We snaked up through the mountains bordering Lake Atitlan early this morning to get to San Antonio Palopo, a village perched on a hillside above the lake. Many families in this area lost family and friends in mudslides last summer during tropical storm Agatha. They are now mostly dug out and rebuilding from the ruin, but they carry the scars of loss, as well as the fear of new mudslides.
In the midst of this loss, there is a lovely little preschool run by Mayan Families. Many of our people worked in the preschool this morning, and we were warmly greeted with smiles and hugs. We had been told that the children may be more shy and standoffish, but that was certainly not the case! Everyone, including the teachers, participated in activities.
Three teams were sent out into the village to work in homes: one to reconstruct a kitchen and install an ONIL stove, and two to only install stoves. We're still new to this, so we it was quite a learning experience. In all we installed six stoves today, and a few of us were still able to get to Angela's beloved ceramics store to stock up on goodies. We're doing our part to support the local economies while we are here!
Nuestros Niños is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Nuestros Niños translates to "Our Children" - representing the children that we help, along with our children with whom we hope to instill a sense of service.
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