Signing off

Thank you to all participants on the 2010 Families for Guatemala trip!  We had many challenges with weather and road closures but this team remained focused on the most important thing...to bring the love of God to the Mayan people through our smiles, our work, and our donations.  We made a huge impact in so many lives.  We transformed a preschool, repaired some homes, built 25 stoves, gave out chickens to 30 families, played sports and crafts with children, delivered school supplies, 2000 pairs of shoes, clothing, blankets, tarps, and toys.  This team stepped up and sponsored 14 children to go to school.  We are continuing to help the same boy, Noe that the team helped 3 years ago with his eye treatments.  Wow!  And...even though we did not get to build the house, it was paid for through our funds as well as the kitchen for the orphan children.  34 people traveled, many others helped make that possible!  Thank you to Mayan Families staff for another great year.  They do awesome work daily.  Please visit their website at www.mayanfamilies.org to see how you can help.

Look out 2011!  We're coming back!

Praise God!

Our last day with Mayan Families

Today was a great day!  We had the construction team finishing their project at the preschool which transformed the way it looked.  Beautiful murals were painted on the walls.  Also new shelves were constructed and concrete steps were repaired.  There will be many happy little faces when they show up for school tomorrow.

The family team began the day on a boat ride to a village for breakfast overseeing the lake.  What a great way to start the day.  Then it was on to a school to deliver school supplies.  Later we participated in the sport's program and our kids played soccer against a team of Guatemalan children.  Who won?  Well, it was neck n neck until the end when our kids pulled it out and won!  More balloons animals were made and gift bags given to the children. 

In between all of that we met our sponsored students and gave gifts and donations.  Coming into this trip there were 7 children already sponsored by some of our group members.  On this trip 14 new students have been sponsored!  That is so amazing and makes a huge difference in these children's lives.  All who sponsored the kids were able to meet them and learn about their lives.  They will be able to maintain communication throughout the year and hopeful return again some day to see them again.  Those of us who already had students were able to see them again.  There were some great reunions!  For more information on sponsoring a child to go to school, go to www.mayanfamilies.org or ask anyone from the trip.

Tomorrow we are leaving Lake Atitlan and will be traveling to Antigua for an afternoon of shopping in the markets.  We will end our week with dinner together and fly home on Saturday.

We had sun!!!!

Today was a good day.  We were able to build more stoves (25 total built as of today)!  Several of us with Sponsored Students were able to see our students and have lunch with them.  For one of the families it was their first time to eat at a restaurant.  In fact the little girl asked what the fork was.  They also commented that they thought the napkin was a decoration.  Another family asked their sponsored student what her favorite food was and the mother said it was soup because that was all she could ever make.  Sure does give you perspective. 


The construction team's project had to change due to the road block.  But what a change!  They have been working to transform the preschool in the town where we are staying.  This is the same preschool our team bought chairs for last year.  This year we have artistic talent on the team and they have painted a beautiful educational mural on the walls.  They are also building shelves.  Pictures will be posted once it is completed!


Our team is humbled by the kindness of the Mayan people.  They are a proud and grateful people.  They may be very poor, but they have the same smiles, same hopes and dreams, same love for their children as we do.  We may be helping them but it is us who need to be changed.  When you see how others have to live just to have food, it changes how you see your own priorities. 


We're eager to share our experiences with all of you and others.  But much of what we experience can never be put into words...I guess you'll just have to plan on coming to see for yourself! 

Stove pictures

More barriers...but we won't be stopped!

Well all good plans can be changed.  Today was much drier but because of the rain yesterday, the main road to our projects was blocked by rocks.  So, plan B.  Instead of building more on the house, the construction team went to work on replacing a roof on another home.  They also built a ramp for a young man suffering with Cancer who was having a difficult time getting to his bathroom.  Both jobs made a huge impact in the lives of these families.  Our family team went to San Antonio where we installed more stoves and visited a preschool.  Unfortunately, the camera for the blog stayed at the preschool so again there are no pictures of the stoves or the construction team.  Enjoy the kid's pictures.  Also if you are from Faith Community you can see we passed out the gift bags in which our congregation put together.  They were a big hit.

Please continue to pray for us as the weather has been very difficult on us completing our jobs, but our attitudes remain hopeful and positive. 

Rain, rain go away!!!

Well, unlike yesterday today brought lots and lots of rain.  But despite that we forged ahead!  The construction team started building a new home for a family of eight whose old adobe home was in horrible condition and ready to collapse at any time.  The team started out by carrying 90 lb bags of concrete from one area up some stairs to another area.  Some of the team members were unable to do this task due to back issues and others described it as very difficult causing them to sweat and lose their breath.  So, got the picture, now the next thing that happened was some Guatemalan women decided to help so they backed their bodies up to the truck, a man swung a bag onto their backs and the women began running with these 90 lb bags!  They blew our team away!  They obviously carry a great deal on their backs on a regular basis.  The day was successful and this team will go back tomorrow to continue this work.

The family project team began the day sorting our bags of donations and fitting children with shoes.  Then while one group went to install stoves, the rest took shoes to a preschool and were able to fit around 30 kids with shoes.  Then it was back to distribute the chickens to families who had waited for several hours.  It was quite a challenge for some of our kids to pick up those chickens.  Let's just say it was obvious we don't live on farms!  After lunch we split into 3 teams to build more stoves.  By this time it was torrential rainfall so while we had ponchos, we were all soaked.  Of course it doesn't help when you are traveling in the back of a pick-up!

So, you're probably thinking "I'm never going on that trip."  But even despite the conditions, we are reminded as we look around that getting wet for us is nothing compared to how these people live...rain coming in their roofs, living on dirt floors that turn into mud during the rain, possibly no bed to sleep on.  No, we won't complain about getting wet.  We are here to serve and make a difference and we are doing just that!  Praise God!!  (Picture to follow later)

Today was a great sunny day!!  We are a complete group now minus some luggage, but we are all together.  Today we visited a village called El Barranco where the children put on traditional dances and a program.  It was great!  We gave out donations and interacted with the people.  Following lunch we headed to the ziplines (some traveling Guatemala style)!  The team had a blast flying down 8 lines and making it safely to the bottom.  Tonight we go to dinner with the staff of Mayan Families and eat a traditional Guatemala meal (pizza for the kids!).  Tomorrow we'll start our work projects.

It has been a long day, for some longer than others.  31 out of 34 of us made it to our final destination and we're missing 7 bags.  Richard, Christi, and Charlie will join us tomorrow and hopefully the bags will follow.  We have an exciting day planned tomorrow for the group to bond more and become familiar with the Mayan culture, as well as experience the Guatemalan Zip lines (if it is not raining).  It is raining now so hopefully it will be a beautiful sunny day for us tomorrow.

Pictures will be posted tomorrow night.  Keep the prayers coming!

Group making their way

Today is travel day.  9 of us arrived last night and had one extra night to get settled in.  Everyone else is making their way.  Once all flights arrive, we will travel by bus to Panajachel where we will be staying for the week.  This is going to be such a great journey.  Thanks for taking it with us!  We'll try to post as often as we can.  Blessings!