Our last blog post detailed the phases for the community garden.  Part of phase one was to fortify the fence around the perimeter of the garden plot to prevent theft, especially of tools and chickens but vegetables too.  We sent funds for this part of phase 1, along with some soil testing, and within a few weeks we were delighted to receive these photos from the field!

 

I’m so proud of the young men at Nuevo Reto and the adult leadership there.  The next steps are to take down the existing carport and install the cistern and water pump.  Once the carport is taken down, the land identified for the community garden will actually look more like a garden!   The installation of the water tank is the most expensive and requires the most labor.  It is estimated that the installation of the cistern and water pump will take approximately five weeks and this part of the project represents about 60% of the total cost of the entire garden project.

** WONDERFUL NEWS ** Today I went to our PO Box and there was a donation check in the amount of $1,000!!!  Since I do not know if the donor would like to be publicly thanked for his generosity, I will keep him anonymous in this post, but since he is a reader of the blog, he will know that his awesome gift was received and so appreciated!

He told us that the donation could be used at our discretion based on highest priority, and I am very happy to say that it will be put towards the water storage tank.  The reason that the cistern takes priority is that we want to take advantage of the teen and young adult workers (who have the months of November and December off school, as the school year in Guatemala runs January through October) and also the dry season, which runs from November through April, approximately.  The cistern will store ample water for use at the Nuevo Reto facility and to irrigate the community garden!   One third of the cistern is funded!

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There were a few unexpected or unplanned ways that Guatemala Service Projects was able to help OTHER people help others in Guatemala!

This holiday season, a select group of individuals asked for our help in delivering funds to purchase holiday meals and food baskets.  We agreed, as all the recipients are already in our realm of supported organizations and communities in Guatemala.  Through the collective external fundraising efforts of many individuals, many of them families that adopted children from Guatemala, 20 bomberos (volunteer firefighters and EMTs) of Santa Lucia Milpas Altas, 700 people supported by Iris Santander and the Backyard School, and 125 people in Nuevo Reto’s community outreach will all enjoy a hot and hearty Christmas feast.  In addition, 55 food gift baskets will be distributed to Nuevo Reto families attending the community dinner!

Another way we were able to help is through the facilitation of contact between the ladies of St. Jerome’s “Diaper Ministry” and the older girls and young women of San Bartolome Milpas Altas, where the Backyard School is located.  The members of the Diaper Ministry at St Jerome’s in Oconomowoc is a group of talented seamstresses that sew for charity.  They take donations of fabric and travel-size soaps and sew reusable diapers that have tie closures and then package them in drawstring packs complete with toiletries and soaps and a handmade baby hat. If you would like to see a video showing how the diapers are folded, check out this video:

Not only do they make diapers, but also menstrual kits, using a similar formula.  First, a panty “shield” is made with tabbed inserts at the top and bottom where multiple layers of sewed and folded flannel can be inserted, the number of layers based on the amount of absorbency needed.  The kit is assembled with washcloth, soap, zip lock bags and underwear and put in a drawstring bag for giving.

In a country where girls choose to stay home from school because they don’t have the feminine hygiene products to deal with their menstrual activity, having washable, dependable assistance in this area is a life-changer!  I put Denise O’Halloran in touch with Iris Santander at Backyard School so that an initial delivery of diaper and menstrual kits will be made in February and then we will take more in our luggage to the Backyard School community when we travel in March.  If any local friends have fabric (cotton or flannel) or small toiletries and soaps to donate, please reach out to me!

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At the end of September, I reported on the blog that Iris and a group of other members of the community gathered for training on the RACHEL server and the laptops that we donated for their computer lab.  Well, the official kickoff to the use of the computer lab came a couple of weeks ago, as a vacation course — programming that is taking place during the break from school.  What better time to teach new skills than when the kids (and some adults too!) are off from school and able to concentrate on the information being taught!  Thank you to Iris for conducting small-group training in an alternate location onsite as you wait for funding for the windows and doors to be installed on the computer lab room of the Backyard School!  (To our readers:  Iris smartly wants to make sure that the computer lab is well secured before moving the technology there.  That hasn’t stopped her from conducting classes though!)

I am so thankful for the hard-working Guatemalan leaders and supports that we have there.  They make it easy for our projects to be successful and for us to assist the most number of people possible.

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Since the last post, my family has made arrangements for our next trip — the last week of March 2019.  (Remember!  We are a 100% volunteer organization and all team members fund their own travel and in-country accommodations without taking away from any donations made to the nonprofit!)

It will be a small group this time: my family, GSP’s vice-president, Trent Faith, *and* MY MOM!  She has only been to Guatemala once — for the adoption trip where then-two-year-old Maria joined our family, in 2001.  At that time, we all stayed pretty close to the hotel in Guatemala City.  (Here, the two of them are playing with bubbles on the hotel balcony.)  We look forward to showing her more of Guatemala, have her participate in the implementation of our service projects, and let her experience the joy of what we do.

It will be especially nice having her along for the hearing and vision clinic where we will be distributing hearing amplifiers to those hard of hearing and reader glasses to those that would benefit from vision magnification during reading, beadwork, weaving, or other endeavors.  Before she retired, she worked several years as an optician, and with that knowledge and her friendly smile, attention to detail and level of “customer service” she will be a great asset, even despite not having a large Spanish vocabulary.  More photos and stories to come late March!  🙂

But, since I mentioned the hearing clinic too, let me close by sharing what we are doing for #GivingTuesday!  Today, we are specifically raising funds to provide a hearing amplifier to those hard of hearing.  We will be distributing them, fitting the recipient, and providing extra batteries.  I’d like to share a link showing a wonderful video produced by Ada Castillo of Nuevo Reto.  Her grandfather, Pablo Castillo, is featured in the short (minute and a half) video below.  He acted as our first “guinea pig” and provided testimony for the benefit of the particular model of hearing “aid” we chose for this project.  The results were highly favorable, and similar great feedback was received from the subsequent people that tested them.  We look forward to gifting these in March, and our goal is to raise $4000 to cover the purchase of 100 units.  Even if we don’t meet our goal, the event will take place regardless of whether we are able to provide less, and we will even take more if the funding allows!

If you care to donate, you can do that on the guatsp.org website or at our Facebook fundraiser for #GivingTuesday.

(On Tuesday, November 27th, there is a chance that donations made on the Facebook fundraiser could be matched — if they are made early enough in the day before the $7 million in matching funds run out.  Starting at 8am eastern time, Facebook and PayPal are teaming up to match funds up to that dollar amount for all nonprofits with Facebook fundraisers.)