Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Gmail Newsletter #3 March 2015--FOUNDERS INCREDIBLE EXAMPLES--PROGRES IN CHULUC--SCHOOL SUPPLIES PROJECT--HELPING A WIDOW

Gmail Newsletter: 
  #3 March 2015 Our Founders "Incredible Examples" - Progress in Chuluc & Santa Cruz - Home for a Widow

History video you should see to understand the Foundation

URGENT NEWSLETTER Jan. 22, 2015
How to Help the Foundation With a Click of Your Mouse?
PARTNERSHIP WITH AMAZON SMILE

Click for Spanish--ESPAÑOL 
The CHULUC SCHOOL 

Dr. Ariel A. Andersen & His Wife, Ines 
by son, Cordell M. Andersen
My father, Dr. Ariel A. Andersen, became  convinced during the last 14 years of his life that supporting this effort in Guatemala was for him personally doing what the Lord was telling him he should do, quoting frequently to others Christ's striking words: 
 "....men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; -- But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned." 

He and mom were extremely active in their Christian Church, fulfilling in their spare time important tasks assigned them, as well as all the suggested donations, supporting three sons on missions, and more, but they believed deeply in a promise made to the Lord to "consecrate"   time, abilities, and all they had to a good cause, over and above what they were asked (or "commanded") to do.  Many thousands of lives of needy Mayan Indians in Guatemala were soon to be blessed in miraculous ways.
So.... was born in December 1969 the Foundation for Indian Development (now the GUATEMALAN FOUNDATION) when he gathered a few of his friends, and mine, to legally organize the Foundation.  That same year he had sold his prospering business, Andersen Samplers & Consulting Service, to have the money necessary to begin the foundation, and later donated to the Foundation his Ideal Fruit Canner, and Nature's Stressguard supplement, and  persisted as the main donor and volunteer Manager  for the last 14 years of his life. 
 Dad was a very reserved, humble and faithful man, but won world-wide fame for his Sampler (Google it and you'll see...I once played with it and found 956 consecutive Google pages mentioning him/sampler/canner/accomplishments!).  He even received notes of love and appreciation from many women for his Canner--all of it sacrificed for this cause.  He could have died a rich man, but chose to use it all  helping what he called "the Lord's little ones," who he called "Lamanites."
Many of the tens of thousands blessed by their sacrifices and efforts, have been able to turn around and bless their own families and others and so the seeds planted by them are growing and multiplying.  
CAN A FEW OF US DO LIKEWISE?
At this point I must add a personal note, concerning the love, appreciation and admiration I had for them, as  I am indebted to Dad who was my hero as explained in Part I of my autobiography that can be read on my personal website at the following link:    
Part 1: 0-22 years, 'THE VISION QUEST"
After their passing in 1983 & 86, it was suggested we honor them with a project done in their names in Guatemala.  Instead of flowers, donations were requested and $20,000 was raised to build a needed school in a very poor village near Patzicia in the Central Highliands.  In 1987 the school was inaugurated, and we have persisted helping them over 28 years, but now in 2015, perhaps in the twilight of the Foundation, we are determined to do more with the school, and enhance  our founder's legacy even more by converting the school into a 
"model rural school" 
Below we report on the progress so far this year.

For all the FAMILY and FRIENDS, we invite you to help as much as you can as often as possible to honor our founders, and bless even more the lives of these humble and needy people.

The new roof of the Ariel & Ines Andersen Chuluc Village School is seen as a precious  silver treasure, seemingly at the foot of three of Guatemala's 33 volcanoes.


We began the 2015 school year with a new front door, as well as new secure doors for all the classrooms, office and kitchen, along with a new paint job.

The picture of the roof seen below, taken about 3-4 years ago, showing great need of taking drastic action...three years later...drips were developing during the last year and it was urgent to do something.

So a new roof was a part of the improvement project during the vacation season.



As seen above and below, the new roof will last as long as the school building...or maybe longer.    This and other improvements, mentioned further along, were all accomplished by the villagers who got together, outlined the needs and found a church that would help in the project.  It was the Locust Grove Baptist Church of California that required the villagers to provide Q.10,000  ($1,324) for their portion.  They were able to scrape together $463.58 to begin the project.  The Guatemalan Foundation matched their donation, and will continue doing so until it is all paid off.




Mario de la Cruz  Ajqui, now 30, seen above is the teacher whose wage the Foundation will pay this year,  and is also our new Regional Director for the Patzicia area.  Below we see him   with his wife, Elena, and children, George and Hellen.   Years ago Mario was a student in 4th grade at the school in Patzicia we sponsored for 32 years. Later, when 15, he returned as the volunteer Secretary, the Foundation in turn helping him continue his studies.  Eventually he became a salaried Secretary and last year completed 15 years of service for the Foundation.  It was in his early years as a volunteer that he met his wife, Elena, when she became a student at our school, and when she grew up they were married, to now form this beautiful family. 
See more details about Mario and other Foundation Leaders at:


Son, George, graduated from  Pre-school Class  at the Patzicia School last year, as seen below, and is now studying in a public school in Patzicia.


The Foundation is helping Mario with what transportation we can afford, us paying half for his motorcycle....he taking care of the other half.  This will be the first motorized transportation the family has ever had.  We also recently helped him with half the cost of a needed laptop computer.


He and family live with his parents in typical rural Guatemalan circumstances, as seen to the right and left, where I have a standing invitation to stay  when in Patzicia, and finally again have some fresh tortillas! 


The Foundation continues to help Mario with a portion of his education on weekends, now in his last year to become a lawyer, in addition to the degree he already has as a teacher.  We believe that helping Mario with his education is the kind of  investment that in the long run will bless his people....in fact he has been a blessing to many already since he was 15 years old, dedicating himself to a great cause in our educational programs.  We are proud to have him represent us in the Central Highlands and pray that all who read this will be generous in helping the Foundation and Mario complete the noble goals for this year.


The director/teacher of the school is on the left, along with the 2nd teacher paid by the government, and Mario.


The children send their greetings happy for school to start again, with much more hope for a brighter future, including being able to continue their education after elementary school through a scholarship fund, in Patzicia, 5 miles to the east..


The school year began by all students receiving school supplies...interestingly English Exercise books coming from CHINA!














The daily Nutrition Program is up and running with mothers taking turns doing the preparation.  


The children happily wash their hands and dishes in the washing facility the Foundation helped build a few years ago.
 The water is from a 55 meter deep hand dug well we helped them with back in 2005, with an electric  submersible pump that brings the water up to storage tanks.  At the same time, the Foundation helped install electricity in the entire village,  and also built sanitary facilities with the first flush toilets and septic tank system in the village. 



For added safety with the potable water system (especially since all homes have outhouses that could contaminate ground water) a water purification system was proposed and built as you see above and in the next three pictures below.










OUR LAST REPORT ON THE SCHOOL SUPPLIES PROJECT ended with....

Still some schools to go--like THE VALPARAISO,  NAJQUITOB & CHIQUIGUITAL SCHOOLS 
 & people like this POOR WIDOW TO HELP,  but we're trying to figure out how to fix Federico's old pickup to keep going.........
...ANY DONATIONS WILL BE DEEPLY APPRECIATED!


Following are more pictures of the distribution of school supplies to 4,000 rural students....Federico borrowed a pickup from his brother to get the job done....We really need to help Federico repair his pickup with a rebuilt motor as he has worn it out several times doing Foundation work as a volunteer.  PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN.

Below, and in several photographs, are students outdoors in groups who had to walk long distances from their villages to get to where Federico could drive.  In the picture below, the gate is to the road that goes in to a plantation, the road going through it to the village these children walked from to get to Federico.

NOTE:  Some photographs were combined....so bear with the quick Photoshop job....





You might notice above & below that these are not Maya Poqomchi Indians--who use a full squirt, rather a rap-around one.  They are from the hot, arid areas of southern Alta Verapaz, related to Indians from the Salama, Baja Verapaz area. We reach out also to these remote areas.













IN THE CHILOCOM VILLAGE
Meet Izabel Cho......

....she is the  elderly woman carrying a load of firewood back to her very poor
home.  Izabela, now 78,  lives in the home we see below, along with a grandchild she cares for.



Federico feels she is worthy of our help to improve her living conditions. Look into her eyes and face and notice she could be any of our mothers or grandmothers, and did you notice her hands--hard working hands to say the least.  These are humble hard working people who need us--and my father would in turn say WE NEED THEM...needing the blessings that come from  forgetting ourselves  and finding a way to help all such people we can.

 Federico  proposes building her a simple home for which we need about $1,324, providing at least a secure roof over her head.    She isn't asking for much, and it's more for her grandchild and his future.  

Once we get this need taken care of we will begin accumulating funds to begin helping 8 rural village schools that don't have a kitchen to prepare the daily nutrition supplement.

TO QUICKLY CONTRIBUTE ONLINE,  GO TO TOP OF PAGE & CLICK ON :
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or send your donations:
The GUATEMALAN FOUNDATION
P.O. Box 1296
American Fork, UTAH  84003

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