School Still Closed - Saludos Niños Fall 2020 Update

The global pandemic continues to have an effect on daily life in Guatemala and on the community of Panyebar.  Unfortunately, schools in  Panyebar including Saludos Niños remain closed.  We are hoping at this point that it will be possible for Saludos Niños to welcome kids back in the New Year.  Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Thankfully, with help from the Mayan Partners non profit organization, the families of Saludos Niños and other families in need in Panyebar continue to be provided with groceries.  Bulk orders of groceries are delivered to the village and helpers, including our teachers sort and package the food for pick-up by Moms.

We are excited to announce that barrels of donated items from Canada have arrived in Panajachel, a town on the northeast side of Lake Atitlan.  As soon as inter-community travel is deemed safe based on # of COVID-19 cases, the barrels will be shipped to Panyebar and distributed to the Saludos Niños families.

With rainy season in full swing and no kids in the yard, vegetation growth continues to take over the school yard.  We've recently had all of the vegetation cut back once again and as you can see in the recent before and after photos, the yard is clean cut once again.  Areas of the yard that were often dirty/muddy due to so much wear and tear are now lovely and green.

If you'd like to help support Saludos Niños during this challenging time, there's a great opportunity to do so by doing your online holiday shopping (or any shopping!) through 'Flip Give'. When you shop online at participating retailers (Home Hardware, Indigo, Gap and more), a percentage of the purchase goes to Saludos Niños!  Click on the link below to learn more!

A Quiet Summer @ Saludos Niños - August 2020 Update

Like much of the world, Guatemala is still under a fairly strict lockdown and movement within the country is limited. Schools - including Saludos Niños - are still closed.  We understand that at this point, classes are suspended until sometime in August. The President of Guatemala may extend that suspension until later in the year.  Thankfully, there are no documented cases of COVID-19 in Panyebar right now.  We miss these faces!

Although the school is still closed, the teachers are keeping busy.  The Mayor of Panyebar is helping to buy groceries for needy families and our teachers are distributing those groceries to the families of Saludos Niños.  They are also awaiting an ‘ok’ from the Mayor to resume cooking take-out meals to give to the families.  Our teachers continue to be paid during this time.

With the school closed, no activity in the yard and some heavy rains, the yard and our school have suffered some damage and over-growth.  A tree branch fell on the bathroom, causing damage to the roof.  A landslide caused our tire-retaining wall to collapse.  As you can see, the yard had turned into a bit of a jungle!  Thankfully, our staff have coordinated to have all of the damage repaired and the vegetation cut back.  The school looks as good as new - as you can tell from the before and after pics.

Saludos Ninos and our staff are doing everything we can to keep the school in tip-top shape and help the families of our students in Panyebar.  It’s a difficult time for our school as we’ve been unable to run many of our usual fundraising activities due to the pandemic.  If you’d like to help us out during this time, please visit the ‘Donate’ page on our website.  Every donation helps!

What's New at Saludos Niños - May 2020 Update

In our last blog post, we announced that Guatemala had shut its' borders and restricted outings and gatherings due to COVID-19.  With Saludos Niños closed to students, our teachers put all their energy into preparing nutritious meals to hand-out to the families of our program.  

Since that last update, our teachers have continued their excellent work and are busy preparing and handing out meals to families.  Each day, Mums come by with their own containers, which our teachers fill with delicious, nutritious meals for the whole family.  Teachers have been wearing masks and gloves to do their best to protect everybody from the virus.  We are so proud of all their hard work.

It's also important to mention that Saludos Niños distributed another 19 water filters to families of the program earlier this year.  This means that all kids and their families have access to clean drinking water at this critical time.

Food delivered, stocked and moved to each of our programs

A nutritious and delicious variety of food on offer!

Teachers organizing & providing take-out food to the Mums

The school closure has also been a good opportunity to make way on maintenance and yard projects.  A new play structure for the smaller children and a new and improved front entrance door have been painted and installed.  An exciting new edition to the yard is a large raised-bed garden, located directly across from the kitchen.  The garden will be used to grow vegetables on site, which will be used as part of the healthy meals prepared for kids daily.   

Lots of progress on new yard projects

All of us at Saludos Niños thank-you for your support and for interest that you show in our program.  We'll be sure to keep you posted with future updates as regulations related to COVID-19 evolve.

If you're not already following us on social media, visit our Facebook Page and give us a 'like' and a 'follow' so that you can get the latest news!

Closed due to virus. Teachers,feeding students and families.

Guatemala is all shut down but our amazing teachers have found a way to get out, buy and then prepare nutritious food for the mums in our project who are then able to come by and pick up ,in their own containers ,  these meals to feed their families during this crisis.

Ann Moriarity ( òne of our board members ) and MAYAN Partners ( who are assisting with salaries) were able to get the local mayor inside to permit this  and they are helping us to pay for this program while it continues. This enables these most vulnerable families to continue to eat. What an  incredible team of special women make up Saludos Ninos!!

February 15th 2020 update

Working on valentines cards

 Distributing water filters to Student families

 Fun in the school yard. Goodbye to Rachelle, beloved volunteer 

February 13th update. Medical team arrives.

Children are photographed for medical records

Cesy has a newly painted classroom.

Names, photos, dates on med forms for today's clinic.

Doctors from Guatemala

Medical team of volunteers

February 12th 2020 update. Donated shoes and glasses arrive.

Shoes donated from Canada and transported by Sudan 

 Mateo and his wife Anne-Marie  who has arrived from Canada  sort shoes.

Rachelle fitting shoes

 Donated shoes arrive for each student 

We offered glasses fo some 50 residents who were very happy to come to try on various pairs.

The farmers wanted to be able to see better in the fields and read seed packets, 

  The women wanted to be able to sew, thread a needle, sort their various coloured threads for their weaving projects and read. Farmers are able to read. 

 All were most appreciative for the opportunity to receive such an important gift of better sight.

February 7th 2020 update

Fun in the yard

 Dance

Elma is my name, I am 3 years old.

 I can read by myself.

 Pictures for the new "egg a day" program.

I like books.

 Colouring for "egg day"

Hey, now I know how to play dominoes.

I do this puzzle by myself

February 4th 2020 update. Supplies arrive.

Sheila and Rachellle go through items shipped from Canada to SUDEN     

 Rachelle from Ottawa is volunteering at Saludos Ninos now.

 Bookcases are now painted

Wall is painted

Rachelle loves those hugs.

Ride in pickup down thew mountain-freedom