MARCH 26, 2020

Dear friends,

We are all facing uncertain and scary times right now.

Here in Guatemala, the President has taken strong precautions to stop the spread of the virus.

This means that non-essential businesses, restaurants (except for take out), and schools are closed. Public Transportation has stopped. Tourism no longer exists in our area that has relied on tourism for a major portion of the local economy.

 

For the many, many families that we work with who rely on the money that they earn daily to buy the food that they eat that day, it is a very tough situation.

There are a lot of families who have not had work for two weeks now and they are already have nothing to eat.

Food security before this pandemic hit was already a significant problem in Guatemala, and now it has become much worse.

 

Before the Conavirus outbreak many of the families were barely able to sustain themselves. Now without work and without a daily income, the situation is critical for them.

 

 

At FundaMaya we are working as hard as we can to try to get food to these families.

We rely on the support of our sponsors and donors to be able to help these children, elderly and families to be able to eat.
The children who attend our three Preschool Nutrition Centers, in San Jorge la Laguna, Panajachel, and San Antonio Palopo are each receiving a bag of food to take home each week. It is corn, beans, rice, and incaparina (a healthy cereal beverage). We have 120 children, aged 3-5 years old, who rely on eating this food each week.

In our Elderly Care program in San Jorge la Laguna and Panajachel, we have 75 elderly people that we are providing a hot meal to 5 days a  week and a bag of food to help them during the weekends and at night. Without this food, many of the elderly have nothing to eat.

 

We have over 700 students and their families that we are actively trying to help with food. Many of them already have almost nothing to eat at home.

There is no safety net in Guatemala.  There is often nowhere to turn for help. 

The families that we work with turn to us.....and we turn to you.

Please help us to be able to keep these children, elderly and families alive with something to eat. 

These people have always lived with very little.  They know what it is to be hungry. They are not asking for luxuries. They will make do with tortillas and salt....but they need to have at least that. Their greatest need is to have corn to make their tortillas.  

If we can give them some beans, rice, and eggs as well,  these families will be just thrilled and will stretch it as far as it can go.

We know that this is a difficult time for all of us.   We send our hopes and prayers that you and your family will stay safe and well.

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If you can send a donation to www.fundamaya.org for food for your student, an elderly person or for our Emergency Food Fund, we would be so grateful.