Tragedy & Triumph in Guatemala
In mid-2013 a terrible tragedy in the Chicoyoj Village of Santa Cruz Verapaz, Guatemala took the lives of a young father and mother leaving as orphans 3 beautiful children we see to the left--9 year old Elder Alexander, 4 year old Elver Elejandro, and 8 year old Astrid Carina.
Immediately the 70 year old grandparents, Hilaria Maria Suram, and Julian Max, took them into their tiny, already crowded, dirt-floored home, adding them to the 4 grandchildren they were already taking care of. Below we see the large family, grandparents now with an overwhelming responsibility.
Julian is a relatively typical Maya/Poqomchi living and working hard in rural Guatemala which means getting up early, hoe and machete in hand, to go to work as an agricultural worker. but now with a very un-typical responsibility and challenge for a 70 year old with no Social Security or anything else to fall back on. Somehow he had to find a way to create some kind of future for his grandchildren.
Within a day or two he was knocking on the door of retired professor Federico Veliz. Julian knew that Federico was a volunteerdirector for the GUATEMALAN FOUNDATION, the only humanitarian organization in the area that for years has taken on such challenges.
Federico immediately visited the family, took pictures and emailed them to the Foundation and pleaded for us to help construct a simple home next to Julian's so that they could better take care of their large family.
The Foundation at that moment was also entering a difficult situation--the Foundation office becoming likely the smallest in the world seen below, that became my home and office, today in June completing the first year adjusting to a very interesting simple life in keeping with backpacking principles....we can call "lightweight--mobile--living," that hopefully would make possible me persisting as the volunteer director to keep the 45 year old Foundation's work alive in my 79th year.
To the left we see a fish eye view of the 7' x 11' mobil home into which I have built scanner, printer, computer and everything I need to produce newsletters and keep the Foundation going, but also effectively working towards the conclusion of the The High Uintas Wilderness Project
http://www.cordellmandersen.com/
In those moments of great opportunity in 2013 we were at the opposite extreme from the past when my dad, Dr. Ariel A. Andersen, would never let a worthy project go unfunded, often going to the bank to take out personal loans when there was no other way. Back in those great days the Guatemalan Andersen family would also take initiative rounding up some old cows for sale, or selling a bunch of pine trees....and getting many critical needs taken care of.
The Foundation was struggling to keep the Patzicia School going to finish 2013, and also find a way to keep it going for one more year--along with also paying the wage of a critically needed teacher at the Ariel & Ines Andersen Chuluc Village School. Along with those critical needs I immediately began promoting this new need too, asking, and even begging for help.
The Foundation is not a religion, but we are powerfully motivated by the scriptures, in this instance by James 1:27, and his follow-up in 2:16:
"Pure religion...undefiled..is to visit the fatherless"...but also..."...give them what is needful!"
The religion that has moved me to at least half a century of effort among the Mayans has had me believing that it isn't enough to talk about the need, or be people who "Saith, Lord, Lord..." praying for the needy, or just to " visit" and give encouragement, but rather to "do," and find a way to "..give..what is needed!"
Instructions were sent to Federico to tell them to begin preparing the construction site, even though we didn't have anything to follow it up with....yet. So you see below a couple of volunteers beginning to prepare.....
Back in the U.S. a couple of handfuls of long-time-Foundation donors quickly responded as they usually do. A few more were more generous than usual, but the foundation wasn't receiving enough to keep on-going projects alive, like the one at the Valparaiso School, and the upcoming annual project to provide thousands of rural children in Santa Cruz with educational supplies to begin the school year. We just weren't getting enough donations to also take on the construction of a simple home for the 3 orphans.
No cows or pine trees to sell, but we did have some oil properties donated to the Foundation by Orville and Anne Ellsworth more than 35 years ago that give us some royalty income, but we needed more. I contacted several oil exploration companies and one deal was made that increased the income a couple of thousand dollars. That led to this year selling 5 acres of said properties. These increases in income, plus the donations from all of you made possible the school supplies project, and now the joyful completion of "giving --the orphans--what is needful."
The progress of the project has been reported, but will be summarized below with photographs sent by Federico.
All pitch in to help move the rock to the home site. Other materials soon arrive too: construction steel, that will bind everything securely together, and tin roofing material.
This construction steel runs throughout the foundation, and is then tied into columns that will be encased with cement forming a strong infrastructure that will hold up the roof and prevent it from coming down as happened in the 1976 earthquake that killed so many.
This infrastructure will also form a strong base onto which this family can even build a second floor one day. The space between the cement/steel columns is filled in with cement blocks. The spaces between cement/steel columns is in many areas of Guatemala are filled in with adobe bricks.
Previous to the earthquake most Indian homes, especially in the Central Highlands, like Patzicia, had walls only of adobe that when the earthquake hit were instantly turned into dust, with the roofs crashing down killing the sleeping families as you see below.
Sometimes a doorway, or a wood support column for a front edge of the roof saved some, but 25,000 were killed with this ancient style of construction.
The home we are constructing for the children will have two small bedrooms and a living area that will include a small kitchen
Federico supervised every step in the construction using methods that Guatemalans have learned protect them from earthquakes. The total cost of the construction, including electric and potable water installation, came to $5,600.
Ready for the joyful inauguration, blessing, and "ceremony" giving the keys to the orphans
On June 2, 2014 the Chicoyoj Village mayor, Luis Francisco Reyes Morales, presided the inauguration activity, along with a representative of the National Police, and after the local Catholic Priest gave the home his blessing, the keys were given to the three children.
It was written into the official record that the home belongs to the children, under the guardianship of their grandparents, until the children grow up.
Federico Veliz, as their "Godfather" will watch over their growth, education and development, assuring for them a bright future.
The radio station "RADIO LA BUENA" was present with well known local radio personality, Mr. Julio Amilcar Nuila, describing the event, doing interviews, and sending congratulations to the Foundation and its supporters for another wonderful project finished.
We don't much care, but they got the name of the Foundation wrong....actually reverting back to 1969 when originally the name of the Foundation was like on this diploma, but soon changed by me to The Foundation for Indian Development, and now the GUATEMALAN FOUNDATION.
As a Foundation
WE CAN'T DO EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE THAT IS NEEDY, BUT ARE DOING A LOT WITH THE FUNDS THAT ARE AVAILABLE. In this case helping three beautiful children move towards a much better life.
Now, on to the projects we need to finish at the Valparaiso School. PLEASE HELP ALL YOU CAN AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.....God bless us in doing our darndest!
LAST NOTE:
I'll be working this summer in the High Uintas (http://www.cordellmandersen.com/) so please try and remember without frequent reminders. I will return to American Fork for the first few days of each month to make deposits, do a simple newsletter to keep everyone informed on the projects, and do whatever has to be done to support our Regional Directors in Guatemala.