Belated Mother's Day picture

I got a photo from Mayan Families this week of the Mother's Day basket we sent to the Cumpar family.

Look at how much baby Antonio (the mother's baby) has grown! And Candelaria is looking more mature, herself.

Unfortunately, I have not had much time to devote to Guatemala this year, since we are expecting our first child and just moved from the city to a house in the suburbs.

But it is something I plan to go back to once we get settled into our new lives.

Quick Guatemala Update

Here's a picture of the Cumpar kids with their Easter/Semana Santa basket. Looks a lot healthier than last year's basket!

The Rest of Monday, December 8

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday celebration! It's hard to get back into the swing of things, but at least my office is closed this week, so I can ease back gradually...AND finally finish the account of our trip to Guatemala earlier this month!

So where were we? Ah yes, it was that first Monday, right after I had met the Cumpar family. When they arrived at Sharon's at about 10 or 11am, Michael was at the vet clinic (which he will describe on his own), and Tricia was at the San Jorge pre-school party. So I asked the Cumpars if they could wait until both of them got there.

I went back into town with Anna to help organize sandwiches for the volunteers, and on the way I stopped by the vet clinic to let Michael know that the Cumpars had arrived. To say they were busy at the clinic was quite an understatement, and Michael already had tales to tell. He was going to come over once they broke for lunch.

Back at the house, the action continued, but everyone had a few moments to hold the little puppy!


When Michael got to the house, the Cumpar family immediately recognized him. While we were waiting, I had found out from the mother that the family had an urgent need for maize, the corn used for tortillas. That is the staple and often the only part of their diet. Michael and I went with the mother in a tuk-tuk to the Panajachel market and bought her a 100-pound bag of maize. You can read more here: http://helpingmayanfamilies.org/Blog.aspx?ID=17

Right as we were coming back from the market, Tricia and her group arrived from San Jorge! It was a joyous meeting as Tricia got to see three of her four sponsored girls for the first time. Her college pal, Mary, served as the much-needed interpreter.

Here we are with Glendy, Maritza, and Irma.

Then we had a few shots with the entire Cumpar family, Tricia, Michael, and myself before they picked up their tamale basket and left. I posted the best one with my holiday greetings last week. But this photo haunts me. The family is usually smiling in photos, but there is much we do not see behind the scenes. They live a hard life that is impossible for most of us to fully comprehend. I try to picture what they are doing right now, and my imagination fails me.

We said our goodbyes, and the Cumpars set off to take the 2 - 3 hour bus trip back to their village. After intersecting for a few hours that day, our lives were now far apart. But yet, I could not get them out of my head.

***

We helped with the distribution of more tamale baskets. As you can see above, many women wrapped the baskets up and carried them home on their heads, while they carried their babies on their backs.

I helped Morgan, Sarah, and Ismael give out more toys.

The lines outside the gate finally dissipated, and we finished for the evening.

It was quite a long and eventful day. Back in town, a group of us went down to the waterfront and ate at a restaurant called El Pescador. I had a tasty fish, even though I had to use a tortilla to cover its face -- it still had eyes! Now I know that's a delicacy, but I can't quite bring myself to look at it, let alone eat it.

Enough adventure for one day...it was time for bed!

Distributing Donations and Meeting the Cumpar Family -- Monday, December 8

On Monday morning, after breakfast, Michael and I went our separate ways. Michael went off to the vet clinic (which he will write about later on), and I hopped a tuk-tuk with Angela and Sarah H. to Sharon's.

We stopped for water before we got to the bridge, and I took the opportunity to snap a few up-close tuk-tuk shots.

And then we were back at Sharon's! First, we took all of the finished tamale baskets back out into the courtyard. They had been moved into the enclosed patio right outside her house overnight, so the dogs could be let out. Sharon has taken in about 20 stray dogs, which stay in enclosures during the day.

I unloaded a good portion of the donations we had taken down and brought them to the toy and clothing stations.

The members of the group helped sort through the piles of clothing.

And the young Mayan Families staff helped get ready for the onslaught of mothers and children.


After I had been there about an hour, I saw a familiar face coming in the gate! It was Juana and Candelaria's mother...followed by her children!


I wrote a lengthy guest blog post about our meeting for the Helping Mayan Families group site. Please check it out here: http://helpingmayanfamilies.org/Blog.aspx?ID=17


We had fun finding toys for the kids.

Rafael loved his large Beanie Baby cat.

Maritza had a cuddly teddy bear.


And Candelaria found a stuffed polar bear (the frog was for her little brother). By the way, the "X" on her hand means that she already picked out a toy, and the "Z" stood for Zapatos or shoes. With hundreds of children coming in each day, we had to have a way to mark who had already been served.

And I finally got to see Juana's baby!

Despite our worries during her pregnancy, little Edgar Antonio turned out a big baby!

Candelaria with the necklace I brought her.

The kids loved to pose with their toys.

A family portrait: mom, Candelaria, and Rafael.

Rafael and his big sister.

A self-portrait of me and the kids.

It was so wonderful to see them again. If you're new to my blog, you can read all about the first time we met.

Next post: the rest of Monday! This was just the morning!

Back from Guatemala!

Lots more to come this weekend!

Guatemala Trip Roundup

I took advantage of the heat this weekend, and just stayed indoors blogging! Here is a handy reference to all of my Guatemala entries:

Mayan Families-related travelogue:

• Part I: Background and Preparation
  
• Part II: Panajachel and Tierra Linda
  
• Part III: San Jorge
  
• Part IV: Mayan Families Headquarters
  
• Part V: Healthy Pets

Photos and some commentary:

• Evening in Panajachel
• Morning at Hotel Atitlan
  
• Reserva Natural Atitlan
  
• Antigua in Pictures

If you've been inspired to get involved, please check out the Mayan Families website! There are many ways to help, and this group is a lot of fun.

If you now want to plan a trip to Guatemala, I'd highly recommend it! Check out TripAdvisor for help in planning, or leave me a comment with your email address if you have any questions for me.

Thanks for reading!

New photos!

Sharon sent me some photos from our time with Mayan Families. I had been eagerly awaiting these! Here we are with Candelaria.

I will be posting more and explaining more once things calm down a little.

We finally get to meet Juana and Candelaria

Just a photo tonight. I'm so tired and still catching up on everything.

More tomorrow!

Check out our loot!

Michael and I had lots of fun at Target today getting our sponsored family some gifts we'll bring down.

We thought we would give the kids tools to unleash their creativity. So this is what we got: regular and heavy weight construction paper, drawing paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, two pairs of scissors, a pencil sharpener, glue sticks, tape, a ruler, some stickers, and a cute tote bag to put them all in.

We also got them toothbrushes and toothpaste, and a little something for each child individually. The individual gifts I found around our neighborhood, for the most part. That was an interesting experience and a chance to practice my Spanish before the trip! I got a NY Yankees cap for Rafael. For the girls I got a little Hello Kitty notebook and pencil each, and I picked out a barrette or necklace from my own things for each of them. We also got a stuffed Tigger ring rattle for the baby, and we are going to give the mother one of the dish towels my mom gave me, as well as a collection of hotel soaps.

The final thing we're giving them is a little photo album. We're going to print out some pictures of us, and I'm going to see if Patti and Tricia each want to send me a photo to put in. We'll also print out some of the pictures of the family, since they most likely do not have any photos of themselves.

I can't believe the trip is coming up fast!

Wow, Easter food, already!

It was late Tuesday night that Patti and I donated the money for the Cumpar family's Easter food. And now, less than two days later, we get photos from Mayan Families of the children receiving the goodies!

Thank you so much, Sharon, the founder of Mayan Families, for allowing us this joy of being able to help others and see the results so quickly!

The children look so happy. I think this was the best email I've ever gotten.

Water filter!

Thank you so much, Tricia, for donating a water filter for the Cumpar family! Tricia sponsors Maritza, Juana and Candelaria's little sister.

Here are pictures of the family receiving this life-saving gift.

The Cumpar family has a new stove!

I was so excited to get an email this evening from Sharon, the head of Mayan Families, with pictures from Guatemala. Michael and I donated money for an Onil stove. And now it has been installed in the Cumpar family's house!

According to the website, it is a "smoke-free, fuel-efficient stove that cuts the wood required by 70% , eliminates indoor pollution and reduces the risk of burns associated with cooking on open fires."

We also got an update from Sharon on the situation of this family.

They sleep in the same room that the stove was installed in. Oto who took the photo said that they were ashamed of the bed so they moved it out of the house. They share the bed, one night half the family sleeps in it and the next night the others use the bed. The alternate nights they sleep on the floor on a straw woven mat. The floor is cement. They do not have tables or chairs. They keep their clothes in a cardboard box. They do not have a pila [outdoor sink]. They do not have a bathroom. They use the next door neighbors' bathroom.

I am now in touch with Patti and Tricia, the sponsors of the other children in the Cumpar family. I'm looking forward to figuring out how we can best help them.

First Entry!

At the start of this year, I vowed to make a change to my life. For years, I have wanted to do something to help other people, but I've just never been able to get off my butt and get involved. There were all sorts of excuses - working too much, not knowing how I could get started, planning my wedding, etc. But that's enough. It's time for me to jump in.

Particularly, now that I am married, I have no excuse. I remember how the priest told us at our wedding that one of our responsibilities, now that we have been blessed with each other in marriage, is to be generous.

So here goes! My inspiration is the Cumpar family you see here. I found out about Mayan Families when I was doing research for my husband's and my trip to Guatemala in April. I have been to developing countries before, but I have never done anything to help the people there, aside from spend my tourist dollars.

In the traveler community, there is a lot of debate about what you can actually do to help people in poor countries. "Volunteer" programs are often viewed suspiciously - what do they truly accomplish? Are they just lining the pockets of the stateside organizers and giving the volunteer a feel-good vibe before they continue on their travels?

I started out looking for established volunteer programs, but then wound up looking at grassroots organizations. And then I found Mayan Families. They help the very poor indigenous people who live in the highlands of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala through various projects. Some of these projects are traditional types of help, such as student sponsorships and building homes. Others focus on the environment and health, including providing fuel-efficient stoves that prevent the respiratory diseases that often accompany a lifetime of woodfire cooking. Still more of the initiatives include animal cruelty prevention and pet spaying and neutering clinics, as well as preserving the indigenous culture through traditional dress (many people cannot afford to purchase traditional clothing, and instead wear second-hand Western clothing).

So we got involved. We are now sponsoring two children from the Cumpar family, Candelaria and Juana. We are hoping to get a chance to visit them when we make our trip next month.

I will write more about this in my posts. For now, this is a start to my blog!