FINALLY A NEW SCHOOL FOR SAN ANTONIO PALOPO

It is brand new, with lots of windows, bright paint and colourful tiles.  The families  have been so excited, the children could hardly wait.

10 years ago, a mud slide destabilized their  school and 500 children and their teachers had to cope with a dark church basement and then a provisional school built  above the municipal market place.  So everyone has been anxious to have this new school finally open.

But the reality in Guatemala is that there are many problems that need to be addressed such as basic services and equipment that we would expect here in Canada.  After opening over a week ago, the school still has no running water.  The teachers are bringing plastic jugs of water  to flush toilets.  There are no sinks for washing hands and cleaning up after snacks.  There is electricity but so little that it overloads if a computer is plugged in.  There were no desks, or white boards either!   

So we have been busy coordinating how best we can respond to this situation, and Candelaria (our administrator) and Kim ( one of our volunteer group members) have met with the school principal and established a list of priorities.  Kim, her husband Gene and some local helpers  sanded and repainted over 300 old desks from the provisional school.  

We have sent money for the school principal to begin purchasing  white boards, tables, and other necessities.  

The water and electricity issues must be addressed by the mayor and municipal government.  Unfortunately, this is going to take time, as the elections in Guatemala have meant a new mayor and officials , who just started their duties 2 weeks ago.  Poco a poco!!

But there are lots of opportunities ahead.  The old provisional school is being torn down and the wood which ICO purchased, will be used by Rotary to build 4 new houses for poor families.  

Old Provisional School

We are building close relationships with the principal of the new school and hope to establish an agreement whereby the students use the learning assistance and library at the Casita on a regular basis.  There is no library space in the new school.  

Educational opportunities are definitely improving in San Antonio Palopo and thanks to our wonderful donors, we have been able to provide much needed support .  Together we are making a difference!!  

Christmas Presents with a Difference

Reminder! VIDEA Fair Trade Fair is Saturday, Nov. 23, 10-4, at First Metropolitan Church Hall, 932 Balmoral, Victoria. Look for our scarf table.

Christmas Presents with a Difference

Having trouble shopping for friends who already have everything? Why not give something that’ll link the receiver to Guatemalans who have next-to-nothing? You can give a Maya child the gift of learning, or a frail elderly widow the gift of food and companionship.

The Gift of Learning

The inside of our ¡Feliz Navidad! Education cards say: A gift has been made in your name, helping the children and youth of San Antonio Palopó to build a brighter future. (And we also have book plates, if you’d like to pay for a library book your friend’s name inside the cover.) 

Treating an Anciana to Lunch.

$25 provides an extremely poor elderly widow with a whole month of 2x/week lunches, plus a social time of fun stories and exercise. Donations of any amount are welcome. Inside the card, the message reads: A gift has been made in your name, ensuring that twice a week, elderly widows in the small community of San Antonio Palopo will receive a hearty lunch and time together to share their stories.

Thanks for your help in bringing a better future to the community of San Antonio Palopó. (And don’t forget, when you send in a donation for this type of Christmas gift, you receive a tax receipt.)

GUATEMALAN SCARF SALES

GUATEMALAN SCARF SALE IN
VICTORIA

VIDEA FAIR TRADE FAIR
at First Metropolitan Church Hall 
Saturday, November 23rd from 10 to 4
932 Balmoral, Victoria

BUY A GORGEOUS HANDWOVEN GUATEMALAN SCARF or MAKE A DONATION AS A CHRISTMAS GIFT instead of exchanging gifts with family, workmates or friends, and make a huge difference in a Mayan family's life. (Stop by to see our beautiful gift cards.)

Thanks to your generous support over the years, most people in the village now have clean burning, fuel efficient stoves that have replaced dangerous open hearth fires, and we will continue to maintain them so they are safe and working well.

Two years ago with input from parents, teachers and community leaders we established  a much-needed Learning Centre and Library for San Antonio's children, who were falling behind and dropping out of school as early as Grade 6.  It has been a huge success. We are also  continuing  with our lunch program for very poor elderly widows.

FINALLY! A New School for San Antonio

Almost 10 years after the landslide that destroyed their school, over 500 children of San Antonio are finally going to be moving into a new permanent school building. If all goes according to plan, the students will begin the 2020 school year in their new school. 

As with most Guatemalan schools, this one is only built to receive half the students at one time. Students will attend in morning/afternoon shifts. There is some complaint from the community that the school is already too small for the number of students who need an education. However, it’s a huge improvement over the hot and crowded conditions of the hastily-constructed ‘provisional’ school that has housed the students for the past 5 years. 

The tract of land that ICO purchased is slated to be the playing field for the students. It’s not right beside the school, but close enough for PE activities and football games in a community where there is very little space to run and play. 

So how will ICO next be involved? The Guatemalan government is only committed to constructing the shell of the building. All amenities like furniture, library books, computers, etc., must be provided by the community of San Antonio. Our team has collected enough money to help in some way. Last February, two of our volunteer team – Susan and Mary – met with the two principals of the provisional school (who will probably move with the students to the new structure) to discuss the needs of the new school, and how we might help most effectively. This discussion is still continuing. We hope by this coming January/February, when the students move in, to have a clearer picture of how we can most effectively enhance the learning environment of the new school. Will keep you posted!

How Climate Change is affecting Guatemala

An article from yesterday's New Yorker:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/how-climate-change-is-fuelling-the-us-border-crisis

What’s Up at the Casita? Update in a nutshell

Volunteer Sue Bailey helping girls read

In mid-January, four of our San Antonio team climbed on the plane heading for San Antonio Palopó. En route, we stopped in Mexico City for a book-buying binge. Mexico City, unlike Guatemala, is filled with wonderful bookstores – the ideal place to buy Spanish kids’ books. When, laden with books on every possible subject, we arrived in San Antonio, we were delighted to find the Casita (our little community centre) buzzing with energy. The school year had just started, but teachers at the two primary schools were already identifying children needing extra help and sending them for learning assistance. And children are reading! One of my lasting memories is of a group of little boys who, arriving early for their learning assistance, each pulled a book from the shelves, and for a few moments all that could be heard was the murmuring sound of them reading softly aloud to themselves – this in a culture where reading doesn’t generally happen.

Yesenia and Lidya, our energetic coordinators, are planning new ways to build a love of reading. They are working with teachers to organize a story hour each day, when a different class will arrive for an hour of storytelling. And already started is a Moms’ & Tots’ storytime.

2 ancianas consult on their sewing project

As well as young learners, the Casita continues to host twice-weekly dinners for the ancianas – 25 poor, elderly women who come to enjoy a nourishing lunch, as well as craft activities, exercises and games. We got to share a delicious lunch of chiles rellenos, made from peppers grown in the Casita garden, and a birthday cake to celebrate the birthdays of ancianas who had birthdays in January.

Young entrepreneurs working together for change

We met with an inspiring group of young community leaders – the jovenes emprendadores, young entrepreneurs. These 15 recent graduates, experiencing first-hand just how scarce jobs are in the Atitlán region, are creating jobs themselves. They’ve started up a mushroom-growing business in a little corner shed, are digging fishponds down by the lake to raise tilapia, and have been taking cooking lessons in order to fulfil their long term dream – to start up a café in San Antonio.

To keep the programs going, the Casita relies on additional help from our becados – scholarship students. The philosophy of the becado program is that those receiving a scholarship pay back by helping out at the Casita. Students help out in preparing the lunches, keeping the bookshelves in order, tutoring kids, and working in the garden. This year there are 11 scholarship students – 2 in junior high, 2 in senior high, one in technical college, and 6 in university. None of these amazing young people would be in school if they didn’t have the support of a scholarship.

All of this thanks to our generous donors, without whom none of this would be happening. ¡GRACIAS!

A Letter from Mary

December 1st, 2018

Dear Friends,

It is once again that time of  year, when I want to let all you wonderful supporters know how your contributions have been put to work in the little pueblo of San Antonio Palopó. It’s been a great year, with the learning centre/library expanding, our group of ancianas thriving, and a couple of new and exciting initiatives starting up.

Last December two supporters of our project left Victoria with suitcases full of library books, (thanks to Russell Books for their generous discount!). They were received with joy and gratitude; the books in the learning centre /library now total 895 – a significant increase from when we started out two years ago with 300 books!

Yesenia, the resourceful young learning centre coordinator, and her assistant Lidya, work closely with the principals and teachers of the two schools to ensure that the kids who need help the most receive learning assistance. This year, to reach more junior high students, they put together a small mobile library that one of them carries to the junior high each week, along with games and activities to help inspire the students to read. It is difficult for us Canadian readers to imagine a culture where children grow up without seeing a book other than the odd textbook at school. The impact of the learning centre/library – with its invitation to come in and either receive help with their work, or just choose a book and read – is amazing. Many of these children have never travelled even across the lake to other villages, and these books are their windows to the world. 

This year, we decided to tackle a problem that is endemic in most Mayan towns in Guatemala – the lack of jobs for young adults graduating from high school. Candelaria and Gregorio, the amazingly creative and dedicated couple who oversee the programs, designed a course for recent grads to help them with the skills they needed in order to find a job. This very motivated group of young adults, after their initial training, decided that the best way to find jobs was to create them! They are now, with the help of MAGA, an outreach program of the Guatemalan government, launching a mushroom-raising business. But the long-term vision of the group is to start a café – something currently missing in San Antonio – entirely run by youth. They have researched it, and are in the process of designing a business plan and finding a location. MAGA is now training them in the cooking skills and business skills they’ll need for this venture. We’re feeling very excited that this group of 15 highly-motivated young people (18-25) are finding their feet in the world of business, and becoming leaders in developing their community.

Meanwhile, the group of 25 ancianas (elderly widows), chosen because they are the poorest and most isolated in the village, come for lunch and activities twice a week. Last summer, Melina Castro, a young UVic sociology student, chose to do her co-op term at the Casita. She worked with the kids in the learning centre, and also with the ancianas, visiting them in their homes and talking about their lives. Melina reported to us that the home of one anciana was so small that she had to sit outside the door to talk to her – there was only room for one tiny bed. For these women, the chance to have a hearty meal, an opportunity to socialize and to participate in activities twice a week is a life-changer.

And in between all of these activities, other programs go on in our busy Casita:

·      Groups of adults meet twice a week for literacy courses. Olivia, their teacher (also one of our university scholarship students) is teaching them to use the sewing machines at the same time as they are learning to read and write in Spanish.

·      Our 7 scholarship students help out in a variety of ways in the casita: working in the garden (which produces some of the food for the lunches), helping prepare and serve lunches to the ancianas, and helping in the learning centre.

·      A group of very disabled children receive weekly language therapy, provided by therapists funded by another organization.

·      We continue to follow up with the stove program – the replacement of open-hearth fires by clean-burning stoves – checking the installed stoves, seeing what replacement parts are needed, and helping families to buy and install them.

And none of this could have happened without all of you - our wonderful supporters - a very heartfelt Gracias! 

So once again this holiday season, I’m wondering if you might choose to bypass the usual gifts, and instead give a donation in honour of friends and family, to help the San Antonio project continue.  We have new ¡Feliz Navidad! cards available, saying that a gift given in their name has provided books for the library, (and their names can be put on a bookplate in a book), or helped to feed an anciana; ($25 enables an anciana to come to the lunch program twice a week for a month), or support education and the Learning Centre. Let me know if any of these options appeals to you. (To see what the cards and bookplates look like, check below this blog.)

This January I’m heading off to San Antonio Palopó, along with several of our small band of volunteers and as always at our own expense. We’re stopping en route in Mexico City to buy books for the library (cheaper and more choice than ordering online in Canada), and will be taking part in all the Casita programs. We’ll be updating our blog as we go … keep tuned!

Thanks to all of you for your support - whether financial or otherwise. With your support, we have forever changed the lives of so many in the village of San Antonio Palopó.

With heartfelt gratitude ,

Mary Lynch

PS: We can issue income tax receipts for all donations. If you send a cheque, make it out to Innovative Communities Foundation (put San Antonio Education/Community on the memo line), and send it to Innovative Communities Foundation, 300 – 722 Cormorant St., Victoria, BC, V8W 1P8.

To donate online go to:

www.innovativecommunities.org/communities/Guatemala/san-antonio-education. On our new website, you can donate through Paypal just by clicking the donate button on our San Antonio page. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to donate through Canada Helps, go to the Canada Helps website – www.canadahelps.org — under Donate type in InnovativeCommunities.Org as your charity, and once you get to their page, select Guatemala – San Antonio Education/Community as the specific fund. Either way, donating online will get you a tax receipt you can print.  Remember, every penny you give goes to the project; we are all volunteers and there are no administrative costs.