Dear Friends,
I have just a couple of minutes to get this newsletter out...but there is lots of info about our last few days in it!
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Monday, November 19th (the rest of Monday)
To finish up Monday night...we went to the Circus Bar for some great pizza. As we waited for dinner the conversation quickly went to what all had impacted us throughout the day. Matt shared as the women came out of the room after receiving the food baskets they all came to tell him thank you- and two of the women were sobbing they were so grateful to have food for their families.
After dinner we hit Dina's Chocolates, and then it was back to the hotel to sort through all of the donations we brought. Working together as a team we put together 110 goody bags for the preschool students at Chukmuk and El Barranco. They have underwear, toy cars, necklaces, a Beanie Baby, and toothbrush/toothpaste in each one. We also put together gifts for the staff - mainly an assortment of chocolate. Last we sorted all of the fleece blankets. We all fell into bed then and slept soundly!
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Tuesday, November 20th
Tuesday started with a walk to the bank where we each exchanged our dollars to quetzals ("Q"). Then we went to the Mayan Families offices and learned about the family we were building a home for. It is a widowed mother with 3 teenage girls. Odilia earns 50Q (roughly $6.50) twice a week for selling cheese for someone. This is around 400Q a month or $52. She currently pays 350Q a month for rent leaving just about $6.50 a month for food for 4 of them. Her girls have fainted at school due to malnutrition. It really hit me that the gift of a house will drastically change their situation. The money spent on rent can now be used for their food and health.
It was a short, but somewhat steep hike out to the homesite. We carried ceiling beams and later lamina (metal sheeting for the roof) up to the homesite. The house is probably about 400 sq. ft. at most - it has concrete block walls - and a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. We went to work leveling the ground and getting the rocks out so that the floor can be cemented. We found out that it took a week and a half for three men to level the small area where the house was situated - and there was a mound of rocks that had been excavated from the site - a lot of hard, physical work.
We met members of the next door family, the Ibate's. There are 3 families with 11 kids between them. We met Freddy, 9; Donny, 6; Oscar, 10; Julie, 9; and Marivela. They loved blowing bubbles. It was really hot and we went through our water fast. Tom went to a small tienda and bought us more so we could try to stay hydrated.
We then needed to move sand from down a hill up to the worksite. We found some buckets and started hauling. We were winded quickly. Soon Donny, the 6 year old, started hauling buckets of sand. It humbles us to see how hard they worked alongside us. Freddy and Oscar soon joined in. More kids showed up and the little girls had our ladies wrapped around their fingers with how sweet they were. We watched a 4 year old hang laundry. One little girl played in the dirt with little trinkets. When it was time to go, we gave each of the children that had helped about 2-3Q each. They were ecstatic.
We went back to the Mayan Families office and had peanut butter sandwiches, along with bananas. After lunch Tom and Paul headed back to the worksite for the afternoon. They had to saw through thick beams that were being used for the roof. It was a long, tedious process with just a handsaw. Christi and Matt headed to San Antonio Palopo with a Mayan Families employee so they could visit Christi's sponsored student. It was an arduous 20 minute hike up the mountain. The visit affected both of them greatly. The house was tiny - maybe the size of a small bedroom, and they only had half of it as the other half belonged to a family member. There was one tiny bed for the grandma. The mother, father, and 4 kids all slept on the dirt floor with no mats. The mother said she dreamed of having her own home, but knows that will never come to fruition. She explained her most pressing need is to have food for her children. They had taken a food basket to her so there was a little food for them.
The rest of the group worked back at the Mayan Families' office unpacking the boxes that came. It was like Christmas as we unpacked all of the shoes, shirts donated from AYSO, stuffed animals, toys, tools, and everything else. The staff was amazed at what all we had sent and very thankful! The AYSO shirts are going to be handed out at Christmas to all of the men - as they normally don't receive anything for them.
Afterward we all pitched in to weigh out 2 lbs of mosh (oatmeal) for 110 children. It was getting late, so the Mayan Families workers seemed to come out of nowhere and started helping us measure out the 4 lbs of corn and 2 lbs of rice for each student. We found out that the food would last most families about 3 days. The cost for each food bag was $6 to give some perspective.
For dinner we went to Jose Pinguino's. It was a cultural dinner where they taught us how to make tortillas and told us facts about the country. The owner commented that we were giving the families that we were touching a seed of hope - just as he had received many years ago when he was living in a very basic home in the mountains. Now he owns a successful restaurant and speaks at least 5 languages. When we got back to the hotel we had our nightly meeting and then fell into bed exhausted.
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Wednesday, November 21st
The wind howled through the night, but thankfully died down in the morning as we headed to Santiago via boat. From there we found a pick-up truck and headed to Chukmuk. The houses were all built by the government after Hurricane Stan wiped out their original village. All of the houses have reddish-orange roofs. The schools were built by the government and were the nicest I have seen in Guatemala. The people are poor though as there are no opportunities for them to do work in the town.
We were lucky enough to be at the first graduation ceremony for the preschool students at Chukmuk. The children were adorable in their cap and gowns, but it didn't hide how small each of them were - most likely from malnutrition. I had the chance to hand each of their parents the photo memory books as they came on stage to take a picture with their child. Afterward we handed out the fleece blankets, goody bags, and food bags to each of the children at the preschool. We received many hugs and smiles.
Next we were on to installing 4 stoves in Chukmuk. Thankfully, the truck was able to pull up to each site so we didn't have to haul the stoves very far. This group of stoves went in very quickly as we didn't have to level the ground very much, if at all.
We were then on to Agua Escondido. We took a truck to the village of about 2,500 people which is located at about 7,500 ft. elevation. I knew the area we were going was poor, but I can't say I was totally prepared for what we would encounter. This is the area where we paid for 2 of the very basic houses to be built. It was an amazingly steep walk down to the houses. I went inside one or two. They basically had a bed or two and that was it. We installed 5 stoves here, and several people commented on how grateful the families seemed to be.
I wound my way down to the very bottom - and was aghast at what was being used as a home for a husband and wife. I have to say it was the "worst" shelter I had ever seen. The tin roof was held up by branches. There were a few small tarps with holes around the house on 3 sides. On the fourth side there was nothing. There was a small bed with no mattress. They slept on a blanket that was on top of the wire. You could still feel the wire as you sat on the bed. There was a campfire with one pot on it. It had atole - a corn drink in it. There were absolutely no possessions at all beyond the clothes they were wearing. There was nothing. The man helped to carry the stove parts down to the home, and it was the first time I have seen a Guatemalan be "tired" from physical labor. Normally they can carry "superhuman" amounts, but he was so malnourished that his body wasn't able to do the work. Small kids carried the cinder blocks down the path. Everyone pitched in.
As I worked on building the stove, a young girl, Berta came down to me. Before I knew it she had her arm around me as I was building the stove. She didn't let go. I wrapped one arm around her as I continued to work on the stove. It was getting late, so I had to keep going, but Berta just stayed with me. When we finished the stoves, we gave out 2 blankets to each of the 9 families; along with a food bag and some toys. Berta found me again. As we finished, 3 people from the families spoke for everyone in the group.
They thanked us profusely. The man spoke of the fact that they are hard workers, but just don't have the opportunity to make enough money to take care of their families. The women commented that they wished they could pay us, but just didn't have money to do so. By this time it was getting late. We started up the steep hill to get back to the trucks. It was a hard climb, but Berta took my hand and helped me the entire way. She wasn't even winded, but I sure was!
We took a very cold 50 minute truck ride back to Pana. We kept thinking how cold those families and others like them must be at night. When we got back to the hotel, we had about 20 minutes to freshen up, and then it was on to Sharon and Dwight's house for Thanksgiving dinner - a day early. We had a delicious assortment of food with great company! We had a quick group meeting to end our day. The houses and families at Agua Escondido truly touched each of us.
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Thursday, November 22nd
Thanksgiving Day in Guatemala! Many of us woke up and called family back at home before heading out for the day. We then took a truck ride to El Barranco - a village in the middle of corn fields. When we got to the preschool, I started looking for Karina right away. It didn't take long to find her. I think she remembered me after I started showing her pictures from last year when we had put in a stove at her house. It had been such a joyful experience for me to see all of the love in her home...I couldn't help remember her. I asked if her mom was there, but she was still at her house. Her grandmother was with her instead. I reluctantly left Karina, and started working on the activity with the preschoolers.
We had brought a photo book for each child and had stickers for the kids to put in them. At first, the children were somewhat hesitant and didn't seem to know what to do. Soon they knew exactly how to take the back off the stickers and place them in the books. It was neat to see them look at the pictures and seem excited to see themselves and classmates in them. After they finished the photo books, we handed out fleece blankets, food bags, and goody bags to each child. Later a little girl came in that some of us recognized from last year. She is the tiniest thing - and last year couldn't stop crying. Our group had been drawn to her. This year she was very happy - which warmed our hearts. We also watched as the kids shared their photo books with their family members that were there in the courtyard waiting for their children. They all crowded around to look at them.
Our group was in for a treat. The kids of El Barranco volunteer to do a dancing exhibition for groups that visit. They do a dance to celebrate corn, another to celebrate fire, and a third to celebrate the princess of their village. The most fun dances are the hunting dance and the monkey dance. Five of our group members participated in the monkey dance, and Kelly and Becky did an especially good job with this dance.
During this time, John and Sandy both had young children that had come to sit with them. After Karina danced, she came and found me. She sat in my lap for the rest of the presentation. Clementina, her mother, also came and found me. She thanked us for the gifts and photos, and I found out she is 5 months pregnant. Later she invited us to her house the next time we come to El Barranco. During the presentation, several women brought each of us a fruit juice and crackers. It was very generous of them.
After the presentation, we saw all of the kids run to the door of the preschool room. We wondered why, but soon found out it was because clothes were being brought from the Mayan Families office to give away. We stayed and helped pass them out. The donations we receive really do make a difference to the families that receive them!
We headed back to Pana around 2pm and called it a day. We have worked hard all week, and everyone needed some down time. Some went to lunch and then shopping, while some of us skipped lunch and went straight to shopping!
I had a chance to buy lots of items which I can't wait to show people. For dinner we went back to the Circus Bar for pizza, and ended our night with our nightly meeting.
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Come See Us at one of our Open Houses!
We have already been busy with shopping - and have lots more to do!
We will be busy with various craft shows in the month of November & December. We will have a great assortment of jewelry, textiles, ornaments, baskets, clay items, and so much more - all handmade in Guatemala. All proceeds support our service work! When we get back from Guatemala - we will have lots of new items!
We would love to see you at one of them!
New Items will be here for these!
Saturday, December 1st (3-6pm)
Sunday, December 2nd (12:30-3pm)
Angela Grussing's House
3305 Lands End Lane
Knoxville, TN 37931
Saturday, December 8th (1-5pm)
Tuesday, December 11th (6:30-8:30pm)
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Come Like Us On Facebook!
We are working hard to keep everyone updated about all that Nuestros Niños has going on!
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July 2013 Trip
The dates for the July 2013 Trip will be July 6-14th. If we have more than 35 people interested in going, we will add another trip. The initial deposit of $100 is due currently. If you would like more info, please e-mail Angela at angela@nuestrosninoscharity.org.
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SERVICE. COMPASSION.
HOPE.
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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Contact Info
Angela Grussing
865-599-4347
angela@nuestrosninoscharity.org
P.O. Box 30656
Knoxville, TN 37930
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