when they finally arrived, Cesar gathered the teachers together and handed the books out.  As the teachers carefully turned the pages, there were gasps of excitement as they looked through the colorful diagrams and exclaimed over the different exercises and study materials that were provided, all of which each teacher had previously had to create on their own.  Though most of the teachers already had several years teaching experience, it was clear that for many of them, this was the first time that they had had the opportunity to teach from a new, complete, and up-to-date set of textbooks.

We are excited for the teachers and students of the school in Nueva Esperanza, and wish them good luck and happy learning for the upcoming school year!

For the first time after almost 8 years of pain and a gradual loss of mobility, Mario Yos is finally seeing a glimmer of hope for some relief.  As a young man of only 18, Mario first began noticing pain and swelling in the joints of his fingers, followed gradually by pain and gradual loss of motion in his shoulders, elbows, and knees.  Today, he has very little strength or movement in his hands or arms and, as his right knee can no longer support weight, his movement is limited to him hopping on his left foot.

As the father of three children, aged 3, 5, and 8, Mario’s sickness has put an innordinate amount of stress on his wife, Isuara, as she not only has to care for the children and the house, but also bring in whatever money she can each week by washing clothes or doing whatever other odd jobs she can find. Often, though, a week’s work may only net her Q50 or so, the equivalent of about $6.

It was back in June when we first found out about this family’s situation.  At the time they were being evicted from the tiny apartment they were renting, and due to their poverty and lack of recourses, were about to become homeless.  Though Isaura had a small plot of land that she had inherited, the family had no ability to build a structure on it.  At that point, with the help of the mission groups that came to volunteer with Mission Guatemala during the summer, we were able to construct a house for the family.

However, in the course of talking to the family, we discovered that Mario had never had a full and thorough examination by a specialist, or even a competent doctor, apparently.  While Mario had consulted with a couple of doctors over the years, none of them had seemed to have any clue what his ailment was, and the extent of the help that they had given appeared to be only shots of painkiller.

Back before Christmas we took Mario for a consultation with our doctor at the clinic, who diagnosed him with advanced rheumatoid arthritis, and recommended physical therapy and further treatment with a rheumatologist.  So, this morning we took Mario to his first consultation at Fundabiem, a local organization here in Panajachel that provides low cost physical therapy services.  He is now scheduled to return each week for regular physical therapy sessions, in addition to doing exercises at home.  The doctor is confident that with the therapy and exercise, Mario will be able to regain a good deal of mobility and strength in his body.

The road to improvement and relief for Mario is long, and the doctor and nurses worked hard to instill upon him that this would require much effort and commitment on his part.  But for the first time in many years, Mario finally has been given hope that some relief is possible, and with the financial support and help of Mission Guatemala, he is starting to believe that it can actually be found.

Can you imagine a school with 200+ students and only two faucets to serve the entire school?

That was the challenge facing the community of Chuti Estancia!  The school was working with a Peace Corps worker trying to teach the children the importance of washing hands and brushing teeth.  However, the school was also faced with the dilemma of having an adequate source of water for the community but only having two faucets for the school.  The Peace Corps worker approached Mission Guatemala to see if we might be willing to help the school with the construction of additional sinks and faucets.

With the help of Zionsville United Methodist Church, Mission Guatemala was able to begin the construction of two new large sinks that will provide 20 faucets for the children to use to wash their hands and brush their teeth.  Zionsville finished the construction of one sink and the Mission Guatemala construction foreman is finishing the second sink.  They will both be ready for the start of school in mid-January.

There are plans for a future Mission Guatemala team to construct two large concrete retention tanks to collect water during the rainy season to help supplement the community’s source of water.

Mission Guatemala is thrilled to be able to help the community with this important health and education project!

With the Mission Guatemala old red Toyota pick-up truck loaded full of colorfully wrapped food baskets, the staff of the mission began distributing Christmas food baskets to 120 families in the communities of Pacaman, Nueva Esperanza and Chutinamit.

This was an undertaking that had begun weeks earlier with the purchase of plastic baskets and the packaging of corn and beans by the team from Zionsville United Methodist Church.  Using the clinic’s baby scale, volunteers helped package 20 pound packages of corn and four pound packages of beans.  The baskets also contained other Christmas foods and household essentials.  The basket the food was packaged in is also an essential household tool.  It is used to wash clothes and vegetables.

Food baskets were distributed in each village by the Mission Guatemala staff.  As Alejandra, the Mission Guatemala social worker called out each family’s name, another staff member helped hand out the Christmas gifts.  We are grateful for all who made a donation to help in the distribution of the food.

You can also see pictures on our Facebook page here:  Christmas Baskets

On Monday morning in Nueva Esperanza, squeals of excitement erupted from the assembled children of the community as the clown, Payaso Clavito, entered the room, and the laughter and excitement didn’t stop throughout that day and the next, as Mission Guatemala celebrated Christmas with the children of Nueva Esperanza, Chutinamit, and Pacaman, as well as with the children and teachers in the Mayan Families/Mission Guatemala preschool.

Alejandra, our social worker, had previously requested the names of every child aged 10 and below from each community, and from this, we presented each child with an individually wrapped gift, all of which were generously donated by members of Indiana Methodist churches during our “Christmas in July” campaign.  At each party, following the clown’s high-energy presentation of crazy antics and tricks of magia, and after the gifts were all handed out, the children also got to enjoy a piece of delicious cake, which had been baked by Irma, our cook from the feeding center in Nueva Esperanza.  In total, 240 children received gifts during the four Christmas parties, and there were many dolls, stuffed animals, and toy cars being clutched tightly by smiling children as we drove way.

Doña Irma, our cook, told me later that this was truly a special day for these villages, as she said that such a community-wide event in which all the children could participate rarely ever occurred.  She said that sometimes, individual families might occasionally receive a gift from an employer, but this was only even a possibility for families who were fortunate enough to have steady employment.  Or, on other occasions, Irma said, if an organization did come to a village to give gifts to the children, oftentimes there weren’t enough gifts for everyone, and the scene quickly became a free-for-all, with some children receiving nothing.  We were glad for a chance to help provide these children with a different experience.

As the month of December draws to a close, we are thankful for the relationships that we have gotten to build with these three communities over the past year, and we are also grateful for the opportunity to bring them some Christmas joy and laughter—as well as for the opportunity to join them in experiencing el Payaso Clavito!

Feliz Navidad a todos!

The Mission Guatemala staff has been very busy getting ready for Christmas!

Thanks to the generosity of many southern Indiana United Methodist congregations, 100 poor indigenous Mayan families will be receiving food baskets to brighten up their Christmas celebrations.  Shortly before Christmas, the baskets will be given to families in the communities of Nueva Esperanza, Pacaman and Chutinamit.

Each basket will be filled with traditional foods including:

• 20 pounds of corn
• 4 pounds of beans
• 1 bottle oil
• 10 pounds of sugar
• 3 pounds of chocolate for hot chocolate (a traditional Christmas Eve drink)
• 1 box of Christmas cookies
• 1 packet of coffee
• 5 bags of noodles
• 5 pounds of salt
• 1 pound of margarine
• 1 pack of soap (for washing clothes)
• 1 bag of angelitos ( marshmallows)

The basket that the food comes in is also useful to families!

Thank you for all of your support over the past year!

There was a wonderful feeling of excitement in the room as it began to fill with children and parents!  The day had finally come!  It was time to celebrate the first graduating class from the Mayan Families/Mission Guatemala preschool.  The graduates were straightening their hats and the teachers were making sure the graduation robes were on correctly!  This was a big day!

Ten students recently graduated from the preschool and will start public school in January of 2012.

The preschool partnership began in January of 2011.  The purpose of the preschool is to target three to five-year-old children at risk of malnutrition with a healthy meal and a nutritious snack daily and multivitamin supplements, as well as lessons on basic hygiene.  The children, many of whom have not learned to speak Spanish at home, also get a head-start on learning Guatemala’s official language, Spanish,  before beginning school.  There is no charge to the families for their children to attend the school.

This year the preschool had 36 students enrolled.  Mayan Families and Mission Guatemala is planning on increasing student enrollment to 40 in 2012.

Click on any photo below to enlarge it!

Mission Guatemala is pleased to welcome Dr. Luis Edwin Chumil to our clinic staff as our main clinic doctor!

Dr. Chumil had been working one day a week filling in for our regular clinic doctor.  However, in October, the full time clinic doctor needed to leave his position with us and Dr. Chumil was willing and excited to take on the task of seeing patients on a daily basis.

A graduate from the Univeristy of San Carlos in Guatemala, Dr. Chumil is 43 years old and  lives in the Lake Atitlan area in a town known as San Lucas Toliman.  He is married and has three children.  Dr. Chumil has practiced medicine for 12 years and is trained as a general medicine doctor and surgeon.  He also works part time at the hospitalito in Santiago Atitlan.

Dr. Chumil’s gentle manner and caring heart has been much appreciated by the clinic patients.  We are happy to welcome him and we are very happy he is part of our team.