Greetings!
Welcome to our Summer Newsletter!
This year has been very busy, as life tries to return to some kind of normal.
At Fundamaya we are working harder than ever to help our communities.
Our family and our staff lived through this pandemic in Guatemala along with the people we work with.
Sadly, some staff members lost family members to Covid and we lost many more people in our towns and villages.
Thanks to your donations we had masks, gloves, gel, and PPE items we were able to provide these items not only to our staff, but to local Health Centers, Hospitals, First Responders, and Police, plus the communities that we work with.
We are grateful for all the donations of oxygen and medicines that we were able to supply to people in need.
We are more grateful than we can ever fully express for all the food that you sent, that helped people have something to eat. In many cases, that was the only food that they had.
We are thankful that sponsors continued to help their students in so many ways so that they have been able to continue with their education.
We chose to continue to work during the worst of times and we are pleased that we were able to do so as it made such a huge difference.
Our staff is fully vaccinated and many Guatemalans have also chosen to do so as well. But Guatemala remains the lowest vaccination rate in Latin America. Only 35 percent have been vaccinated.
We are so grateful for your support that has made it possible for so many to survive during these difficult times of the pandemic! Now we are moving onwards and upwards!
HUNGER EMERGENCY!
As you may know, we work with the rural poor indigenous communities in the highlands of Guatemala.
In these harrowing times, it is the poorest and vulnerable who suffer. Thanks to you we have been able to lighten this load for so many. The need for food remains great.
This past week Fundamaya delivered emergency food to over 200 families in the El Porvenir area, towards the Pacific coast of Guatemala, another very poor area that we work in. Thank you to the Boone Creek Christian Church and Kids Against Hunger for making this emergency food possible.
Many people still do not have work or a steady income and this continues to be the cause of hunger in many families. Every day we have mothers coming to us who need food to feed their children.
If you can help please donate to our Emergency Food program. www.fundamaya.org. Any amount no matter how small will help.
Please take a moment to look at the videos of food being distributed and the people receiving it.
CONSTRUCTION GOING ON!!!
Fundamaya is very happy to be putting the second floor for a much-needed room at the Tierra Linda Jnr. High School. This is the school that Fundamaya was asked to build, by the community, and thanks to donations from many people we purchased the land and were able to build the school in 2008. This made it possible for so many young people to have access to higher education in their remote villages in the highlands of Guatemala. Fundamaya has since sponsored the students in this school to graduate from Jnr. High and go onto Higher Education.
THE GABBY LEWIS LIBRARY
RE-OPENING!
We are thrilled to announce that the library has now opened again after the pandemic forced the closure.
We now have computer access for students all day. The library is staffed with a teacher who is there to help students with their homework and tutoring. She is also instructing students on how to use a computer. There was much excitement in the community when the Library opened again!
This is a short video made by the teacher, Evelyn. Evelyn is another one of our Fundamaya graduates! Evelyn attended the Fundamaya preschool in Tierra Linda, was sponsored for school, and attended University. She used the library when she was a child and she has very fond memories of this. We are so happy that one of our students who grew up in this village now has the opportunity to work at the library. Thank you to her sponsor for making this possible.
Thank you to the Lewis family and friends for all their support!
Thank you to Clare Hanagan, family, and friends for all their support!
We are always in need of working laptops, tablets, and unlocked cell phones, iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, they will be put to good use by our students. If you have any of these items that you are no longer using, please send them to Fundamaya, 2609 Hartford Street, San Diego, CA 92110.
Thank you!
SOLAR PANELS...Let there be light!!
All costs have been rising in Guatemala like everywhere. We have distributed many solar panels in the area of El Porvenir in the past few weeks. Most of these families were living without electricity and had to purchase candles. This is often very difficult for them economically and also it is very dangerous inside a crowded room with children, a candle, and not much light.
Other families have to choose between paying their electricity bill and having enough food to eat or sometimes not having enough for either.
Having one of these solar panels gives a beautiful electric light bulb in one room and also makes it possible to charge a cell phone which can also be a side business in the community. This makes a huge difference to a family.
We are thankful to Marc Osborn who has made this project possible.
Families who did not have electricity at all now have it, and others who were struggling and having their electricity cut off now, have a solar panel to help them.
The woman is speaking Kakchiquel in this video but there are subtitles in English.
If you would like to donate a solar panel to your sponsored family or a family In need, it is just $60 US. The panel will last for 5 years before the battery needs replacing. At this time, the cost to replace the battery is just $5 US.
www.fundamaya.org or for Canada it is www.fundamayacanada.ca/donate
STUDENTS WHO WILL BE MAKING
A DIFFERENCE!!
This has been a challenging time for many students to be able to continue in school but we are very proud of all our students who have been trying so hard under such difficult conditions.
We are very proud of Alexis who has been sponsored by us since he was very young. He is another Fundamaya Graduate success!
He has now graduated with his Master's Degree and he received an Honorable Mention from the University which means he has been an exemplary student. Thank you so much to his sponsors who have made this possible!
We are very proud of Yahaira! She is in her last year of High School. She is an excellent student and she will be going to University to become a teacher! Yahaira is wearing the outfit that is required by the Guatemalan Education system to do her internship before she graduates.
We have students who work and help their families like Ailyn who helps her mother in the store after school. After work, she does her homework. She also plays basketball and she loves Chess and is teaching young children how to play. Ailyn is in 7th grade and has excellent grades. She is an excellent student and she needs help to stay in school. Ailyn needs a sponsor! To sponsor her it is just a little over $1 US per day or $35 US per month. Ailyn's student ID. number is #457. To sponsor her or another child in need please go to our website, www.fundamaya.org. We have many children who are waiting and hoping for sponsorship.
To sponsor a student please go to our link...https://www.fundamaya.org/children-needing-sponsorship
VOLUNTEERS AND VISITING GROUPS!!!
We are so happy to welcome back old friends and new ones!
If you are interested in coming to visit, we would love to have you! We welcome groups of all sizes, and families, or come alone! All welcome! To inquire about coming to Fundamaya, please write to volunteercoordinator@fundamaya.org
SEWING CLASSES!
Thank you to GLOBAL LEGACY for supporting our Sewing classes and always bringing donations of Sewing Machines and supplies!
Fundamaya has a 16-month course of beginning classes and advanced classes to learn to sew. At the end of this course, a student receives a sewing machine to take home to be able to use their skills and start their own at-home business. Global Legacy has been so supportive for many years in donating machines for this cause!
If you are interested in sponsoring a woman to take sewing classes it is just $38 US per month. This includes materials and transport costs. If you have a sewing machine or materials to donate, we will be very happy to have them! Please contact info@fundamaya.org
Thank you to Atitlan Angels! It was wonderful to have you all here with us again! Please take a moment to watch this video. If you would like to come and volunteer with us, this video will give you an idea of what it may be like!
Thank you to long-time sponsor, Sarah Hryniewicz and her children, Sophia and Alex! It was so great to have you back again.
BOXES SHIPPED TO FUNDAMAYA!
Thank you to Nuestros Ninos, the Huggett family, members of the Poway Community Church, Baragwanath-Blessings, and all the many sponsors and donors who sent donations through these shipments!
These donations make it possible for us to have new toys at the preschools, provide school supplies, blankets, sheets, towels, household items, much-needed clothing and shoes, baby items, knitted hats for young and old, walkers, wheelchairs, sewing equipment, medicines, vitamins and so much more. We are already collecting toys for Christmas so if you have any items that you would like to send, please contact us at info@fundamaya.org We will be very grateful to have them!!
We could not have done any of this without you!! Thank you !!
From the Fundacion Familia Maya Family ( Fundamaya) to you and your family, We wish you all a very happy and healthy Summer of 2022! Sharon Smart and the Fundamaya team! Panajachel, Guatemala.
Please don't forget to make Fundamaya your preferred charity on Smile.Amazon.com!
Come and join us on our Facebook page, Amigos de Fundamaya. AMIGOSDEFUNDAMAYA
This is our Facebook group for Sponsors, Donors, and friends who want to see the work we are doing daily.
