Mayan Families Construction Program News

Building a House for Tomas

Ayuda — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:04:10 +0000

The house that we are building in Cerro de Oro for the family of one of our students, #707 Tomas has many difficulties. It is a very difficult location. Everything has to be carried in by hand. Volunteers worked very hard this week delivering the building supplies. They had a lot of help from the neighborhood children who
quickly turned up to help. They carried a block each down the long, steep rocky path. They returned quickly once they had dropped that block off and came back for more. At the end of the day, they were treated to drinks and a snack and given money to take home to their families.

Work Continues of San Jorge Classroom

Ayuda — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:11:35 +0000

The classroom in San Jorge is going up very nicely! Hopefully it will not be too long before the children will be able to use it!

Progress on San Jorge Classroom

Ayuda — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:27:41 +0000

Construction on the classroom in San Jorge is continuing. The
community is very excited about this new classroom and they have been very helpful.

We are hoping that we will be able to put a second floor on this classroom and that both classrooms of children who are now in horrible temporary classrooms will be able to be at the school with the rest of the children.

Tierra Linda Center Taking Shape

Ayuda — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:45:01 +0000

The Community/ Learning Centre in Tierra Linda is starting to take shape! We are very excited about this building all the possibilities that it will bring to the community.

San Jorge Center Work Continues

Ayuda — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:29:34 +0000

Construction continues in San Jorge for the Community/Learning Center. This week we received a grant to be able to run a feeding program for the Early Learning Center. This will provide each child who attends with a nutritious meal.

Tierra Linda Community Center

Ayuda — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:32:22 +0000

Construction continues on the Community / Learning Center in Tierra Linda. Work was stopped the week before due to the very heavy rains. The road was also blocked to Tierra Linda because of mud slides.
This week we were able to deliver building supplies and take some new photos.

The Sicay Choy Family House!

Ayuda — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:05:27 +0000

The Sicay Choy Family house was built in time to protect this family from the torrential rains!

The family had nowhere to live during the construction, their own family would not let them stay at their home, so they were camping in the cornfields. Juan and Julio who work with Mayan Families both voluntarily gave up their week end to work with the construction crew so that the house would be finished in just a few days.

The house is very small but we had a lot of problems with the owners of the land, the mother’s parents, they would not give them any further land and with the history of the mother and father of this family – we could understand this- so we worked with what we had. It is a simple construction but it will keep them dry and warm.

The living conditions that this family had were the worst that we have ever seen.

We are buying them a bed and taking them an onil stove – hopefully by next week . This will make a huge difference to the way that they live.

Thank you to everyone who helped raise this family above the appalling conditions that they lived in.

Padrinos Visit San Jorge Center Project

Ayuda — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:30:42 +0000

Carla and her friends from Westminster Presbyterian Church were finally able to visit the San Jorge Community/Learning Center where they have been funding the construction. Due to the past week of heavy rains they were unable to work on the building as they had planned but they were able to meet the womens group.

Carla and Ronna were presented with a beautiful weaving to take back to their church. The women are so grateful for all this help and they are very excited about all the possibilities that this new center will give them.

Click here to see Carla’s personal blog.

San Jorge Classroom Work Continues

Ayuda — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:20:09 +0000

Work continues on the San Jorge classroom despite the very heavy rains of the past week. The workers have found a corridor to work under at the school.

San Jorge Community Center Progress

Ayuda — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:47:45 +0000

Construction continues on the Community/Learning Center in San Jorge.

Yesterday many women and men gave up their Sunday off to help pour the roof of the second floor. The women of the village fetched and carried water to be able use for the construction.

As you can see it was labor intensive and a labor of love!

Construction Program

Update on Ernesto

Ayuda — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

We have bought Ernesto a piece of land, built a house for the family and his daughter is sponsored to go to school. His sponsor regularly sends food for this family so they are all doing so much better than when we first met them.

Ernesto was suffering from terrible bed sores, they did not have a decent bed to sleep in, the family did not have enough food to eat and they were living in a tin shed that had been added onto a verandah.

Life is really so much better but we are still improving a few things. His electricity was connected this past week. We provided him with a new wheelchair – his old one belonged to an Institution that was asking for it to be returned.

We are seeking help to provide this family with an appropriate bathroom. What they have now is just a basic outside toilet. It does not have any walls or doors and as you can see from the photos needs to be finished.

Please select this link if you would like to help us with the construction needs of Ernesto and his family.

Thank you for everyone who has made these huge changes in Ernesto’s life!

Construction Program

New Home for Margarita and Her Family

Ayuda — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:45:49 +0000

This is the latest house we have built. It is for a family in San Jorge la Laguna. It was given as a gift by a family that had toured San Jorge last year and wanted to give something to a family in need.
Margarita and her family were very much in need. They had a house but they lost the path that would give them access to their home. The land with the path was sold and the new owner would not give them access.

They had bought this small piece of land but could not afford to build. Thankfully Sibilye and her family chose Margarita from several families to help and their new home was built.

Margarita and her family were very, very thankful.

Construction Program

The Church in San Jorge

Ayuda — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:03:16 +0000

Mayan Families is not affiliated with any religious groups. But we have been very happy to work with many different groups.Recently, a student sponsor on a visit to see her sponsored students realized that the Historical building of the Catholic Church in San Jorge needed help to be repaired.

Catherine went back to the U.S. and approached her church and they were very willing to lend a hand to the people of San Jorge. Work has started to repair the roof of this beautiful old building. The villagers are very willingly participating to try and get as much work done as they can before the wet season starts.

Construction Program

San Jorge Community Center Progress

Ayuda — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:03:58 +0000

It was very exciting today to see the progress on the San Jorge Community/Learning center! It is looking great!

Construction Program

Muchas Gracias Connexiones

Ayuda — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:03:20 +0000

We were met by a large part of the Tierra Linda Community who gathered to thank Stan and Connexiones for all their hard work on the Tierra Linda Community / Learning Center.

This was a lovely fiesta and it took us all by surprise. They made speeches, presented us with gifts and the children from the school performed dances and recited poems. We brought a clown with us to entertain the children, everyone had a very fun time. At the end of the morning, they served us delicious chuchitos and all the children received ice cream!

Our intrepid group of Canadian friends from Connexiones bravely made their way down the mountain roads to Tierra Linda in the back of a pick up!

The children dressed in traditional costumes and masks prepare to dance to celebrate the continuing construction of the Community/learning center!

The Mayor of Tierra Linda and his wife and one of his ten children.

All the members of the group received traditional hand crocheted bags as a token of friendship from the community in Tierra Linda.

A group photo with the people of Connexiones, Mayan Families and the construction crew of Tierra Linda.

Construction Program

Dona Marta

Ayuda — Sat, 03 May 2008 21:19:07 +0000

I am so happy to tell you that one of our groups in Canada – Mayan Families Canada has raised enough money through their schools to be able to build a new house for Dona Marta.
Dona Marta is a single mother with seven children, she has cancer with a very serious prognosis and is not doing well, we are supplying her with continuous pain killers Her eldest daughter is married with two young children and lives several hours away. She has two teen age sons who are both work full time and are both sponsored to go to week end school with Mayan Families, They are in their late teens. One just suffered a broken jaw from being kicked while playing soccer so has been unable to work.
Glendy, her 15yr old daughter works at Mayan Families, she does all the cooking and cleaning and getting her two young brothers off to school before she comes to work at 9.30a.m. every day. Every evening she cooks and does the dishes for the family. She is up quite often at night making hot drinks for her mother to help her through the night. On Sundays she goes to week end school.

Dona Marta also has three young sons, Walter 11yrs old., Eddy 9yrs old and Elvis 7yrs old- these boys are sponsored for school by Mayan Families Canada and the schools there have taken this family to their hearts. Dona Marta’s family has suffered more than their share of unhappiness. Three years ago her then 15yr old daughter died after an undiagnosed illness. She had a very bad pain in her stomach for several weeks and finally went to the hospital, was operated on but died shortly afterwards. She lost her 3yr old son four years ago to a respiratory problem. The father abandoned the family approx. 5 years ago for another woman and has not supported them finanacially since or seen the children.

The house that they are living in is made of rough wooden planks that have spaces between them, letting in the wind, the rain and the dust. The floor is dirt. The worst thing is the position of the house, it is on a sloped part of the land and all the rain water runs inside during the wet season. The beds and the table that they have has to have the legs in tin cans to stop them rotting, the floor turns to mud.

I asked Dona Marta one day what she needed and she asked me if it would be possible to move her old house to another part of the land where the water will not run inside the house. Well, thanks to Robin and the Mayan Families Canada supporters we will be able to do much better than just move the old house.
We will be able to build them two new rooms made of cement block and with a cement floor! There will be no more rain or mud inside their home!

I hope that this will bring some happiness and comfort into the lives of this family.

Here is the joyful email I received from Robin – it brought tears to my eyes when I read it. I am so grateful to the people who are making this miracle happen!
Sharon

MAYAN FAMILIES CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM

We’ve done it!!!!! As of 3:05 today we have raised $4,670! And the other schools are just starting their fundraisers. The kids of my school want ALL money to go to Elvis’ family. Whatever is extra after the building we’ll leave for you to buy them food as needed. Is that okay? That was the wish of one class who raised $760! That’s one class.

It’s been a phenomenal week. There’s an article in the paper today about Elvis. The retired gentleman who started this off with his $1,000 donation has asked what more we need. So it’s working.

If you can get the construction going asap that would be great. Please tell Marta not to worry – seems this little community on Vancouver Island has taken to Elvis and the rest of her children.

They really have done an amazing job – my school alone raised $3,070. They gave up dilly bars, birthday party goody bags, friday night pizza, babysitting money, money for cell phone purchases, allowances etc. Truly an inspiration.

Tierra Linda School Update

Ayuda — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:14:27 +0000

The school in Tierra Linda can now face the wet season without fear!
Due to a very generous donation we have been able to put new aluminium roofing on the remaining old classrooms. We have put false ceilings in to protect the children from the heat and also to insulate against the noise when it is raining.

The floor has been tiled in the new kitchen and the counter tops including the stove area have all been tiled to make keeping the area clean much, much easier.

The old roofing was full of holes and there were many, many leaks that made the classrooms miserable in the wet season.

Thank you to everyone who has donated to greatly improve the conditions of this school. This school has gone from being one of the worst looking schools to one that the community is now very proud.!

Click Here to go to Construction Program page

New Public Toilets in San Jorge

Ayuda — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:09:39 +0000

SAN JORGE–The toilets that we built in San Jorge have been completed. The glass just has to go in the windows which is happening in the next few days.

These are the first and only public toilets in San Jorge. They are just in time for the big annual Fiesta in San Jorge this week.

Thank you for the generous donations that made constructing these toilets possible.

Sharon

Click Here to go to Construction Program page

Playground Construction for San Jorge School

Ayuda — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:48:13 +0000

SAN JORGE–The construction of the San Jorge School playground was indeed a community effort. All Mayan Families Construction Program projects are supervised and coordinated through the Operations Program staff. The actual building work is often done through paid contractors, called adbanils. However, a great deal of the supporting labor and work comes from members of the local community.

These pictures show San Jorge community members working side by side with the building crews for the San Jorge Playground Project.

Click Here to see the finished product

Click Here to go to Construction Program page

Connexiones Help Tierra Linda

Ayuda — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:57:35 +0000

TIERRA LINDA–Work on the construction of the Tierra Linda Community Center continues with the able bodied support of a team of visitors from Canada. Members of Connexiones have been working hard towards the development of this little village. Their partnership with the community and Mayan Families on this project will enable many long term benefits.

Members of the Women’s Group and other residents with the volunteers.

Click Here to go to Construction Page

Amelia and Her Children Need a Better Home

Ayuda — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:11:00 +0000

PANAJACHEL–Amelia is a single mother, approx. 34yrs old. She has five children, the eldest Samuel is 16yrs old, then there is Jonathon, 13yrs old, Alejandra 10yrs old, Jakelin 7yrs old and Elisabet 3 1/2 yrs old. Amelia is HIV positive. Thankfully, none of the children are HIV positive. Amelia has no family support, she was orphaned as a child and grew up working in other peoples homes. That is how she became pregnant with her first child when she was very young.

She works full time as a cleaner in a hotel. It is quite a ways out of town, she walks there to save money. The family is just scraping by. Both the boys work before school and on the week ends. Alejandra and Jakelin take turns minding Elisabet. Amelia is very concerned because she has fears that the male neighbor has sexually fondled Elisabet and she hates to leave the girls at home alone but she has no other choice.

They are renting their house. It is very small, basically only one room and an alcove – it is too small for them, there is only room for one double bed, the other children sleep on the floor. They have been very fortunate that a person from this group has been helping them with their rent. But their rent has increased.

Amelia’s health is going downhill. She has been in hospital once last month, last night she was taken to hospital again. She is having very bad stomach pains and she has a lot of skin problems.

The five children were left alone last night.. Samuel took his mother to hospital, she was very dizzy and could not stand the pain in her stomach. Being 16yrs old and lots of activities in the street for Easter, he then went out with his friends. I met Jonathon on the street at 6pm when he was going out to buy tortillas to have for dinner. I asked him what else he had to eat and he said that was all. I told him to bring the children to the house tomorrow and we would feed them and arrange food for them.

The reason I am writing this story about Amelia is because we recently had the opportunity to buy a three roomed house. It is in the same compound that Gloria and Julio live in. It has two bedrooms and a kitchen. It is much bigger than the house that Amelia and her children are living in.

When this opportunity came up – we discussed that this would be a great house for Amelia.

The boys could have one room, the girls and Amelia another room and there would still be a living/kitchen space and it has an indoor bathroom with a shower.

A great advantage is that it is in the same compound that Gloria and Julio live in, the house is literally a few feet away. If Amelia has health problems then Gloria and Julio would be there to help her, if she has to be taken to hospital, Gloria would be there to look after the children. Amelia would not be alone and neither would the children. Gloria and Julio know that Amelia is HIV positive and they are willing to help her……most people here do not want to have anything to do with a person that is HIV positive or has AIDS, they are really shunned by society. Amelia has kept her illness a secret from everybody but us. Samuel knows the illness that his mother has and it is very difficult for him, he is embarrassed , ashamed and scared that he will lose his mother.

If Amelia does become very ill and pass away, the children will be left alone. They have four different fathers and none who have ever been or will be responsible for them.

We would like this house to be for them. We would like for Amelia to have a safe place to live and for her to know that her children have a home.

This has been a dream of hers for a long time.

I have taken another leap of faith – I have put a deposit on this house. We had to act quickly because this house was being sold very cheaply because the owner needs the money. The house costs $8,000.US. – I have given him an $800 deposit- which we will lose if we cannot come up with the rest of the money.

I feel very strongly that we need to get Amelia and her children into a safe environment.

I want to make it very clear that I will not put this house in Amelia’s name, it will be the property of Mayan Families. The reason for this is that if Amelia does pass away then we need to protect the younger children. The boys are too young to be able to have the responsibility for the girls. We are all hoping that Amelia will have a long life ahead of her but if not then we need to have control and be able to supervise the situation.

I have seen too many situations here where siblings cheat each other out of property. The older sibling is the one who would be in charge and I do not feel comfortable leaving the younger ones unprotected. Samuel works here at Mayan Families before school and on Saturdays. He is a good kid but he is not responsible enough to raise the younger children.

I am hoping that this situation will touch your heart as it does mine. If this is meant to be a home for this family then we really need to raise this money as soon as possible.

If you would like to help Amelia and others like her, then please click here to go to the Construction Program page and select the Contribute button on that page.

Work Begins on Tierra Linda Community Center

Ayuda — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:59:10 +0000

TIERRA LINDA–Construction work for the Tierra Linda Community Center is progressing nicely. The community has really been pitching in to help unload the materials and carry them to the building site. They are very excited about this project and all the possibilities that it will have for their community.

This project is made possible completely through donations to the Mayan Families Construction Program.

If you would like to contribute towards the building of the Tierra Linda Community center and our other development projects, then please click here to go to the Construction Program web page. Please select the Contribute button on that page.