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Hola Amigos de Guatemala….
In an effort to keep you up-to-date with the various projects being carried out by the numerous service teams, and to inform you of just how your donations are enriching the lives of the Guatemalan people, we have outlined an overview of the work of “Oneness” during the past year. It is through your support in so many ways that the work continues to flourish.
Education
- Pastores (about 15mins out of Antigua)
- A two room school was opened with pedagogically appropriate furniture built by a Team of Service
- School was equipped with all the teacher and student learning materials
- Four pieces of outdoor play equipment were completely refurbished and installed by volunteers from Canada
- Salary was provided for one teacher-aide
- Daycare at the Guatemala City dump
- Replenished all the teacher and student supplies for the six classrooms
- Purchased additional furniture for the infant room and carried out minor renovations
- Supported the volunteer from Ottawa running the Music and Movement program for the daycare
- Conducted program and teacher evaluations
- Trained two long term volunteers to assist in the classroom
- Sacala (Mountain village)
- Replenished all the teacher and student supplies
- Provided a daily nutrition program
- Added a water and sand table to the program
- Paid the salaries for the lead teacher and the teacher aide
- Tioxya (Remote village)
- Replaced all the teacher and student supplies
- Restored electricity to the school
- Maintained the electricity monthly charges
- Paid the salaries for two teachers
- Scholarships
- Provided scholarships to 12 students not attending the four schools listed above
- Teacher training
- Provided teacher training and in-service for 20 teachers, in support of other educational programs as well as our own teachers
- Supported the teachers with travel costs, from Guatemala city, Sacala and Tioxya
- Housed teachers from the remote schools at the Community House
- Paid the salary of an associate instructor/translator
- Student learning materials
- Supported numerous children with school supplies, especially the children of the families for whom small houses were built
Humanitarian Service
- House construction
- Constructed 15 small houses through “From Houses to Homes”
- Provided 11 bunk beds complete with mattresses and bedding
- Food hampers provided by the Teams of Service who helped build the houses
- Provided 8 wood cook stoves
- Provided 2 water purification systems
- Paid for medicine when needed
- Shared in the funeral/burial costs of a senior without family
- Provided shoes and clothing to the Guatemala City dump, Children’s shelter in San Pedro, as well as many families in Altotenango.
Water for Sacala
- Continue to provide support for a small committee from the Ottawa Valley, headed up by John and Dorothy, that continues to raise money as well as work closely with the village of Sacala in procuring a sustainable potable water system
Community House
- The “House of Service” housed 99 volunteers this past year
- The 99 volunteers provided 1,502 days of service to the poor of Guatemala
- The funds to deal with the shortfall of the Community House, has been raised by a generous couple from the Ottawa Valley. As a result none of the general funds coming into the “Guatemalan Fund” have been used to support the Community House
Dental Service
- Brought five dentists from Alberta for three days into Pastores.
Up-coming Projects
In addition to maintaining the programs/projects currently in place, the
planned projects for this upcoming year include the addition of a grade one classroom in Pastores, two new pre-schools in Santa Maria de Jesus and Xenecoj and hopefully the construction of a new school building in Sacala Los Lomas. We are still investigating the possibility of setting up a lunch hour feeding program at the market for the homeless.
Our house building projects with “From Houses to Homes” will continue this year on a bit smaller scale, as we have had to recruit many of our volunteers for furniture building in the fall.
On behalf of the poor of Guatemala……Thank you!!!!
Susan and Richard Schmaltz
Oneness Through Mission (www.oneness.ca)
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