For the last 20 years, we (Sheila and Brian) have been the Co-Chairs and Founders of Saludos Niños. We spent months each year living in Guatemala where we worked with friends and volunteers building the classrooms, bathrooms, bookcases, kitchen shelving, and play structures of this school. During our time in Canada, we managed the school from a distance and raised money for the coming year. We’ve loved every minute of it. However, we are getting older and we’re now at a stage where we need to take a step back and reach out to partners to keep the project going.
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| Sheila Posing with the Staff |
A New Collaboration with Mayan Partners
At this time, we’d like to announce that we have entered a collaboration with Mayan Partners, a California-based charitable organization with whom we have already been working, particularly during the last 3 years of the pandemic, when we were unable to travel to Guatemala. This partnership is excellent because:
- Mayan Partners currently supports the colegio (middle school) in Panyebar and has been involved in the community for more than 15 years.
- Mayan Partners is committed to ensuring that Saludos Niños operations continue smoothly and in the same way. They can move money to the community.
- The current staff will all remain in place and student selection will continue to be made by our teachers from the neediest in the Panyebar community, regardless of religion or politics.
- Mayan Partners is well known by our staff, and members have lived in the community and speak Spanish.
- We (Sheila and Brian) will continue to raise funds for the school and remain an important part of Saludos Niños.
- Our transparency in reporting the activities at Saludos will continue to be documented through the webpage, blog, and Facebook page.
A Recent Visit from Sheila and Brian
We recently visited Saludos Niños for the first time since the pandemic. We were greeted by happy kids and all the teachers, past and present. It was a wonderful reunion. The whole school has been repainted, inside and out and the flowers along the living fence were in full bloom. Just beautiful. We've included a number of photos from our visit in this post.
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| Smiling Saludos Niños Kids |
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| Brian Posing with Staff |
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| Brian & Sheila with the Kids |
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| Learning Activities |
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| Classroom Decor and Weekly Menu |
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| Sheila and Rosario |
We Look Forward to Your Continued Support
We are thrilled with this new collaboration and sincerely hope that donors will continue their support of this much-needed early learning and nutrition centre in Panyebar.
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| Brian and Sheila Reuniting with Staff and Kids |
Sincerely,
Sheila and Brian
