- See more at: http://blogtimenow.com/blogging/automatically-redirect-blogger-blog-another-blog-website/#sthash.fBBcEurs.dpuf Casa de Sion: October 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010







After the tent pics are the ones we took when we were giving out food, shoes and clothes in Nueva Victoria . When we return, we will be checking out what they have now for a school for the 120 elementary kids starting in Jan. I guess what they don't have will be more outstanding. We need bookbags with school supplies for about 500 children.

More PICTURES








The bottom picture is of a new family we were trying to help. The woman is pregnant and had no food so we hired the man to be a gardener. According to community rumor he was one of the people involved in our robbery. Oh well. No good turn goes unpunished. Altho I don't really believe that it seems a good saying for this picture.
Next is a picture of our fearless, loyal cook, Dominga, and her mom and son. They all live in one clean room with no private bath.
Next pictures are of tents. Inside and out. In all we have done 160 Shelter Box tents. We know there are 2300 more families that need them. Checking out all our tents will certainly be part of what we do.

PICTURES








I have not been able to upload pictures at my home now for over a month. It is very frustrating. But my downs son is now receiving home tutoring as the new school he was supposed to go to was a daily 3 hours bus ride.. Too much for a child who is developmentally about 5 and mimics every cuss word he hears. So he receives home tutoring and will be homeschooled when we live in Guatemala. The homeschooling is happening at the library so the lady does not have to climb my 1.5 miles of unmaaintained dirt road. The plus side is I can upload pictures at the library that my stupid satellite will not do.
The pictures will be of what we will be dealing with when we go down in a couple of weeks.
The bottom one is the children. So many are starving. Look in her eyes and see if you can pledge $10 to help me buy her family a bag of corn.
Next is the land that the people of Nueva Victoria went together on and took out a loan to buy when there land and house for all 400 plus people was destroyed by TS Agatha. We bought them a 100 pound bag of corn and 10 pounds of black beans per 63 families. Can you contribute so we can buy mmore while we are there?
This group of people in the Dept. of Nahuala had nothing. thanks to Shelter Box and the Rotariians, we were able to set up tents for each family . Safe Homes bought each of these 13 families 100 pounds of corn and 10 pounds of beans. They have been cut off from help as the main road oyu had to travel to get to them was so covered with mudslides it was unusable. over 100 people killed on it from the slides.
Some of the people of Nahuala.If you want to give for food for the over 1000 people we know of who are starving here are the costs
100 lb bag of corn is $28US. This will supply a family of five with tortillas for two weeks.
A 100lb bag of black beans is $95 US.
A 100 lb bag of rice is $80 US.
A carton of 30 eggs is $5 US.
A basket of food with a cooked chicken is $35 US.
A water filter providing a family clean drinking water costs $50
Next picture is of me with my twins. I take terrible pictures and am really more beautiful than this.LOL
Next picture; One of 3 little boys all 6 years of age that we are helping because they can't walk. We need funds to bring a physical therapist to our clinic to work with them. We have one available for $10.00 a session. There are 15 children who would come and receive services.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Food needs For 2011.

Bad Omens for 2011 – FOOD-GUATEMALA
Bad Omens for 2011
By Danilo Valladares

GUATEMALA CITY, Oct 16, 2010 (IPS) - Guatemala needs to take steps to prepare for even worse problems of hunger in 2011, caused by climate change and farmers' heavy dependence on a few basic crops like corn and beans, experts warned on the occasion of World Food Day, celebrated Saturday.

"The phenomenon of La Niña is expected to last through 2011, bringing extremely heavy rains," Eddy Sánchez, director of the National Institute of Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology, told IPS. "Extreme climate conditions will continue to be seen over the next few years."

La Niña is characterised by cooler than normal sea surface temperatures and unusually strong trade winds in the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean, which often bring torrential rains.

El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of a Pacific Ocean cycle that affects temperatures in the ocean and the atmosphere above it. They repeat every three or four years on average, and are the extremes in what is known as the Southern Oscillation.

The proportion of malnourished people in Guatemala rose from 15 percent (1.4 million people) in the 1990-1992 period to 21 percent (2.7 million people) in the 2005-2007 period, according to the "Panorama de la Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional en América Latina y el Caribe" 2010 (Overview of Food and Nutritional Security in Latin America and the Caribbean).

Honduras and Nicaragua, meanwhile, reduced their malnutrition rates from 19 to 12 percent and from 50 to 19 percent respectively, in the same lapse of time, the report adds.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) study released this week warns that the food security situation in Guatemala, as well as Bolivia and Haiti, is serious.

The production of corn, the main subsistence crop in this Central American country, has declined due to the impact of climate change. The projected harvest for the May 2010 to May 2011 period is 28 million quintals, while average annual consumption is 40 million quintals, according to the United Nations agency's office in Guatemala.

Sánchez said that in order to counteract this situation, the country must adopt measures to adapt to global warming, using flood- and drought-resistant seeds, and diversifying crops, for example.

The situation has not been easy for Central America, especially Guatemala, one of the poorest countries in the region. Half of the population in this country of 14 million people lives below the poverty line and 17 percent of Guatemalans are extremely poor, according to U.N. figures.

Tropical storms Agatha, in May, and Alex, in June, and torrential rains in this year's rainy season left more than 100,000 people homeless and caused serious damages to roads and other infrastructure.

Paradoxically, the main problem in the region last year was drought, which caused severe losses in grain crops, and even the malnutrition-related deaths of at least 54 children in Guatemala.

Furthermore, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala are still feeling the effects of the devastation caused by hurricanes Stan, in 2005, and Mitch, in 1998.

"We are entering a more alarming stage," Roberto Cabrera, with Action Against Hunger, told IPS. "We have had three years of virtually continuous shocks since the 2008 global economic crisis, the drought caused by El Niño last year, and the excessive rains this year."

The expert said small farmers have not had "a single successful harvest season" due to the erratic climate conditions, which "this country is not prepared for."

This year's heavy rains caused crop losses mainly in the south and the west, while the so-called "dry corridor" in the centre and east of the country continued to suffer the effects of drought and the food crisis, although there was less crop damage, Cabrera said.

Guatemala needs "an integral government policy that creates alternatives which would free farmers from having to grow corn and beans, their main sources of livelihood," he said.

Sucely Girón, with the Food Security Observatory, told IPS that it would be very important to "put a priority on food and nutritional security" when the government budget for 2011 is being discussed.

She called for strengthening the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security information system in order to map out where the hungry are located, and for the earmarking of funds for the institutions that make up the National System of Food and Nutritional Security.

These institutions were created by law in 2005 to promote policies and mechanisms specifically designed to fight hunger. However, they have not yet had tangible results.

Girón also said it is necessary to invest in studies to explore other possibilities of subsistence for people in rural areas, such as tourism. "People cannot continue to depend on the cultivation of corn," she argued.

In addition, "crop diversification must be promoted, as well as the use of agro-forestry systems," or the combination of agriculture with the planting of trees, to optimise production, she added.

Gustavo García with FAO Guatemala also commented to IPS that alternative sources of income in rural areas must be explored. But he stressed that access to credit must be improved in order to do this, because "many farmers would like to diversify their crops, but don't have the means to do so." (END)

Save A Life

Push the Donate

Thursday, October 14, 2010

As we get ready to leave for two weeks in Guatemala, I am anxious to see what has moved forward or ,sadly, backwards since we were there the last time. I know the posts sticking up out of the ground for the school in Nueva Victoria,have had lamina but around them. No windows to see out of of or to provide ventilation, but lamina on the sides and roof to protect from the downpours that continue to make life miserable for the people. I an excited to tell the people of Nueva Victoria that soon, in Jan., a team will be coming down to build the tables and benches they need to school their 2011 , 120 elementary students. I am thrilled that thru the help of a Utah man that came as a volunteer a few months ago, they will get the water they need to wash and bath. He is also providing the cement for the floor of the school. He also plans to help them buy the materials they need to build permanent houses. I am worried that they have not had enough beans and corn to maintain even the most basics of health. So many are starving in Guatemala because of all the crops destroyed by the rains and the mudslides destroying their homes. They are in survival mode. I am even more concerned about the people of Nahuela. Can not wait to talk to our contacts there to see how this aldea is faring. They have been unreachable since we were there as you had to go on the international highway that was closed because of all the mudslides and resulting deaths.
I want to see our facility that was damaged by slides and banditoes. We have to build a retaining wall. We are in the process of putting bars on all our windows and doors so they can not be broken into. We have rebuilt the septic tank that fell in .We are interviewing people to work security at night. I am excited to work with the employees on our ongoing programs. We continue to have more and more pregnant women come for the eggs and lunch and help. I want to start the same program at Nueva Victoria and will be looking at the logistics of doing that. Feeding programs for the kids and tutorials.
I am wondering the status of the bridge between San Andres and Panajachel as I have no desire to cross the foot bridge. I will be taking possession of a new house on the San Andres side of the bridge that will be used for our family while we live there after the New Year and for volunteers when we are not there. It is hugh and I think everyone will enjoy it.
None of my pictures will load , probably because of the storm and I need to go do a conference call with my management staff of our for -profit business.
Please give $$$$$ for us to buy food for the needy while we are there. You will be saving a life. Also if you want to send needed items for me to take, do it now. Thanks to everyone who has already sent items.
Vicki
20.vicki@gmail.com
As we get ready to leave for two weeks in Guatemala, I am anxious to see what has moved forward or ,sadly, backwards since we were there the last time. I know the posts sticking up out of the ground for the school in Nueva Victoria,have had lamina but around them. No windows to see out of of or to provide ventilation, but lamina on the sides and roof to protect from the downpours that continue to make life miserable for the people. I an excited to tell the people of Nueva Victoria that soon, in Jan., a team will be coming down to build the tables and benches they need to school their 2011 , 120 elementary students. I am thrilled that thru the help of a Utah man that came as a volunteer a few months ago, they will get the water they need to wash and bath. He is also providing the cement for the floor of the school. He also plans to help them buy the materials they need to build permanent houses. I am worried that they have not had enough beans and corn to maintain even the most basics of health. So many are starving in Guatemala because of all the crops destroyed by the rains and the mudslides destroying their homes. They are in survival mode. I am even more concerned about the people of Nahuela. Can not wait to talk to our contacts there to see how this aldea is faring. They have been unreachable since we were there as you had to go on the international highway that was closed because of all the mudslides and resulting deaths.
I want to see our facility that was damaged by slides and banditoes. We have to build a retaining wall. We are in the process of putting bars on all our windows and doors so they can not be broken into. We have rebuilt the septic tank that fell in .We are interviewing people to work security at night. I am excited to work with the employees on our ongoing programs. We continue to have more and more pregnant women come for the eggs and lunch and help. I want to start the same program at Nueva Victoria and will be looking at the logistics of doing that. Feeding programs for the kids and tutorials.
I am wondering the status of the bridge between San Andres and Panajachel as I have no desire to cross the foot bridge. I will be taking possession of a new house on the San Andres side of the bridge that will be used for our family while we live there after the New Year and for volunteers when we are not there. It is hugh and I think everyone will enjoy it.
None of my pictures will load , probably because of the storm and I need to go do a conference call with my management staff of our for -profit business.
Please give $$$$$ for us to buy food for the needy while we are there. You will be saving a life. Also if you want to send needed items for me to take, do it now. Thanks to everyone who has already sent items.
Vicki
20.vicki@gmail.com

Saturday, October 02, 2010

CHILDREN'S DAY

Yesterday was Children's Day in Guatemala. We bought cakes and had about 60 kids at our lunch and Cake Party for the afternoon. They played all kinds of games and had a ball. I was in Guatemala last children's day and remember how fun it was for the kids.
We will be living down there for Jan., Feb., Mar., and April with our kids. We plan on organizing baseball teams for the kids as it is my husband's favorite sport plus it is one I can play. If you have any baseball equipment, get it to me and I will take it down. My husband and I are also going down either the end of Nov. or beginning of Dec. I will take any Christmas gifts you send for the kids at that time.
Still need Skyline Miles really bad.
Vicki
20.vicki@gmail.com

Teams For 2010 AND 2011

In order to plan our volunteer schedule for the rest of 2010 and 2011, I need to know if you alone or with a team are contemplating coming down to help and when. Yes I am moving forward; never thought of quitting. Thanks for the encouragement and let me know asap.

Vicki