Only one and a half more days in Chukumuk. We have gotten so much done but have so much more to accomplish. I feel like a big clock is ticking. We met Ana Maria Mendoza today. She has just moved into the village and is completing grade 6. She came to find us as she wants to continue her studies at our Basico. She wanted to make sure we had her picture so that she would be eligible for the back pack, supplies and school fees next year. We are not getting students in Basico 1 full scholarships. We have found that we lose 50% of students in the first year.
This occurs for several reason: no food at home and the student has to work, Illness at home and the student has to work, the course load much harder than primary and the student finds it too hard, father is alcoholic and the student has to earn money to support family, student has to look after younger siblings or the student needs glasses and can not see at school.
We are however working hard to find full sponsorship for the students entering Basico 2. These students have the right work ethic and family support. When a student quits we visit the family and see if there is any hope of having the student continue his/her studies. Without an education the cycle of poverty continues. Our garden programs and women’s businesses and cooperatives should help alleviate the huge stress on families and make higher education no just a far off dream, but a reality.
This is Miriam’s ( one of our Basico 2 students) mom. We took her into Santiago Atitlan to buy her shoes. She had on cheap plastic shoes that she had sewn together as they had all split. You will notice the neck scarf. She just had thyroid surgery. I have been sneaking her money for years to help her pay for her blood pressure medicine. Her husband does not make a lot of money and they had to choose between medicine or food for the family. This last May she became so ill that she would die without thyroid surgery. The family found the cheapest hospital however the surgery was still $1000. They have taken out a loan at 28 % to pay for the surgery. They also have medicine at $65 /month to keep her alive. This family is in BIG financial trouble.
Two years ago when Miriam was to start Basico her father said NO. An older sister had started Basico several years earlier and came home intoxicated one day.Mayan Women rarely drink in Guatemala. The furious father pulled her out of school. It took the mom, school director and myself 2 hours to convince the dad to let Miriam have the chance to continue studying. As Miriam is a Basico student, we are raising the money, with the help of Nanaimo Hospital, to pay for the surgery and medicine.
Her father now is very happy that his daughter is in our Basico. The family is also going to be part of the Bead Store Cooperative which should make it possible for them to buy her medicine. We are having the family pay for part of the surgery. The father is a welder and we need security bars on our Home Economics room so that the sewing machines, supplies and stoves are not stolen. Once again ” hand up not hand out”. Here Jim and the dad are discussing the 10 windows to receive safety bars.
We returned back to Chukumuk and visited the home of one of our Basico moms, Maria. Maria has 2 boys in Basico 2. Three years ago she received a microloan to buy a store. She has paid back the loan with beaded key chains. The villagers never have any money but always have key chains so they are our currency in the village.
Maria store has grown and grown over the years and she helps support 2 younger sisters. Maria is a single mom twice widowed, She is a hard worker and she has big plans for her family. She asked me last year if she could get another micro loan to buy a manual ice shave machine. I initially told her no, as we needed to help other families.
However on thinking about it more I realized she would be perfect to have in an ice shaver cooperative as she can make ice in her fridge. None of the other families in this area have a fridge….heck most don’t have decent shoes.
Upon thinking it seemed perfect to start Aldea Maya’s first cooperative with Maria and her extended family. Two of her sibling also have students in Basico. At the end of the day we ened up with 4 sisters, one sister-in-law, one cousin and the mom. We are calling our first cooperative the group of 7.
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Here is the sister-in-law with the ice shaver
The group will pay Maria Q10 for the ice for one month. The group still needs to get a cooler and a wheeled table for the machine. Each of the women will pay 19 key chains for the above items.
Noticed that Maria’s youngest son had an infection around his eye. Jaime will be taking him to the hospital on Monday.
One of the cooperative members just had a baby girl. She received the diapers on Monday. The mom is loving having a dry baby. She looks so happy in her bucket bed.
Here is the older brother of the wee baby. Salvador is standing beside 2 papaya plants. The family received these through our school garden and nutrition program. These plants are helping to nutritiously feed this family of 8.
