OUR MAMA/TODDLER PROGRAM NEEDS YOUR HELP

". Dominga said that an additional 15 new people showed up for the food program this week. She had to turn them away; she feels that the people do not understand that it is a question of set funds - that they feel she is wielding her power and that she chooses not to allow them. These new people are angry at "her". Starting at 80 people four months ago, they are now feeding 140; she has had to reduce portion size to make extend the food for so many additional people"

I got the above message in an email this morning from our accountant. It made me cry. I was already in an about to cry mood as last night I dreamed that Juanito [ the boy in yellow in the pictures] was begging me too feed the children. That they were hungry. So I have this dream and I get this email and I cry. The mamas we are turning down have a good likelihood of being pregnant or nursing and that 15 we turned down did not include the children with them. Please consider supporting our feeding program so we can start it in more communities and not have to turn down women and children in the communities we already have a program in. Consider giving a loved one a $50 gift card [ or a $10.00 one] that will enable us to feed that many more children. We will send a card with a picture of the children they are helping. You can mail us a check [ write 20.vicki@gmail.com for the address ] or do the donate button on http://www.casadesion.blogspot.com.

Now let me tell you about Juanito. Two Tuesdays ago I brought 2 big cakes for the mamas/toddlers program. This little boy followed me to the kitchen with them and just stood there salivating and making sure he was first in line. Not too bad a plan since there were 50 mamas and 100 kids there. As he stood in the door longer and longer without a mama to come collect him, I started asking questions. Here is what I learned. He was 8 years old. His name was Juanito. He walked 3 miles by himself to come to our feeding program as his pregnant mama is drunk all the time and never watches him. Neither does his dad who beats him and the mom. So I became his mama. I invited him to come any day of the week he wanted to for food. I promised him he would have the first peice of cake as I was the one handing it out. And I hugged on him as much as I could. Remember Juanito in your prayers. He needs them. just one of many sad stories of the kids we help.

Merry Christmas
Vicki 20.vicki@gmail.com

Pics From Our trip

We spent alot of our time getting the new volunteer house ready for teams.It is awesome. First is on San Andres side of the Cerro Lec bridge so it is only 15 minutes to our Los Robles property. Second they are going to close the road from San Andres to Pana in a month or two to "fix" the bridge. They expect it to stay closed for several months so if we were in Pana it would be close to an hour and a half to the projects. But volunteer teams can still do the footbridge and ride a pick up to Pana which will only take about 15 minutes. It is a short walk to San Andres which has a nice market and great cultural experiences. Here are some pics of the master bedroom, the living room and dining gathering area and the house from the backyard. It comes with a cook and guardian [ who also speaks English ] . Cost will be $30 a night and that includes your meals. It has a great commercial kitchen.Plus two fireplaces and a terrarium. If you have a team coming after April or in December, let me know so we can book it for you.
The other picture is of Samuel. He is so funny. He has gotten so when he is told to come say hola to me, he naturally lifts his pants leg to show me his braces. I laughingly told he does not have to do that anymore. He walks completely normal and if you did not know he had braces , you would never quess. He has two sisters who need financial support to continue in school. Some of you that fell in love with the family, let me know if you want to be the ones.
Also we are getting ready to send out our 2010 Christmas card. If you would like to receive one, write me at 20.vicki@gmail.com with your address. Or do the same to donate to our projects.

Joel's Next Great Blog

Let me do a little more explanation on Joel's pictures. BTW, Joel will be managing our programs for the month of Dec. and half of Jan. so we can expect many more great pictures. The first one is the market where we buy our food and where the Mayans' make their living. Food is more costly. For exam. tomatoes have doubled in the last two months. Second there are many less tourists and since the Mayans can not afford much of the food, the vendors are suffering.
Our mama/preschooler program continues to grow. We are now averaging 45 to 50 mamas and over 100 children. You can see the line of the women waiting to get their incaparina or formula. Also the children really enjoy the weekly movie. I need more dvds for them in Spanish and would like some of the Nest videos or some Christian ones or ones that teach some character values. If oyu have some , please send. Also need a cd player and another dvd player. I need money to take more mamas/ children in the program so if oyu can help we would appreciate it.
The man and the two boys are Juan, Juan Carlos[12] and Erwin[8]. They are the sweetest family. So humble and hardworking. The mother left when Erwin was 3 months old. How a mama can do this, I don't know. Juan took care of the boys until Erwin was 5 and then they went into an orphanage. We had them to dinner last night and the boys told me of many beatings with wooden sticks at the orphanage. Four months ago
they begged their dad to take them back. He did , but he was living with them on the steets until we took them in. He has legal papers for both boys. He is now the guardian at Los Robles. The boys just hugged and hugged me last night. How I hate to leave them. They need clothes, both regular week clothes and Sunday clothes. They go to church and the boys will be baptized in January when my family moves down there. Erwin is the exact same age as my Tony, just one day different. If you want to send them anything for me to take when I go, please do. Erwin needs a tie. He is too big for the little ones and too small for the big ones. We also need a financial sponsor for the family. We want to build them a small little house of their own.
Well we are on our way to the airport to return to our children who I have missed terribly. We have a new volunteer house that is so nice. Brand new with good water pressure and only 15 minutes from our facility in Los Robles. We hired a guardian there named Samuel who is bilingual and can translate for your groups.
Please pass this to as many facebook and other groups as you can. We need much more help. Also keep oyur eye out for grants we may qualify for. We took a census of the 3 maain villages we help and I have all the stats. And remember 100% of what you give goes to the programs and the families.

thanks
Vicki
20.vicki@gmail.com



http://www.twittertravel.com/profiles/blogs/the-programs-of-casa-de-sion

How the School Year works in Guatemala

My sil thought it would be a good idea to explain the Guatemalan school year so you would know why we are asking for money at this time. And I agree.

It is really quite simple. They start the new school year sometime in Jan. and end the last of October. The inscription , or registration, fees are due now. Plus they have to buy their uniforms and books and everything esle they need ahead of time.
Hope this helps.

Vicki

Help them stay in school

While here in Guatemala we have many people come to us for needs they can not have met any other way. On Tuesday I had 7 delightful 12 and 13 year olds come to me and ask me to help them stay in school. You see they just finished primario or 6th grade. Their parents have been able to pay that as it is only about $120 a year. But in basico and 7th grade they enter a new financial world. A world where they have to have uniforms and black shoes and pay a higher inscription fee and buy all their books and pay for all their supplies and bring 4 rolls of toilet paper for the bathroom. Most parents can not afford this and the kids just drop out. These kids and their parents don't want them to drop out so they are asking me and I am asking you for help. For $350.00 a year , you can keep a kid in school and help them break the cycle of poverty. Here are the kids. One of the girls is Samuel's older sister. Michele. You can get a picture and a twice a year letter from your student.Write me at 20.vicki@gmail.com and let me know if you can help.

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.

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

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

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

We need Encouragement

I have fiinished reading a book called "People Raising". One of the ideas it talks about is that donors do more than give money. They give encouragement. We need some of that now. Let me whine for a few minutes about all the crap going on down in Los Robles, Guatemala and maybe you can say something that will inspire me to move forward. First, we were burglarized two weeks ago. They broke into the kitchen and stole our microwave and big pots and pans and our submersible pump out of our well. So our poor cook and intern are hauling water from the school to make sure the kids still get their lunch. We are having to spend $500.00 a month more for 24/7 night time security. Who did it? Not sure. Maybe an employee or maybe a group of community men who were mad we did not give them enough food when the mudslides happened. We have heard both rumors. Next a rumor went around that an employee had hired a hit man to beat up our new directors. Some people in the community were upset with them. The new directors left that day. The intern stayed as she was not afraid and things have been fine so far. So now we are trying to hire a new director. A Guatemalan [ actually he is Tzutihil] who used to work for us. Then there has been a string of kidnappings in our area of San Andres. Let me first say before anyone panics.
THEY DO NOT KIDNAP AMERICANS BECAUSE THE FBI COMES IN AND IT GETS STICKY. Much easier to do express kidnappings of a Guatemalan, demand $2000 , get the money or bargain on the money and then return the person. Well so we heard there were a string of them. One was a family of 6, the youngest being 8 months. They wanted $25,000.00 to free them. Safe Homes contributed some as the dad in the family was the brother of our worker Arturo. Friends and family raised the money and two days later the family was thrown over the side of the mountain. The dad was hurt and required hospitalization, but everyone esle is okay. The next day in the same town a stupid kidnapper tried to snatch a boy. Boy yealed. 100s of people with tremendous anger towards kidnappers surrounded him and beat him to death. Things will be safer now and even tho I am an American and belive what I told you about them not taking gringoes, it is scary. My friend Nancy who has lived in the country for 20 years confirmed she has not know gringoes to be taken and that the high ransom must mean the kidnappers were doing a revenge thing on the dad.
Okay so I get past the kidnappers. The Mayan justice does not really bother me as they keep things safer and I wish there had been vigilante justice when I was a kid. Plus i really like the song "Whisky For My Men and Beer For MY Horses". No I do not dirnk, but it is about vigilante justice.
Then our guardian decided to quit. Okay, well there had been trouble surrounding him anyway, so we look to replace him. He decided to stay and we say "sorry", we have other plans. He leaves. goes to the Guatemalan Labor Union and comes back with a piece of paper saying we owe him $3000. So now we have to pay our attorney to get this straigtened out. And we hear thru the grapewine that he is making up false charges against us and is going into cohoots with Pedro to try and get more money out of us. Pedro who has done so many illegal things. Gosh it makes me mad.
Oh yeah our septic system fell in and we have to build another one. That is from the rains. Our well needs a retaining wall from the rains. Poor well. The lid is off where they stole the pump and it is starting to lean from needing the retaining wall. Okay there is all my whining.
I need to be down there and need your prayers for safety, for money, for positive things happening and for the negatives to stop.
There are positive things happening. I just do not feel like writing about them today. Maybe tomorrow.
Vicki
20.vicki@gmail.com

Patzaj

Here is another aldea near us that was washed out by the mudslides. They did not have much to begin with and now they have even less. I was not in the country at the time, but a couple of our volunteers were. They along with our employees set up 3 shelter box tents for them, gave them food and took clothes. Our stock of clothing is limited and the stock of shoes is gone. They took pajamas and the mothers put them on the kids right away for warmth. I can't wait until our 140 buckets on the container arrive at our place. Then we will have tons of clothes and shoes and some school supplies and shampoo and kitchen items.
One of the pictures shows a woman overcome by the loss and despair at the amount of clean up work.
One shows the muddy road you have to take to get into Patzaj. Many are of the tents and the people. All over Guatemala people are suffering. Thousands have lost their homes. Many have lost loved ones. And several hundred thousand have lost their food supplies of corn and beans.
Help us to help them. Push the donate button.
Thanks
Vicki
20.vicki@gmail.com

Risking my life to take your Donations to PA

All last week my family worked to sort donations, buy more 18 gallon rubber maid buckets and pack them all with your donations. We packed 140 buckets or about 3500 pounds of donations. All that had been stored in my house and shed. We rented a 6 by 12 foot uhaul it and put a hitch on the back of our 15 passenger van. Then Sunday we took all the seats out and loaded all 140 buckets in the van and the uhaul it. My daughter came to babysit the kids at home and at 8 monday morning Jody and I took off for PA., an 8 hour drive under normal conditions. But nothing is ever normal in my life. As soon as we hit the major highway, the uhaul started wobbling. At one point, my husband pulled too sharp to pass a big truck and went 65 miles an hour doing it. The uhaul went nuts shaking back and forth and he could not control the van. I thought we were dead. I have wondered many times whether I would die doing work for the Mayans of Guatemala. Maybe by a bandito, a kidnapper, a crazy driver on the crazy roads, a mudslide, but never did I think it would be taking a load of donations up to PA. Until then.!!!! I seriously thought we were gone and I wondered if my at home kids would go into foster care. but after much screaming [ until Jody told me to be quiet ; it was not that nice] , then much prayer, Jody figured out how to pull us out of the death throes we were in. The rest of the way was nerve wracking with me watching the speed [ never again over 60], and reminding him a million times to stay slow and in the right hand lane. We did manage to meet my 20 year old for lunch as we came within 5 minutes of her school. That part was fun.
Finally we arrived at Orphan Resources in Epharata, PA were happy to unload all 140 buckets just because it meant we were alive. The container will go out in 2 weeks and should be in Guatemala in 3 more weeks. Lots of great kids clothes [ thank you Karen ] and shoes [ thank you to many of you ] and soccer uniforms and equipment [ thanks again] and some school supplies and kitchen equipment and some warm adult clothing. Thanks everybody. The people of Guate will love you.
We enjoyed our time visiting with Sarah and Rod of Orphan Resources. They are a large interracial family like us with the same crazy hearts we have for Guatemala. Then on to a great B and B in a house built in 1763 in an Amish coommunity. Jody crashed and slept the rest of the night, but the next morning we had a good breakfast and toured the country side before heading home for the next 8 hours. This trip we traveled fine as the trailer had no weight.

Info for buying books

We are holding an Usborne on-line Book Fair (eFair) to benefit Safe Homes for Children! Usborne is a leading publisher of children's books, offering high-quality commercial-free books.

For total Book Fair sales of $200-$499, Safe Homes for Children will receive an additional 25% in free books. For total sales of $500+, Safe Homes for Children will receive an additional 50% in free books! For example, if total Book Fair sales reach $800, Safe Homes for Children will get an additional $400 in FREE books!

There are two ways to shop... both Wishlist sales and personal use sales count towards this total.

Please go to the website below, then click on "Safe Homes for Children" under Active e-Fairs. There is a Spanish book wish list for you to choose from. Once you get to the check-out, choose "Ship to Organization – Safes Homes for Children", and the shipping will be free. Also, there is no sales tax.

Or, if you would like to shop for your family, while benefiting this Book Fair, just
click on "Safe Homes for Children" under Active e-Fairs and begin your shopping. Once you get to check-out, choose ship to your home and your order will ship immediately.

The Book Fair will be open until Sept. 15th. At the close of the Book fair, the Spanish books will be mailed to Vickie Dalia, then make their way to Guatemala.

Thank you for considering supporting this Book Fair!

www.OrderGreatBooks.com

Please buy books for you and help us get more for the library

A report from one of our volunteers on the success of the library.
The library: One of the biggest successes is the library. Children
love coming around or staying after class to read a book or two. The
access pass: their parents’ permission. The principal from the school
told me that there is a difference of day and night between the kids
that stay in the program and the ones that don’t, she also told me
that they have improved their reading speed and reading quality by
tons. We are going to send you the list we made with Russell. One of
the programs that I was going to start on the Wednesday of the
burglary was the reading contest. I left the poster ready on the side
of the closet that has the TV on the main central room. It is ready to
have names posted on it and how many books were read in the period of
two weeks. I also left the prices in the same closet drawer. I left
Laura with all that info and exact location of the things. Children
were reading between 2 and 5 books a day! They also learned silent
reading. The kids loved lying down on the petates or sharing a chair
and reading. We have some pictures that we are going to send, I am not
sure if Russ sent those to you already. They would come with me after
reading and before leaving and they would tell me how much they loved
the stories and what were they all about.

Two containers going down in a week/Need School Supplies

My last blog reported on Nueva Victoria. When I visited there 3 weeks ago, it was to assess needs and give out food, sweatshirts and work gloves so the men could work out in the rain. One of the major needs I saw was the school. They lost their last school building to the mudslides. They had to change departmnts when they moved to new land. The new department is San Andres. That is where our facility is located, so the muni of San Andres came to us for help. They had no money in the budget to hire the 3 teachers needed for 100 children so we paid their salaries and trained them. We even did a week of traiining on the Seven Habits to provide some character training for the kids. Their school "building" consisted of tree posts sticking up in the ground. The men had cut these trees and probably paid for them. Richard, a volunteer there last week, has bought the cement for the floor.I had my new intern go up there yesterday to give me a report on the progress of the school.
Here is her report.

"hey vicki,

in nueva victoria we talked to the community, daniel was there on
richards behalf discussing the water situation and i was there to see
about the school. the temporary school is pretty bad, and
unfortunately we got there too late to see a class in session and the
teachers had left for the day. i took pictures of the school and some
with the kids standing in front. i was able to get the names and
numbers of all 3 teachers and i met the directorat a road crossing to
give her the money to buy a snack on independence day. when i talked
to the directora, she said that they have 82 children, and nothing
else. they dont have a floor (but richard provided money for this
already). they need books, paper, pencils, black or white boards (at
least 3), desks, notebooks, anything you can think of. all they have
now is a few benches and a few pieces of paper...it is truly
incredible that they can even continue like that. the information for
the teachers is as follows:

Maria Morales 5992 5176 (directora)
Telma Quino 4554 6345
Diego Xon 4621 6913"

We have two containers going down in the next two weeks. One from Utah and one from PA. We live in VA and will be traveling hwy 81 with a big turck load of stuff for the PA contaner. If you live in Utah write me and I will give you the number for the family handling the UTah contaner. We need desks, school supplies, shoes, books, medical equipment, dental equipment, farm equipment including shovels, rakes and hoes,toys, household furnishings, kitchen pots and pans and blenders and microwaves. If you can help with any of it, let me know. If you want to donate cash , push the button. Thanks to all of you who have already responded to this disaster.
I do not have Laura's pics yet, but here are a few I took. One of the "school" location with the posts and two of the children you will be helping. There are a total of about 200 children in this community, 100 are elementary age. All would love a simple Christmas party with a small present.

thanks
Vicki
20.vicki@gmail.com

Nueva Victoria

The following pictures are of the community of Nueva Victoria. They are a community of about 380 people who lost everything in the mudslides caused by Agatha. They borrowed money as a community to get this piece of land. With the help of the muni they got enough water in for drinking and cooking. The muni also split the cost with them of a small block making machine that the men work all day making block for their homes. They make 120 blocks a day and use it with some wood to make small homes. The women walk 4 miles up and down steep mountain roads to wash clothes and bodies in the river below. With your financial donations. we took a 100 pound bag of corn and a 10 pound bag of beans out there for each family [ there are 63] . With your material donations we gave each man a sweatshirt [ they had no protection from the rains ] and a pair of work gloves. They were thrilled. Each child got a piece of clothing. and a bag of chips.
I am happy to report that one of our volunteers that was there last week has worked out a deal with the muni to put in a water line that will supply all their water needs. They still need electricity. This same man bought cement to put in a floor for their school. We paid the salary for 3 teachers for the 120 elementary children. So now they have a cement floor and 3 teachers. No desks, no books and no lunch. We would like to help them with all of that, but we would need donations to be able to do that. Feel free to push the donate button. And thanks for helping us help them. We also need teams to go down and helo the people. They are a very hard working community and have done much with the little they have. They lost all their crops tho and still need help withfood. The men go out to work if they have jobs to pay off the loan for the land, but no is living luxurious lives. the picture of the house is the first one they built.
Vicki
20.vicki@gmail.com

Mudslides Kill

Here or bury over 100 People.is a story about all the mudslides in Guatemala and the damage they are causing

My husband and I along with two employees were on this road two weeks ago delivering food to the people of Nahuala.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100905/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_guatemala_mudslides

Help Us Improve Our Library

Thanks to some wonderful people we have been able to start a library in Los Robles. Our new directors spent many hours finding our books, organizing and cataloguing them. Since my mom was a librarian and I made money in college cataloging library books, this is close to my heart. I love to read and am a lifelong learner. Teach a kid to love reading and you can change their life. You can also take them away from a hard life and help them survive.So we now have 600 books for grades pre_K thru middle school. We have an incentive program or reward for each book the children read and we have a story hour on Tuesdays at our children's play group. Help us get 300 more books for either this library or to start a new one in Nueva Victoria and change a kid's life. Here is how to do it. And thanks to Debbie for orgaanizing this.
I will post pictures of it later as my computer is malfunctioning right now.


We are holding an Usborne on-line Book Fair (eFair) to benefit Safe Homes for Children! Usborne is a leading publisher of children's books, offering high-quality commercial-free books.

For total Book Fair sales of $200-$499, Safe Homes for Children will receive an additional 25% in free books. For total sales of $500+, Safe Homes for Children will receive an additional 50% in free books! For example, if total Book Fair sales reach $800, Safe Homes for Children will get an additional $400 in FREE books!

There are two ways to shop... both Wishlist sales and personal use sales count towards this total.

Please go to the website below, then click on "Safe Homes for Children" under Active e-Fairs. There is a Spanish book wish list for you to choose from. Once you get to the check-out, choose "Ship to Organization – Safes Homes for Children", and the shipping will be free. Also, there is no sales tax.

Or, if you would like to shop for your family, while benefiting this Book Fair, just
click on "Safe Homes for Children" under Active e-Fairs and begin your shopping. Once you get to check-out, choose ship to your home and your order will ship immediately.

The Book Fair will be open until Sept. 15th. At the close of the Book fair, the Spanish books will be mailed to Vickie Dalia, then make their way to Guatemala.

Thank you for considering supporting this Book Fair!

www.OrderGreatBooks.com

thanks
Vicki
20.vicki@gmail.com