Sewing Machines Given Out - San Jorge la Laguna, Guatemala

I was so happy to hear last week that 10 of the sewing machines were given out to women in the village of San Jorge la Laguna!  These are women that have been taught how to sew by Alberto, the Mayan Families sewing teacher.  With the help of several people - from those that donated the sewing machines, the donor that covered the shipping fees, and the volunteers that helped pack the sewing machines into boxes for shipment – a huge difference was made for 10 women and their families!  Thank you!

I hope you enjoy looking at the photos of the celebration.  I love the fact that Mayan Families celebrates the women’s accomplishments.  The women were treated to lunch and cake (not a normal occurrence as it is here!) and received a framed certificate to honor their achievement.  You can see their smiles as they had the chance to finally receive and begin to open their sewing machines!  Their new skills and sewing machine empowers them to help support their family.  What a great gift – and goes along with the Nuestros Niños motto of Service – Compassion - Hope.

Teresa Cojtin

Maria Concepcion

Alberto, the sewing teacher, travels to Panajachel from Aldea Chaquijyá, a rural area of Solola (similar to a state in the US).  He has nine children, and by working with Mayan Families, he is able to help others – and to make a living (cover his transportation costs, food, electric bills).  They live in a mud brick home with a small outside kitchen where they cook over an open fire.  Many of their children are sponsored for school through Mayan Families – as there is not “extra” money beyond the necessities - and they value education.  Mayan Families as of last summer had 43 employees with all but a few being indigenous Guatemalans.  This is just a glimpse into the life of one of the families that they help – that in turn helps others.  It is an amazing circle of giving…

Enjoy the photos at the below link!

https://picasaweb.google.com/mayanfamilies/Febrero10De2011FortosDeGraduacionDeLaClaseDeCosturaEnSanJorgeLaLaguna?feat=directlink#

Mayan Families Update, Sewing Machines, & One of Our Small - But Big Contributions

Mayan Families is one of the organizations that we partner with - and the one we will be working with this summer.  They are an amazing organization, and I hope you will take time to read Sharon's e-mail to the end as it puts our busy lives in perspective....  As Matt & I read it on Saturday morning, I teared up - and then I teared up again as I read her e-mail to me that night about an update on the sewing machines' journey & "the jackets."

Take a moment to share it with your spouse, a friend, or a child...  it is a great way to begin talking with a loved one about how you can make a difference in the life of another human being...

A note from Sharon, Mayan Families founder, on Friday, January 14th...


Hi everyone,




Today was the end of a very long week for us. We have been distributing school supplies to over 1,600 children....the lawn at the new office will never be the same. It will probably never be able to revive...we have had 1,600 students plus their mothers and siblings there every day. We have been working from 8.am. till 8p.m.



We have had 5 people trying to update the student blogs . interviewing as many students and their families as they can, translating from Kakchiquel, Tzutihil to Spanish and then to English.

We have had the Tierra Linda Jnr. High school officially open and we are registering students. We had the parent meeting yesterday, 50 parents anxious and hopeful that their children will be able to have an education and a better future than they have ever dreamed of.

We have organized the opening of the new pre-school in San Andres in partnership with Tom Heaton....Mission Guatemala.

We have held teacher meetings about the re-opening of the five Mayan Families pre-school/feeding programs. Panajachel, San Jorge, Tierra Linda, San Antonio and San Andres.

We have negotiated to open the 6th Mayan Families Pre-school/feeding program /community center in El Barranco...this will also be the home to the Folkloric dance troupe and we hope the beginning of many exciting opportunities for this community. 

El Barranco Folkloric Dance Troupe



We have organized the opening of the new Elderly Care and Orphan Care center in San Jorge this coming Monday.

This evening at 7.p.m. I was still in the office , trying to get out to join my husband, Dwight and daughter, Zoe at a restaurant for a Friday night pizza. I was feeling pressured and irritable. All I wanted to do was go home and relax.

I came out to the main room and saw Joaquin who was still working and still cheery, even though it was his birthday and he was working late.

He was working with a family who came from Tierra Linda. The mother was painfully thin and carrying a little baby on her side,and had a son who is about 10yrs old, a little girl who is going into our pre-school probably around 4-5yrs old, a little boy around 3yrs old and the baby on the mother side around 1yr old.
It was the little 3yr old who stopped me in my tracks. He was wearing a t.shirt that was full of holes and a pair of pants that were torn. He had no shoes on. It is very cold at this time of the year and the wind is howling. He was pulling at his mother and trying to get her to go to the door. I asked if he was cold and his mother said yes, he is tired , he is asking to go home.

Now to go home, this little boy would have to walk , barefoot for at least 20 mins to get to the now dark mountain path to Tierra Linda. It would then be an hour walk up the mountain to their village and I don't know how much further to their home.
 

Now imagine being 3 years old on a dark mountain path with no lights...cold, hungry, no shoes & walking for over 1 hour to get home...


I could see that the little boy was very tired. This is before he starts this mammoth trip home.

I asked the mother when she had last eaten....she said ...."oh we haven't eaten yet"...meaning all day.

I could not help but think how my 6 yr old would be reacting...cold, hungry , barefoot and a good hour an a half walk up a dark, mountain trail.

I had brought a bag of jackets down to the office just in case there were children without jackets in this cold weather. I went and got these children jackets that thankfully you all had donated.

The 3yr old was sitting on a chair when I came back with his jacket. I put the jacket on him and he looked up and gave me the sweetest smile. I felt his feet and they were ice cold and hard from walking barefoot all the time.

I sent for juice and snacks for each child, I arranged for the little boy to pass by my house, Berta would put shoes and socks on his feet and give the family a few bags of incaparina ( a cereal ) sugar so that they had something warm to drink when they got home.

I heard the mother talking to another woman about how some days she doesn't even have corn to make tortillas for the children.

I felt humbled by the life this mother lives. She has four children that I know of.

She sees these children hungry and suffering nearly every day. She walks long distances with them to try and get help. She was not complaining, she was smiling and grateful , thanking me for the help that they were receiving.

Me...who was feeling irritable because my computer connection was slow and I couldn't answer all the waiting emails, pressured because my husband and daughter were waiting to eat pizza with me....tired because I had been working long hours this week .......how could I even compare my life to this woman....who in the face of all that she has to endure , was smiling and gracious, her children were not whining even though they were cold, hungry and had at least an hour and a half walk to go home. This woman and her family renewed my desire to do as much good as we can here in Guatemala. I felt very fortunate that we are able to help her as much as we can. It is not perfect, but at least her children can go to school, two of her children will go to the preschool so for at least 5 days a week they will not go hungry. Tonight they all have jackets and a 3yr old is not walking up the mountain barefoot. If we are lucky, someone will sponsor this family for food.

Thanks to all of you for providing the help for this family and for the families like this in the future.

Sharon
The following is the note that I received from Sharon on Saturday night...

Dear Angela, I wanted to let you know that your 6 boxes of wonderful goodies arrived yesterday! We are so grateful for all these fantastic things that you have sent. The sewing machines are fabulous and thanks to you , we will now be able to open a sewing class here in Panajachel! The jackets and clothes you sent are fantastic. I am going to copy you a letter I wrote on our yahoo connections group last night.  These were the jackets that I got from your box! Thank you so much for all your help and your support, we are so thankful to have you working with us, best wishes, Sharon

So, I hope that you have made it to the end of this post & gained a greater understanding of what Nuestros Niños and Mayan Families are trying to do - but can only be done with the help of our friends.  These jackets probably came from someone reading this blog - and made a world of difference to a little boy and his family.  Just think that with each of the donations given - a similar story may be unfolding...  Thank you!

The Sewing Machines are on their way to Guatemala!

It has taken some time to get everything together, but 42 brand-new sewing machines are on their way to Guatemala to help Mayan Families with their sewing program for impoverished women!  Through one of our board members, Sue S., we had the chance to meet Marcia F.  Marcia F. is on the board of another charity that has been helping a school and orphanage in Haiti for many years.  These sewing machines were on their way to Haiti when they were so terribly affected by the earthquake – and different needs overrode “normal” needs.  After talking, Marcia decided to donate the White brand sewing machines to Nuestros Niños! 

Matt taking the sewing machine to the Alberto's work area.

We wanted to be sure that Mayan Families could utilize them in their sewing program before sending them down – so Matt & I took one this summer in our checked suitcases.  Alberto, the sewing teacher, opened the sewing machine up in his “work area” – a 12’x12’ room that is also used for donations and meeting with families.  After meeting with Dwight, one of Mayan Families founders, & Alberto we were able to confirm they could use them!

Then it was time to figure out how to get them to Guatemala.  We figured out many years ago that it is not as easy to mail a package to Guatemala.  When Trevor was being fostered by his loving foster family, we sent down a cubic foot package.  For shipping & customs (which doesn’t seem to have “hard and fast” rules), it cost us over $400! That was a shocker!  We have since come across a company that will ship door to door – and deal with customs – for a set price for box – at a much better rate.  However, we needed to cross the language barrier and negotiate down the cost.  Thanks, John G. and Chelsea K. for the help with this part!  Finally after doing that, we needed to find the funding to ship the 42 sewing machines.  Thankfully, a corporate sponsor, Bailey Sales donated the funds to cover the shipping.

So, on a cold Tuesday morning (election day), Josie, Trevor, Allison, and I went over and got the sewing machines.  Wow, was the car packed!  The kids even had the machines crammed around them for the short ride back to the house.  It became a perfect opportunity to talk with the kids about why we were getting the sewing machines and how they were able to help also.  So – they pitched in and unloaded them into the garage with me!

We somehow figured out a way to fit all 42 sewing machines into the car!

The 3 Critters helping to unload the van.

Linda M., Beki B., and Jonathan B. came over one day last week and helped us pack the sewing machines into the boxes.  It was one cold afternoon in the garage, but it was nice to spend time with friends doing something to help others!  We also were able to pack many toys, stuffed animals, clothes, and bedding materials around the sewing machines.  Thanks to everyone that donated all of these items!   Allison had even decided to spend some of her money earlier in the day at the school’s holiday shop to buy a stuffed animal to send down – with no prompting from her parents. J  The purple princess bear made it into the package – and is now on its way to Guatemala!

Medrano Shipping picked up the boxes last Thursday, Dec. 2^nd, and Luis, the very strong driver, told me he thought they would be there by the first of January!  I can’t wait to see pictures of Mayan Families getting the boxes and hearing of the women that are helped with these sewing machines!

For more information on Mayan Families Sewing Program, there are several blog posts by Sharon Smart-Poage.

http://mayanfamilies-sharon.blogspot.com/2010/04/sewing-class-women-are-shining-in.html

http://mayanfamilies-sharon.blogspot.com/2009/11/sewing-class-in-san-jorge.html