Delivery and installation of play structures

<Delivery

        Construction on pad>

Hello everyone- We are so excited!!! Brian with the help of our great friend Mateo finished, delivered and installed the first playstructure today to Palestina! A special thanks to Richard for providing the impetus to get this going. The kids were so incredibly excited. It will provide hours and hours of fun for these little kids. THANK YOU . The structure was designed and built by Brian in a friend's workshop in San Pablo, then taken apart and transported away up above San Juan to Palestina, where with the help of Mateo and his dad and friends, it was reassembled and installed. The pics show it on the truck going uphill; the view; the unloading and the reconstructing.

<Final assembly

                                     Initial trial>

.<Final product

                                             View of lake

The best part of this little project was watching the sheer joy that the kids had playing on it. They had never seen a structure like this. Even the teacher got on it!!!
The teams of nurses and early childhood educators have been amazing! The various communities have embraced them whole heartedly and lasting friendships have been established. The Heritage staff and students worked so hard and did a fantastic job. Well Done.  Enjoy the photos- we all have one more big day of medical assessments and teaching, again tomorrow over  above Solola and a new hospital visit before our work is finished and the group leaves for home. Brian and I can not thank you enough for all your hard work and the friendship and fellowship we have enjoyed with you here in Guatemala. More of you must come.  More photos soon. Sheila and Brian

Preparing for visit from Heritage college students

 

Jo-anne Stewart with class 


            Class in progress>     




                                                  
   Toothpaste and brushes                                                                       New supplies

Hola everyone! Since our last communication many things have taken place.

Jo-Anne Stuart arrived for a few days from Long Island, Maine where she teaches 3/4 grade. She got out to several daycares with us and brought down bags of small toothbrushes and boxes of toothpaste for the kids which was much needed and appreciated. She pitched right in to haul things out on the chicken buses, up dusty roads and down through cornfields to get to the centres. Then she played games, sang and read to the little kids who really enjoyed her enthusiasm.

                The Lake











Construction day at Chacap with crew from Habitat and Jo-Anne













          <Lower walls finished >

Another day our friends from Habitat crossed the lake to join us for a construction day at Chacap where we are building a classroom using discarded bottles and dry garbage with adobe and cement. They also brought us shoes to distribute at Chacap. Jo-Anne joined in to. We had a fun but dirty day and then enjoyed a delicious lunch afterwards in San Pedro before everyone dispersed 

back to Pana.

           <  Tecum Uman Day >











   Suden continues to help us immensely!! We cross the lake each weekend to Pana to buy additional supplies from their well equipped store. We have needed a great many small pairs of shoes and warm sweaters and track pants this year. The staff at Suden is so helpful and pleasant and the goods that are available are fantastic for the needs of the daycares. One of their staff member, Gervaise trained me how to sew reuseable diaper pants. What a wonderful idea and it creates work for mothers and offers a necessary product here. I now can train someone at Infantiles SOS and they can help their mothers start a little business.
     Tecum Uman Day was last Monday. It is the day all school children parade in the streets wearing their traditional regional attire. Trucks are decorated  with ferns and flowers as floats bearing boys and girls of different regions in their variety of their specific costumes all embroidered and  so beautiful. I was in Pana to witness this wonderful event. Everyone looks so groomed and beautiful.





       <Classes in progress>












           <Classes in progress>



   
















                      <Kitchen>

                 

 




                     New washroom>








   Now we are geering up for the arrival of the Heritage College delegation of nurses and early childhood educators who arrive Saturday.We have booked interpreters and tansportation to the first day workshop across the lake and then to various daycare visits on both sides of the lake during their stay here. We are bringing together all the daycare staff to learn about first aid and programming strategies for the little ones. Then we break into smaller groups to spend time with the kids in the daycares. It promises to be an exciting time for everyone.

     On Thursday evening, we are helping to organize an open house at a new hospital opening in Panajachel. This facility will cater to everyone in the region, including Mayans. It is beautiful inside and is wonderful to have such a place so close at hand. Patients in the past have often died having to make the long trek to Xela or Guatemala City for much neded medical care.Brian and I toured the place a couple of weeks ago and can' wait for more folks to know about it. So when our medical teram is here, we will hold the "Open House".

Like so many things down here, money was donated to build the faciltiy but there is little to stock and run the place.

     Our time here is getting short- only a few more weeks. But presently we are in talks with local village metal and wood workers to design play structures for a few daycares. We only hope we can get everything done before we have to leave.

     Enjoy the pictures!!   Thanks for all your support to help these kids.       Gracias de Sheila and Brian

Building and decorating daycares Feb 16th 2012

                                         

<Classroom with decorations
Teachers with new posters >                                                                                                 
                                                                                        


                                                 
                                  
                                                                     

<Classroom with teachers >.                                 
Sheila with students >

 <
New shelving with plastic containers
                                                  >
Class in progress


Hola everyone- it has been awhile since we have sent you an update, but we have been busy.
     We have been back and forth across the lake many times moving supplies out to various daycares and completing assessments of their needs.
Now we are working with numerous volunteers on several projects of interest. Nearly all the goods we brought down have been given out , I have been translating puzzles,books and games in the last couple of days. Brian is offering an English class 2 nights a week to some local Mayans here in san Juan which keeps him busy but has been fun, too. The various construction projects are confirmed and we now are trying to complete as many as we can.
Thanks to all the teachers who donated bulletin board trim and posters last year. Paty and I took a couple of days to decorate dull classrooms in several daycares and what an incredible difference it made!! The hanging plastic organizers came in handy for toothbrushes, cards- all manner of things and the tupperware containers ensure that supplies and toys are neatly secured and will stay dry. Brian was even able to hook up lighting at Chacap for a classroom and the kitchen.
    We are working with daycare parents and travelling volunteers at Chacap to put up an additional classroom using plastic bottles stuffed with garbage and  held in place with wire and adobe mixed with cement. A group of friends who work for Habitat for Humanity are lending a hand next week as well. Another class at Chacap was created when we changed a large kitchen for a small class area, then cemented the floor in the adobe building to create a bigger classroom.
< Filling empty water bottles with garbage.

Wiring bottles into wood frame >

 < Completed section before putting on cement.

Mixing cement for walls   >




< Covering wall with cement

Finished lower wall           >





 Two different groups made special one piece knit dolls for the daycares. A few have been handed out and what a hit they were. Thank you to those ladies who put so much love into every stitch for these little kids in Guatemala! The musical instruments, too create quite a stir here. The kids love to sing and have music in their day.
     A kitchen needs to be improved at Fe Y Vida where someone installed a chimney pipe with no vent, thereby creating a terribly smoky kitchen. A small window inserted into the kitchen at Neuvo Amanecer will provide much needed ventilation and a metal door will give quick and easy access to newly constructed bathrooms just a stone's throw from the classroom. Last year these little kids had to walk over a block to a terribly run down bathroom. Brian and I hope to complete these things in the next few days.
     The San Juan daycare needs some additional shelving- we have only to buy and cut the lumber and get it delivered. Yesterday, we installed   backpack hooks at Palestina and took out  big plastic bins to several daycares to help organized their supplies. Programming materials have been copied, some need to be laminated and then can be distributed.
We are excited to have the teams arrive from Heritage College in about 3 weeks and are busy making final arrangements for interpreters, vans, and daycare visits.
     The pictures show the botle classroom construction. Mums fill bottles with garbage. Then the bottles are set in between the supports and wired into place. Mud is then mixed and patted over and around the bottles- mums helped. The final wall is left to dry. The last shot is our whole team of volunteers! Quite a wonderful crew.
Thanks again to all of you who help in this venture in the daycares. We could not do what we do without You!!   Al the best-  Sheila and Brian

Volunteers